We recently connected with Leah Tavares and have shared our conversation below.

Leah , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Early in the pandemic I saw how so many people were struggling from sickness, from job losses, being stuck at home, and more tragic events. I was trying to figure out a way to serve the community that I could still handle/manage through a quarantine; with a big dream to serve a community further away from home in Boston. I was scrolling on the internet and came across Dr. Dre’s video where he was pointing out a particular sneaker in his closet. “These are my Sunday, Monday, Tuesday pairs, etc.” He wore a pair of all white Nike Air Force 1s everyday. It suddenly clicked that the sneaker is not only a ridiculously popular pair that everyone wants to have but they’re also a pair that folks wear no more than twice sometimes before they are deemed not good enough from a scuff or small crease. Having held a few clothing, art supply, and shoe drives, I thought, how hard could it be to collect these sneakers in particular? So I consulted with my best friends and mom and once I landed on a name for my initiative I set out to make an Instagram page, a website, a logo design and a call to action with a goal of collecting at least 100 pairs to donate to the capital island of Cabo Verde, West Africa. I knew this was not anything new (collecting and distributing sneakers) but I did know that I could get folks attention more during this pandemic if I do it in a different and cool way: collect only all white AF1s! This got me so excited because it was a coming together of so many things that I love which are sneakers, culture, service, community, and a real good marketing play. 3 years later, I’ve donated throughout Boston, New York, Portland, and Cabo Verde partnering with various orgs as well and making giving back less of a second thought for people.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a 30 year old Boston born and raised Cape Verdean woman. I grew up running the halls of a local community non-profit where my mom and cousins worked to working their as my first job at 14 years old. I attended Boston College and while there went on a 2 week service to Kingston, JA that changed my perspective on service. Anything counts, presence counts, giving anything counts, being kind always counts. I wanted to continue to find ways of serving others, no matter how big or small. After graduating, I worked in Boston at Big Sister Association as a recruiter and quickly took a liking to the marketing department and storytelling. I moved to New York a year later to explore and develop my skillset at Compound, a creative agency that focused on sports, music, art, fashion. I loved my experience there and was given the freedom to share and build with them. I helped start the agency’s philanthropic initiative Compound Cares where I ran community service efforts including relief drives, shoe and clothing drives, student visits and panels with the owners, and more. As I gained more experience in the field, I found myself working at Wieden + Kennedy, where I currently am, as an executive assistant for Bodega, their social-first team. I got the opportunity to work on my creative skills and copywriting, and wrote the script VO’d by Stephen A. Smith for Nike’s Yardrunners/HBCU campaign. Throughout these moves career wise, I have continued to be supported and encouraged to work on Other 1s Foundation – even being recognized by AdAge as a Rising Star. I am most proud that I am able to be myself and express myself in many ways, focus on a plethora of things that I love including creative writing/storytelling and service.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Always being honest, authentic, myself. People can always tell when you’re BS’ing. I never like to pretend I know something that I don’t, and I try to always give time to Other 1s every day, every week and anything that relates to Nike AF1s.
When I first started Other 1s Foundation, the only people that really knew the person behind it was my mom, siblings, and close friends. I wanted for it to just be something folks cared about and partook in organically, not for me specifically.
Overtime, they kind of convinced me to use my power: personality, and love of people, really to share my story and share why it’s important and that really helped for folks to resonate with the mission and want to help out.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was from my trip to Jamaica for community service. The program consisted of working at an elementary school during the mornings and then in the afternoons going into the local community, spending time at elderly homes, hospitals, orphanages, rehab centers. There was one particular moment where I was at a rehab center for folks that had physical disabilities and deformities and needed 24 hour supervision and assistance. We were only there for about 3 hours and then there was a thought that hit me which was that I’d never again see them and they’d still be dealing with their disabilities and pains. I was angry that we got that minimal exposure and spent so little time and wanted to know why we did that. The pastor that was running the trip told me that those 3 hours may have changed some of their lives, perspectives, emotions, etc. Even 3 hours may have been incredibly impactful for them and brought them some peace of mind, happiness, joy. I learned that giving and doing for others does not have to be a grand experience or momentous thing but even a short moment to spread love and kindness, empathy and compassion could help all parties. Fast forward to starting Other 1s Foundation where I simply collect and donate all white AF1s – I know that I am not solving world hunger or homelessness or war, but this small and simple task and offering to folks that just need a pair of shoes is still making a small impact. It is also an effort to show people that they can do something small to be kind and pay it forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: other1sfoundation.org
• Instagram: other.1s
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/other1sfoundation
• Linkedin: Leah Tavares

Image Credits
any photo on my Instagram page @other.1s is good to use.