From collecting to trading to selling, senior Michael Herrera does it all when it comes to shoes. Owning over 30 pairs, Herrera loves every aspect of the “shoe game.”

“I like selling shoes, it’s cool to make money off of it,” he said. “But it’s hard at the same time, you have to put yourself out there.”

Just like any other vocation he had to build his business from the ground up. Growing his social following, finding money to buy shoes, and looking for different shoes that fit the taste for each individual were some of the many issues he had to face while starting up his business.

Herrera goes through different processes when either purchasing, selling or trading shoes. When buying shoes for his collection he joins Facebook groups with other shoe lovers and will purchase from them. When he plans on reselling shoes he buys from a sneaker selling and trading website, Sole Supremacy.

His collection began with one pair of shoes in the eighth grade. A pair of 5lab3 Jordans. “My best friend Tavian and I were talking about this pair of shoes. I actually liked them,” Herrera said. “He flaked on buying them so I bought them. Ever since then I started buying shoes.” With those one pair of shoes, he found his trade.

To grow his following and put his business out there he has various social media accounts.

“I started my YouTube channel because I saw other YouTubers and I wanted to make money from it like they do.”

Being new to that platform, Herrera has only three videos on his channel @Sneakerheadmikie. His channel consists of videos that show his shoe collection, sneaker unboxings, and shoe cleaner reviews. Only being two months into Youtube he has already received more than 1,500 views.

Selling shoes has taught him how to be financially smart. He says how he now knows how to manage his money and invest to make profit.

“I think about how much money I can spend on a pair of shoes,” Herrera said. “Then I think about how much money I can get back from it.”

Although he loves dealing with shoes he doesn’t see himself having a future with it.

“I’ll always collect shoes but I don’t see myself always selling them as a career.”