Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show where we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is Weslee Lewis, Founder of Pure Soles. Their mission is to provide underserved communities with footwear, sporting goods, educational resources and other essentials. Thank you so much for being here.
Weslee Lewis
Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Maya Gwynn
Of course, I want to start at the beginning, what moment or experience inspired you to start this organization, and why? Specifically, footwear and like sporting goods.
Weslee Lewis
Yeah, so it's kind of crazy. When I gave away my first pairs of shoes it was 2017 and I was actually sleeping in my car. I was going through a rough time, and I just had a conversation with my brother. He's about 12 years younger than me. He was just saying, like, oh, kids at my school are like, getting bullied for shoes and things like that. At the time, I was working at Shiekh, Shiekh Shoes. I got a really good, like, discount there, so I use like, half of my paycheck to donate shoes to the Boys and Girls Club in Fontana. So that's kind of the origin story of how I got started.
Maya Gwynn
That's amazing. So you were still someone going through a hard time and still wanting to give back. What impact have you seen when kids or families receive proper footwear or sports equipment, especially sports equipment. People don't see that always as essential, but it is.
Weslee Lewis
My favorite thing is just seeing the smiles on their faces, like it brings me just so much joy. And growing up, I didn't have a lot of resources. So there were times where I would have hand me down cleats that were maybe a size too big, and that affects your play. Especially, I grew up playing football, like a cleat that's a size too big, your feet are sliding. You're trying to make tackles, things like that. So that stuff is really important.
Maya Gwynn
And you can only wear cleats for so long, too.
Weslee Lewis
Yeah. So luckily, I was able to at least get some hand me downs, because there's some families that can't even afford like, one pair of cleats. So a lot of kids the first couple months, they might be out there just running around in shoes, like, just regular sneakers, slipping and sliding everywhere. So being able to just be the change that I want to see has been amazing.
Maya Gwynn
Honestly, what are the biggest challenges your organization has faced in distributing goods, and how have you overcome them?
Weslee Lewis
Honestly, I've received a lot of noes. I've been very surprised, like, when I go to places like, Hey, I have sneakers, I have sporting goods, I have other essentials, like, I want to distribute to people in your community. And certain schools will be like, Oh, no, you can't do that here. Or certain businesses will be like, No, we're good. But I just kept going, somebody's gonna say yes to this free stuff. So eventually I got in contact with the Boys and Girls Club in Fontana, and they let me distribute about six, seven pairs there, and then just kept growing from there, like, Okay, some people understand how important footwear and sporting goods and other essentials are for kids.
Maya Gwynn
Definitely. This kind of goes into what you just said. What do you wish more people understood about access to quality footwear, especially like as a social justice issue?
Weslee Lewis
I honestly think that sneakers were, speaking for myself, growing up, was such a big part of my confidence. Just walking out. I grew up in Fontana, so it was predominantly Hispanic. I was like, if there's a class of 30 kids, I'm the only black kid in class. So I always knew I was kind of different, and I was the only one wearing fly sneakers, like when I would go to school. So I always felt special when I had my shoes on, and I always felt like I had to be excellent. Like, that's what my parents always taught me.
Maya Gwynn
Because you stood out anyway.
Weslee Lewis
Yeah, you might be different, but be different in a good way. Get all A's, come to school, be dressed nice, smell good. Like, that kind of stuff was instilled in me, and that stuff's really important, especially when you're the kid that kind of stands out. It could go either way for you. It could be really bad or it could be really good. So I was just so blessed to have parents that instilled confidence in me and made me understand my blackness and how important it was, and that it was a superpower. It wasn't a weakness. It was something I can speak about and believe in myself.
Maya Gwynn
And with all the kids that you've helped over the years, do you have like, a story, like a kid that kind of had a similar outcome as you have?
Weslee Lewis
I think there's one kid that comes to mind, because we do have a shoe custom program where I allow kids to color a sneaker, basically, like on a blank piece of paper. They have an Air Force One that they color, and my board of directors, we get together, we vote on what kid gets that sneaker. So we did it at an arts festival in LA and there was a kid named Honor that, we gave him the paper, and we have markers and stuff for the kids. But he was like, No, I got my own markers. He pulled the markers out of his pocket. He had his logo ready, like, he put the logo on the shoe.
Maya Gwynn
And how old is this kid?
Weslee Lewis
He was 12.So in middle school. So he honestly reminded me a lot of myself, because he had a love for just art. I used to color like Dragon Ball Z coloring books and draw Goku and Vegeta and things like that in middle school. So he reminded me a lot of myself, because I love just colors and creating things. So yeah, we end up picking him as the winner, and once we gave him the shoe, he was just so grateful, and he just really said that he never thought anything like this could happen to him. And he understands how hard work pays off because of this. So that's probably one of my favorite moments that I've had. I have a few more, but Honor is always the one I think about when I'm like, this is why I do this, so kids can understand people that look like you are out here doing positive things, and you can be creative.
Maya Gwynn
If your organization's story were a book, what chapter are you in now and what does the next chapter look like?
Weslee Lewis
I think we're still in the early stages. My first giveaway was 2017, really was funded by me until 2020 like I was just spending my own money until I got a 501(c)(3) in 2020 and yeah, I feel like we're still early stages. Even with the rebrand. We started off as For the Love of Kicks, and now we're rebranding, and we became Pure Soles. And my goal one day is just to be a million dollar nonprofit, to where we have a million dollars to distribute to our people, to our community. And that's really the goal, to have funds and be able to give it to the people that really need it. And one day, I do want to open like an event space, somewhere where kids can come. And basically all my events, I just have them there in that space, whether it's the shoe custom or it's the back to school event, where kids can get haircuts and sneakers and food and things like that. Like I just want to be a place where kids know they can come and be themselves and be comfortable, and Mr. Wes will always be here to kind of support them.
Maya Gwynn
And I love that 2017 - it's crazy, but it was almost 10 years ago, and you said that you're still in the beginning. Good things, it takes time. And you have to stay patient, but like, keep killing it, like you're doing.
Weslee Lewis
I think my love for sneakers and my love for community, I think after the first giveaway where I seen the kids smile, and I was like, dang, like, there's cheese and like, this is the best gift they got for Christmas. So I'll be transparent. I was the kind of kid that there were times where I would steal because I didn't have any resources, like my parents couldn't get me what I needed. So I was at the mall stealing. I was going to Target stealing footballs and basketballs. I'll go to the library and steal a book. I don't want kids to have to go through that. I want them to have a person they could lean on, even though their parents can't support them in that type of way, like I wanted to have that space where kids could come feel comfortable. They don't have to go out and steal and do those types of things, like they know they can call Mr. Wes and he'll be there to support
Maya Gwynn
We're gonna move to our rapid fire portion. I'm excited to hear your answers. If your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Weslee Lewis
Theme Song? Probably Dedication by Nipsey and Kendrick. Since that song has came out, I was already kind of in the midst of me building what I wanted to build. And it takes dedication. Like, I listen to that song almost every day. I'm a big Nipsey fan. The Marathon Continues.
Maya Gwynn
And he was doing what you were doing. I didn't know about a lot of the work he was doing until he passed away and then seeing how much he gave back to his own community, how he was giving out toys, giving out sneakers. Like, that's a great connection. If you had to teach a master class to give a TED talk on a random skill you have besides the job that you already do, what would it be?
Weslee Lewis
I grew up playing football, so I honestly feel like I could teach a class on just football. Like, these are the rules. These are the good players. These are the teams. This is the legacy of football people that came before. Like, I feel like I have a good, pretty good knowledge of all that stuff.
Maya Gwynn
Yeah. Someone who's born and raised here, what's your favorite IE restaurant or landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Weslee Lewis
I would say the mall. Probably say the Mills, Victoria Gardens, or the park Martin Tudor, where we just had a bunch of family events, and I had my first summer bash there, actually. So that was like a full circle moment for sure. Like, those will probably be the couple things that really remind me of the IE, when I think of like the Inland Empire in a nutshell.
Maya Gwynn
How can people keep up with you and support the amazing work you guys are doing?
Weslee Lewis
Instagram at pure soles org.
Maya Gwynn
Awesome. Thank you so much for being here, Weslee.
Weslee Lewis
Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
Maya Gwynn
Of course, appreciate you too. Weslee Lewis is Founder of Pure Soles. Find this segment and others at kvcrnews.org/bpie. Support for the segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments and black led organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn. Thank you.
