Many of us toy with the idea of designing a shirt, pants or maybe even a pair of shoes, but few take their designer day-dreams as far as Brooke Bartelt, who has taken double-decker sandals, a passion and enough glue to fuse half the fingers of L.A. together, to create Sun-Child sandals.

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Brooke Bartelt is a California teacher who couldn’t conceive of going a day without her comfortable sandals. Over time, she applied her passion for funky footwear into a line of hand-made sandals decorated with beautiful vintage trim, flowers, and beads for herself and friends. Soon, her sandals were catching people’s attention, and friends stopped asking whether her toes were freezing in December and instead asked where they could buy a pair. And so by popular demand, Sun-Child Sandals were born. Now, Brooke designs, manufactures and distributes Sun Child sandals, which are available in approximately 15 stores in southern California.

APPLIED PASSION: An interview with Sun-Child Sandals founder, Brooke Bartelt.

All-Life.com: We’ve surfed your site at www.sun-child.com and are impressed with your sandals. Now we would love to know how you got started in making sandals?

Brooke: I used to make double-decker sandals for friends and myself. I would buy two pairs of "Beachcomber Sandals" from Sav-On, cut the straps off one pair, and glue them to the soles of the other pair. I would add trim around the sides and flowers or beads to the straps.

All-Life.com: What kind of response did you get?

Brooke: People used to laugh! Since no one was wearing chunky sandals back then, they would joke about the height and caution me not to trip, but they’d also ask me where I got them.

All-Life.com: Which gave you an idea…

Brooke: Exactly. But, it didn’t happen overnight. I took out a cash advance on my credit card to order 1200 pairs. To save money, I put them on the "slow boat from China" and basically forgot about them. Many months later they arrived in Long Beach.

All-Life.com: And you became a corporation overnight?

Brooke: Well, not exactly. My father is a CPA and my mom used to be a paralegal, so they helped me form a corporation for tax purposes. Dad helped with bookkeeping and paperwork and mom researched how to distribute the completed shoes. I went to work to design 15 different styles for adults and kids. Before the glue had even dried, my mom had orders from a few stores and soon it just took off.

All-Life.com: That’s great. What is a typical day like?

Brooke: A typical day can involve any one of the following: checking assembled shoes (quality control!), packing and mailing shoes, making sales calls, visiting stores with samples and calling stores whose bills are overdue. I often call and visit stores that have ordered in the past to check inventory and encourage reorders. But, that’s just the boring stuff!

All-Life.com: What’s the fun stuff?

Brooke: The fun part is going to fabric stores and looking for new ideas, especially Lincoln Fabrics, a huge, dusty old warehouse with everything you can think of to make anything in the world. But, the trick is to find your way through the maze of disorganization with no help from the crabby family who has run the place forever. I love cruising the aisles, finding cool trims, furs, fringe, and material, much of which dates from the 60’s and 70’s. A lot of it is no longer manufactured and still marked with prices from 30 years ago! It makes me wish I had endless days to make a million cool creations, not just shoes.

All-Life.com: I can see the warehouse now – what an inspiration. When it comes to designing sandals as a career, what do you think this career offers that others don’t?

Brooke: Creativity, pressure only from myself (which doesn’t feel like the pressure I’ve experienced in prior careers). I listen to myself and punch the clock on my own schedule, not someone else’s. Ultimately, I think it’s the sense of satisfaction from seeing something I’ve created that is the most fulfilling part. It’s fun, too.

All-Life.com: Sounds like you’ve pretty much answered my next question! But, if you had to sum up the top 3 things about sandal design, what would they be?

Brooke: Creating something I like. Answering only to myself and having fun while I’m actually working.

All-Life.com: Do you need a partner by chance (hoping to get her phone #)?

Brooke: Maybe…but it requires a lot of time. Do you think your girlfriend would mind?

All-Life.com: (Blush and laugh) Perhaps before I sign my life away to you, I should ask what the top 3 drawbacks are, first.

Brooke: Hey! Hedging your bets?

All-Life.com: Something like that.

Brooke: Ok, let’s see. First, all my friends and relatives know already what they’re getting for birthdays and Christmas; shoes! Actually, that’s not so bad. Let’s see, I have to rely on others, a factory overseas, assemblers, and suppliers of accessories for everything to run smoothly, so things can happen that are out of my control. Lastly, starting a company can be a lot of hard work. I wish it were all about creating, but the business, paperwork and sales can eclipse the creative side.

All-Life.com: Those sound like the drawbacks all entrepreneurs face in starting a company. How much stability does a career of a sandal designer offer?

Brooke: I think to be successful in this industry, you must keep thinking up new styles and stay on top of what people are looking for. For that reason, I don’t think the career offers much stability. A sandal designer is relying on the ever-changing tastes of the public. Regardless of their personal taste, the success of a product is still up to the tastes of the consumer, which are constantly changing.

All-Life.com: Do you cater to the public’s fickle taste?

Brooke: Not really! (blushing). I design what I like and hope the public recognizes how cool it is.

All-Life.com: Right on. What advice would you give someone who wants to try designing and distributing shoes or clothing?

Brooke: First, it is really possible to know nothing about a business, have no money and still create a company that actually makes a profit! Start with the internet and research your idea. Then ask people whenever you hit a wall. If you really think you have a cool idea, and the people encouraging you are sincere, gamble on your idea and make a mock-up of your vision. Really try to bring your vision to life. Even if you fail, you have still created something. To me, whether others acknowledge or appreciate what I’ve created isn’t as important in the end as the satisfaction I have from just creating what began as just an idea in my mind.

All-Life.com: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. You’ve been a real inspiration. Good luck with Sun-Child sandals!

Feature writer, Geoffrey O’Brian, can be read daily at All-Life.com.