No Pain, All Gain: Reinventing the Heel From the Ground Up

What happens when you’re halfway up Mount Kilimanjaro, twist your ankle, and realize your shoes are part of the problem? If you’re Samantha Dong, you turn pain into purpose, and build a luxury footwear brand that changes how women walk through the world.

Join us for an inspiring Morning Brew with Samantha Dong, founder and CEO of Ally Shoes, as she shares her journey from injured hiker to entrepreneur. Born in Shanghai and educated at Stanford, Samantha began her career in consulting, but it was a personal injury and the frustration of uncomfortable heels that led her to reimagine not just her shoes, but her future.

That step led to the launch of Ally Shoes in 2018, right before COVID, global tariffs, and shifting market dynamics tested every assumption. With resilience and vision, Samantha built a brand around a bold promise: power heels without pain. Designed with a podiatric surgeon and powered by data-driven fit technology, Ally Shoes are proof that comfort and confidence can coexist.

Building her own company hasn’t been easy, it’s come with risk, reinvention, and countless late nights, but it’s also been deeply rewarding. Samantha is passionate about sharing her story not just to talk about shoes, but to help more women find the courage to pursue their own ideas. Whether you’re launching something new or simply feeling stuck, she can’t wait to offer the kind of candid advice she wishes she had when starting out.

What you’ll take away:

• Why customer feedback, not trends, is the smartest guide for innovation

• How authenticity can be your greatest leadership strength

• Why building the right team is as important as building the right product

Join us for this in-person Morning Brew on Thursday, October 2nd at 9:00 AM. Hot coffee, light bites, and real-world inspiration will be served.