Why i do use the name "BESSIE?"

Bessie was the name of my dear friend's aunt who passed away more than 3 years ago. She resided in the lovely city of Portland Oregon, USA. I didn't have the chance to meet her in person, but I did get the opportunity to spend 4 wonderful months at her house while visiting my friend. While I was there, I wore all of her clothes, especially her jackets and shoes, for she had fantastic taste in fashion! Luckily enough, we wear almost the exact same size in dress and shoe. I helped my friend, Bessie’s nephew, clean her house and sort her belongings. We unearthed her personal history through discovering her diary and love letters. I was deeply moved  as I began to understand her personality through her writing. She was a romantic, independent, and intelligent woman with so many dreams! She worked as a biologist for most of her life and gave much of her wealth to charities. She led a simple life and did not even own a cell phone! Getting to know her through the works she left behind inspired me to become more like her; a hard working, humble, and dedicated person. She is the original inspiration for this smart, sassy, and well-made line of "Bessie" shoes.

Bessie shoes are for active women who love their life

'Bessie’ not only creates dance shoes, but also makes shoes to wear for social occasions, casual use , or with business attire. We produce shoes whose interiors, exteriors, and soles are all made of leather. They are designed so that women can stand easily for hours and walk comfortably for miles.

The ‘Bessie’ shoe line is not only about elegant and fashionable design using nice materials and attractive colors. It is also, and most importantly, about women wearing nice shoes that won’t hurt their feet.

‘Bessie’ shoes are for active women who love their life and are comfortable in their own skin.

When destiny talking....

I had almost given up when I met Sunardi, a shoemaker from Lombok island. We talked about my plan and he was excited to produce my dance shoes. He left his town and his job to join to me in creating the shoes for ‘Bessie’. It seemed like destiny was playing its part when we met Aan, a great shoemaker who has worked with international shoe brands his entire life. Our production team was finally intact and ready to move forward! I spoke with my good friend Mark Matsuda, in Portland, about our plan. He was enthusiastic, so we sent him samples of ‘Bessie’ shoes to give to several women in Portland. They tried them and loved them!

So, the four of us, Sunardi, Aan, Mark, and I, have joined together to make the ‘Bessie’ shoe company a reality.

How dificult to find good dance shoes in Bali island

The idea of the ‘Bessie’ shoe collection spawned from the difficulty I experienced in purchasing well-made and stylish Latin dance shoes on the island of Bali.

I own a small Latin dance studio where we teach Balinese students how to dance Salsa, Rumba, Cumbia, and the Cha Cha Cha . Before ‘Bessie’ was born, we ran into problems finding Latin dance shoes on the island. Every time I went to abroad to Mexico, Singapore, or the US, I had to buy shoes for my students and myself. Though we were glad to finally have shoes to dance in, I honestly did not like the styles or materials of the shoes I brought back.  In addition to this, the price of dance shoes from abroad made most Balinese people think twice buying them.

This was challenging, but I was determined to succeed! I went to several local shoemakers and asked them to make the dance shoes that I had in mind. In the end though, they weren’t able to produce the high quality shoes that I wanted.