It was June 2008; I was fresh out of college with a thousand ideas ready to roll for Chiappetta Shoes. The marketing and business programs from UW Milwaukee were great, where we had many professors that were ex businessmen themselves; not ready to retire and looking to impart their knowledge of the game on young individuals. The first month I started full time, I had told a best friend of mine Chiappetta Shoes would double the sales within the first two years and man was I wrong. It took about six months to realize that even with a small business of less than 10 employees changes take time and patience. I learned that it takes a team effort to change a company, that absolutely everything takes more time than you think, and that working “on” the business is equally important to working “in” the business. Frustrated at my lack of progress, I decided to table all these great ideas and take a back seat in the business, learn as much as I can from each aspect of our operation. Most importantly, I learned that to clear the clutter you have to have a full understanding of an operation to achieve clarity of a vision for the future. Dreams and ideas come and go but it is the means of which to achieve those dreams that clarity charts your path.

After many years of thought and observation, my brother Nick and myself came up with a great vision for the future of Chiappetta Shoes, something that our children will be able to aspire to manage. Our goals are lofty and will take time, patience, and clarity to achieve.

First off, service means everything today and will in the future too. For most people under 40, service means free shipping, no tax, free returns, and maybe a small amount of advice, but not REAL service in terms of advice or solutions to a problem. What service should mean to you is a handshake, a smile, and someone that can save you the hours spent scrolling useless discussion boards on how to fix heel pain. When it comes to the feet, we’ve got you.

Second, Chiappetta Shoes will become a cultural leader. The makeup of Chiappetta Shoes and the 94 years of history is hard work, dedication, proper etiquette, being a good neighbor and citizen, and last but not least being Italian American. We will look to promote these ideas and values through our advertising as well as promoting community involvement through art, design, and conversation. Third, Chiappetta Shoes will be a champion of personal health. Almost every day, we help customers with foot issues that are highly correlated to poor health. With that, Chiappetta Shoes is looking to pair with local health care professionals, physical therapists, gym owners, and many more to raise topics and discussion how we can be better, healthier people. Based on what we have learned over the past 94 years in business, all of these ideas converge to create a core culture for the future of Chiappetta Shoes.

So when is the last you had a moment of clarity where everything seems to come together perfectly and make sense? Clarity is a very valuable mental state for anyone; teachers, mechanics, politicians, managers, anyone. The problem is that clarity can be difficult to attain and quickly exhausting. It took my brother and I four long years to fully define what the next generation of Chiappetta Shoes will look like. We are connected to everything. Many people consider having attention deficit disorder a blessing rather than a curse, considering it helps them manage three devices, ten emails, and a very active Facebook account. The blessings of the world wide web and technology of the 21st century have given us unbelievable opportunities for innovation and huge advances of quality of life. But with that, what have we lost when people have difficulty developing thorough thoughts that require more than a Tinder swipe of attention?

Thank you for your time. Check back often for more updates, product news, and all kinds of great stuff.

Anthony chips Chiappetta, Certified Pedorthist