The beginning of my sneaker journey, not only started when I was younger which then decided to grow and become something bigger in my life but it started to just take off.  As a kid I grew up surrounded by shoes, over the years throughout my childhood I had shoes here and there but nothing major. As a 4 year old girl I had sneakers, but I was 4 if they didn’t have pink I didn’t care for them. As I got older I started to pick up on shoes that I did and didn’t like. But like any other kid I could not keep a pair of shoes clean, so I didn’t really have a lot. I had the typical shoes any kid would have, you know the twinkle toes or the sandals. All through elementary school I had shoes but I still had the boring Adidas, although the Adidas were boring they were still very comfortable and that's all that mattered to me.

But the biggest year for me was at the end of 4th grade, during my 10th birthday party. When I got my first pair of yeezys they were the black and white “Oreos”. On my 10th birthday I had been sick with hands, feet and mouth which made me have sores in my mouth and on my hands. The sores had been so sensitive and hurt when I would chew and try to eat. I also couldn’t even blow out my candles, so my mom blew them out for me. Basically my birthday wasn’t the best at first but over time it got better. My birthday was at altitude so I had been sweaty so I could feel my hands sweating, my armpits sweating and the sweat dripping down my face. Before I had opened my presents in front of everyone my mom had passed out the cake. 

The moment we’ve all been waiting for, me opening the gift. I got the gift and my dad gave my mom a signal so I  got excited. I could feel my heart beating. I started to sweat. I saw the signal and thought this has to be something good my mom's recording! So I'm there waiting to unwrap the gift and I start to rip it open slowly and I see a brown box. And I think to myself what is this?  I slid open the box and there they were my first pair of official yeezys! During 5th grade I wore them a lot not because I had to but because I was so excited for one simple pair of shoes.  I was so excited that I don't even remember what else I got on my birthday.  Now that I look back I don’t know why I was so excited, they were just a pair of shoes. I think I was mainly excited because they were something new that I didn't really see other people have. 

I never would have thought I would be where I am now, who would’ve thought that I would have a shoe collection. Not me, it's crazy how this all started because of a gift that I got on my 10th birthday as a 4th grader. It’s also probably because my dad had decided to go into business selling/consigning shoes. It was around the same time period maybe a few months later at the start  of 5th grade. I honestly didn’t think my dad would have his store for this long, and even open up 3 more stores. My dad having 4 stores most definitely has something to do with the fact that I have a shoe collection and a love for shoes. You prolly think i’m crazy but its just funny how I started off with a pair of yeezys on my 10th birthday would lead me to where I am today. 

June 12th, 2021 was another big day for me. I celebrated my Quinceanera, the day I became a young lady. Throughout this whole day I could feel many mixed emotions. I honestly didnt know what to feel. I was all over the place.You know me, I had to do it in a different way that would represent me. I didn't want to be like any other girl. I had included on my invitation to dress to impress with some sneakers.  So instead of me changing out to heels I had my heels on already you know the gold sparkly ones with the strap around my toes. I had wanted to include sneakers into my quince somehow so I asked my dad's friend Joe to have me some custom shoes designed. I told him that I wanted pink and sparkly shoes, preferably the Air Jordan 1’s my favorite shoes. The day of my quince I had no idea what my shoes looked like, I had to wait till my presentation. 

So before I got my shoes I had got my ring, earrings, bracelet and my necklace for my quince. So then I heard the announcer announce Joe Vasquez and Alaine Betz will now change Kianna's shoes to represent her becoming a lady. As he opens the box I see the shoes and a big smile starts to appear on my face, I feel the nerves in my body, I can feel all the eyes watching me and I also feel very anxious. I honestly was so shocked at how good they came out. I wasn’t expecting all this to be on the shoe, it was a black, white and pink shoe with glitter around it. The shoe even had a Piece of my dress on the toe and on the tongue of the shoe. On the  side of the shoe it had the 15 on each side, I just loved how they came out. And then on the heel of the shoe it had a KI on each of the back so when I put my two feet together it spelled out KIKI. It was everything and even more than I expected. 

It's just weird how it all worked out, I have a lot of shoes to wear and yet I wear the same pair of black vans everyday to school. When I have a wall filled with shoes, you're prolly thinking aint no way you have a wall filled. But yes I do, my family and I all have a pretty good collection of shoes. Now that I think about it, I've been a little sneakerhead since I was younger because of my mom. She's the one who would dress me and actually made sure I had some nice sneakers. She even put my dad on with shoes he never really cared about until he met my mom and put him on.

If my mom never met my dad he wouldn’t be where he's at now with his 4 sneaker stores, I wouldn’t have shoes or even be alive right now. Life works out in mysterious ways, my dad needed my mom to put him on to make him be where he's at today. Funny how my 10th birthday impacted my life so much. These little gestures can go a long way. And till this day I still have my size 4 oreos that my dad got me on my 10th birthday. Now that  I'm looking back on it, make sure to appreciate the little things around you, you never know how they could change your life.