Entrepreneur Lecture Series: Davis Smith, Founder of Cotopaxi

After graduating with his bachelor\u27s degree from Brigham Young University, Davis Smith and his wife decided to take an unpaid internship in Peru. While in Cusco, they met many locals who played barefoot in the city center. One in particular named Edgar, insisted on shining Davis’s tennis shoes with his shoe shining kit to earn money. Davis, intrigued by little Edgar’s persistence, allowed the little boy to shine his shoes. The day before Davis and his wife left Cusco, they found Edgar crying in despair. When asked, Edgar explained that his shoe shining kit had been stolen the night before. Davis gave Edgar the little money he had in his pocket, and the next morning as Davis and his wife were leaving, he saw that Edgar had bought a big bag of candy that he was now selling individually to the other children in the street. Davis felt compassion towards the rough circumstances these children faced and knew he would be back one day to help them.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/huntsman_news/1224/thumbnail.jp