With You Every Step, Episode 008: Be Kind
Dansko President Kitty Bolinger on Sales Reps, Raving Fans, and the Future of Independent Retail
In Episode 8, hosts Adam Smith and Craig Jarrard sit down with Kitty Bolinger, president of Dansko, one of the most beloved brands on Brown’s Shoe Fit shelves. From her start in a department store training program to leading an employee-owned company, Kitty shares why great sales reps are the secret sauce, how Dansko grows without losing its longtime fans, and why independent retail is still the heart of the brand.
Listen to Episode 8 on Spotify or watch on Youtube here.
Episode Summary
Episode 8 brings one of Brown’s Shoe Fit’s longtime brand partners to the table. Adam first got to know Dansko while training in Longmont, Colorado, where customers were so passionate about the brand that it left a lasting impression. That kind of raving fan base, built on a brand with real substance, is exactly what any retailer or shoe company hopes to create, and it made Dansko president Kitty Bolinger a natural guest for the series.
Over a warm, wide-ranging conversation, Kitty, Adam, and Craig talk about the sales reps who hold brand and retailer relationships together through good seasons and bad, the culture co-founder Mandy Cabot built by listening to the people around her, and how Dansko uses new tools like AI while still sending shoppers to a real person in a real store. Kitty is candid about the hard years since COVID and the steady loss of independent doors, and equally clear about the opportunity ahead for retailers like Brown’s. She closes with the same advice she shares at the end of every Dansko all-hands meeting: be kind.
Key Themes Covered
Getting the Retail Bug
Kitty came out of college in the 1980s and into a department store buyer training program, the kind that split your first year between working as an assistant buyer and learning in the classroom, with weekends on the sales floor. She pictured herself as a glamorous buyer at Bloomingdale’s in New York. Instead, she landed at Strawbridge’s in Philadelphia, where she was placed in footwear, and the glamour faded quickly. The technical grounding stayed with her, though: understanding open-to-buy and what markdowns really do is a great way to start any career in the business.
What she enjoyed most was the time she spent with visiting sales reps. One engaging Timberland rep inspired her to ask for a job where he worked, and she “flipped to the dark side” into sales. She later returned to retail for three years with Overland Trading Company in Massachusetts, drawn to its focus on the consumer just as comfort footwear was taking off, before rejoining Timberland as she started a family.
She was just getting started at Vionic when Dansko called, after an independent retailer, John Holden of Sole Provisions, passed along her name. She took the call for one reason: she wanted to meet Mandy. When she walked in the door, it was the most welcoming work environment she had ever seen, and she knew right away that it was home.
The Sales Rep as the Heart of the Partnership
Craig, who has spent three decades in Fort Dodge, feels like Brown’s has been on the ride with Dansko almost from the beginning, working with Mike Jensen, Terry Rudd, and then Chad Johnson. He admits he tried hard to recruit Chad to Brown’s Shoe Fit, but Chad’s heart was with wholesale and with Dansko. Today Chad is one of the few reps Craig trusts to manage his inventory, right down to receiving full RICS reports, and his retail background makes him especially valuable.
Kitty says Chad is an entrepreneur at heart who treats his territory like a business he owns. He knows he’ll walk into every store he advises, so he spends a retailer’s money carefully and always plays the long game. She feels the same about John Moran in Colorado, who is in Brown’s stores so often that he knows the owners and the customers who come through the door.
Kitty explains that Dansko’s sales teams have been in place for decades, not just years, and the company treats them as foundational. Retailers, brands, and reps all have bad seasons, and no single side of that triangle is solely to blame. When a rep has a tough season, Dansko asks what tools or preparation they were missing, whether that’s handling a bankruptcy or walking into a store with no plan for the next generation.
A Culture Built on Listening
That autonomy has been part of Dansko from day one. Kitty lovingly describes Mandy Cabot as a horse person who somehow became a shoe person, and who counted on the people around her to teach her the business. Mike Jensen was one of them, showing her how to treat retailers, salespeople, and the brand itself. Sean McGlynn, the last active member of that original group of five who taught Mandy what it meant to have a sales team, is still out there and still beloved.
Kitty carries the same mindset. As a 22-year-old managing a sales floor for Strawbridge & Clothier, she respected the experienced associates around her and acknowledged how much more they knew; they learned from each other. At Dansko, there are titles and someone has to make the final call, but beyond that, the culture runs on respect and consideration. Leadership means giving people every tool they need to reach their objectives, then stepping aside so they can feel the accomplishment of doing it themselves.
Why Retail Is Energizing
Kitty says she still has the retail bug. After a recent event at Dansko’s only brand store, in Portland, Oregon, she left with more energy than she arrived with. For her, the magic is that most people walk in trying to solve a problem, whether it’s a new job at a hospital, long days in a classroom, or simply finding the right shoe for a wedding. Helping someone leave knowing they solved it is special, and so is the customer who isn’t sure what they need until a good conversation brings it into focus.
That is why training matters so much: giving associates the tools and the time to have those conversations. It’s also why she could never be a good chat-window salesperson. If someone typed in asking whether a shoe runs wide, she would want to ask why. That belief in human interaction is part of the reason Dansko was one of the last brands to sell direct to consumer. The hosts agree that a real love for retail is something you either have or you don’t, and that Kitty’s comes through even over a screen.
AI With a Human Handoff
With AI and new technology arriving almost daily, the hosts ask how Dansko balances the human piece with tools it can’t ignore. Kitty’s answer is practical. The company can’t stick its head in the sand, so it works to make sure the information AI tools feed consumers about Dansko is accurate.
On the design side, AI has become a real accelerator. If a retailer holds up a gray slip-on and wonders why it doesn’t come as a black Oxford, the team can return a close visual in a couple of hours, rather than waiting three months for a sample that might miss the mark. Marketing takes a more careful approach, and the message to shoppers never changes: the best way to learn is to walk into a retailer and have a conversation. Kitty doesn’t expect Dansko to lead the footwear industry in AI, but she wants to be sure it’s used appropriately.
Growing the Line Without Losing the Loyalists
Dansko’s fan base has been remarkably loyal for decades, with a little help along the way from celebrity fans like Oprah and, more recently, Zendaya. The professional clog is still the heart and soul of the brand, so the hosts ask how Dansko keeps that trust while continuing to push into new styles.
Kitty says the guiding lens is women engaged in meaningful work. That work started in the barn, then expanded to healthcare and education. When a longtime fan picks up something lighter, more flexible, or more fashion-forward and wonders what’s going on, the answer is that it still feels like a Dansko, just with the look she wants for her workday. When choosing between two shoes for the line, the team picks the one she can do her work in comfortably, feeling good about how she looks and forgetting about her feet. And for the loyalists who say they’d never wear the new styles, Kitty’s reply is warm: just keep wearing the clog.
Growth also matters because Dansko is 100% employee owned through an ESOP, with 112 families, including the distribution center team, counting on the company’s future. The hosts note that Brown’s has its own distinctive ownership structure, and Kitty calls it both an honor and a responsibility, one she knows the Brown’s corporate team feels for its owners, too.
Independent Retail Brought Dansko to the Dance
When Adam asks where independent retailers fit in Dansko’s view of the landscape, Kitty doesn’t hesitate. Independents brought the brand to the dance. They were the first stores the original reps called on, and independent retail is still the largest part of Dansko’s business. Reps love working with independents, and independents welcome them in, so that relationship has become woven into the brand’s fabric. As long as she’s leading the company, independents will be the first voice Dansko consults on product, and the line will be built to speak to them first.
Kitty also recalls attending a Brown’s owners meeting back when the company was based in Shenandoah. Chad had warned her she’d be blown away by how excited the owners were about shoes, and he was right; they energized each other. She credits reps like Chad and John with keeping relationships strong through the valley, when the clog was down and orders were smaller; no one on the Brown’s team ever stopped taking their calls. Now that the clog is back on the upswing, she calls those relationships part of the secret sauce, and says it’s shortsighted when brands chase big-box channels and let go of the reps and independents who made the magic happen.
What Retailers Can Give Back
Craig turns the question around: a good relationship goes both ways, so what can Brown’s do for Dansko? Kitty appreciates the question and answers in one word: feedback. Sometimes it’s a way to improve an existing shoe. Just as valuable is hearing what customers wish Dansko made, like the shopper who picks up a shoe and says, “I wish Dansko made this” (though she jokes a stiletto Mary Jane is never going to happen).
Retailers see and hear far more of the consumer than any brand can, and reports can’t tell a brand everything. Honest pushback is just as useful. A retailer who says “don’t go into that category” can save a brand a fortune. Dansko won’t always do exactly what retailers ask, but it’s the input Kitty values most. Adam observes that when trust and relationship are in place, those are the conversations that make good things happen.
Real Talk About the Road Since COVID
Asked about the COVID years and what followed, Kitty is grateful and candid. Strong financial management and long-standing factory partners carried Dansko through without self-inflicted damage. But the company lost its largest customer when The Walking Company and its 225 stores went away, and the hard part since has been replacing that business without compromising the brand or selling where it doesn’t belong. At the same time, the independent footprint keeps shrinking. She recently explained to Mandy, now living in Belize and back for a board meeting, that some 80 independent retailers closed last year, a trend COVID likely accelerated.
Looking three to five years ahead, though, Kitty is excited about a return to growth. Businesses that were tough are picking back up, and Dansko is hiring aggressively again, which means investing in more people and trying more things across retail relationships, product, and marketing. As a US-centric brand with a small business in Canada, it’s always looking to learn more about what American consumers want.
An Optimist’s Case for Independents
Craig calls independent, locally rooted retail Brown’s heart and heritage. The company has been around since 1911 and has always grown people first, then the business, and he hears the same philosophy in Kitty’s plans to hire. Brown’s only launched brownsshoefitco.com in September 2025 (Craig jokes that they’re dinosaurs in technology, too), and the site is there to support the 73 store owners, not replace them.
As a second-generation shoe man, Craig dreamed of owning a shoe store as a kid, but he knows most people stumble into the industry and then fall in love with it, the way Kitty and Adam did. With real autonomy for owners and plenty of communities to grow into, what Brown’s needs most are people who want to work for themselves. That’s why this podcast started. He admits to being a little overly optimistic, but Kitty says the optimism is earned.
Brown’s offers the corporate support new owners need, and every hometown shoe store that closes 30 or 45 miles away is an opportunity. Trends are also shifting. Athletic will always be a major force, but Dansko’s customer is discovering that sneakers aren’t the whole solution, and at a Brown’s Shoe Fit she finds choices she can’t get elsewhere. Kitty adds one more thought: if AI displaces a dozen people and just one has the appetite for retail, that’s a win for Brown’s.
Be Kind
Asked whether there’s anything left to share, Kitty offers a proud plug: Dansko is still the premium footwear in the comfort space, with a clear sense of exactly who it serves. Her advice for listeners is the same line she uses to close every monthly all-hands meeting at Dansko. Be kind. At the end of the day, she says, that’s all that really matters, and other good things will follow. Craig calls it something to live by, and another reflection of the care for people that ran through the whole conversation.
“Just be kind, and other good things will happen to you.”
— Kitty Bolinger, President, Dansko
What’s Coming Next
Episode 9 continues the series’ conversations with store owners, business leaders, and friends of Brown’s Shoe Fit, with each episode closing on one guest’s most actionable piece of advice. Kitty’s visit is a reminder that the best brand partnerships are built the same way the best stores are, one relationship at a time, and there are plenty more conversations to come.
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Interested in Owning a Brown’s Shoe Fit Store?
As Kitty and Craig both put it, every hometown shoe store that closes is an opportunity, and what Brown’s needs most are people who want to work for themselves. With 73 locally owned and operated locations and a history dating back to 1911, Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. pairs real owner autonomy with the corporate support new owners need to succeed. To learn more about the Brown’s Shoe Fit opportunity, visit brownsshoefitco.com or stop by a store near you and talk with the owner.
