Today we’d like to introduce you to Edward Bogard .
Hi Edward, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I’ve always had an infatuation with shoe design. It started in grade school when I would re-create my favorite Air Jordan’s converting them into Air Bogard’s. I’d have a classroom full of students hovering over me waiting on the latest masterpiece that I would autograph and give away. My art teacher, Ms. Larrick at Memphis State Campus School discovered my talent and would often pull me out of class to enter my artwork for various art contests throughout the school year. I won something like 6 consecutive Brotherhood Sisterhood art contests with literally the same drawing emphasizing unity of all races way ahead of the whole BLM movement that exists today, but that same artwork got progressively better each year as I worked on my craft. In 4th grade I created a piece that was featured on the front page of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day sales paper for Black Friday that led me to believe that the first place winner would be awarded a live turkey delivered to my front door that I had no plans of eating, but rather having as a pet (lol) needless to say I was a little disappointed after being mis-informed and later discovering first place meant that my created artwork which was a turkey would be featured on the front page of the retail giant’s sales paper and an added portfolio piece. But the list of accolades goes on from my storied grade school art career, leaving me to tell everyone that I was an artist way before I was a designer exploring different mediums such as wood relief/ printmaking to acrylic and sculpture. Growing up I remember having my Dad draw my favorite superheroes and cartoons for hours in, I was in awe of his talent and wanted to capture his artistry and make it my own.
My late father was an Army Vet who fought in Vietnam and retired as a Supervisor from the Defense Depot in Memphis,TN. My Mom was the Philanthropist in the family, a Memphis City School Teacher of 35 years who would take a lot of my clothes and shoes to give to struggling families throughout the school year. She ultimately retired from Hanley Elementary in Orange Mound which is a very low-income part of the city. I can recall waking up looking for a particular pair of shoes or outfit only to find out she had given it away to someone who needed it most. She was teaching me at a very young age how to pay it forward, instilling in me that there is always someone who has less than you and to remember how blessed I was to have certain things in life. She was ultimately awarded Key to the City for her selfless acts of giving, always going above and beyond in her profession to ensure the needs were met not only in the classroom, but well outside of the classroom. That lesson stuck with me well into adulthood and would go on to inspire me to birth SoGiv, which is the world’s first non-profit shoe design company that raises awareness towards worthy causes allowing 100% of the proceeds to benefit the mission of partnered organizations.
I was in the CAPA Art program at both Colonial Middle and Overton High. I was awarded a full ride to play collegiate golf at HBCU Alcorn State University along with various other Presidential Scholarships to the Memphis College of Art and University of Memphis, but I chose to accept a Portfolio Scholarship instead to attend The Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, GA which is where I earned my BFA in Product/ Industrial Design. I entered college on academic probation believe it or not, because my ACT scores particularly in the math portion weren’t quite up to par, but my talent was good enough to get me into SCAD which is a renowned art & design school by the way so that was a no-brainer. (Lol) The testimony to all of that is I went on to spend 4 yrs on National Dean’s list which is an encouraging story I often tell the youth that I mentor whenever I have the opportunity, serving as inspiration for them not to get discouraged if they aren’t strong standardized test takers because I sure wasn’t and just offering them that extra bit of hope letting them know that their talent will speak for itself and to not give up on whatever they aspire to be in life and to chase their dreams until it’s realized, because I sure did.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been the furthest from smooth as with any success story, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. The obstacles made me stronger and more educated, and I made sure to make a note of the mistakes I can’t afford again along the way and here we are a decade in the game impacting lives through a shoe. SoGiv was recently recognized by the City of Memphis and Mayor Jim Strickland declaring September 10th as SoGiv Day which was quite the honor to see something that you’ve poured your blood sweat and tears into to get that type of recognition from your city.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
SoGiv is the world’s first non-profit awareness shoe design company based in Memphis, TN dedicated to using shoes as pathways for philanthropy, volunteerism, and charitable causes. SoGiv uses more than shoes to funnel resources to the less fortunate, including coat drives during the winter, to teaching kids how to read and write code through their SoGiv Code initiative as well as how to become footwear designers through the SoGiv Design Charrette which is a 3-day design intensive in which case students learn to cohesively work together as a team to identify and problem solve through awareness shoe design. SoGiv’s Hunger Awareness shoe created in partnership with Feeding America’s Mid-South Food Bank generated more than 13,000+ meals to families in need in an ongoing effort to eradicate food insecurity. SoGiv has provided more than 1,500+ new SoGiv shoes to local children living in poverty across the United States of America.
SoGiv partnerships span from raising awareness for abused girls through Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund organization in Los Angeles California, to the Salvation Army where their branded awareness shoes are making an impact in Bucharest, Romania providing shelter and life changing care to those in need.
What’s next?
SoGiv will launch its global RUN WORLD CHANGE campaign highlighting community change makers across the globe in 2022 to further commemorate the decade-long impact of the mission to “Change The World Through A Shoe.” Additionally, the shoe and lifestyle brand SoGiv will have more creative and thought provoking awareness shoe design releases dropping in ’22 as well.
Pricing:
- SoGiv footwear prices range from $50-$150
Contact Info:
- Email: edward@sogiv.org
- Website: www.SoGiv.org
- Instagram: @morethanashoe | Edward Bogard
- Facebook: SoGiv | Edward Bogard
- Twitter: SoGiv | Edward Bogard
- Youtube: SoGiv
- LinkedIn: Edward Bogard
Image Credits
Demarcus Bowser
