Teenage twins Taylan and Tylan Walker have united their individual interests to become entrepreneurs.
WAVE 3 News in Louisville, KY, reports the pair was looking to open a brick-and-mortar store to start selling shoes when they completed high school. At the age of 13, Tylan had already started buying and reselling shoes on the market, while Taylan was watering his interest in cameras and videography.
As the business of selling shoes grew, it became clear to them it was time to scale the venture.
”When I was in my house I was getting a bunch of shoes, and I was getting more and more shoes until like I was getting to the point where I needed to change locations because I had too many shoes in the house basically,” Tylan told the outlet.
This led to the storefront Finest Kicks opening its doors in Louisville. The venture was supported through the brothers’ earnings from restoring and cleaning shoes as well as sales from buying and reselling shoes on the market.
”Shoes and videos are a big market, especially in this time right now,” Taylan explained. “People really want the best kicks, the best clothes, the best videos, and so we might as well take advantage of it. It’s the best thing to do for real, for real.”
Paving their way as entrepreneurs has come with its challenges. In order to gain visibility and traction to ensure they could meet rent in their retail location, the brothers had to become more innovative. This included finding the latest shoes on the market and honing in on Taylan’s video skills to advertise the shop.
”It was a little hard and a little difficult really because of money, trying to pay monthly [rent] and get people in here so we can pay every month,” Tylan mentioned, according to WAVE 3 News. “So basically we just tried to get like the best kicks and the newest shoes so they can sell.”
While the shop is serving the community by offering deals on various shoes and clothing, the pair is also committed to giving to their community in other ways. In fact, they have helped struggling customers from time to time by gifting them a free pair of shoes.
”We be giving back to the community sometimes with younger or older people who come and walk past our store,” Taylan revealed. “If we see them and they’re in need, we’ll throw them a pair of shoes because we like just giving back.”
In the future, the brothers hope to expand their business into larger shops, and they teased the idea of one day expanding the business even further.
”I see ourselves expanding to either a different place or like the mall or a bigger place or even like a different state to get more exposure,” Tylan said, per Wave 3 News.
