Florida entrepreneur caters to women with large feet

TAMPA, Florida. – “Cat is out of the bag, I have a big foot,” says Ahriana Edwards, CEO of Vaila.

The Tampa entrepreneur said his business was born out of necessity

Edwards said the problem started when she was just a child. At 9, she says she was already wearing a size 9.

“When it came to finding a nice pair of shoes for school or just tennis shoes, it was always hard to find the girly stuff,” Edwards said.

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Her foot eventually grew to a size 12 and when she graduated from college her options were limited.

“I was buying shoes and I was like ‘Oh no!’ I need to fly. They need to see that I’ve come out of this pandemic surviving and thriving. definitely couldn’t find the shoes at the time,” she said.

So she used her degree in entrepreneurship and decided to open Vaila, an online shoe company that caters to women who wear sizes 9 to 14.

Edwards said things were going very well and that she was working with a major retailer who was planning to sell her products starting in the spring of 2023. She couldn’t talk much about it, but said there was a location at Orlando.

Edwards said his business is about serving others and making sure the next generation has access to what they don’t have.

“I’ve always said that when it’s time for me to have a child, I don’t want my daughter to go through an identity crisis or feel insecure about something that’s not on the shelf” , she said.

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You can see her shoes here.

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