Meet Andrew Greene of Dr. Grizzy Shoe Clinic in Griffin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Greene.

Andrew, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It all started in a loving two parent household. I’ve always been a tennis shoe fanatic. Grew up practically getting whatever pair I wanted as a child. Fast forward to a few years later, I enrolled into Fort Valley State University where I met some great people. Sophomore year, I got into some trouble that I couldn’t get out of. During final testing of my fall semester, I went to court (accompanied by my parents) and was sentenced to the state penitentiary for possession of cocaine. Two years passed and I was released back into society where I decided to re-enroll back into school. Upon graduation, I couldn’t find a job in my field due to my felony & lack of work experience. Fast forward a few more years & a couple of failed businesses, I received a pardon from the GA Pardons & Parole Board. I then started coaching high school basketball at Spalding High School (Griffin GA) where we won the school & county’s 1st girls state championship & went back to the championship the next year & lost.

While coaching, I noticed I had about 15 pairs of Air Jordan’s that were in fair condition, so I began practicing in them. Classic Jordans might I add. One particular pair struck my interest to get restored (since I saw a guy on Instagram that had a shoe restoration company). I sent him a DM & his price quote was more than the original price of the shoe itself. So I started doing research on how to clean/restore kicks myself. Once I felt like I was ready, I started pulling old kicks from under the bed to practice on. I made a name for my company then a company Instagram & Facebook page. I began to add before & after pics to social media business pages (that I had created)before inviting anyone to the pages. Next, I had a friend whip up a kid-friendly logo and added it to the pages.

After I was secure enough with my work, I shared it with the world. And low & behold, it took flight. I began doing all of my friends’ shoes & word of mouth spread quickly. The unique thing about all of this to me is that I’m working out of a two car garage. No huge & fancy storefront. No huge ads & marketing. Just good ol patience & the love of bringing shoes back to wearable condition. (Although I do have the floor plan, business model, & business plan written out when that time comes to expand)

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. The biggest obstacle I face on the daily is not enough hours in the day and not enough hands (with it being a one man operation). It gets difficult answering DMs, making mail runs, meeting customers for pick-ups/drop-offs, & maintaining the companies’ social media accounts, on top of ordering inventory, and keeping the books balanced. Not to mention the kicks still have to be cleaned. Lol

My biggest accomplishment was asking customers to donate old tennis shoes that they or their kids had worn and didn’t want anymore. I recently collected over 300 pairs of shoes and cleaned majority of them. I then donated about 250 of them back out to children at Head Harris’ Back to School Bash. He was a close friend that waskilled in a car wreck and was a huge asset to the community when it came to giving back. So in his honor, my company decided to be a blessing.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Dr. Grizzy Shoe Clinic – what should we know?
My company is Dr. Grizzy Shoe Clinic and we specialize in shoe cleaning/restoration. And we do some customizations (when time allows). I’m proud of where my company is today. It has come a long way from just a vision just under 11 months ago. We have a strong social media presence. I think what sets us apart from a lot of other companies is the fact that we actually clean the sneakers with love. If we can’t get them back to good condition, there’s no charge.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 4048194006
• Email: DrGrizzyShoeClinic@gmail.com

Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.