story

"We truly just have always been in these spaces that were male dominated. And to be able to be confident and advocate for yourself and women around you is such a big part of our stories. Creating Makeway was the next step in our journey."

"My name is Abby Albino. I am one of the Co-founders of Make Way, born and raised in Toronto. Have always loved sneakers, have always loved basketball and I'm lucky enough to have started a business with my best friend, in the name of both those things."

"Hi, I am Shelby Weaver. I am the other Co-founder of Makeway from Nova Scotia, which is on the east coast of Canada. And yeah, it's been an amazing journey of just marrying two things that we both love, sneakers and basketball."

"The name "Makeway" actually came from a WNBA commercial. That commercial came on and we both happened to be watching at the same time. I picked up my phone to text her..."

"...and we had basically texted each other at the same time saying, "make way." She wrote back, Makeway, but one word. And that was the name. I'm Ramona Monte, Store Manager of Makeway..."

"...and I'm Mandisa Morgan. I am the manager of retail operations and vendor relations. It's hard for women to find, you know, the cool colorways and the cool sneakers and things like that."

"Streetwear and sneaker culture is predominantly like a male space. So coming to Makeway and just feeling like, oh, like I don't have to worry about are they gonna have my size? And you know, that kind of stuff."

"Sneakers and sneaker spaces have traditionally been unsafe for women and members of the LGBTQ2S+. We believe in Sneakers for all, which is you don't have to have been in sneakers for 20 years to validate your interest in sneakers."

"You don't have to know what that shoe was called or what the colorway is or what the history is. Being surrounded by other females that are just that inspiring. The fact that like Abby and Shelby had inspired me before I even started working here..."

"...there's like endless possibilities of what all of these people in make way bring to the table. And like being surrounded by that only makes you wanna continue and do the best that you possibly can. Like who knows, maybe one day I'll open another sneaker store and I know exactly who to go to."

"We view ourselves as a vehicle to a culture which is empowering, lending our space and our resources to incredible locally owned, female driven..."

"...women of color driven businesses, concepts, communities. And I think that's what sets us apart. I know we are really lucky to be one of the neighborhood accounts, um, that's working with Nike to create a physical space..."

"...for our West Indian community to actually come into the store and see their countries celebrated on our walls. Um, and the shoe of course celebrated in our doors is super special for us specifically because we have a pretty diverse staff."

"Almost half is West Indian. When people come into our spaces, they see themselves in our staff, they see themselves in the product. That's always gonna be where we're at."

"I'm Abby. I'm Shelby. I'm Mandisa. And I'm Ramona. And this has been Talking Shop with Makeway."