Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Jones.
In December 2015, Eric Jones came up with the idea to launch his luxury shoe business LFLS Shoes while still a student at the University of Arkansas.
His concept for the company was inspired by his humble upbringing in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas where he saw his mother struggle to make ends meet at home. Having spent a lot of time in church as a kid, Jones says that dressing up was always part of his lifestyle and he viewed fashion as a vehicle for expressing himself beyond his circumstances.
“My mom always used to say, ‘Don’t look like what you’re going through or been through,’” he tells Because of Them We Can.
He credits his modest beginnings and the strict discipline of his parents with helping to shape him into the entrepreneur that he is today. In 2015, when he pulled out an LLC for his business, he says his mother offered her support right away and helped him to get it off the ground. A few weeks before graduating college in December 2016, Jones’ mother passed away, and he was forced to figure things out on his own. Three years before that, in 2013, Jones says he also lost his father.
“Most of the stuff I’ve been through inspires a lot of people,” he says. “So it’s about the shoes, but it’s also about my story and being transparent about my journey as an African American male.”
After taking a hiatus to deal with the pain of loss in his personal life, Jones refocused his energy on his business and officially started selling shoes nation-wide via his website in 2017. His company, which stands for Like Father Like Son, offers luxury shoes for both men and women that are designed in the United States and handcrafted in Brazil.
“People think I have a big team, but I do everything from design to deliver from my apartment,” says Jones.
Having experienced a few setbacks both personally and professionally, Jones says he would tell anyone who is interested in going the entrepreneurship route that passion and resilience is the key to their success.
“One big thing that I would tell anybody is if you are not passionate about it then don’t do it because I swear to God most businesses will fail,” he says. “You jump in and think you are going to make some money, and when you don’t see that money come in the first five or six months, you quit. So passion is very important and resilience because there will always be ups and downs. You just have to celebrate the good times and the wins.”
Jones says he hopes his business and personal story will inspire the next young person to overcome any obstacles they are facing in order to launch the business of their dreams.
“Just sharing the story behind the brand is more important than the product for me,” he explains. “I want people to know what I had to go through personally to get to where I am because it is way deeper than shoes for me. A huge part is me showing other people who look like me or come from backgrounds like mine that they can do it too.”
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
– Losing my grandmother in 2010, father in 2013 and mother in 2016 before I graduated college.
– Little to no funding to get the business started
– Losing a mentor/investor
– Receiving a defected order of shoes last year and being screwed over by my agent in New York (Overcharging and placing an order for lower quality shoes than I requested)
– Lived off of about $10,000 in credit cards during the year of 2017
– Scaling the brand with no working capital or budget to invest in marketing
– Receiving support from my own people
– Struggles with learning accounting and bookkeeping
Just to name a few.
LFLS Shoes – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
LFLS Shoes is a designer dress shoe company that offers unique loafers and flats. We are known for the inspirational story behind the brand and our unique styles that we offer.
We are extremely proud that we have become a business that is bigger than our product. We offer so much inspiration and motivation to others through our story. We are a family, and our customers can tell that we are not here to just sell them shoes but to genuinely love and care about them.
LFLS Shoes is a growing family of individuals from many different backgrounds, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have built our company from passion and purpose!
Our unique products, our story and the fact that we are a black-owned business all sets us apart from the rest.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of the proudest moments so far has been having a national episode on PBS of me sharing my story and journey. The amount of people that I have been able to inspire is such a blessing.
Pricing:
- Our shoe prices range from $140-$250
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lflsshoes.com
- Phone: 870-816-4139
- Email: ericjones@lflsshoes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lflsshoes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LFLSSHOES/?ref=bookmarks
Image Credit:
B Watts Photography, Jenn Terrell Photography, PK Abelardo
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