Ep. 92 - George Esquivel (Esquivel Shoes)

The story of George Esquivel feels like it could be a movie script. From an uneasy childhood kicking his dad out of his house to starting his own shoe business, the successes & the pitfalls - most pitfalls were mere bumps in the road due to things outside of George’s control such as investors backing out and the effects of COVID for example - it’s been a roller coaster and it’s all worthy of the big screen in my opinion. I first came across George’s work in and around 2009/2010 when I was writing my lifestyle blog, Screaming Mouth. I’d seen him in some magazines as well as some stores around Los Angeles where I was living at the time. Though I wanted to interview him back then, the timing never worked out. Funny enough, while I was in Chicago at the Windup Watch Fair, the brand “Esquivel” came up in conversation with George from Everest Bands. As fate and sheer coincidence would have it, two days later I received an email from Esquivel’s marketing department about perhaps being a candidate for a podcast interview…little did they know my awareness of the brand from 10 years before. It’s so crazy how the world shrinks sometimes. I can’t believe it’s been a decade since I first learned about Esquivel which is also a testament to George's staying power. I just love his aesthetic and unique style of his product assortment, which I feel he does a great job describing even without a visual component of this show. So if you’re into shoes and/or want to learn all about how they’re made, etc. this show’s for you. So rather than summarize the conversation too much, I figured it’s best to just jump in, because George has had one hell of a ride.