A FAMILY OF SOLES

By Autumn Potter

It all began in 2012, with an idea and a dream to get out from behind a desk. It grew into a side hustle pick up and delivery service shining shoes all over Nashville, Tennessee. Quickly that side hustle turned into purchasing and owning their very own “old-timey shoe cobbler shop” with dusty machines, crafting tools, and piles of half-done customers’ shoes for repair. In just under a couple of years’ time, two brothers, Trent and Heath Potter, along with their father Norman, began an adventure that would take them further than they would have imagined.

The first year of business was quite the learning curve. Heath had briefly apprenticed under the former shoe cobbler and began tackling the mountain of shoes. Trent came on board to join him in learning the week-by-week process of shoe repair. Several months went by and the brothers quickly learned that another layer to the business must be added. After seeing pair after pair of sandals and flip-flops come in broken and unfixable, they had the idea to create their own sandal, a sandal that would last. Heath began making prototypes of the first flipflop, testing out leathers, materials for straps, options for bases, etc. He had dabbled in shoe-making over the last year or so in his free time, so this seemed like a challenge he could take on. This sandal would also help to bring in income throughout the summer while the natural seasonal dip of shoe repair occurred. Almost simultaneously, the guys wanted to provide a leather sandal for their female customers. The brothers had briefly lived in Italy and wanted to bring that Caprician-style sandal to their shop. The majority of ladies’ sandals they took in were hugely overpriced and poorly made. Time after time, a $200 plus pair of designer sandals was thrown away and that was unacceptable. The first styles were going out the door, the Southern Polished brand was trademarked, and the ball was rolling!

A couple more years into the business, the guys begin itching for more. The current shop location in Brentwood, Tennessee, wouldn’t hold them and their new venture forever. At the same time, Trent, had the idea of starting a YouTube channel. The brothers grew up in a military family where a shiny pair of shoes was of the utmost importance, so why not show the world how to get that perfect shine? They began with a handful of videos and as you would imagine a very slow start. They not only showed their viewers how to correctly shine a pair of shoes but also began showing how they repaired and resoled some of the pairs of high-end shoes that came into the shop. Almost overnight, one video took off, and their channel Trenton and Heath soared to over 100,000 viewers in just under a year’s time. The viewers loved watching the brothers and their craft. The shoe cobbler profession was and is a dying art, and now the world could watch not only one, but two cobblers work on some of the most expensive designer brands out there. Because of this success, their new websites were launched Potters and Sons and Southern Polished. With the success of their YouTube channel, and with eyes from all over the world on them, growing to an online presence for all businesses was pivotal. It was also time to find a new home!

Heath had recently moved to Columbia, Tennessee, with his wife and kids and had learned of a new former t-shirt factory that was going to be building out with new businesses. At that time, there was only one other business at this repurposed factory, aptly named The Factory at Columbia. It was hard to picture, but the space was there and, after discussing it with the rest of the Potter family, the deal was done. The buildout for the current location began in May 2019, online businesses continued to grow and YouTube kept its worldwide presence strong and stable. Sandals were going out to customers from Tennessee to California. In March 2020, the unthinkable hit, and the world shut down. They continued to work on finishing the new space and were thankful for online business and support, while so many businesses around them struggled to stay afloat.

As people began staying at and working from home, sandal sales stayed consistent. So consistent that production for the Potter family became so demanding that the guys decided to team up with a well know company in south Texas/Mexico to begin producing their men’s sandals. Things were off to a great start! However, within a year’s time, the pressures of Covid and constant shutdowns impacted their own production, and the men’s sandals were pulled. It was time to go back to the drawing board and bring these flip-flops back home!

During the past year, the team has worked on sourcing every material from the United States. It seemed not only necessary but also extremely important now more than ever to bring their product back home and create that sense of pride people have when they own an American-made product. Every single pair of men’s sandals is made right here in their flagship shop in Columbia, Tennessee. The leather on each strap and footbed comes from cows in Pennsylvania, which make their way to a family-owned tannery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Seidel Leather. Each hide is tanned over a 2 to 3-week process and sent to Southern Polished rolled up and ready to cut.

One step into the shop and you’ll have no doubt that they are swimming in leather, the smell is amazing! Every midsole and outsole, the parts you walk on, that give you arch support and comfort, is molded at a facility in Missouri, called Meramec. Months were spent creating molds and samples, to get the correct sizing, shape, and softness of each midsole before the first pair was created. All of the components come together here in Tennessee and the team cuts, stitches and assembles in-house. It’s a process that the Potter family is extremely proud of.

The guy’s story is a fascinating one. Many still think they are your local shoe cobblers, but over the years, the business and its craft have had to evolve and grow. While they do have a storefront for Southern Polished, where you will find Norman's friendly face helping customers, they only have an online store and presence for Potter and Sons. The new and improved Factory at Columbia location acts as production space, but come on by and take a peek anytime! The guys have recently opened the windows to allow passersby to see all the behindthe-scenes of sandal making, a little shoe repair, and quite possibly some YouTube filming.

For additional information or to order an amazing pair of sandals made in the USA, visit southernpolished.com and follow them on social media at @southernpolished. Watch the cobblers at work on their YouTube channel @TrentonHeath.