It should be BERTA instead. Berta is my beloved dog, whom I rescued from the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, and has been my loyal companion ever since. Given my love for animals and living in a small apartment in Bogotá, Colombia, whose climate is unpredictable, cold, and rainy in the mornings for most of the year, I found it uncomfortable and time-consuming to take off my warm slippers and wear sneakers to take Berta for a walk.

With the valuable support of my uncle, Alberto Mantilla, a prominent industrial designer based in NY, we set the task of creating a product that would allow people to feel comfortable at home with a pair of shoes that were easy to put on and take off, fashionable, and more “dressing” than slippers. We wanted people to be able to use them to go out in the morning to walk their pets in a much more comfortable way.Without knowing it, we found a new approach that could create a new category in the competitive world of sports footwear, not competing against them but complementing it. We had to change our shoes for this new positioning, which has worked great. And here we are, proud of our latest and very prosperous brand of pre- and Post-Activity Shoes.