One on One with Ahriana Edwards, Founder & CEO of Vaila Shoes

Ahriana Edwards is the Founder & CEO of Vaila Shoes, a women’s dress footwear brand designed in extended sizes 9–14. Ahriana will share her inspiring journey building her brand as well as her experiencefinding community with Two Ten at this year’s WIFI Networking & Cocktails event during The Atlanta Shoe Market. 

We caught up with Ahriana ahead of her remarks to hear about her journey and her advice for other women in the industry.  

Q: How did you first connect with Two Ten? 

Ahriana: When I first entered the footwear industry, my team and I had been working hard for years to build Vaila Shoes. By 2023, things were really taking off: we'd launched into Macy's, were working on our second retail partnership approaching six figures, had our shoes on some major celebrities, and were backed by Pharrell Williams. We even landed on Forbes 30 Under 30 for Atlanta. 

We had momentum and community, but we still needed guidance and a clear roadmap for sustainable growth. In 2023, Matt Priest (President & CEO of FDRA) mentioned a golden resource that I should be connected to: Two Ten Footwear Foundation. Later that year, I was invited to attend Footwear News’ and Two Ten’s Women Who Rock event in NYC (where I learned I was featured in the magazine!) At that event, I went straight to the Two Ten table to learn more about grants and networking opportunities for women in the industry. 

Q: What advice would you give to founders who feel they have momentum but no clear roadmap? 

Ahriana: It starts with community. Period. Start by looking at the individuals within your circles. Everyone has a community. It's just about tapping into it. Make sure every interaction is pleasant, that you'reremembered, and soon enough, you'll have a seat at the table.  

In entrepreneurship, we can't do this journey alone. And honestly? That's the beauty of it. Momentum is powerful, but community is what turns that momentum into sustainable growth. 

I took this exact approach when I was first pitching Vaila Shoes for funding during pitch competitions. Win or lose, I made sure to connect with the judges afterward and ask: "Who in your network would be a good contact for me to learn from to get into my next phase?" Those conversations opened doors I didn't even know existed. 

Q: You recently received a WIFI grant to complete a course about brand IP. How did this course change how you think about Vaila Shoes? 

Ahriana: The course I took, “IP Science: Brand Elevation and Protection,” through SOLEcial Studies Community Academy, was a game changer for how I think about building Vaila Shoes long-term. Before the course, I understood that IP was important, but I didn't fully grasp how it could be a strategic tool for brand elevation and protection (especially as we started exploring collaborations and licensing opportunities).  

The organizers cultivated this intimate class where we learned definitions, principles, and worked through real-life case studies from major brands to apply those concepts directly to our own companies. As a footwear founder looking to enter the world of IP, that class gave me the significant foundations I needed to get started on this journey with clarity and confidence. 

Q: What excites you most about the next chapter for Vaila Shoes? 

Ahriana: I'm excited about the next phase of innovation we have planned. We've made our mark in partnerships, and now it's time to bring the collaborations to life with more partnerships, more visibility, and making sure individuals everywhere know about our product.  

Women with extended shoe sizes will be empowered in their workplaces, and we'll be the ones to do it. We're also evolving our business model to make our shoes accessible to even more individuals. Our main target is to be aVAILAble (origin of our name) in every sense of the word. That makes me excited.  

Q: What does “success” look like for you now compared to when you first started? 

Ahriana: In the beginning, my version of success was accessibility. I wanted to scale quickly, get into as many retail formats as possible, and solve the immediate access problem for women who needed extended sizes. 

Now, it's so much more than that. Success looks like longevity.  If I'm going to truly make an impact within the footwear industry, it requires long-term and generational thinking. I want to exhaust every possible way to bring more aVAILAbility to the industry through a multitude of channels by truly tapping into my strengths of creativity and community building. I want to be the spokesperson for this brand, have my hand in it, and I won't stop until every size is accommodated and everyone knows about the brand. That's what success looks like now: building something that outlasts me, creates real change, and serves women who've been overlooked for far too long.