Welcome!

February 10, 2020

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Written by Shoetopia Office

February 10, 2020

·

Written by Shoetopia Office

Hey. I’m Laura! I’ve been at Shoetopia for about five months now working on our copywriting and modeling the occasional shoe or two (it isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, but I can’t complain about trying on shoes all day). I’ve learned a lot about the fashion industry and I can’t wait to start sharing more with you! I’ll be posting about our favorite shoes, how to style them, and you might even get a discount or two on our products. Although we love them, this blog won’t just be about shoes— we’ll also be sharing lifestyle and beauty tips, playlists, trend reports, lookbooks, and more. Before we get into all of that though, I’d like to introduce myself. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to read another impersonal listicle about 27 products every 20-something needs or 5 life hacks for making a salad. So, here’s a little bit about what makes me, me.

View from the top of Koh Phi Phi, Thailand.

I’m a writer, photographer and jack-of-all-trades who loves traveling, learning, fashion, and the great outdoors. Although I love Los Angeles, I’m not a native; I’m originally from rural Wisconsin. I was a rough and tumble kid who was happiest up in a tree or with my nose in a book. My sister and I spent every summer lost in our woods, running down old mining trails, building forts in half-fallen trees and barricading ourselves in our treehouse preparing for enemy attacks we were sure would come someday. As I got older and my days of playing pirate in the treehouse waned, I that same spark of, “how far can I go and what can I find while I’m out there?” remained. By the time I was a freshman in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I was still unruly but convinced that I needed to study something that would give me a stable, successful career.

A jaw-dropping sunset at Zion National Park, Utah.

I wasn’t too bad at the whole school thing but I couldn’t ignore the itch to go do something else entirely. I felt like there was so much world out there and I was seeing so little of it. So, the summer after my freshman year of college, I exaggerated my babysitting experience and became an au pair. Unconventional, yes, but it allowed me and my miniscule budget to travel alone.

At the strange and beautiful 12 Apostles along Great Ocean Road on the southern coast of Australia.

The following summer, I impulsively bought a flight to Belize and left a week later for a month of unplanned solo backpacking through Central America. I fell so head over heels in love with every aspect of backpacking that I knew I was in serious trouble. My junior year I meant to study abroad, but the programs just weren’t what I was looking for, so I dropped out of school and got a one way flight to Australia. Six months of ridiculous backpacking adventures, two countries and one broken bone later, I got back to the states just in time for my senior year of school.

A spring sunrise at one of my always-favorite places in the world, the Terrace at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I finished my bachelor’s in journalism a year later and moved to San Francisco, hoping to find a job and stay in one place for awhile. Instead, I ended up quickly moving to Los Angeles, which I found to be a much better fit for myself. As sprawling and daunting as LA is, it’s also overflowing with creativity, music, culture, fashion and art. I finally felt like I found somewhere where I could balance felt like I’d found somewhere I could get a job without feeling like I had to give up on my need to continuously explore. I did a handful of odd jobs, including writing for a fashion and lifestyle blog and doing background work for tv shows before ending up here at Shoetopia!

I’ll be posting weekly, so keep an eye out for new blogs! In the meantime, check out our Instagram, @shopshoetopia, for new styles and special deals and feel free to message us with any blog requests, ideas and more!

xx

Laura