On March 1st, during the final presentation of the Shoe 1-Year Diploma Program, Anand Zorigt from Mongolia shared his ambitious future plans. Anand, who has been developing a project to launch the FIRST Mongolian sneaker brand manufactured in Mongolia, captured our attention with his vision and determination.
We interviewed Anand to learn more about his history and his future projects.
From Business studies to the footwear world, why did you take the Shoe 1-Year Diploma Program?
I studied finance at the University of British Columbia for 5 years and spent another 2 years working at a private equity firm. Although the experience and the skills I learned in finance was immeasurable, I did not feel corporate environment was a place I would like to stay for the rest of my life. And since the beginning, my end goal was always to have my own company and become an entrepreneur. So, I quit my job and started to look for business ideas to pursue. For while I stayed unemployed, searching for ideas, and one day my father offered me a job at his factory. I immediately took the first offer since I needed money at the time and was able to help my parents as much as I can while I search for ideas to start a business. But once I started my job at the factory, everything changed, I was instantly hooked. As a tech savvy person, the technology, the process that goes into manufacturing shoes was something I would never get tired of. Every day I came to the factory to learn something new about shoe machineries and throughout my study I found about Lineapelle and Simac. After that it was all a beautiful coincidence. I went to Milan to attend Lineapelle for the first time and to search for a place where I can learn how to make shoes from scratch. I found Arsutorias stand and when I talked for 5 minutes, I immediately knew it was exactly what I was looking for. That is why I choose to attend the 1-year shoe program.
What is the name of your company and where is it located.
The company I work for is called “Khos Az”. It is located in Ulaanbaatar; the capital city of Mongolia and our company have been operating there for over 20 years.
Can you give us a brief recap of your company’s history and what does the factory manufacture?
The company is founded by my father back in 1996. But back then it was operating under a different name, “Sinuous” until in 2005 it was changed to its current name Khos Az. It is a factory specialized in manufacturing military and safety shoes. For more than 20 years we have been the constant supplier for the Mongolian military and the mining companies. In 2012, we opened a new section in our factory to make kids shoes to test if there is demand for casual customers. It was quite a successful launch and we realized that there was a market for casual footwear in Mongolia. That is why we are now planning to expand our manufacturing to performance sneakers.
How was your experience on the Shoe 1-Year Diploma?
In one word, the whole experience was “amazing”. What I really liked about this one-year program was that it enabled me to understand shoe making process from both pattern makers and designers’ point of view. As a businessman who was trying to get into shoe production it was essential for me to learn to see shoes from these perspectives. I can now say with confidence that I have become much better at communicating my thoughts and opinions with my own designers and engineers than ever before. But learning technical side of the shoe was not the only thing I gained during my one-year program. Friends, colleagues, teachers everyone I met in Arsutoria have taught me many valuable lessons about the shoes industry and the life that comes with it as well. The connections I made in Arsutoria for me is even more important than the numbers I memorized in school. It cannot be replaced. I would recommend this program to anyone who is looking for a fundamental knowledge about shoes for any kind of purpose.
How did the school support your skills development?
Before I came to Arsutoria, I did not have any prior firsthand experience on building a shoe. So basically, each day at Arsutoria I was developing a new skill. Every day after the theoretical lesson follows a practical test to confirm what we have learned throughout the day. This approach made it easier to understand the shoe making process as we were doing all the tasks firsthand. We learned how to stich, use the stitching machines, and all the machineries necessary to build a shoe. But it did not stop with only the machineries, we also learned how to use computer programs that can design and build shoes in 3D. If I list all the micro detail of what we have learned throughout the year, it’s not going to end. This one-year program taught me skills that helped me to become a better shoemaker and better a businessman.
Tell us a bit more about your launch sneaker project, is it true that your company will be the first one in manufacturing sneakers?
It would be a lie if I say there haven’t been any sneakers made in Mongolia in the past. Cashmere companies and local clothing brands have made sneakers, but the main difference is that they are companies focused on different things and sneakers is just a small part of it. Our company is the first and only sneaker focused company in Mongolia.
Are there more long-term projects that you would like to tell us about?
So far, the sneakers project has been the biggest project I have ever worked on. I believe the next few years of my life will mainly revolve around this project. In the future, we are planning to sell our products in different Asian and North American cities. So, expanding our market to foreign countries might be our next big project after this one.
