Emily Davis inspires our community members to live their most active lives. She and her husband, Keith, are the successful community-conscious owners of Fleet Feet stores in Clemmons and Winston-Salem. Her perspective as an entrepreneur and philanthropist is something to behold as invaluable.
Talk to everyone about your career path and if you always knew you would own a business.
From as young as middle school, I had plans to pursue a career in corporate marketing or advertising. As young as 7th grade I knew I wanted to get my MBA. I never thought I’d own my own business, and I certainly never thought I’d be the owner of a Fleet Feet store.
In high school, I hated the days we had to run three miles at track practice – owning a business that was all about running and helping others live fit was not on my wish list.
What were the early days like as a Fleet Feet owner?
The early days were pretty tough. We saved for two years to have enough to start the business. We took all that we had and put it into building out the first store, buying the inventory and we still had to take a big loan. I remember in the early days our daily sales were a couple hundred per day. It was many months before we finally cleared having days that were more than $1,000 per day. We were scraping by. It was stressful. But, a Fleet Feet owner had warned me to get ready to live off of peanut butter and jelly for the first few years, and she wasn’t kidding.
What words of advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
You have to be consistent and patient. Starting a business and building it to be successful is a long, slow journey. It doesn’t happen quickly.
Imagine you take all the savings you have, you put it into a business that you believe in your heart will work (but you don’t really know if it will) and then just show up every day waiting for it to turn the corner. I’m so grateful we started Fleet Feet. I also think we were naïve enough to just go for it – we were young. We had our first child the first year the business opened. I remember thinking – what would happen if we went bankrupt. The CEO of Fleet Feet at the time laughed at me. He said “first of all, that’s not going to happen, and secondly, don’t you think you’re marketable enough to go do something else if that were to happen?”
Don’t ever listen to the doubters. You have to trust your own abilities.
What is the primary mission for Fleet Feet?
Our primary mission is to help others live a more fit life in our community. We go deeper in our mission – we want to achieve this by being a catalytic engine for improvement in the Triad and by living out our Christian values through our business.
What has been the biggest challenge with your business?
Definitely working with my spouse. That’s a tough one. In the first 10 years, it was so so hard. Our marriage and work life was just all a big blur – there was no separation. Now, it’s been 19 years, and the blended days are still there but my perspective has changed. Now, I appreciate it and the blessing that it has been.
What has pleasantly surprised you the most?
I never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I wanted to live the executive life and dress nice every day and drive a Volvo. That was seriously my vision for myself when I was younger. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how my attitude toward work has changed. Fleet Feet has afforded me the flexibility to do what I need to do as a mom, and give the time to my kids that is needed.
Speak about your philanthropic work and what it has brought to the business.
Our local philanthropic efforts were begun with creating our shoe charity, Mission Feet First, which is now called Good Works Engine.
Back in 2010, it was created to help bless others with a new pair of shoes. We wanted to bless the homeless and tent city community, and low income students with a proper fitting pair of shoes.
Since 2010, our efforts have expanded to include Kenya. We helped build a school in Kenya for a running academy with Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir. Now, we’ve started a new coffee company, Bingwa, to raise funds for Transcend Talent Academy. God just keeps giving us more opportunities to serve.
What are some ultimate goals for your business?
Our Winston-Salem store is turning 19 this year. We are working hard to create a system that allows our amazing staff to fully run the business. One day, we want to be able to transition ownership to our staff. I don’t want to sell shoes forever – there are other things I believe God is calling me to do. Fleet Feet has been an amazing blessing in our lives, but we are ready to start thinking about what structure is needed to transition ownership one day. Our staff is incredible. Presently, it’s about how to transition it to the right person or team and maintain the culture that we’ve built.
