How Jade Kirkel and Dani Silbermann founded JoyJoy, the first kid’s sneaker brand with feelings

JoyJoys are a fully interchangeable kids shoe designed with a removable velcro strap that allows kids to swap out their choices of shoe design multiple times. JoyJoy Sneakers founders Jade Kirkel and Dani Silbermann share their entrepreneurial journey with us.

What made you start JoyJoy sneakers? and why shoes?

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It all started with a lounge carpet and a glass of wine. We were chatting away, and landed up on the topic of sneakers and how they have become a cultural icon in our society. We both love sneakers and we love buying sneakers for our kids. Suddenly this thought arrived unannounced; how cool would it be if you could have interchangeable sneakers for your kids. One pair with so many different ways to wear it. A sneaker that allows kids the freedom to experiment with their unique sense of style: to change their look and their mood, from one day to the next. Full disclaimer: Neither of us were technically qualified to design any product much less a kid’s shoe. But we just had this feeling that we needed to make it happen, and here we are.

Where does the name JoyJoy come from?

Our final sample box had arrived, and our five collective kids came racing down the stairs to unpack it. They were jumping up and down as we tore the box open, and all these shoes came flying out together with the hundreds of snaps we had designed.

Each one wanted to choose their favourite snap. From the glitters to the dinosaurs to the princesses and the dragons. Mixing and matching, and basically just living the joy in real time – right in front of us. We sat back and watched this all unfold - they had so much joy experiencing the shoes, and we had so much joy watching them. It was this experience of shared joy, this moment of double joy. JoyJoy. Right then and there, that’s what it had to be. It’s also pretty fitting that everything we do comes in a pair, the shoes and the snaps, the parents and their kids. You can’t have one without the other.

What was your inspiration for the sneakers design?

We like to think of JoyJoy as the first kid’s sneaker with feelings. Throughout the building and the creation of the brand and the business we had this low grade level of anxiety. Would people buy them, and more importantly would they wear them and love them? That was and is our constant inspiration, and we have never deterred from asking ourselves this: does JoyJoy add Joy to your life?

We’re also totally obsessed with customer service. We want our customers to feel special and joyful. We want to overturn everything we hate about customer service and enhance everything we love. It’s fascinating to watch how random acts of kindness can turn customers from buyers into ambassadors. From sceptics into believers and from disgruntled into loyal. The cherry on top is a 5-star customer review, each one gives us the joy and the fuel we need to keep pushing through. Our goal is to journey further into the realms of customer service, continue to surprise and delight and to never lose the JoyJoy magic. Joy is our North Star – it’s our guiding brand purpose. It’s the source of all our inspiration.

Can you tell me what was most important to you when designing your shoes, especially the interchangeable velcro straps?

Because JoyJoy is a brand that brings double Joy - one to kids and one to their parents, we had to keep both in mind. This was especially relevant when designing the snaps because there were so many moving parts that had to synchronize.

The snaps needed to speak to little young wild hearts everywhere. And from the parent’s point of view, again in keeping with our double joy philosophy, the snaps had to also appeal to them on a practical level. We want to win the war in the “dress myself department”, helping parents decrease the fuss and increase the fun.

That meant: we wanted the snaps to be universal across all shoe sizes, so you can share with siblings, swap with friends and of course, most importantly, be able to keep them as a kid's feet go up a size from one pair of JoyJoys to the next. We spend a lot of money buying shoes for our kids who outgrow them fairly quickly. Whereas with JoyJoy, you get to buy one shoe and you can match it to any outfit. So the longevity of the straps was key for us as economically sensible parents.

Another critical cornerstone of our brand is our problem-free Joylosophy – we needed to take the worry out of buying. Especially because we’re selling online, so parents are unsure of fit and size. We offer free exchanges and size returns, to eliminate this concern in its entirety. If it doesn't bring you joy, we’ll take your JoyJoys back no matter what. No laces attached.

How much does fashion and fun impact your designs?

We always come back to joy – will this bring joy to a kid’s life? Yes, we’re selling shoes, but for us it’s so much more - we’re selling a feeling. And that is a feeling of self-confidence, joy and creativity. So the designs need to allow for that expression in each and every kid. Are these designs fun, fashionable and creative enough to give kids the freedom to experiment with their style choices? To express themselves through the snaps they choose (or don’t choose) to wear?

So we run a lot of our designs by actual kids. Sometimes Jade’s eldest daughter, Maya (10), will tell us if a design isn’t trendy enough for TikTok. Or her younger twin girls will tell us to add a lot more pink. Dani’s one son rocks our most sparkly and glittery straps with more style and confidence than a red carpet celebrity. We’ve seen kids who want to only wear two identical snaps on their shoes, the ones who don’t want to step outside the lines. And then there are the kids who don’t even notice that they’ve chosen straps with no colour coordination at all. There is no right or wrong way to wear JoyJoys. And that’s the whole idea.

That said, our most frequently asked question is if (and when) we will be making adult sizes. We never once stopped to think adults would want the shoes too. And so perhaps our biggest aha moment is that maybe there is a six year old kid inside all of us, dying to come out in a pair of glittery interchangeable fun sneakers.

What main points should parents be thinking about when buying durable comfy shoes for their kids?

As parents we all know the feeling of coming home with a new purchase, only for your kid to refuse to wear it. So it’s a juggle between finding something that is good for developing little feet with a “want to wear” factor. And the opposite is true too – no matter how pretty and sparkly, if it hurts, no kid is going to wear it either.

So we’ve learnt a lot about the do’s and don’ts in kid’s footwear design to get this balancing act right. Ergonomically, a kid’s shoe needs to have a good amount of toe flex, meaning that the front of the shoe can bend back easily to allow for the movement of a developing foot. Things like heel padding and foam cushioning on the inner sole to avoid blistering. Another critical factor is the ease of getting the shoes on and off (JoyJoys are laceless for which saves so much of the never ending “Put your shoes on” fight). Durability – although kids will be kids so no shoe is going to outlast the playground. Easy to clean – essential (muddy puddles)! On our first production of shoes, moms gave us feedback that keeping their JoyJoys clean was quite tough, so we listened to those moms, and had a dirt repellent coating added to our next order. They wipe much easier now.

At the end of the day, each kid has a different shaped foot, some narrow, some wider, so it’s not a one size fits all, but these are the general things we’ve learnt to look for, and build into our shoes.

Today’s parents are more discerning than ever – how do you keep your brand in line with current trends?

When it comes to kids and wearing shoes there are trend seekers and comfort seekers. This means that we needed to make our shoes both comfy and trendy. If we could find a shoe that did that then we could win the war in the dress department.

What have been the biggest struggles on this journey?

The entrepreneurial journey is hard no matter what stage of your business cycle you’re at. It requires a deep rooted level of optimism as challenges test your perseverance and your confidence. We have faced many challenges along the way.

We arrived back from China in November 2019 on a massive high. We had found a factory and a prototype and we were ready and excited to launch JoyJoy to the world. A few weeks later our factory shut, our production was on hold, we were homeschooling our kids, worrying about our health and the lives of our parents and loved ones. The realization that we were going to be designing this shoe over we-chat in broken English suddenly dawned on us. We hit a big low. It sure didn’t feel like the ideal time to be designing a glittery kids sneaker. At this point we were seriously considering abandoning the cart. But we knew if we couldn’t persevere through this challenge we were never going to be able to build anything meaningful.

We faced things we never thought we were equipped to deal with, like quality issues on our first batch of snaps. Made decisions we never thought we would have to make, like finding a new factory. We solved problems we never dreamed of facing, like sourcing new material that was less prone to dirt. But we really try not to see them as challenges and rather as opportunities to do better and to be better. Overall, you need to be brave.

What has been the most surprising thing about entrepreneurship?

Marc Andreseen says about entrepreneurship “you only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror”. And he’s spot on. One day you’re high fiving yourself, the next day you’re asking yourself why the heck you did this. It’s a constant rollercoaster, and that’s why it’s important to never get too attached to the highs (success is a lousy teacher), or too dissuaded by the lows (failure is great insight). Being an entrepreneur requires immense perseverance, self-awareness and strategy. It also requires luck, harvested whenever you encounter it.

What advice do you have for young women who might be thinking about striking out on their own with a small business or creative venture?

Jade’s advice: Just start. Whatever it is you want to do, however big or small the idea, just take the first step. Whether that’s doing a little research on-line or with friends, having a coffee with someone who inspires you or has been in a similar situation, drawing a design, writing a page, testing a service, asking questions, reading books and articles, understanding more. Just start. And if you’re a mom, cut the guilt. Life doesn’t have to be balanced, sometimes you give more to your work and sometimes more to your kids and family, accept and embrace the constant sway.

Dani’s advice: Ask for help, advice. Reach out to those who have been there and done that and are still doing it. There are so many people who want to share and hand over their own experiences so others can learn. To help them avoid the mistakes they made (even though you will still make your own, as we have done many, many, many times). And share resources, tips and tricks. As a society, we are often too scared, too polite, too reserved, too vulnerable to put ourselves out there. When in fact, the world is full of kind people who just want to see others succeed. We have gained golden nuggets of knowledge from businessmen and women who have willingly and openly shared their time, stories and truths with us.

Where can we find JoyJoy sneakers?

For now you can find us on our online store joyjoy.co.zaand in the next couple of weeks you’ll be able to shop us at EGG in Rosebank.

Connect with JoyJoy Instagram: @joyjoysneakers.