Kick Down Doors (in Comfy Shoes) and Other Ways to Break Precedent 👠🚪
This month, we’re exploring a theme that ties together the stories of our fearless guests, Bianca Gates and Kevin Caldwell: the courage to ask, “Why settle?”
Whether reimagining what is comfortable footwear or reshaping the future of healthcare, these two have made questioning the status quo a driving force behind their success—and they’ve done it with the kind of clarity and purpose that turns bold ideas into lasting impact.
So, grab a cozy drink, put on your fanciest house slippers (Birdies, anyone?), and prepare to be inspired by two people who didn’t just follow the path less traveled—they bulldozed new ones entirely.
Fashion: How Bianca Gates & Birdies broke the mold in footwear
Bianca’s journey wasn’t all fluffy slippers and sunshine. Growing up as the daughter of Latina immigrants in Southern California, she learned to balance gratitude with grit and turned early experiences of being an outsider into a mission to build community and elevate women.
“My motto is, I’d rather be in the ring fighting than a spectator. That’s where I believe real change happens.”
BioTech: Kevin Caldwell & Ossium Health are banking on bone marrow
If Kevin Caldwell’s life were a movie, it’d be a mix of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (because he never outgrew his childhood sense of wonder) and Moneyball (because he’s all about finding smarter solutions where others see roadblocks).
"I think most children go through a phase of asking ‘why’ about everything, but I just kept doing that longer than most kids."
Bianca and Kevin show us that breaking precedent isn’t about creating chaos for its own sake—it’s about preserving what works, improving what doesn’t, and proving that you can open new doors while wearing the most comfortable and stylish shoes imaginable.
