Senior Peyton Bush owns nearly fifty pairs of shoes.

Peyton grasped his love for shoes and brought it to life in January of 2019, birthing a shoe-buying and selling business called Kicks Aligned. As new shoes emerge to the market, he purchases them with the intent of future financial gain.

How it all started? Basketball.

“I think my love for shoes came from being a basketball player,” Peyton said. “The two kind of go hand-in-hand.”

Peyton’s sedulous drive for business at such a young age allowed him to buy and resell shoes through various different websites, making a profit each and every time. This work is not taxing or strenuous yet he is still making more money than the average FHC student.

His time spent buying and selling shoes has escalated further—he sells any shoe he can make profit on. Additionally, he has been selling sports cards and Playstation 5’s (PS5) too.

Peyton utilizes more than one outlet to sell the shoes while also having various avenues to collect money.

“I sell all of my shoes through Ebay, StockX, or to people that I know,” Peyton said, “and I ship them through UPS or USPS. I get the money through Paypal and Venmo.”

The time Peyton spends working on Kicks Aligned is ever-changing; there’s busy weeks but also slower weeks depending on how many shoes are released. 

The business requires Peyton to be patient and adaptable. 

“Sometimes there could be five pairs of shoes that come out in a week,” Peyton said. “But there could be none the next week. So it really depends on the week. But either way, you’re not guaranteed to get a pair every time.”

Recently through Kicks Aligned, shoe brands such as Yeezys, Jordan 1’s, and Nike SB (skateboarding) dunks have been selling the most. Through the trends and fads, Peyton’s personal favorite brand of shoe is by far Nike.

His biggest profit thus far? A little over a year ago, the satin black Jordan 1’s were released, and Peyton made his most substantial markup ever; a single pair sold for 1,100 dollars. 

The process to find shoes online is seemingly difficult, however, Peyton orchestrates a weekly calendar to assure financial success. Scheduling is an important aspect of the shoe industry due to the fact that various brands could release shoes at once, while other times the market sees no new introductions; this requires Peyton to be organized and forward thinking. 

“Stores will put out a release calendar a few weeks in advance,” Peyton said, “so at the beginning of the week, I make a joint calendar with all of the shoes coming out over the next few days.”

Peyton has now introduced and gotten two of his friends—seniors Dallas Hopson and Dawsen Beach—started in this type of shoe business. While most would view this as counter-intuitive to success, Peyton has the wisdom to see it as advantageous. 

No business is looking to have a copious amount of competitors, but in Peyton’s eyes, this works beneficially to him—increasing the overall  profitability with supply and demand.

“There are a lot of other people trying to buy and sell shoes,” Peyton said. “But this is what makes it very profitable. There is supply and demand because there are so many people trying to do the same thing that I do.”

Fortunately, Kicks Aligned has faced no hardships in terms of the pandemic due to the fact that all work is done online. People don’t choose to camp out and wait in line for a pair of shoes— they’d rather have them delivered.

Peyton’s business is timeless; shoes will always be in fashion. While mixing his interest for shoes and his knack for business, Peyton will continue to earn more and more money. 

This boy, with an adoration for shoes, will continue to buy and sell, storing his findings in a “shoe room” built by his grandfather with hopes of one day opening a real store.

“[I could not see myself having employees] unless I opened an actual store,” Peyton said, “which I really want to do when I’m older.”