Soleman®
my journey
in the footwear industry
About me, Mike...
This is my journey on how I got here…from the beginning. I’m writing once a week sharing my story and tips along the way for those who want to get in into the shoe and apparel industry, already in the industry looking for insights, or for those who just want to see my comic strips from a shoe dog who’s been around the block. I just added an Doggy Daddy product page, the carousel will take you directly to the item on Doggy Daddy. I also added links to go directly to the Doggy Daddy & Etsy stores where everything is, Enjoy!

My Latest Blogs Below.

Relieving Stress in your Life- #272
In Blog 271 I talked about Time to work on me now. In this blog I wanted to talk about Relieving Stress in your Life According to the American Psychological

Time to Work on Me Now – #271
In Blog 270 I Talked about Doggydaddyshop.com is born. In this blog I am going to talk about Time to Work on Me Now. Many of us live our lives

Doggydaddyshop.com is Born – #270
In Blog 269 I Talked about building a Shopify site. In this blog I am going to talk about Doggydaddyshop.com is born There is so much to creating a great website.

Building a Shopify site – #269
In Blog 268 I Talked about how the Etsy site gained steam. In this blog I am going to talk about Building a Shopify site My wife asked me the other

Etsy Site is Gaining Steam #268
In Blog 267 I Talked about utilizing my passion for dogs. In this blog I am going to talk about how the Etsy site gained steam. My first thought to the Etsy

Utilizing my passion for dogs #267
In Blog 266 I Talked about Going to visit Rabaul and a volcano. In this blog I am going to talk about utilizing my passion for dogs. My Passion for dogs
Previous 200 Blogs Below (see blog tab to go back further).

Relieving Stress in your Life- #272

Time to Work on Me Now – #271

Doggydaddyshop.com is Born – #270

Building a Shopify site – #269

Etsy Site is Gaining Steam #268

Utilizing my passion for dogs #267

Going to visit Rabaul and a Volcano #266

Going to a Village in Papua New Guinea #265

Going Down Under for some R and R #264

SEO Learning Curve #263

Making the Product for your Site #262

My Product Journey #261

Favorite Zalloween Moments #260

Zalloween Events over the years #259

Don’t take moments for granted #258

Having Fun With Product Again #257

Creating my eBay store #256

Be the Expert in your field #255

Building a Great Team #254

Embrace and Drive Change #253

The Journey continues #252

The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square #251

The Great Wall experience in Beijing #250

Meet up with Bing before we take some R&R #249

Shanghai Factories with Rob and Michael #248

FACE golf tournament for charity #247

China trip starts off at the China office #246

Reflections of our year 2021 #245

My son James turns 21 So I take him out #244

Personal Life gets better meeting Linda #243

Private label team visits Ha Long Bay #242

Private label team heads out to Vietnam #241

Steve gets promoted to VP of Merchandising #240

Zappos marathon a new puppy and a 60th birthday party #239

Zappos acquires 6PM and Nike goes live #238

The Couture site gets a facelift #237

2007 starts off with many new changes #236

2006 comes to a close at Zappos #235

Private label team heads to Shanghai #234

Zappos reaches over 804 brands on the site #233

Another tour group for China departs in April #232

Our founder Nick leaves Zappos #231

2005 comes to an end and another China trip #230

Meanwhile back in Las Vegas then off again #229

Zappos factory tour group day two #228

First Zappos tour group arrives #227

My strength slowly comes back #226

My night in a Chinese Hospital #225

Zappos creates the offer during NHT #224

Back in Vegas for a hot minute #223

Our first Quality Control tour #222

The Amazing Pegasus factory tour #221

Anna starts and back to China #220

Back to Milan and the Micam Show #219

John starts designing the boxes for us #218

Boxes and gel pads get figured out #217

Back to China with two goals #216

First Million dollar day celebration #215

INC 500 and some new faces #214

Rule number one don’t ask what you’re eating #213

Gel for Fitzwell idea is born #212

Next the shoe line tour #211

Today we tour several shoe factories #210

Next up we tour a last factory #209

Day one we visit a tannery #208

First trip to tour China factories #207

Factory tours in Tuscany Italy #206

Florence Italy and Factory tours #205

My first Micam shoe show trip #204

My Private Label journey begins #203

Zappos 5th Anniversary party turns into the Vendor party #202

Customer service and Culture become the focus #201

Starbucks pitch and Private Label position #200

Merchandising progression plan begins July 2004 #199

Zappos moves Headquarters to Las Vegas in 2004 #198

Pam gets interviewed in San Francisco #197

First WSA show with Zappos #196

Zappos 4th Anniversary Party #195

Merchandising breaks out the buying by categories #194

The time Tony and Fred Pranked me #193

My first big Pitch as a Zappos Buyer #192

Embrace and Drive Change #191

Weekly Lunch at Zappos was fun #190

Zappos Buying Team 2003 #189

Size and width brands is my focus #188

Zappos moves away from dropship model in 2003 #187

Zappos moves warehouse to Kentucky 2002 #186

Zappos provides its own selection #185

Zappos moves to 1000 Van Ness #184

Zappos is born July 15 1999 #183

First a little Zappos history #182

Why you should never burn your Bridges #181

My Zappos journey begins and my 5 tenents #180

My first meeting and interview with Tony Hsieh #179

The proverbial Straw and a meltdown #178

Aaron sets up the Zappos interview #177

Transfered to the Target Hayward store opening #176

Target corporate visit went well #175

The Good The Bad and the Sad #174

The daily routine at Target #173

Learning from George and Charles #172

Zappos calls again in 2002 #171

My Target journey begins in Milpitas #170

Three Reps who Stayed in Touch #169

These Mountains you Are Carrying #168

My Time with Nordstrom is done #167

Best to have options to make decisions #166

Nordstrom Consolidations sealed the deal #165

The Tipping Point for me #164

Sales continue to Plummet and Pressure increases #163

Joe comes back to Nordstrom #162

Our Valley Fair Support Team #161

A welcomed break from stressful days #160

The Beginning of the End- Blog #159

Remodels are the Ultimate sales prevention- Blog #158

Bill and Mikes Cluck U adventure – Blog #157

More Nordstrom changes and a trip to Vegas – Blog #156

More changes in Valley Fair – Blog #155

No Problem was the Nordstrom way – Blog #154

Fred Leaves Nordstrom for Zappos.com – Blog #153

Why the most important asset is people – Blog #152

Coaching from two Toms made the difference – Blog #151

Salon Reps that helped in Valley Fair – Blog #150

New Merchandiser and Store Manager – Blog #149

Valley Fair and 5 Corporate Pacesetters – Blog #148

Our Dog Willie the Collie – Blog #147

My Friend and Nordstrom Buddy Daryl Curley – Blog #146

Palo Alto Womens floor recap Blog #145

Great Business Cures All Woes Blog #144

Valley Fair Opening for a Combined floor Blog #143

Bob and Blake knew how to Motivate Blog #142

People who made a Difference plus Fun Stuff #141

Key Brands we made Huge – Blog #140

Reps who helped turn it around – Blog #139

My Northern California Peers- Blog #138

The Easy Spirit National Sales Event- Blog #137

The Ugg Slippers bet Paid Off – Blog #136

The Ugg Slippers bet I took in Palo Alto – Blog #135

You are Only as Good as Your Last Flash – Blog #134

Our First Family Dog was Muttley #133

How we worked Inventory down Successfully #132

It’s Better to ask for Forgiveness than Permission – Blog #131

How Change in our lives are Lessons – Blog #130

The Turning Point for Palo Alto – Blog #129

Team Bonding is Good for Morale -Blog #128

Nordstrom Buyers were based in each store #127

Treat People like you Would want to be Treated – Blog #126

Having a great Right Arm person – Blog #125

Building a Great Team – Blog #124

The Defining Moment in my Career – Blog #123

Being Present and Meeting Bruce Munro – Blog #122

What is the Gameplan – Blog #121

Settling in to a New Position – Blog #120

Transfer to Bay Area Checklist – Blog #119

Goodbyes are tough -Blog #118

Better to be Humble – Blog #117

If You Fail to Plan you Plan to Fail Blog #116

Having a Strong Vision – Blog #115

More change in the East Bay – Blog #114

Just say no to revenge – Blog #113

Different Styles to learn from – Blog #112

Communication Breakdown – Blog #111

No Guts No Glory – Blog #110

Change is constant in Retail – Blog #109

The Eastbay team plus one – Blog #108

How My Influencers got me there – Blog #107

Year End Re Cap 1993 – Blog #106

My Favorite NYC Ffany Trip – Blog #105

How to Execute Events properly – Blog #104

Anniversary Sale Re-cap – Blog #103

The Mayor of Zappos – Blog #102

Planning is Most Important – Blog #101

9 Pacesetters on the BP floor – Blog #100

The Team rescued me – Blog #99

Politically Speaking at Nordstrom – Blog #98

Honest Feedback is key – Blog #97

My Mentor Rob and more Change – Blog #96

Under size 5 and Over size 10 event – Blog #95

Good people in Key Positions – Blog #94

Our Team Building Movie – Blog #93

Building the Team in Brass Plum Shoes – Blog #92

Change is Constant in Retail – Blog #91

Building a Team for Success – Blog #90

Quality Value and Selection – Blog #89

The Next Big brand – Blog #88

Fatherhood again with the Birth of Jennifer – Blog #87

Focus on the Solutions – Blog #86

Buyer of the Month Recognition – Blog #85

Hot items make the difference – Blog #84

Why Knowledge is Power – Blog #83

My Mentor Rob’s Influence – Blog #82

Vendor Relations are Important – Blog #81

Maximizing The Hot Items – Blog #80

Follow the Golden Rule – Blog #79

Getting Organized in the Stockroom – Blog #78

Hardest part of the job – Blog #77

Hard work pays off – Blog #76

Be the change driver – Blog #75

Corporate Business Trip to Seattle – Blog #74

Power of Mentors and Friendships – Blog #73

SIZES... SIZES... SIZES... SIZES...
…just sharing my story and tips from my footwear career.
Subscribe to my Blog by filling out your info above.