16. Jennie Bailey - “I sold my first 150 pairs of shoes… before I even had any.”

In this episode of Greater Manchester’s Greatest Minds, we sit down with Jennie Bailey, founder of Calla Shoes, to talk about how she turned a personal struggle into a thriving business.

Jennie shares how an unexpected redundancy and an unplanned pregnancy pushed her to take the biggest risk of her life—starting a footwear brand from scratch, without any experience in shoemaking.

She opens up about the challenges of breaking into a centuries-old industry, why she sold her first 150 pairs of shoes before she even had them, and how Helen Mirren unexpectedly became a customer.

We also dive into the realities of building a product-based business, the financial risks most founders don’t talk about, and the magic moments that make the journey worthwhile.https://callashoes.co.uk/