Shelly grew up in a two-bedroom apartment, with her mother, older brother, and sister in Oakland, California. “Being a single parent in the early 60s was not very common but my mom worked hard”, she says. “She was, what I call a strong and independent woman, an SIW.”

This running enthusiast, who still does half-marathons, was just 15 when her cousin’s boyfriend offered her an after-school job at his family’s shoe store in Berkeley. After graduating from high school, she worked at another shoe store right down the street, ‘Houston Shoes’, where she started selling her first Birkenstocks. “I wasn’t interested in college. I wasn’t really a good student, but I seemed to excel more in the positions where I was helping people”, she explains.

After about two years, Shelly moved to Maine and worked at the Kittery Trading Post where she sold camping equipment and shoes before joining the gun department. She then returned to California and worked for different companies including the Walk Shop, which sells shoes, Pete’s Coffee & Tea, and Smith & Hawken, an outdoor store. In 1985, Timberland recruited her to run their new store in Sausalito, California. She became a few years later a regional manager but after 10 years with the company, she saw an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for Birkenstock that changed her life.

“Their offices in Novato were quite iconic”, she recalls. “Everyone that lived around knew that building. So, I sent them a letter and a couple of weeks later, they called me in. They were looking for a manager for their very first retail store in Oakland, California, right by the UCL Berkeley campus. I wore a pair of Pisa in linen for the interview, and I got the job.”

Shelly always took great care of her customers. “We measured everyone”, she recalls. “We talked to them to get to know them. We often spend more than 30 minutes with each customer. Some had never worn Birkenstock before, so we had to show them how it could change their life.” At the time, our company had several sub-brands such Birkenstock, Papillio, Tatami, Footprints, Professional, Birkis, and Kids. “But they were all designed by the same people, all with the same quality, many made in the very same factories as the next”, Shelly explains, still remembering her sales pitches despite the passing years.

Her clientele was very diverse. “In the 60s and 70s, we attracted many hippies and lots of students. People wanted to be different and wear things others didn’t have”, Shelly adds. “But we always had a wide range of customers in the store. Some kids came in for their very first shoes. Teenagers wanted a pair of Boston. People in their late 20s looked for the latest and cutest gold shoe. We sold to athletes that need a shoe after sports, to runners for recovery, to moms dealing with plantar fasciitis and heel pain, and to grandparents who could barely come in. We had something for everyone.”

After spending many years in our stores, Shelly moved, as she says, “to the other side”, to become Senior Director of Product Merchandising and Operations. “My job was to ensure that the shoes we sell fit and function properly and that they were presented the way we wanted. I worked behind the scenes, putting all the parts together to make sure our products came to market just as we envisioned.”

After roughly 50 years in the shoe business and almost three decades at Birkenstock, Shelly decided to retire in June 2024. “Twenty-eight years ago, who would have imagined that this brand would be where it is today? Even Margot Fraser, the founder of Birkenstock USA, would not have dreamed of it. She was just trying to help people out with tired, aching feet. But I’m very proud that our hard work over the years got us where we are now.”

Her decision to quit was not an easy one. “But I felt it was time to hand over to the younger people I’ve trained and those who will join us in the future. I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to work with such a great brand and so many wonderful people.” The same could be said about you, Shelly…