Sneakerheads

On the latest episode of the Montgomery & Co. podcast, the ladies talk about what it takes to be a sneakerhead. Gone are the days where the most inconvenient obstacle was a long line at the store for the latest release. Factor in that nowadays, it’s more common to have multiple pairs of sneakers for style and fashion, as well as the sudden rise in the resell game, and one cannot just simply “become” a sneakerhead. Two of the ladies share similar stories of what it takes to try to buy exclusive sneakers.

There are multiple attempts at even logging in to the site to buy the sneakers. Cole was trying to buy shoes for her son and even had two separate computers set up to increase the chance of access. After finally getting in, there is a raffle next. And like a raffle, entering does not guarantee victory. You then must add the shoes to your cart and purchase them as quickly as possible. If it goes through, success.

But there is high probability that the site will reject your purchase and you must add to cart again. Cole eventually got the shoes she was looking for while Sareena did not. Both ladies were so affected by that experience that they proclaimed to never to be a part of again.

Let’s focus on the notion of someone becoming a profession or something similar. It’s understood that in order to reach the professional level of anything, one must simply work to develop skills beyond a hobby. Collecting sneakers, for example, is a hobby. But the work that goes into having a chance at an exclusive drop requires the most basic thing that turns a hobby into a profession: commitment. The ladies also interviewed comedienne Sam Jay and asked her about how she got into stand-p comedy.

Jay shared that she studies anyone who was regarded as a great comic and then fell in love with being on stage and the process towards developing her style and making it good. With anything in life that wepursue, the challenge we face involves having to push through the grind of getting better. There will be mistakes, failures, misunderstandings and setbacks. It’s difficult to view progress as something that has periods of what feels like moving in the opposite direction. In Sam jay’s case, it may be trying to work through a joke from setup to punchline. In the case of sneaker purchasing, the commitment to try again after repeated rejection can be disheartening.

In the summer of 1857, Fredrick Douglass said in a speech, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” While Douglass was referring to the United States’ journey towards the abolishment of slavery, it applies to everything we may strive for in life. It is not supposed to be easy. Easy things can be fragile or fleeting. The things we desire that we’re willing to work for take, well, work. With mistakes and missteps, we learn what not to do. That helps refine what we must do in order to succeed. As cheesy as it sounds, failure is measured by what we give up on, not what we continue to attempt.

So, the next time you commit to that thing you desire, even if it’s the latest in casual footwear, remember that without struggle, there isn’t any progress.