In Her Shoes: Samantha Dong, Founder ALLY Shoes

This AAPI Heritage Month, we’re celebrating the woman behind ALLY.

Founder Sam created ALLY Shoes with a simple belief: women shouldn’t have to choose between style and comfort. As an AAPI founder, Sam continues to challenge industry norms while building a brand rooted in confidence, inclusivity, and thoughtful innovation.

ALLY Shoes: In honor of AAPI month, we thought it would be a great time to feature our Founder, Samantha Dong. So let’s dive in. What motivates you as a female founder of a small business every day?

Sam: What motivates me every day is hearing from women who tell us that ALLY helped them feel confident, comfortable, and like themselves again.

When I started ALLY, it came from a very personal frustration: I wanted shoes that looked polished and beautiful but didn’t leave me counting down the minutes until I could take them off. I knew I wasn’t alone. So many women have been told that style and comfort are mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to heels.

Building a small business is not easy, but knowing that we are solving a real problem for real women keeps me going. Every review, every message, every customer who says, “I finally found heels I can actually wear,” reminds me why this work matters.

ALLY Shoes: What habits or mindset shifts have helped you stay resilient while building a brand?

Sam: One mindset that has helped me stay resilient is remembering that every new challenge feels impossible until you figure it out — and we’ve figured out many impossible-feeling things before. When you’re building a brand, there is always a new problem. One day it is product development, another day it is supply chain, inventory, marketing, hiring, cash flow, or customer experience. It can feel overwhelming in the moment, but I try to remind myself: this is not the first hard thing we’ve had to solve.

Another habit that has helped me is staying close to the customer. When I feel overwhelmed, I come back to the women we are designing for. Their feedback gives us clarity and keeps the team focused on what matters most: making shoes that genuinely support women in their lives.

ALLY Shoes: How do you avoid burnout while running a growing company?

Sam: I’m still learning! I think many founders are.

I've learned to treat burnout as a warning sign, not just something to push through. When I start to feel burned out, it usually means that a process, system, or way of working is no longer sustainable — or that the company has outgrown the way we were doing things before. In that sense, burnout can be useful information. It tells me it is time to reassess and make changes, whether that means delegating differently, simplifying a workflow, improving communication, or building a more scalable system.

On a personal level, I also try to protect small rituals that help me reset. Bouldering has been a great physical and mental outlet because it forces me to be completely present. Cooking and cleaning help me feel grounded, and short getaways give me space to step back and return with more perspective.

ALLY Shoes: What challenges did you face as an AAPI woman entrepreneur, and how did you navigate them?

Sam: This is a question I have a complicated relationship with, because I don’t always want to attribute every challenge I’ve faced to being an AAPI woman. Building a business is hard for many reasons — the category, the timing, the market, the business model, and the stage you’re in all matter.

For example, when I was fundraising early on, I faced a lot of challenges. It would be easy to wonder how much of that was tied to being a woman or being AAPI, but I actually think a big part of it was the category. DTC brands were becoming a much tougher fit for traditional VC investing. In hindsight, that challenge became a blessing because it pushed us to focus on profitability, discipline, and building a healthier business earlier than we otherwise might have.

That said, there have definitely been moments where being a young Chinese woman shaped the dynamic, especially in negotiations with suppliers, many of whom were older Asian men. Culturally, there can be an expectation to speak or behave a certain way in front of elders, and learning to push back in those situations took practice. I had to get comfortable being firm, direct, and clear while still staying respectful.

Over time, I’ve learned to focus on the mission and the task at hand. The goal is not to be aggressive for the sake of it — it is to advocate for the business, our customers, and the standards we believe in. That balance of being respectful but not easily dismissed is something I’ve had to build over the years.

ALLY Shoes: What kind of impact do you want ALLY to have on the industry?

Sam: First, I want ALLY to help redefine what women should expect from footwear. For too long, women have been asked to compromise — choose the beautiful shoe that hurts, or the comfortable shoe that doesn’t feel like you. I want ALLY to prove that comfort, fit, and style can all exist in the same product. My hope is that we push the industry toward more inclusive sizing, better width options, more thoughtful design, and a deeper respect for how women actually live. Shoes should support your day, not limit it. If ALLY can help women feel more confident, more comfortable, and more considered, then we are doing something meaningful.

Second, I want ALLY to help prove that a brand can be both mission-driven and a strong business. That feels especially important right now, as we’re seeing more conversations around whether sustainable or values-led brands can survive long term. The recent news of SHEIN acquiring Everlane has brought that tension to the forefront: what happens when brands built around sustainability and transparency face the financial realities of scale, profitability, and market pressure? For ALLY, sustainability is not just a feel-good slogan. It is part of how we think about building a better business. We found a category where a more flexible supply chain allows us to create a win-win-win: better for the customer, because we can offer more inclusive sizing, widths, and shade options; better for the business, because we can keep inventory lean through made-to-order capabilities; and better for the environment, because we can reduce excess inventory and unnecessary waste. I want ALLY to show that responsible business does not have to be separate from good business. When done thoughtfully, sustainability can be a strategy — one that creates better products, serves more customers, improves margins, and reduces waste.

My hope is that we push the industry toward more inclusive sizing, more thoughtful production, better fit, and a deeper respect for how women actually live. Shoes should support your day, not limit it.

ALLY Shoes: What’s your go-to ALLY style and how do you wear it?

Sam: It really depends on the occasion, which is one of the things I love about ALLY. We design shoes for real life, and real life includes everything from everyday errands to major meetings to weddings and special events.

For important meetings, my go-to is the Black Suede Classic Pump. It is our OG style, and there is something about it that instantly makes me feel confident, polished, and put together.

For everyday wear, my current favorite is the Black Calf Leather City Loafer. I love pairing it with a shirt and denim for a look that feels effortless but still refined.

And for dressier occasions, weddings, or events where I want a little sparkle, I love the Silver Shimmer Bold Block Heel. It feels festive and special, but still has the comfort and stability that ALLY is known for.