About Us

Hi 

I’m Jackson Brooks, founder of insideboot. I love to experiment with different types of shoes. My passion for shoes developed at a young age while working alongside my father in his shoe repair shop in Boston after my school hours.

When I started working in my father’s cleat-repairing shop, he encouraged me to go to college and pursue a career in medicine, just in case the shoe repair business didn’t succeed.

My brother, dad, and I all work together to provide the town of Boston and the surrounding area with functioning, healthy shoes.

While working in our shoe repair shop, I interacted with various customers, gathered their feedback, and visited several shoe manufacturing factories to enhance my knowledge and skill set.

At my father’s shop, I engaged myself in learning about the anatomy of shoes, the various materials used in their construction and how these elements affect their wearability.

Our commitment to superior customer service, offering practical timelines to suit our customers’ busy schedules, and utilizing top-notch craftsmanship with the finest materials in each shoe. Within a period of five years, we successfully upgraded our family’s 60-year-old footwear repair shop from 250 sq. ft. to 1800 sq. ft.

In 2014, I met a man who was a former employee of Stefano Bemer, one of Italy’s top shoe manufacturers. With his help, I got the opportunity to intern at Stefano Bemer.

Because I wanted to get really good at making shoes, in June 2016, I moved to Japan to learn how to design custom shoes by hand.

I spent nearly three years honing my skills in Italy, where I learned the art of making, repairing, and polishing shoes. During that time I made twelve pairs of shoes.

I also spent five months in London, where I gained valuable insights about sneakers from the famous shoemakers Gaziano and Girling.

In addition, I gained valuable insight into shoe engineering from my friend Ibrahim Ali, a scientist specializing in shoe mechanics, engineering, and soles at the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.

During a visit to his research lab,  Ibrahim Ali demonstrated how he collects various parameters from human feet to design shoes. 

By integrating sensors into the shoes, we analyze foot rotation, landing angles, impact speed, and force distribution on the heel, ankle, toes, and hips. This data is crucial for assessing the joint pressure exerted by different shoe types.

I love running! I do everything from quick one-mile runs to crazy long 50-milers. I’m almost at 50 marathons. I did really well in a famous marathon, the Boston Marathon, and even finished in the top 100!