When Auckland entrepreneur Rima Yousef decided to leave a steady career in construction to follow her dream of creating sparkly designer party shoes in 2022, it seemed an unlikely move for the mum-of-two. But it came as no surprise to her husband Bowan Anderton, who learnt the extent of his wife’s heel obsession after they moved in together almost a decade ago. Rima had 200 pairs of shoes that needed their own room!
“I wake every morning with a fire in my belly,” enthuses the owner of Sole Shoes, who launched her footwear company in 2019. “When I chose to focus on my business full-time, I wanted more freedom for my family and to pursue my passion. Now I have around 160 shoe styles that I designed myself and sell online.”
Rima, 32, was five when her family moved to New Zealand from Jordan, where stunning high heels were part of everyday fashion.
“My mum had this vintage cupboard with a drawer at the bottom and so many shoes in it,” she recalls. “They were fancy and sparkly with rhinestones, and I always thought, ‘Wow!’ My sister and I would try them on – they were all like 10-centimetre heels.”
With husband Bowan and kids Jude (left) and Zayn.
Now a mum herself to Jude, three, and Zayn, one, Rima fondly remembers a pair of heels her mother Maysoon Asad owned that she hopes to replicate one day, which were crafted from black satin and finished with the illusion of a front bow topped with rhinestones.
“They were just stunning,” she recalls. “My mum had a lot of nice clothes and always wore heels. It’s funny because my memories are only of trying on the shoes, not the clothes, and being told off to put them away!”
It wasn’t only Rima’s mum who influenced her dream career. Her father Mufeed Yousef instilled in her a strong work ethic early on.
“My dad is Palestinian, a civil engineer and 65 now,” she tells. “He must’ve been around 38 when we came to New Zealand and I grew up watching him hustle. He struggled at first to get a job in engineering because he had to redo his master’s here, which he did at Auckland University while working a job and having five kids. That must’ve been a very hard phase for him, but Dad never gave up.”
Rima’s university studies in drug design led to a five-year career in pharmaceuticals –and finding the love of her life! She met IT professional Bowan, 35, in her final year of study in 2011, when they did the same computer science paper.
“My husband is my biggest fan, and my right hand with all the business and techy stuff like the website. And he’s not at all into fashion! But he always tells me the shoes look great.”
Rima was 23 when she married Bowan, who found himself lugging suitcases of shoes into their new home and suggested she get rid of some. “He was like, ‘Listen, you’ve got a problem,’ but I told him it wasn’t going to happen, and so the collection just grew and grew,” she grins.
It wasn’t until Rima gave birth to their first son that she parted ways with some of her colourful collection because her feet went up a size during pregnancy! Now she owns about 80 pairs, including some from her own collection, which she started out of frustration for what she saw as a lack of unconventional footwear options in New Zealand.
Before she launched her business, she’d done five years in project management at global civil engineering company Downer, which built her confidence.
High fashion on site!
“Initially, starting in construction was a struggle and I nearly quit about 20 times!” she confesses. “I had a lot of anxiety and all the new jargon was very over-whelming. But by the time I left, I could do it with my eyes closed and I grew a thick skin. It toughened me, which I needed for my business now, especially since I’m starting to approach wholesalers.”
Rima’s ultimate dream is for Sole Shoes to become a household name. While her footwear is made in Turkey and Brazil, she looks to high-end designers from major fashion houses for inspiration, monitoring catwalk shows in Paris and New York.
“Whatever’s happening overseas will come here six or seven months later,” explains Rima, who visits trade shows for shoes in Milan and China. “My philosophy is to provide a comfortable and quality designer-style shoe, but without a designer price tag.”
Using a group of family, friends and fellow business owners as her sounding board for feedback on style and colour ideas, Rima also relies on fashion advice from her most valued critic.
“Whenever I’m in the sampling process, my mum always gives her feedback and she’s very blunt,” laughs Rima.
“She’s like, ‘No, ugly!’ or, ‘I like it. Can you get one for me?’ All the shoes Mum likes, she has a pair of. Even in her sixties, she still loves a good pair of shoes!”
