Natischa Harvey photo by Erik Umphery
In honor of Black history month I must highlight successful African-American Designers. Mrs. Harvey is a respectable first choice. According to Andrea Williams Natischa Harvey were 19, fresh out of high school and was already making significant progress on a well-constructed path to her dreams. She was married to her high school sweetheart, who happened to be a professional athlete, and she was studying to become an attorney at Clark Atlanta University. She decided to take a job at Bakers during her sophomore year. She calls her time at Bakers a “paid internship” that gave her the hands-on experience and confidence she needed to strike out on her own. “I definitely believe you have to crawl before you can walk,” she said. “So I decided to work at Bakers, and my manager helped me learn pretty much everything about how to manage a store, from counting inventory to managing employees. College definitely prepares you but life’s reality is how one learns. I can relate to her in this reference, being one who worked for baker footwear group. I not only learned about management but about my strengths and weaknesses; not to mention how much I love shoes. I must say I can appreciate her hard work and dedication.So dedicated in fact she felt guilty for depleting her family’s savings to invest in her company. Natischa spent many nights working late and sleeping in her store, away from her husband and three children. She even took a two-week trip to China alone to find a manufacturer for her shoes. With her mother’s support and cash from a stock investment that was initially intended to pay for her college tuition, she opened her first boutique in 2004. Natischa has also seen her shoes grace the feet of some major celebrities, including Vivica A. Fox, Raven Symone and Christina Aguilera. http://
She actually credits her celeb clientele for giving her company its first real push into the mainstream. She stated “Once celebrities put a stamp of approval on Fever Shoes and certified the brand – it took off,” Natischa said. “I went from selling $600 – $700 per day to almost $15,000 in one day.” She also attributes her ever-expanding customer base to constant media exposure and diverse press such as People Style Watch and Essence. “I definitely appreciate the support that the African American community gives me, but I want support from everyone,” she said. “I make shoes for all women.” Natischa was an invited guest at the White House, Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference. She was recognized as one of the country’s youngest and most successful women entrepreneurs, and she acknowledges her impact on others who aspire to start their own businesses. While she is very careful to avoid glamorizing the process, even despite her current success, she encourages people to pursue their passions wholeheartedly. “If something is meant for you to do, and you are willing to work hard for it, it is going to happen,” she said. “It may take a while – it took me 6 years – but it will happen. If you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, you will be successful.” According to high heel junkie, Natischa’s FEVER shoes have been featured in the widely read national publications but in celebration of “Essence” readers, FEVER put on a readers-only sale that allowed the golden glamorous heels to be purchased for a fraction of the price. A variety of celebrities have also rocked the FEVER brand on personal appearances and at red carpet events. Check out their most popular style, exclusively at www.fevershoes.com, for FEVER is a $1.5 million-and-growing brand that Mrs. Harvey has firmly established. Now, who has the fever for these Fabulous FEVER shoe? I can say I sure do.
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