Deyana Matt really, really likes socks.
“I could wear a different pair of socks each day of the year and I wouldn’t duplicate,” said the South Elgin woman, 30.
That love of socks — of all patterns and designs — turned into an idea for a home-based business which also gives back to the community.
Matt and her husband, Chris Goodwin, 33, both who work for area school districts, recently launched Socks and Souls.
Buyers can either buy one pair of socks for $10, or sign up for a “sock-of-the-month” to get a new pair sent to them each month. A six-month membership is $55 and a 12-month membership is $110. For every pair of socks sold, the couple will personally deliver socks to a local non-profit organization in the area.
“For every sock that we ship out or is purchased, we will personally donate to someone in need and help get them back on their feet,” Matt said.
They launched the service last month when their website, http://www.socksandsouls.com, went live.
It is an idea that came to them a few years ago, Goodwin said. “I was reading about trends and socks was one of the trending things. We had been kicking around the idea of socks of the month,” back then, he said.
They even bought the name “Socks and Souls” online a few years ago to protect the name they’d chosen.
“We were discussing ways that we could help — different ways that we could give back to the community,” Goodwin said.
They had found a sock-of-the-month club online, but then thought about the prospect of giving away socks, too.
Once they started rolling with the idea, they began looking for suppliers and found several to work with. They are still using a few suppliers, Matt added.
A workroom in the basement in now covered in socks, as is a table set up in the living room.
At first, the idea was to give socks to local children’s hospitals, Goodwin said.
“Specifically, to give them something other than the gray slipper things they give you,” when in the hospital, he said.
Rainbow socks, or socks with fun designs “can add color to their day in an unfortunate situation,” Goodwin said.
But they decided to go a little broader with the potential donees. “We would like to make a donation to a different charity each month and broaden it out,” he said.
They’ve already had suggestions and request for local donations — they would like to keep the donation recipients to a two-hour radius because they plan to drive the donation to the sites themselves, Matt added.
Before the first donation is made, however, they need to sell some socks. They are up to 222 “Likes” on the accompanying Facebook page they created for the business, but want to have more than a few pairs for their first live donation, Matt said.
“Starting off the numbers will be smaller, so if it is one pair we will still drop them off,” Goodwin added.
Because potential clients have asked, there are one-time options as well as six-month and 12-month sock club memberships offered.
Like Matt’s own sock collection, none of the socks are boring. She personally really likes the giraffe and the hamburger socks, Matt said.
They self-funded the startup business and said that while they would like to generate additional income from the business, that isn’t necessarily the priority.
“Even if we just break even we are giving back,” Goodwin said.
Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter
