Bala Footwear has sold out within days after opening its direct-to-consumer site to nurses across the country. The Portland based startup creates footwear designed for the purpose of serving the needs of nurses. The company is looking to restock with inventory arriving within the next several weeks.
Bala co-founder Caprice Neely, who has designed shoes for Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour, saw an opportunity to bring an innovative “Her First” design to the market. “In the athletic footwear industry, nearly every shoe is made for a man’s foot, then shrunk to fit a woman’s foot,” Neely explains. “But there are more differences other than size that affect the fit of a shoe. Given the vast majority of nurses are female, we are not only putting the nurse first, we are putting her first.” The shoes are also designed to be fluid resistant, easy to clean, supportive, silent, and high-traction.
Bala teamed up with Nurselifern Inc., a nurse media company, early on in the development process. By the summer of 2020, Bala was ready to carry out clinical trials, and a diverse group of 50 nurses from across the country were hand-selected to wear sample ‘Twelves’ to work.
“It was crucial we tested our hypothesis and design with real nurses working real shifts,” Neely continues. “The nurses who participated in the clinical trials logged over 600 shifts and provided extensive feedback we incorporated into the final product.” Early reviews on the shoes include some nurses describing a “glove-like” fit and all comfort-shift.
Cierra England, a Trauma ICU nurse in Utah, wrote to Bala after the first shift in her BalaTwelves. She stated “I’ve spent thousands of dollars on chiropractors to help keep my spine functional. After my first shift in them, my back is actually functional and pain-free WITHOUT the help of any medications– it’s psyching me out!”
