The Cobbler
by Steve Madden
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GENRE: Memoir
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BLURB:
Everyone knows Steve Madden's name and his
shoes, but few are familiar with his story. Over the past thirty years Steve
Madden has taken his eponymous shoe company from the fledgling startup he
founded with a mere $1,100.00 to a global, multi-billion-dollar brand. But
Madden's mistakes, from his battle with addiction to the financial shortcuts
that landed him in prison, are as important to his story as his most iconic shoes.
In this raw, intimate, and inspiring book, Madden holds nothing back as he
shares what it took to get here and the lessons he's learned along the way.
Readers are treated to the wild ride though his rise, fall, and comeback. But
they will also walk away uplifted by a man who has owned up to his mistakes,
determined to give back.
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Excerpt One:
I fidgeted in
my tux, restless as ever, as the supermodel Winnie Harlow stood onstage talking
about my career, my brand, and me. These events always felt surreal. I never
got used to them, and it was hard to focus on what she was saying as thoughts
flooded through my brain. Is my jacket straight? Do I have all the notes for my
speech? It’s nice that Winnie is wearing a pair of my shoes.
“Steve Madden
has been called many things,” Winnie said from the podium. That’s for sure, I
thought.
“Mogul,” she
said, pausing for effect. “Icon.”
I could have
added to that list. As a kid, I was called things like stupid and lazy, a pain
in the ass who couldn’t shut up and sit still. Nobody knew then that I had an
attention disorder that kept me from focusing, or that such a thing even
existed. In my teens and twenties, I was called other things: a partier, a wild
man. But at the height of my addiction, when I was either out crashing cars or
hiding in my apart- ment, isolating myself from the world, my life was anything
but a party.
It wasn’t until
I turned thirty and got clean that people started calling me things that were
positive: creative, charismatic, someone who was on the pulse of trends and
knew how to create a cool product for a good price. When I look back, those
years were the best—hustling and fighting, clawing my way to the top of an
industry that was loathe to accept an outsider like me. But they were also the
years when I made my biggest mistakes fueled by impatience and a replacement
addiction: money. After my downfall, the names I was called were the most
hurtful, even though they were true: a criminal, a convict, a mere number as
far as anyone running the facility I was locked up in cared to know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
A man who wears many hats-and shoes-Steve Madden cannot be described in one word. He is an entrepreneur, an award-winning designer, and a business titan whose eponymous company is currently worth 3 billion dollars. On the flip side, he is an ex-con, a recovering addict, and a devoted family man. Over the past thirty years, the provocative shoe designer built a booming brand and nearly lost it all to The Wolf of Wall Street, only to rebound by giving back and creating a global empire. Through it all, he hasn't forgotten his humble beginnings or his core consumer, resulting in millions of adoring fans worldwide. Considered the fashion footwear mogul of the twenty-first century, Madden has an innate sense of what's hot, what's next, what's exciting, and more importantly, how this will translate to the customer. He is also an active philanthropist and mentor who supports a number of organizations that help those in need of a second chance.
https://www.amazon.com/Cobbler-Disrupted-Industry-Grace-Stronger/dp/B0BLC2BT86/
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GIVEAWAY:
Steve Madden will be awarding $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for hosting.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday! Thank you for sharing the details of your memoir, it sounds like you have led quite the life and I am looking forward to reading your story. Do you have any specific reading or writing plans for the weekend?
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to reading this. I have kept up on Steve Madden news for years. He's an inspiration for people to know you can overcome anything.
ReplyDeleteGreat story to be able to see her past and what lies in her future!!
ReplyDelete