Schools

Dutch Fork Graduate Turns Passion for Shoes into a Business

2013 graduate Sable Bowler came up with a plan for a business called Unique Soles that sells shoes to women who wear sizes 11 through 14.

Submitted by Lexington-Richland District Five.

It’s a well-known, somewhat cliche but seldom-disputed fact: girls love shoes. But for one District Five graduate, a passion for footwear fashion and the skills picked up in a high school entrepreneurship class has turned into more than the hunt for the perfect pair. 

Sable Bowler, a 2013 Dutch Fork High School graduate, has started her own business to create high heels for women wearing sizes 11 through 14. She was recognized at last year’s Youth Entrepreneurship South Carolina gala for the shoe business plan she worked on at Dutch Fork High. Bowler will attend Clark Atlanta University this fall, where she plans to study business and pursue investors for her company Unique Soles. 

“Entrepreneurship is so much more than just starting a business,” said Norma Brown, Bowler’s Entrepreneurship teacher at Dutch Fork High. “When you guide students to find that special gift inside of them and help them develop it, there is nothing they cannot achieve.” 

Bowler says the idea for her shoe business started years ago.

“Growing up, it was always hard for me to find cute shoes because I had a larger sized foot than most kids my age,” Bowler said. 

She laughingly admits that she inherited both large feet and a love for shoes from her parents.

“Her dad had a lot of shoes. Since he wore a size 18 shoe, he always ordered them offline,” Sable’s mother Eunice McLeod said. “When Sable was a baby, he always made sure she had the newest sneakers and shoes. It created a bond between the two of them.” 

Bowler’s father died when she was just 7 years old, sparking initial aspirations of starting a shoe business to honor him. But the clarity of just how to do that did not come until later. 

“The concept originally started after her dad died,” McLeod said. “But, eventually, we just pushed it to the side. When she got in to the entrepreneurship class, that’s when her passion for it resurfaced and it has really taken off.” 

Bowler credits the lessons she learned from her marketing management and entrepreneurship classes at Dutch Fork High for the success she’s had with developing a plan for her business. With the support of her mother and knowledge taken from her classes, Bowler is confident that her business will create a market for women with large feet and inspire others to start businesses of their own. 

“No idea is a dumb idea," Bowler said. "Anything that you think could possibly help make a difference, just go for it. With proper planning and research, anything is possible.” 


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