On this episode of Behind Her Empire podcast, hear from Sarah Flint of the namesake luxury shoe brand. She's the executive chair, creative director and founder of the company, a luxury shoe brand aimed at on-the-move women who need comfort just as much as fashion and style. The shoes are hand-crafted in Italy.

Key Takeaways:

• After saving up to purchase and wear a pair of Christian Louboutin heels to prom — which she quickly had to remove because of the intense foot pain they caused — Flint started thinking about designing a luxury shoe that could be comfortable to wear.
• Flint built her design skills while studying the manufacturing of Italian-made shoes, which helped her understand the process of building a product.
• Celebrities including Heidi Klum, Jessica Alba and and Amal Clooney were powerful influences to create brand awareness when they wore Sarah Flint shoes for everyday wear — not just red carpet events.
• Flint decided to take her shoes direct-to-consumer after finding there was too much risk and instability in the wholesale model, especially as the retail space was changing so quickly.

"One of the biggest things that helped me most in getting what I wanted with these partners was bringing in people who they knew and trusted and people that had more experience than I did to vouch for me and to vouch for what I was doing."

"I felt like it was just crazy that the shoes that you were spending the most money on are the ones that sit at the back of your closet." — Sarah Flint

Sarah Flint is executive chair, creative director and founder of Sarah Flint luxury shoes.

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