Good Morning POU Family!
Today’s featured designer: Natischa Harvey of Fever Shoes
At age 19, when most people are fresh out of high school and just beginning to enjoy their “adult” freedoms, Natischa Harvey was already making significant strides on a well-constructed path that was sure to lead to her dream life. She was married to her high school sweetheart, who happened to be a professional athlete, and she was studying to become an attorney at Clark Atlanta University. Needless to say, people close to her were completely shocked when she decided to take a job at Bakers during her sophomore year.
They questioned her sanity while she juggled her $6/hour evening shifts at the retail shoe store with her demanding political science classes during the day. But Natischa had a plan. There was a definite method behind the perceived madness, and the end result was Fever Shoes – a $1.5 million-and-growing brand that has firmly established Mrs. Harvey as a true contender in the highly competitive designer shoe industry.
Absolutely nothing came easy; she recalls feeling guilty for depleting her family’s savings to invest in her company and many nights working late and sleeping in her store – away from her husband and three children. She even took a two-week trip to China alone to find a manufacturer for her shoes when none of her industry contacts provided the leads she had hoped for.
The sacrifices were monumental, but she says, without hesitation, that it was completely worth it. “I have worked my butt off for my company, and even when I felt like quitting I just kept going because I didn’t have another option,” Natischa said. “It was hard before I really started making money when I was just breaking even because my family was depending on me. I depleted our savings account, and I felt horrible. But that only made me work 10 times harder, and today, every drop of blood, every drop of sweat and every tear was well worth it.”
In addition to providing uniquely chic designs to suit the myriad tastes and budgets of the everyday woman (current styles range from a sparkly wedged heel at $59.99 to funky, double-platformed stilettos priced at $250.00), Natischa has also seen her shoes grace the feet of some major celebrities, including Vivica A. Fox, Raven Symone, and Christina Aguilera. She actually credits her celeb clientele for giving her company its first real push into the mainstream.