INTERVIEW: Andrea Součková: naBOSo began with a bit of chance

INTERVIEW: Andrea Součková: naBOSo began with a bit of chance INTERVIEW: Andrea Součková: naBOSo began with a bit of chance

Stories and Brands

naBOSo is celebrating 10 years this year – read the story of its founder Andrea, a big-hearted, enterprising woman, passionate athlete and loving mum. In 2015, she opened the first naBOSo shop.

Andrea Součková, the owner of naBOSo, is living proof that every cloud has a silver lining. What led her to set up her own barefoot footwear shop in 2015 together with her then husband? We spoke to her not only about the tough early days, but also about how she managed to build a successful company that currently has over 20 permanent employees and 60 part-time staff.

It’s exactly ten years since Andrea, thanks to her positive experience with barefoot shoes, started to toy with the idea of opening her own shop. She was 27 at the time and, as a keen runner, had been struggling with knee pain for years. But the moment she put on barefoot shoes for the first time, the pain was almost gone as if by magic. And Andrea immediately knew she wanted to bring these shoes to the world.

Even if it sounds like a fairy tale, the beginnings were anything but easy.

When naBOSo was starting out, Andrea and her then husband were still students, so money was tight. For three months they even lived in a small room next to the shop so they could afford the rent.

But Andrea’s enthusiasm soon returned, and today she’s the proud owner of five successful shops as well as an e-shop. Right now, you can choose from nearly 1,000 barefoot models and colourways, have your feet measured, and get advice from respected experts.

What led you to the idea of starting a barefoot footwear shop? It must have felt like quite a leap into the unknown back then. After all, barefoot shoes weren’t nearly as popular a few years ago.

I did a lot of sport while studying and had long-term issues with knee pain. I tried to figure out why it was happening, and that’s how I came across barefoot shoes. In 2014 I bought my first pair in Prague – at the time there was only one shop where you could get shoes like that. And almost immediately after my first run in them, the pain went away. On top of that, my body started to align better overall. I saw barefoot shoes as something completely natural, so it was clear to me that I wanted to recommend them to others too.

The naBOSo shop has been running for ten years now. When you were starting out, did you ever imagine it would become this successful?

We were already putting together concrete plans during a holiday in Cambodia, and we opened the shop on 5. 5. 2015. Honestly, I didn’t expect us to be hugely successful. We were 27, I was doing a PhD at the time, and we put all the money we had into getting the business off the ground (we even moved out of our rented place and for a while lived in a small room right in the shop). Our calculations showed that to cover the necessary costs we had to sell at least one pair a day. And in the end, on the very first day we sold 18 pairs!

Did you ever feel like packing it all in and doing something else instead?

Right at the beginning we were doing everything ourselves, so of course there were a few moments when it was really tough. During the day we were in the shop, and in the evenings we were placing orders, cleaning, or putting out new models – and we’d go to bed at three or four in the morning. In moments like that, it naturally crosses your mind that you’d like to throw it all in. That happened to me maybe once… or twice, but it really was just a moment of exhaustion. I never seriously considered closing the shop.

Why should I buy barefoot shoes rather than conventional shoes? 

Personally, I see barefoot shoes as part of a healthy lifestyle. They have lots of health benefits – people often praise them for helping with back, head or hip pain, bunions or heel spurs. But what I see as key is that they’re incredibly comfortable. You feel freer in them and walking feels good, which then reflects in your mood too. You simply feel better throughout the day. Yes, I’ll admit it – when I first went to try them on in a shop, I hesitated a bit because of how they looked and the price. Still, the moment I put them on for the first time, I thought: ‘Wow!’

And what people are really curious about: can barefoot shoes truly be worn everywhere? Could I run a marathon in them, for example?

If someone is only just starting with barefoot shoes, we recommend getting a pair you’ll wear day to day, so your feet can gradually start to strengthen. Only then should you buy specialist footwear, for example for running, hiking, or the gym. When it comes to running, I definitely recommend starting with shorter distances, because at first it can feel a bit unfamiliar. I personally tend to dive into things headfirst – I ran races in barefoot shoes straight away and nothing ever happened to me.

Why should I come to you specifically when choosing barefoot shoes?

At the moment we offer around 1,000 different models from many brands, and each shoe is a little different in terms of foot width, instep height, and so on. On our e-shop we try to measure all models, and in our shop on Českomoravská we have a 3D foot scanner that assesses foot length and width. We’ll measure your feet professionally and help you choose in our other shops in Prague, Brno and Zlín too. What’s more, all our sales staff are regularly trained by physiotherapists, and we work with orthopaedists, podiatrists and other specialists.

The barefoot footwear market is growing nicely. How do you choose the brands that will be sold at naBOSo? What’s your main criterion?

What’s absolutely essential is not only the right width, flexibility and lightness, but also excellent durability. And when we can, we choose Czech or Slovak brands. On top of that, not everything can be made locally, so for example we usually have to source outdoor shoes from foreign manufacturers.

So does it sometimes happen that after a while you stop stocking a particular brand?

We dealt with this mainly in the early days, when it sometimes happened that a model had a quality issue, or people often returned it saying it didn’t fit them well. We try to prevent that now by always having samples sent to us and testing them ourselves for at least two months.

Will you be introducing any new brands to customers in 2025?

Yes. We focus on what’s missing from our range, which is why the new children’s Crave shoes have arrived. So far we’ve had great feedback on how well they fit children’s feet. They have an anatomical shape, they’re wide enough at the front, and at the same time they fit beautifully at the heel, which is very important. We also focused on street-style trainers from Fleeters and Ohne project, which I’ve now tested thoroughly with the whole team, and we’ve prepared the first orders.

Do you have any other plans for 2025?

For us, 2025 is all about efficiency. We’re trying to do everything as well as we can, and as efficiently as possible, because of the economic situation and what’s happening in the world right now. We moved the shop from one address to another and we have a new external warehouse. In the summer, we traditionally plan Barefoot Fest. It’s a kind of health day and a chance to meet the experts we work with. You can once again look forward to a podoscope, foot measurements, a diastasis specialist, and physiotherapists or podiatrists focused on feet.

Andy, let’s forget work for a moment. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

The first three years there wasn’t much time, but now we have a team of 80 people around us with clearly divided roles. When I have time off, I most enjoy spending it with my daughters. Then I love sport – from running and CrossFit to diving – and I absolutely love travelling. Discovering the world is truly my passion.

We can already reveal that the planned barefoot festival will take place on Children’s Day, i.e. 1. 6. 2025. The programme includes talks by experts, examinations using a podoscope and plantograph, psychomotor development assessments, diastasis checks, etc. For us it’s not only a day for children, who will have face painting, a bouncy castle and sensorimotor play, but also a day focused on health.

Where next?