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The Kicks & The Carolina's with Melissa Chanel
116 Plays20 days ago
This week Melissa Chanel jumps on the podcast and we get to talk about how kicks changed her life. We touch on her time in South Carolina and how her family got into sneakers. How the choice to start posting her kicks created a community she enjoys. How starting Kicks and Fro's changed her career paths and what she plans to do in the future. Plus so much more!!
Where to find Melissa:
Socials:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/melissachanel/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/melissachanel2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KicksandFros
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Intro Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Outro Music by Gordon Bombay: https://thegordonbombay.bandcamp.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey Melissa, welcome to the podcast. Hello, thank you for having me. Excited to be here. Nah, it's a huge honor. I mean, ah you know, I don't know if it's a rest in peace, but it's a temporary rest in peace to Soul Safe. Yes, temporary, hopefully. Yeah, hopefully for sure. Shout out to the homie Phil. Yes. You know, I like that he was trying to build community on there and, you know, he put me ah in, ah he put Kicks and Froze on a huge platform in terms of just like,
00:00:47
Speaker
you know trying to get more people involved and stuff like that and why was one of the you know the podcast that he wanted to tap in with and so he learning about you and I started following you immediately and just seeing like your progress and what you're doing now and it's just been amazing.
00:01:04
Speaker
Thank you and I appreciate it. Love Phil and all the amazing things that he's done um for the Seeker community. Also just supporting Kicks and Fros, came down to Charlotte, chopped it up with me, all that good stuff. And so yeah, we're gonna say, see you later and hopefully it it double backs and he's back in action soon.
00:01:24
Speaker
No, yeah, I mean, he's been, I always used to, I always like would talk with him and, you know, bounce ideas and stuff like that with him. He's great, you know, source of wealth of information. Yes, wealth and wealth, for sure. Yeah, for sure.
Meet Melissa Carnegie
00:01:37
Speaker
But for people who aren't familiar with you, how about you introduce yourself?
00:01:40
Speaker
Yes, so I am Melissa Carnegie. I'm a content creator, also the founder of Kicks and Froze. um I started creating content around 10 plus years ago. I was a blogger, blogged about my personal style, lifestyle blog.
00:01:56
Speaker
And I noticed that a lot of women that will follow me really started asking questions about my sneakers, which I didn't think that was like a lane that I would go in, but I started sharing my sneaker style sneakers that I love, how to style sneakers. And I would get tons of questions all the time around sneakers and women.
00:02:16
Speaker
So I started Kicks and Fros as just a platform to find your sneaker style, like know what's coming out, get inspiration on how to style sneakers with your everyday wardrobe. And just as a hobby, something fun to do. And it, I turned it into, and it turned into a full fledged business yeah where we have a large community now, a community,
00:02:42
Speaker
We sell merch online and in our space, our office space here in Charlotte and Camp North End, we developed our own sneaker cleaner that launched last year. Wow, congrats. And it's doing well. Yes, yes, Kicks and Furls sneaker cleaner.
00:03:00
Speaker
Just really tapping in with the ladies in the market. We host different events. We have a brunch series called Kicks Over Brunch. We do customization workshops where we're highlighting local artists in different cities and where a community can come and customize a pair of Air Force Ones.
00:03:17
Speaker
And we just like to tap in with the ladies in our community here in Charlotte and other cities and just let people know that the women are out here rocking kicks and loving kicks and in the community as well.
Women's Stories and Community Support
00:03:30
Speaker
No, yeah, you know, my I've had a big initiative this year, it was to invite more women onto the podcast. Because, you know, this is for everybody. Like, I want to hear everybody's story. It's not just like, specifically, oh, yeah, let's just have guys and only guys, guys are, you know, way I, I've been wanting to get more women on here and I love it. Shout out to Keely. Shout out to Jackie. Yes. Shout out to all the previous women guests that come on and also helped me get other women on the podcast, you know including yourself. so like I love that. i love The fellows always support me, always support Kicks and Frosos, but nothing but love.
00:04:10
Speaker
People often ask like, oh, how was it? Or were men rude? I'm like, no, everybody shows so much love. They get mad at me like, why is this event only for the ladies? So I have to open certain events up for the fellas too, which is hilarious, but I love it. I appreciate the support and you already know, and got my support 100%.
00:04:30
Speaker
No, yeah, I'll be really jealous watching that like the everybody paint in the, it's like a date night thing. It's a paint, paid the the Air Force thing. Yeah. So we do, we do larger events to where we invite like 25 to 30 people. It's kind of first come, first serve, whoever signs up. But then we do customization like date nights or friend dates or just hangouts up to four people in our Airstream office here in Charlotte as well.
00:04:56
Speaker
That's sick, man. I'm very jealous. I'll be like, i know yeah i'll be one i'll be like i'll be like why can't I find this in New York? like it's like I feel like it should be it's to be a thing. It's easy to find it. No, I'm just looking on the Kicks and Fros page like, oh, I'm jealous right now. We're coming. We're working on that. We're working on coming to the city. We get a lot of requests, so we're working on it.
00:05:18
Speaker
Hey, let me know. collab Collab Central right here. We can do something cool. You know what I mean?
Sneaker Journey and First Love
00:05:23
Speaker
But you're here to answer the question that I ask everybody each week. And that question is, what's your first kiss with that first person that gives you absolutely need to have?
00:05:32
Speaker
Oh, I'm gonna say I always, this is true and tried. This is what started me and my love for sneakers. This is what kind of jump-started me to want to keep my kicks clean. I want them to stay fresh, to want to wear them all of the time. And it's the classic Air Force One. I'm my Air Force One girl. I have it tatted on the back of my arm. Wow, okay. Yeah, I love Air Force Ones. I feel like they're so versatile, especially with women. We wanna wear dresses, we wanna wear skirts, we wanna wear ball gowns.
00:06:01
Speaker
they you know make multiple colorways, different styles, they go with a lot. But that all white classic pair, everyone should have a pair in their closet, whether it's low top, mid, high top, you need a pair. And that's what started me to want to keep mine clean, to you know have a competition with my brother on who's who can keep their Air Force Ones clean, who took a fresh pair and went and got an airbrush for a Bow Wow concert with my best friend and my mom almost choked me out.
00:06:32
Speaker
I've always been a part of my life. They started me into my love for sneakers and wanting more, wanting to collect, wanting to buy. um so I will always say that if you're starting out, if you're trying to figure out how to build a collection, start there so you have a sneaker that goes with everything.
00:06:52
Speaker
So you know I gotta ask you the question then. I gotta ask you, how many wares are in one white on white pair? Oh gosh, I have so many pairs because of this. I think you can get a good solid 10 to 15 wares. Wow, 10 to 15? I've never heard double digits. Never, ever heard double digits. Depending on where you're going and what you're doing.
00:07:20
Speaker
But I get a good 10 wares out of mine before I'm like, yeah, I think I need a new pair. So yeah, around around that, I know some people are like three and then I'm throwing up. No, or I'm giving them away or donating. No, I'm gonna get at least 10 wares out of mine, depending on where I go in there before I toss them. And I have some, we have sneaker cleaners, so you know, I'll keep them clean too.
00:07:44
Speaker
Yeah. Look, you got to plug that. Keep your white on whites clean. It's funny because my previous guest before this episode, I asked him and he said three. He said two or three, where's Max?
00:08:00
Speaker
And I was like, who has- That's crazy to me. Three wears. My husband will probably say three wears. No, I'm getting a solid 10 out of mine. And then I'm like, okay, you know what? I think I need to let these go. But I'm also not wearing them every day. I have a good rotation, a very good rotation of sneakers. So I'm not wearing them all the time. Nah, yeah, yeah. That 10 is gonna be throughout,
00:08:25
Speaker
couple of years, hopefully, you know, like yeah two maybe a year. know I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not wearing it ah wearing them a ton. I have different pairs, but the all white pair, at least a solid 10 wears. I would say what
Building a Sneaker Collection in College
00:08:40
Speaker
it was. it Was it like, was there so a specific moment that influenced you so that you'd want to get the Air Force one or is it just like, was that what everybody was wearing?
00:08:50
Speaker
It was just getting into middle school and trying to find a sneaker that I thought was cool, but also that um I could wear with a lot of things in my closet because my mom was not that mom or my dad. He was a sneaker lover and collector as well. He is still to this day, but they weren't like, oh, you getting 10 pair of sneakers or back to school. So I wanted a pair that I knew were gonna be fly and that I knew I could wear with everything from dresses to skirts to jeans to everything in my closet so that that's why i fell in love with the air force one that's how i first fell in love with it of wanting that and then i think at that middle school age me and my brother were like the same size so i could get a color way he can get another one
00:09:39
Speaker
Ooh, that infamous, let me go switch it up. I don't know if that, I hope y'all cool. Cause sometimes it's just like, no, we're not doing that. He was cool. He was cool. He would let me switch it up. He thought it was cool in middle school, but not anymore.
00:09:52
Speaker
but Did he? So like, you know, growing up, like where, well, first of all, shout out to your parents for letting you get white on whites. I know. Cause but My parents, yeah. My my my mom was like, it's a black shoe. It has to get a black shoe. You have to get a black shoe. And I'm just like, all right, fine. So. Not playing with it. Yeah, I did it. I'm trying to even, because now you're making me think of like, when did I, when did I finally like, okay, I can buy a white shoe. And I think it took me until I was maybe 20.
00:10:31
Speaker
For 24, 23, 24. She had you scarred. You're ah, what am I doing? I also feel like men or boys at that time were a little harder on sneakers. Y'all like to play football. Yeah, we're playing tag. We're playing tag every day. Yeah, so my brother was. It was like he got the color. I was able to get the white, but he most of the time got the color or the black pair for sure um because of that. Yeah, but.
00:11:00
Speaker
Not 24, your mom had that instilled in you like, uh-uh. No white shoes, please. yeah yeah No. No white shoes. Or like, and then I'll be at the store and I'll look and I'll be like, yo, this is clean. And then I'll be like, yes, but you know you're going to dirty them up in like a day or two. And then you're just like, all right, let me get this a multicolored joint right here. Right, right. Doesn't feel you on that.
00:11:22
Speaker
um But, you know, i like, where does it start for you where you're just like, all right, now I'm gonna start collecting sneakers. Like, is there um a turning point where you're just like, yo, know you know, let me let me start actually like holding on to, you know, buying two or three pairs? Did you start with like a little stack? Was it like your first job?
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. that It started more so like in college for me. so in Still, I had a little job in high school, so I would get you know certain pairs that I wanted, like Harachis or one pair of Jordans, but I wasn't really like you know, I was working a little part-time job. I didn't have all of that money to be sitting on secrets, but when I got to my college years and had friends that started working at Foot Locker in different places, that's when I really started like collecting or finding different pairs that I really wanted circled, that I had circled in middle school and high school in the eBay booth. In the eBay booth? eBay, yeah. Yes, and that I wanted like so bad, but my mom and dad or grandma was like, hell no.
00:12:27
Speaker
um Those are ones like I went back and tried to get like you know in college. I had a little bit more money. I was working on on campus. And I started getting, you know, really into wanting to buy like certain Jordans or certain new balance. um'm Of course, my Air Force ones, but it was it was really college. And then after college, you know, you start working full time and you got a little bit more money to play with. And it was a wrap after that. I started like just getting everything that I ever wanted. Did you dig juice did you stay like for college? Did you stay in North Carolina? Did you go to like UNC or something?
00:13:05
Speaker
No, I was in South Carolina, so born and raised in South Carolina. And I went to college in Florence, South Carolina, for instance, Marion University, small liberal arts school. My dad, I say North Carolina, my dad, South Carolina. Yeah, South Carolina. I live in Charlotte now, but I was born and raised in South Carolina. um So yeah, we loved you know sneakers. we would get like I would come to Charlotte when I was younger, get inspiration from like my cousins and seeing what they were wearing.
00:13:32
Speaker
They will have like slouch socks with their sneakers. I would take that back to South Carolina. um And just seeing what type of sneakers they were liking it into as well. Had a lot of boy cousins because the girls were like a little older than me or just super young. So I hung out with like a lot of my, you know, my brother, my boy cousins, and just, you know, looking at their style, what kind of sneakers they were loving.
00:13:57
Speaker
They're really into Jordans, so that's where like my love for Jordans came from as well. um Just you know trying to find certain pairs that I wanted. Cool Grey was a pair that I really wanted, and I was able to you know double back and get those when I wanted them and could buy them for myself. um So yeah, those college years is when things started to really get poppin'. Nah, yeah. What'd you go to college for?
00:14:22
Speaker
Um, public relations, so mass communications, you like kind of similar to, you know, kind of worked out to things that I do now. Yeah, for real. That path, that path. You started cementing yourself with the boat, getting into sneakers and studying PR. Like, yeah, for sure. You know, the, were you ever like, you know, scrounging and like, you know, taking like side jobs for a pair of sneakers or were you always just like, yo, I got, I got my goals. I know where I'm going.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, no, always like, you know, I kind of knew I was going to know what I wanted, make sure, you know, certain ones that came out, I looked at release dates, kind of knew early ahead of time what I wanted, hit up friends. You know, I always love a good discount. So I didn't mind hitting up my friends at work at, you know, Foot Locker, Hibbit Sports, different sneaker stores that were down to give me their discount. I always made sure that. But it was more so if I had a plan, I knew what was coming out, I knew when it was coming out, so I knew what to ask for. If it was like a holiday release, okay, that's what I want for Christmas. Or if it was like you know a couple pair that I wanted throughout the year, I made sure to like throw a little money to the side. so There you go.
00:15:32
Speaker
that I can get those, yeah. Yeah, that plan you got planned out like, yeah, scrounging for change was for me. It was me. That's mine. yeah That was me. I was like, all right, I'm gonna figure out how to do this and pay my bills. Like, I need to make I need to make this much bad tomorrow because these kids come out. What can I do? Yeah, for real. um Like,
00:15:55
Speaker
i So, I mean, it sounds like you've always had like a little bit of community or like family that was just around you that helped you figure out sneaker culture.
The Role of Community in Sneakers
00:16:04
Speaker
And, you know, I'm a big proponent of just like finding community and finding people, you know, build a village is what people have always told me.
00:16:14
Speaker
the At one point, we're just like where did that intersect? Where you found you know sneaker culture and a community that you were able to just continuously have these conversations and you know bounce ideas off of? Yes, I think i've always like community has always been a part of me. Growing up in a small town in South Carolina,
00:16:34
Speaker
It was Friday. I was a cheerleader. It was Friday night football games. Like it was always centered around community. Everybody knew everybody in Camden. Everybody still knows everybody. oh So I was always, you know, my life has been centered around community, family, huge family, both sides, very tight knit, um which I'm super thankful for because as an adult, I realize everyone doesn't have that.
00:16:57
Speaker
So, you know, going to college was this really cool experience. I'm um i'm a Delta, I'm a member of Delta Sigma Theta, so still cultivating that community, growing that community, having a love for sneakers. I love sports as well, growing up around a lot of, you know, young boys when I was younger.
00:17:16
Speaker
um And, you know, graduating and moving to Charlotte and trying to find that sense of community in a new city. I have family here, but trying to find that sense of community. And then I moved to New York for a few years. Okay.
00:17:29
Speaker
lived in New York and that's where I feel like I started to, you know, find that community and connection with women in, you know, I would see women in the beauty space. I worked in the beauty space, but they were rock sneakers and I'm like, oh, and they would see me in sneakers. They're like, oh, okay, as I see you. And if we started cultivating that community there. um And I'll say like, you know, even in recent years, like right before you found in Kicks and Fros, it was looking for those like-minded women in Charlotte or online, digitally, um wanting to be included in a space that I loved and couldn't really find my way or my path to be included into it.
00:18:13
Speaker
But I will see a lot of men talk to a lot of guys about it But I didn't see a ton of women who like the same things that I like talking about it So that's why I wanted to kind of create that space and that's when I really you know got into the community aspect and cultivate in that community finding like-minded women talking to them and meeting up with them, going places, and hanging out with them, and just being open to like building relationships as an adult. of like I like this. I'm trying to find community and people who are like-minded and I like the same things. I would say like in the past like seven five to seven years is when I really Cultivated that, finding that women and that love for sneakers, love for style, street style, beauty, all that stuff, but in one. So yeah it's it's been really cool. Like you said, Jackie, my friends, Pasha, Erica, Key.
00:19:09
Speaker
um her grills, the her grills, girls, Tasha, and me, my whole crew, and her grills. Like, we just really found each other, and it was like, these are my people, and we're gonna uplift each other, support each other, and and, you know, just always have community and have friendship.
00:19:27
Speaker
No, yeah, I mean, you know, starting this podcast, I've been trying to like build more community. And so like, seeing how you built this, like, and watching it to just continuously grow and you're able to do more, especially out of COVID, like being able to do more in person thing, which things that are just like keeping people together instead of just being like, we were so locked up in our houses for so long that now we're just like, okay,
00:19:52
Speaker
How do I learn, I gotta learn how to interact with people again, you know? Exactly, yeah. I think that was a big part of it too. I was itching to like get outside again because I was so used to having that community, but it felt weird, right? We were stuck in the house and then it's like, okay, how am I supposed to get back out there? So I think, you know, having events and hosting different events and getting people to come out and even, you know, pouring into other people, like you can do, you know, whatever you want to do, whatever you put your mind to.
00:20:20
Speaker
just put yourself out there and kind of do it and share with people what you're doing. Do some cheap pop-ups, have some events so where people can come out and support you and get to know you. And I think that's what kind of helped me and helped propel Kicks and Froze forward as well.
00:20:35
Speaker
No, yes, absolute facts. I'm curious of just like, where when did you shift over to being like, yeah, I'm gonna start making content and you know, being a positive force on what I feel like, you know, social media is quick to just be like super negative. So like, what is it? Well, ah what and what um influenced you to become that positive influencer?
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah, I think um back when like I graduated college and moved to Charlotte, tons of women were hitting me up, like I said, about my personal style. and you know Or I'm going on a date, is can you tell me if this outfit is cute? Or you know what should I use on my hair? i See you're natural.
00:21:16
Speaker
So I would get all these questions and spend a lot of time responding back to people on Facebook. And I had one of my best friends is like, you should just start a blog and like you could send people there and talk about all these different things. And I'm like, what's that?
00:21:29
Speaker
start My Google searches, that was when it was no like blog community or nothing really out there. So I started just writing, writing you know trends that I like, personal style, fashion stuff, sharing my outfits, sharing products that I like, whether that be beauty, you know style, whatever it was.
00:21:49
Speaker
And that was even before instagram. Did you have like a word press? Or like blogspot? Okay, blogspot. Yep. And then, um you know, kind of grew into WordPress and then different platforms. But that's where I kind of started.
00:22:09
Speaker
everything on the blog side and then Instagram came about and I started just taking that content and sharing it on Instagram my love for beauty I had natural hair big afro so sharing my love for beauty sharing my personal style and then notice that people started asking about certain things and I'm like oh I have this love for sneakers that I don't share. Why not start sharing it? Just wanted to be positive. I'm all about helping other people, helping women, supporting women, doing anything that I can to push other people forward and be a positive impact.
00:22:48
Speaker
you know, just taking what I loved with fashion and beauty and sneakers and and wanting more people to thrive and see that it's more, you know, people like-minded people out there that want to support you, that want to be a part of something that you're starting. um But it started with that blog and brands reaching out like, hey, how much would you charge?
00:23:10
Speaker
to come to this event or how much would you charge to post about this? And I'm like, wait, I can't make money from it. So that's when I started like taking it serious, like, whoa. And being serious about, you know, once Instagram, you can use that platform, um, to make money as well. That's when I started really getting into like,
00:23:33
Speaker
You know, I can use this plant, I can use this, I can grow it, and it can be a source of income. It could be a full-time job. It can be a part-time job, I was thinking at the moment. I don't have to go out and get a part-time job.
00:23:45
Speaker
to buy sneakers and clothes. I can use this as that. um So that's how you know always wanting to be like a helper or cheerleader of someone who you know pushes other people forward and happy that you know I found my way um and my path in this
Authenticity in Content Creation
00:24:04
Speaker
way.
00:24:04
Speaker
no yeah you know especially like growing from writing to actually like but like performing, I would say. like you know You're a camera in front of camera. I mean, know you recently do have been doing the fall fits. And like you've been crushing them. Thank you, thank you. Of course. And so the that idea of just like you know to be confident, to be yourself. I always preach it. And a lot of that, especially now, is I feel like it's missing. I don't know if you feel the same way, where it's like,
00:24:37
Speaker
We just want more people to be themselves, even if it's in front of the camera. I tell people that all the time. They're like, oh, a lot of people are doing this. But no one is doing it like you're going to do it. No one has the personality you're gonna bring to it. No one has the knowledge that you're gonna bring to it. So don't ever think like, I might always tell people, go down the bread aisle, go down the soda aisle at the grocery store. Do you think they're worried about what the other one is doing? No, they're still making that bread. So I'm always like, do it. That's so facts. That is so facts. Oh my God. Like, do it. Like, don't think about what other people are doing. Don't think, oh, this is something similar to theirs. No one's gonna bring the energy.
00:25:22
Speaker
and the swag or the personality that you bring to it. Be yourself. Who else can you be? like Why try to pretend to be someone else? That's draining, very draining, or faking it. That's very draining. like Be you you. Your tribe and your community will find you and they'll support you and want to be you know helping you, want to be within your community 100%.
00:25:49
Speaker
Has there anybody that's ever like reached out in terms of just trying to get into this and then be like, you know I'm discouraged. and Now I don't want to do this anymore. Somebody left a bad comment. So now I don't want to do this. like what What would you tell them about that? Delete them. I'm like, don't don't fall into the negativity. like As soon as you see it, delete it. Don't even give your time yourself time to think about it, to you know harp on it. like As soon as you see it, delete it. As you as soon as you see an email, delete it.
00:26:21
Speaker
Of course, I've had even myself, people leave mean things on on a post or mean things in your DMs or thinking that they're sending it to someone else and they miss and send it to you. like say the That's crazy. Yes. That's happened to me. It's happened to a few of my friends that are creators. so it's like you can You have to block out the noise. I always tell people that block out the noise, have tunnel vision. You have your goals that you want to reach. you You're doing what makes you happy.
00:26:51
Speaker
and you're not doing it to make anyone else happy. Create your content and move on. like Don't go looking and view create what you want to create and move on. Engage with the people you want to engage with and engage with those being positive in your community and and move on. I tell people that all the time. like A lot of women reach out to me of like, you know I'm nervous, I'm scared, and I'm like, of what?
00:27:17
Speaker
like pretend like no one's watching, pretend you're in just in your room creating this content and it's no one watching you um and see how far that takes you. That's like my mindset for sure. Oh yeah, I mean and at the end of the day you can also, I do, I'll be like I just create stuff for me, right? And if you like it, like it. like Exactly.
00:27:38
Speaker
Just as long as you like it you post it because you're like, I want to look at this and I want to put it up. you know like And this is stuff I would want to see. You know what I mean? This is what I would want to see. Yes, you take feedback and recommendations and people are like, oh, I love this. Can you add this next time or can you do this? Yeah, you take that feedback if it makes sense and it's authentic to you, but create that the things you would want to see. I always say that too. So that's that's a good point.
00:28:03
Speaker
Um, you know, you always post about your family and your husband. So like, how does that work? Who has the bigger collection? Like what, what, what is like, does everybody just have sneakers? You just got like a, like you got to like a separate house for the sneakers. Like what, what is, how does the dynamic work? Yes. My husband is very selective with his.
00:28:25
Speaker
sneaker purchases. He has a lot of sneakers. I probably have more, of course. um He has a lot, but he's very selective and he loves to like give them away to his nephews or his brothers sometimes and when he's want to switch it out. um So he has like classic pairs, nice pairs. He's very much a sneaker head as well. Wealth of sneaker knowledge too. He's always like, oh, you should do this, you should try this.
00:28:50
Speaker
um and ah My bonus daughter is definitely turning into a sneaker head, I guess, because she's like around sneakers all day, or hearing me talk about them, or walking into my sneaker closet like, oh, she has friends over. She's like, come here. I'm like, what are y'all doing in there? I'm like, no, get out. I was just showing them. um so I think you know her being a around sneakers, she definitely has the bug now. like She said the other day, like, I don't have enough sneakers. I'm like, girl, your foot is growing every other week. You're not about to be like, i I've learned my lesson of like buying you all these sneakers and then you can't fit them in two weeks.
00:29:29
Speaker
Um, so I said, no, no, she's all my size though. So I'm like, Oh, okay. There you go. A little hand me downs on that one. Right. Right. But there's that. I mean, it was really cool. Is that that recent shoe that's at target where it, you can buy it to one size, but it goes up three other sizes or something like that.
00:29:46
Speaker
I didn't see that. It's like a kid shoe. It's a kid shoe. Yeah. Oh, wow. That's cool. Because I'm like, God damn, it's getting crazy. I'm like, girl, you slow down. Give me a second.
00:29:59
Speaker
No, yeah, that it's a really cool invention. I think that it's, I don't know who, I forgot the name, sorry to the homie that created it, but he he was at the Black Footwear Forum and announced it. Oh, yeah, totally. So like, yeah, very, very cool. Black Footwear Forum is on my list for next year. I'm going. Same. This year, I was trying to make it and I couldn't, um but next year is already on like like blocking the calendar off, don't have to do the thing, because I'm gonna be there.
00:30:27
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I had like four or five people hit me up being like, you come in. I was just like, this is not, I'm broke, baby. my evidence So I was just like, I'll budget correctly next time. Um, I'm still even, I'm, I'm still even like, I don't know if I'm going to even make it to complex calm this year, but we'll see. I don't know. yeah So yeah. So it's a lot, it's a lot of stuff happening. yeah Um, which is cool. So, I mean, you know, the.
00:30:53
Speaker
oh the shoot i had another i had a lineup question but then we ended up tangent and i was just like oh um so like you know that shoot i'm trying to remember it now no forget it i'm just gonna keep moving uh what so like living in
00:31:17
Speaker
South Carolina, right? Growing up. Growing up, I was just trying to, I try to i always get the car Carolina drugs. So I was just like, yeah. Growing up in South Carolina, now North Carolina. Oh, okay. That's why I'm getting confused. My bad, my bad. So like, I'm just gonna, just a wild tangent, but North Carolina, I'm a big, I'm a big Little Brother fan. I don't know if you grew up on Little Brother or like the hip hop in North Carolina at all, cause like,
00:31:45
Speaker
that that like section group. like I don't know how influenced or if you were able to partake within that like that that rising of like North Carolina, South Carolina music. I mean, you still you had P.D. Pablo, Pablo. Yeah, like P.D. Pablo. Little Brother, I don't know, but P.D. Pablo, yeah yes, yes.
00:32:05
Speaker
that you got to check out little brother since you're in North Carolina now. yeah All right. All right. You're going to have to send me some little brother because I'm like, I don't know. I got you. Yeah. I got you. They're they're one of my favorite groups. They're, they're huge in North Carolina. So well, huge in terms of just like, they're They made a lot of the sound. OK. Like, you know, like they they worked with 9th Wonder. They came up with 9th Wonder. 9th Wonder. Yeah. I'll send you. Love 9th Wonder. I'm glad I could put you on to some new music. Put me on. Put me on. Love 9th Wonder. So yes, definitely put me on. Crazy tangent. But OK, here we go. I have a question in my head.
00:32:41
Speaker
So I'm, I've never been to either the Carolinas, but what are, are there like sneaker stores that everybody goes to and like, you know, cause you lived in, in, in New York for a little bit. So you know about Soho. Is there like equivalent equivalent of Soho in the Carolinas? No, not, not really. We have just the major retailers. Um, as far as like, you know, we go to the mall, you go to the mall, you go to full locker.
00:33:10
Speaker
you go to foot action, you go to all those type of stores growing up. um It wasn't necessarily an area or many local boutiques in North Carolina and South Carolina may have been one or two, um but not any that were like, oh, this is where you go. I know South Carolina has like five points, which is downtown that's grown over the years in Columbia, South Carolina, and they have a few sneaker boutiques there now, but growing up, it was like,
00:33:39
Speaker
you go to the mall. You go to the mall to wait in line at Foot Locker to get the Jordans. You go to the mall to get the fly kicks at the major retailers. So it wasn't like, you know, New York has that, of course, nowhere near. It's a very small town living. Yeah. And I'm from Canada, South Carolina, which is a super small town. Everybody knows everybody. We just got to hit it sports, like, when I was in college, maybe.
00:34:07
Speaker
didn't have it in high school, would have to drop 30 minutes out to go to the mall to like purchase sneakers and shoes and stuff. Were the lineups like crazy at all? Was it intense? Lines? Yeah. Yeah, I remember. so I mean, intense to where people were fighting, yes, or you camping out. They're super early in the morning. I was never allowed to go. But like I had friends, like guy friends who would go and like stand in line or camp out.
00:34:36
Speaker
and stay overnight just to try to get a pair. um So it was crazy stories I would hear about. I didn't experience any, I've stood in line a few times, got my kicks and I left. I was like, I don't have time for this. Is there is there a story that just like, you're like, you this is the one that you tell everybody?
00:34:53
Speaker
No, I don't. that's correct That's the part. My daddy was not playing that. It was, you go get what you want and let's go. No, I mean like that they told you and you're like, you're just, now you just tell that story to everybody. Oh no. I mean, they would just tell me how like people would fight. Like someone, a guy would get his size and then they would say that was the last pair and that size and then a fight would just break out. And the other person was still the other person's sneakers. I'm like, what?
00:35:18
Speaker
Or, you know, friends in other cities would tell me stories, but I'd never, you know, experienced or put myself in any position. I do see, you know, now, as an adult, like, of course, we have, like, social status here in Charlotte. And I will ride past and people will be at night, the sneakers come out the next day, they'll be out there sitting in their chairs with their blankets and coffee and stuff, just waiting. um And then you just stroll right in.
00:35:48
Speaker
I have to wait too. you're like You're like James knows me. I'm going in. So but this one, the lately made Jordan ones and Um, a few pairs I've had to stand in line to get, um, or the Melody Asani. I remember I had me and my husband put our names on a list at social status and I didn't get them. I'm like, what? And then he got, they said his name. I was like, okay, at least one of, one of us got it. I'm like, they knew me. They just gave, okay. look
00:36:25
Speaker
Hey, it's cool. I'm cool with that. um But I've always had to put my name on this too. Sometimes reserved, but most of the time I have to move as well. There you go. There you go. I mean, it's like, I mean, you mentioned two great sneakers in terms of just like, you know, that initiative of like getting more women designers in, you know, we got the Nina Chanel's in yes this year. Yes, or the Nina Chanel. You know, it kind of came and went to be honest. And I still have my pair, the the threes, which I love them, you know.
00:36:54
Speaker
but the as we like starting to I don't know if it's if it are they starting like brand starting to transition out of being so women focused and like I don't know it's just been like a weird shift into into Well, maybe that's just me or whatever maybe I'm what I'm looking at, but I don't know if that's like something that you're taking or paying attention to in terms of just like how do you're guiding your content and trying to get more into like these spaces of that too. Yeah, no, I do see like where it was you know super heavy, like collaborating with women.
00:37:29
Speaker
putting out releases that were designed by women, which I think was needed. And I'm always happy to support and I've purchased mostly all of them. um And I think it is like maybe a slight shift or I think they're just trying to figure it out. especially after COVID and after you know now things are settling down where people were just buying shit just to buy shit all the time because we had nothing else to do and I think it's just it's just a shift all together like in sneaker culture in
00:38:01
Speaker
you know fashion and street style where they just they're just trying to find that sweet spot again. I do feel like it is and then you have people creating their own sneaker like not necessarily wanting to collab but are going and manufacturing getting manufacturers and going and creating their own like silhouette of sneaker. So I think they're trying to kind of compete with that and figure that out too but no I think it's still space for creatives and artists and well-known people in different industries to collab, especially with the women. um I still think we'll see like you know more of that, maybe in more strategic ways or in different ways, but I do think you know we'll see more of like that collaboration.
00:38:45
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I mean, shout out to the homies that put together the, I forgot the name of the shoe, but they did a Jordan one and they had the lottery ticket. Yeah, so you're welcome. That was so fire. Yeah. Shout out to Jixie. Yeah, that's my girl Jixie in the New York Jordan Collective. They killed those. And I'm like- They killed those.
00:39:07
Speaker
I'm so happy for Jixie because I'm like, she's so deserved that and I'm so glad she was able to get it. in like she know ah She's such a wealth of knowledge. how We call her like our sneak seek sneaker encyclopedia. like She's going to tell us we have questions. She can answer them mostly.
00:39:24
Speaker
Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. I've had her on the podcast. We're gonna do another one, especially after this drop to that, like, yeah, we're just gonna go over more of her story because, you know, she knows so much and so much every time we're on a her girls retreat, I just sit with her and she just like tells me so much and all the stories and like, oh,
00:39:44
Speaker
I just love her so much. So that parent I knew, like she not playing with them. like This is what we want. i once We want some new technology. What can we do? So even being able to scratch off. like Just a cool colorway. I still have a warm on. It's still like on ice. Oh, you got them? Yeah, I got them. They didn't color my size, so I couldn't even get them. Oh, a day. Nah, yeah, Biggest size is like 11, I think, right? Yeah, yeah, biggest size was 11. So yeah, I'm excited to pull those out soon and wear them. I'm excited for you. Yeah, they're so far.
00:40:18
Speaker
So where has sneakers taking you?
Sneakers as a Journey
00:40:21
Speaker
Because, you know, we were joking about Disney World the other day. So where has sneakers taking you? Because I feel like you've traveled a lot. Yes, you've taken me a lot of places. a Portland, of course.
00:40:34
Speaker
It's taken me to LA to be on the Jennifer Hudson show. It's taken me to Netflix. They came and shot an episode of Love is Blind in our office space.
00:40:48
Speaker
Wow. Here in Charlotte. So Sneakers has taken me like a lot of different places. ti It's taken me to Complex Con a few years ago. My niece was just born, so I couldn't go um because I was like, I got to go meet my niece. like what what um But I sent 50 pairs of sneakers for my collection to be on display um at Complex Con a few years ago. and now That's sick.
00:41:13
Speaker
So cool um Such a really amazing opportunity. So and sneakers is taking me to like a full-time job and you know working and Doing things for my community with kicks and froze and you know being a content creator and be able to story tell in that way so it's taking me a lot of different places Miami l LA New York DC and we've been able to put on different events in these different cities and you know bring women out and cultivate communities. So um I'm very thankful on to all the different places Sneakers has taken me for sure. And being able to provide for myself, my family, all through my love for Sneakers has been really cool.
00:41:57
Speaker
No, yeah, I would love for you to expand on that because like, when you took the risk of like, yeah, I'm gonna jump into this. like Was there uncertainty? Was there a plan B? like were you like Of course, there was uncertainty. I've been saying like, I'm gonna jump and take the leap for like years, a couple years, at least three years.
00:42:18
Speaker
And I keep saying, oh no, I'll just work another year full time. um um I was head of community and communications for Cantu Beauty Hair Care brand. um For six years I started with them as an influencer and then I became their national ambassador and then they were like, can you just come work for us? So then I started working for them and being in comms and and just knowing that industry and learning that industry, loving it my job and what I did. And I always said I would do it until it got to a point where I couldn't juggle it all anymore. And it was getting to that point where I was stressing myself out because I was trying to juggle all working full time, doing my stuff at night, not getting any sleep. um So I finally was like, it's only been a year. So last December, I was just like, okay, December 31st, that's it.
00:43:09
Speaker
and say I'm starting 2024 fresh and I jumped into it and you know it's been a a few times this year where I'm like, oh, wait a minute, did I make the right decision? Hold on. But I feel like entrepreneurship leaves that little bit of, you gotta be scared a little bit, that a little bit of uncertainty, that little bit of like, if you If you're not scared, I don't feel like you're dreaming big enough. so I knew I had you know supported my family, and I love what I did. and I knew if I just kept my head down and did the work, like the money would come. and
00:43:48
Speaker
That's what's been happening. We were able to get our office space and you know be out in the community, have a space in the community where people are walking around out and about. It's like our own little you know billboard in the city. People are able to stop by when they visit. We had a couple from Philly come oh come out last weekend to customize a pair of kicks. like People were traveling in in town and this is one of the stops. like Even if I'm not here, people are taking pictures and like tagging us.
00:44:18
Speaker
Like I was able to go by, you weren't there, but we took a picture like just knowing that, you know, that type of stuff. I know I'm doing the right thing and I did the right thing. um And, you know, just continue to do the work. No, yeah. I mean, that's that's beautiful because it's like.
00:44:35
Speaker
I wanna say it's like a love letter. You're doing like a love letter to sneakers with this. And and it's it's interesting because I feel like not a lot of people, like you're you're like one of the few, especially when it's like women faced, like women focused where, you know, ah such a heavy, sneakers, such a heavy male dominant, and I don't know, I always say male dominant sport because, you know, we're fighting for the same pairs all some all the time, you know?
00:45:05
Speaker
yeah And so when it comes to, especially when it's like men who are passionate, everybody's like trying to be cutthroat, trying to make sure, you know, oh, now I'm fresher than you and all so all of them. Like, you know, we can all just get along. Chill out. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. You know, and so.
00:45:25
Speaker
It's good to see when, you know, Kicks and Fros is like, nah, let's all do this together. You know, it's, you know, like the community events and, you know, I love just like scrolling on the page and being like, yeah, i i I want to do this. Let me do that out here. Yeah. know so yeah that that like- Yeah, just knowing that other people, you have other people that want to cultivate that community too and be a part of a community. It's like, come on, let's do it. I'm gonna support you. What you got going on? How can we collaborate and do something together? Bring even more people, highlight you and show what you do. I love highlighting different women and what they do for sneaker culture, different people in general, men, women, whoever.
00:46:08
Speaker
and just supporting them and, in you know, letting people know what they do within sneaker culture as well. So yeah, that's a big part of Kicks and Frozen. I think that's a big part of why we you know, are able to be successful because, you know, it's all about not just, you know, me climbing, but it's also bringing how everybody that I can with me, like, let's go. Come on, come on. This space, everybody come on. And making sure you, I know you're outside of your comfort zone, you're very uncomfortable, but yes, that's why. Come on, you need to be, let's go. um So yeah, and I appreciate all the yeses I get from all the dope women who, you know, support Kicks and Fros for sure.
00:46:49
Speaker
No, yeah, the the it's like I'm trying to say like the because I was like trying to say like, you know, we especially as dudes, you got to stop being so, you know, against the grain on a lot of this stuff or like and yeah even in sneakers, like, you know, a lot of people need to understand that this is a community and communities these don't really like.
00:47:12
Speaker
You know there's not a lot of we shouldn't be infighting in every community like it's like this is the only one or I feel like there be moments of you know what's going on like why are we wise who's who's who's trending on Twitter now like you know like just over some silly stuff like it's is but it's great to see like a positive spin is positive light turned on to this and you know, Kissing Fros has definitely, I've always just been like on top of just like trying to stay up to date and hopefully trying to and amplify as much as I can with the little bit of community that I've built. No, yes, I appreciate that. Yes, yes, I appreciate it so much every time. Yes, the fellas love us. Yes, so thankful. What are you, I guess I want to ask like big picture, like what ah in big picture,
00:47:59
Speaker
What do you see in the future of like, for you and for Kix and Froze, like, is there ah going to be like a ah community space, not a community space? I feel like the the Airstream is basically the community space, but you know what I mean? Like, you know, a store coming soon or something like that. that would You know, our goal is to hopefully have a larger
Future Plans for Kicks and Fros
00:48:22
Speaker
community space. I can't fit everybody in this little Airstream. So a larger community space where we're able to you know host different events, have our retail, a community retail space within that area. Also like a little kind of laundry cleaning space as well in the area where people are able to drop off and pick up using our sneaker cleaner. And even you know developing that even more of having different products within the cleaning space.
00:48:52
Speaker
um So that's one of our goals. I love a collaboration with, it does I mean, I don't discriminate. adida's self discriminate ever like I feel like a community collaboration with Kicks and Fros could be really cool just to, you know, highlight like community in the space. Trying to see some ah I want to see like Afro puffs on a, on larry a superstar. something hey Right. That would be cool. Um, yeah. So just, you know, continue that growth. Hopefully, like I said, a bigger space, larger space to house more community and have more community events.
00:49:36
Speaker
um we want to add in different types of different pillars of even now where people can come in and do customization workshops and date nights with up to four people but being able to do other things some people might want to come and just accessorize their cakes or you know, learn how to clean them. So being able to house different, you know, events and different opportunities for people in the sneaker space, I think is something that we want. um And yeah, like continue to collaborate with different, we just collaborated with the fitted hat store here in Charlotte in Camp North End on a fitted hat that's for the sneaker lovers. um So I love the vagueness. I was like, who's the fitted hat? Let me show you.
00:50:21
Speaker
So it's a fitted CLT is a fitted hat store here in Charlotte. And this is like, signature C, which we're trying, they're trying to make like that New York Yankee, this signature C for Charlotte. Of course, the Carolina blue for the Carolinas, we have a Kicks and Fros patch on the side and it says fire for the sneaker lover on the bag for the sneaker. How many one of those? Yes, so like continuing that collaboration, continue to support other people, but growing in that space too, larger space, more room to host community events, pop-ups in different cities. So that's our goals. Those are things we want to do, you know, in the next five.
00:51:06
Speaker
seven years, like keep growing. I always tell people, I don't want to grow too fast. I want it to like happen when it's supposed to happen. So I'm not saying, oh, all these things need to happen next year. No, I need to you know sit in where I am now and let us grow organically and right when we're supposed to. so No, yeah, I love it. I love it. I think that the sky's the limit, you know, sky's the limit is however, however you want to get there is going to happen. Right. You know, that I think you you're in a great trajectory. So, yeah you know.
00:51:44
Speaker
And then when Phil comes back, soul safe, you know? That's right. We back on back in it and we doing it. I will always have that face. So my god. Shout out, shout out Phil. be so i want you So my last question, yeah I want you to think comes with a little bit of visualization. um I want you to think back to when you got your first, the first pair, the first pair of white on whites. when youre the yeah Young Melissa, you know. And now you're you, travel back in time behind your younger self. What would you tell your younger self as they open that box? Get ready for the ride, girl, because these sneakers are going to take you some places. That's exactly what I would say.
00:52:30
Speaker
That's exactly what I would say. Put them on and just be ready to go because these sneakers are definitely going to take you places that you never even imagined going. so That's definitely what I would say to my younger self, opening up that first box of white on whites. Keep them clean, girl. Keep them clean.
00:52:49
Speaker
you table
00:52:53
Speaker
um only to only they ill take You some places they got take place go travel back in time with the kicks and throws cleaner. Just be like, go use it take one of those.
00:53:08
Speaker
Let everybody know where they can find you. Yes, you can find me on Kicks and Fros on social media. Kicksandfros.com is our website. We have a newsletter. So if you go to our website, sign up for our newsletter. That's where we share kind of biweekly. I don't like to flood the email boxes. So we share biweekly, just different things we're doing in the city. If we're traveling to another city where we're going, I like to share like my sneaker shopping with male for women and men, just looking for sneakers.
00:53:41
Speaker
looking for different kids to add to their collection that they, you know, may not know about. We share that in there and just any information around things we're doing, how we're doing things to support the community, different things that's going on in the community. um And then we highlight, usually kind of highlight different women, interview women and men in our newsletter just to give um our newsletter audience some exclusive content. We have deals, a lot of deals in our email as well, newsletter as well, around like our Kicks and Fros merge, things that's going on there, coupon codes, all that good stuff. So follow us on Instagram. We are barely on TikTok, but we do have a TikTok. And then come through. I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina, Camp North, then come through, hang out with me at the HQ. We're usually here opening up on select weekends. We are about to announce that
00:54:37
Speaker
After Black Friday, we're going to be opened from Thursday to Sunday every week from 1-7. So I'm super excited about that too. That's sick, man. That's sick. I can't wait to pull up. I can't wait. Yes, good to have you. Trying to paint some shoes. Yes, can't wait to have you come customize some kicks. Come on.
00:54:59
Speaker
And you know where to find me, I am who is also, also for me to follow the podcast and my first kicks pod. If you are listening to this, ah you might want to go on YouTube, my first kicks on YouTube and watch this, watch it all the way from the beginning yeah so you can see our faces.
00:55:13
Speaker
and that hit that Hit that subscribe, hit that like. you know And if you haven't my first kick story, hit me up, myfirstkickspod at gmail dot.com. I would love to read it to a guest every week. You know what we do out here. You know what we say every week, wear your kicks. Peace.