There is something unearthly magical about having a pair of limited-edition, rare or highly sought-after sneakers.
It comes the moment you crack open the lid around the quality-crafted shoebox, peel back the uncrinkled tissue paper and lay your vision in your brand new kicks (don’t even get me started on the glorious odor of new leather, mixed with rubber and Velcro!). Pretty near to heaven, right?
One individual who knows this exact feeling is Noah Vitale, a sophomore at Los Osos Senior high school in Rancho Cucamonga. The 16-year old has found a method to capture that bit of sneaker-heaven and produce it to sneakerheads all over the globe through his upstart company, Vitale Kicks.
Not just is Noah an honors student, maintaining a 4.5 GPA and person in the Grizzlies’ team, he’s also a consummate professional who can be found hours before school starts at his desk filling out orders, answering customer emails and looking out for exclusive sneaks for any fanatical subculture of sneaker aficionados.
In just 6 months time, Vitale Kicks has earned over $250,000 dollars in product sales, because of a low-supply-high-demand market and a lot of effort and commitment from Noah.
Not long ago i sat down with the young entrepreneur to talk about how he turned their own sneaker obsession into a thriving business.
Quesiton: I love your company logo. Who designed it?
Noah Vitale: My brother Nick designed it. He’s 18 and a senior at Los Osos. We sat down together eventually and merely put it together. People seem to like it so it exercised really well.
Q: So what is Vitale Kicks?
Noah: Basically it’s this – Nike and Jordan brands will to produce series of limited shoes be it shoes from Jordans or Nike Running or anything like this. And because they’re limited, there will be a huge interest in them.
So we try to purchase them from stores and then mark them up once we have them within our hands. So, say we have a shoe that retails for $160 dollars, and it is sold-out in stores all over america. We’ll take that shoe then sell it for maybe $230 dollars on our website.
We can do that because there’s such a huge demand and also you can’t go into a store and buy them. So, the only real option is to purchase it from a so-called reseller, that is somebody like us.
Q: So, if Nike drops a limited edition Air Force 1, and that i don’t wish to sit in front of Undefeated for 2 days, I’m able to call you up?
Noah: Yeah, exactly. We have individuals who do sit beyond stores on release day after which once they obtain the shoes we’ll sell them a little bit over retail. So yeah, definitely any kind of shoe like an Air Force 1 we are able to do the exact same thing.
Q: Like a consumer, I believe that’s worth the mark-up immediately because who has time to sit in front of an outlet for days?
Noah: Yeah, definitely.
Q: So do you employ people to sit in front of stores?
Noah: Yeah occasionally we do. I’ll pay friends say $20 bucks for just one night to camp by helping cover their us. That’s one of the many ways we will get the shoes.
Q: What exactly are some other ways?
Noah: We buy them online and direct from retailers like Footlocker or NikeTown. We’ll enter raffles. They are not the simplest to get. It is a complicated process. With time we’ve built up friends along with a network of individuals like store managers and such.
Q: It really sounds fun.
Noah: It is fun because you’re meeting new people and it is thrilling every weekend to get as many shoes as you possibly can and at the same time frame I’m with all my friends. It is a good experience, together with making a good profit every weekend.
Q: Basically, you’ve made a business from your hobby.
Noah: Definitely, since it all started with an interest in these type of limited-edition shoes. After which realizing that there is a big potential opportunity to produce a business and make a little money.
But it all originated as a hobby of collecting and wearing these footwear. So, it definitely is a business along with a hobby at the same time.
Q: When did you start it and just how old had you been?
Noah: Well I was Fifteen years old and I started the business in April of 2013.
Q: Do you remember the precise moment the idea sparked?
Noah: It started when my father and that i were beyond a Finish Line one evening, where they were doing a raffle and that we could pick up two pairs of Air Jordans.
As soon as we walked out from the store a few people stopped us and offered us a huge $150 dollars over-retail on their behalf. I was like, ‘Wow did that really just happen’?
It motivated my father too because usually whenever you tell a parent or gaurdian about doing something like this they’d say, ‘Nah, there is no way! You can’t go purchase a shoe that’s inside a store and resell it for more.’
But because soon as somebody on the sidewalk stopped my father and said, “Hey, I’ll take those for $280 dollars right now,” I believe that really type of lit the spark for everything.
Q: It really helps you to have your dad on your side doesn’t it?
Noah: Yeah it definitely did help to have my father on my small side. When someone how old irrrve become is starting off they’re not going to have the revenue so that you can buy 100 pairs of shoes. So having my dad to help me out (and the charge card) was definitely a great benefit.
But, my parents will always be supportive of whatever I do. After i told my dad I needed to get this done, he was all for this because when I would be a younger kid I’d another business and he saw how well I did with that.
Q: What is the priciest shoe you’ve sold?
Noah: Nike includes a foundation with Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. In the first of the year they released a shoe known as the Nike Air Doernbecher that retailed for $250 dollars and that we sold it for $1300 dollars.
To ensure that would be a large profit. It was type of tough to find a buyer so when we found one for that price it was satisfying. And that we were able to get a couple pairs of those. That was definitely our biggest sale.
Q: What’s been probably the most interesting shoe you’ve sold?
Noah: We’re focusing on that at this time. We possess a shoe known as the Nike Air Yeezy which is a collaboration between your hip-hop artist Kanye West and Nike. The shoe retails at $250 dollars and it’s currently reselling on an average of about $4,000 to $5,000 dollars.
We’ve one pair in our hands at this time and we’re just waiting to find the right buyer who’ll pull the trigger. But that’s definitely our best shoe that we’ve ever had.
Q: How can you start selling footwear that’s worth so much? It sounds almost dangerous.
Noah: Right! We’ve had it in our possession a little on the month and the challenge with footwear like this is that you simply need to be careful about how you market it since with this type of huge demand, it’s dangerous to meet up for any shoe that’s worth $4,000 dollars.
So you have to become careful. But we’re definitely keeping it safe until we discover the right buyer. That will be nice after we let that go.
Q: Nice payday! Exactly what do you typically use the earnings you get?
Noah: I’ll occasionally buy myself clothes but many of the cash is set aside within my bank account and saved up for college.
Also, I simply bought myself an Audi. So, that’s one helluva first car for me personally. But apart from that, I simply place it away for school.
Q: How amazed are you currently whenever you relax and find out the success you have been in a position to create from reselling sneakers?
Noah: It’s amazing. After i was driving home from buying my Audi, I had been just thinking, ‘Wow! It that I’m doing has resulted in me having this car.’
It is simply great to determine hard work pay off.
Q: What do your pals consider Vitale Kicks?
Noah: You know my friends are actually those that I’ll bring with me to get shoes and I’ll outlay cash for coming with me.
I’ll text them some nights and say, ‘Hey you guys right down to go to La beside me this weekend to get some shoes? I’m paying everybody so-and-so quantity of dollars.’
And sometimes, they don’t even desire to be paid since it is only a thrilling experience to visit down to these populated areas and also to be around these people who are crazy in love with sneakers. And it is fun just to walk from the stores with exclusive shoes and everybody’s taking a look at us saying, “Oh look, look, look, they were given this or that.”
So my buddies have definitely helped me be where I’m today and have been a source of support and have helped me throughout it all.
And also the good thing about it is, some of my buddies have actually started their very own sneaker reselling businesses on a smaller level. It’s cool to see that influence spread throughout all of the group of my buddies and also to see them have success too using what they do. Sometimes they’ll ask me for help and i am more than pleased to help them.
Q: Are the customers surprised when they find out that you are a higher school kid?
Noah: Well, I only tell people I’m near to however when I do tell them I’m 16, they’re very surprised. If anything they think it is cool that somebody younger than them might be doing something similar to this.
Q: The testimonial page on your website is just photo after photo of super-stoked people revealing these shoes they purchased in you. How satisfying is that?
Noah: The client appreciation is fairly cool. That’s among the best parts is to see the customer testimonials. They’re really a big help to our company and it is rewarding whenever we get those back.
Sometimes we’ll even hand out discounts if customers post a testimonial because that draws a lot of individuals that haven’t purchased from us. Individuals will see that and say, ‘Oh those guys are legit ‘ they are fully aware what they’re doing.’
Q: What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a young entrepreneur?
Noah: My biggest challenge is maintaining school and also the business at the same time. I’m taking all AP and Honors classes and hold a 4.5 GPA. After i go back home It’s my job to have 3-hours of homework and when I’m playing soccer I won’t go back home until 5 p.m.
Then I’ll have 40,000 people on social networking which are emailing and contacting me about their order or concerning the shoes which are being released and asking if I’m getting certain shoes. So that’s definitely hard attempting to balance all of that.
But I think I’ve type of found that balance. I take some time out in a certain hour to resolve emails, to get back to customers, and also to post up on social networking. Then obviously, I remove other time for you to do school work and other stuff that tend to be more important.
Q: Time management is surely a skill isn’t it?
Noah: Yeah, it is something I’ve learned to complete.
Q: What are your plans after high school?
Noah: I’m not sure what college I wish to go to yet, however i plan to go in to a 4-year school. I also intend on hopefully running multiple businesses when I’m from high school.
But I will visit college with either a Business or Computer Science Major and hopefully have other businesses on my small hands at that time.
Q: Who are a number of your influences or people who have inspirited you?
Noah: I’d say an entrepreneur like Mark Cuban. Or if you watch the show Shark Tank, those people on there. It’s inspiring to see how successful they are and how they’re able to help people out with businesses and stuff.
Q. Ever consider taking Vitale Kicks on Shark Tank?
Noah: Not really. You know, there’s over 10,000 individuals who do the exact same thing as Vitale Kicks. It isn’t like we’re some unique thing. We’ve just found a method to be successful.
Q: What have you learned is an essential aspect of creating a successful at-home business?
Noah: How big social networking is within terms of the way it might help a company. I began a year ago with one follower on Instagram and today I have over 40,000 followers. Social media has truly helped grow my business and it’s one of the most important factors for just about any business nowadays.
Even the need for good customer support is big. Like I said earlier, because the shoes are so expensive, individuals are sometimes afraid to spend so much money. I’d be nervous too if I was spending $400 dollars or more. When you contact a customer, you’re making them feel comfortable about their purchase.
So, without a doubt social networking and good customer service would be the two most important things of a business.
Q: Lots of young adults consider starting their own business or doing something entrepreneurial like you. What kind of advice would you provide a young person who has a great idea and wishes to take it to the next level?
Noah: I would tell others to go searching and find out the other individuals are doing. Because after i was starting the company, I looked up with other resellers and learned from them. So one of the most essential things is to take advice and examine other coffee shops and make upon that.
And also, never be afraid of just starting out. Decide to have it going. Because you can have a lot of thoughts when designing a business and be thinking, ‘I want to do this and that i wish to accomplish that.’
But you have to go and do it. Eventually it all works out.
So my advice would be learn and take advice from others and have confidence in yourself and do not be afraid to just start. Take a risk and just start.