Ottawa couple gets barefoot shoe company Nunorm up and running through bootstrapping

An Ottawa-based barefoot shoe company is getting its feet wet with an in-person business in the ByWard Market.

Meryl and Michael Baker, the husband and wife behind Nunorm barefoot shoes, will occupy the Stackt business accelerator pop-up in the ByWard Market for September as they grow their business. 

They hope to sell more of their barefoot shoes, which have a wider toebox, less cushioning on the sole and a “zero drop” design, allowing feet to move as they would if the person were barefoot.

“The (Nunorm) shoes are wide so that (customers) have room for their feet to move. Traditional shoes are biggest in the middle and taper off in the front, so they’re not shaped for the natural contour of the foot. That’s the reason a lot of people have injuries like plantar fasciitis, because there isn’t a lot of blood flow,” Meryl said. “There is also the drop, so how much cushion there is from heel to toes. A natural foot has zero drop, so the front of the foot and heel are in line.”

“(With) the padding of a traditional shoe, you don’t get any sensory activation feedback from the floor,” Michael added. “When you walk around barefoot, all the nerve endings on the bottom of your foot are activating. Whereas when you put a few inches of padding between you and the ground, your foot switches off.”

Started as a way to remedy Meryl’s own persistent foot issues, the couple launched their foot health business, Spacer Mobility, while living in Hong Kong in 2018. They moved around for several years before leaving Michael’s native Australia for Meryl’s hometown of Ottawa.

“We moved to Canada from Australia in 2020 and that’s when we incorporated (Spacer Mobility). Over the next five years, we helped over 150,000 people with everything from plantar fasciitis to bunions and other foot issues,” Michael told OBJ. 

When clients asked for shoe recommendations once their foot issues had subsided, Michael and Meryl often found themselves in a tough situation. 

“When people think of a barefoot shoe, they automatically think, ‘No, I’m never wearing that.’ Some are excessively wide, looking like a clown shoe, (others) are too expensive,” Meryl said. 

“The goal of our foot health company is to strengthen people’s feet so (they) can walk around pain-free. We basically developed a shoe to help support that mission,” Michael said, adding that they wanted to create “a functional shoe without compromising style.”

So they decided to take matters into their own hands – or feet. In 2022, they began to explore options to create their own barefoot shoes. Michael said research and development took longer than expected.

“We had five years of (Spacer Mobility), speaking to customers and hearing what shoes they’re wearing and playing around with different possibilities for a shoe. When we actually hit the ground running (in 2023), it took us over two years and a lot of iterations. We had to go to the factory (in) the main shoe province in China, where (most shoes) like Nike are made, to meet with manufacturers and do different testing on soles,” Michael said. 

Instead of putting their logo on a standard barefoot shoe model, the couple decided to design their shoe themselves. 

“There was an option to find a barefoot shoe and put our logo on it, but we didn’t like the feeling of that. Most people would get an agent or a middleman to do all of that for them, but we did the hard yards ourselves,” Michael said.

As might be fitting for a footwear company, the couple bootstrapped the business.

“We funded it and basically drained everything (we had). Every penny under every mattress went into it, because we didn’t realize that the production minimum is so high so we had to go all in,” Micheal said, adding that with the “full stress” of funding a project like this comes full control over business decisions.

This past January, the couple launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money. From the end of January to the beginning of March, Nunorm amassed 495 backers, raising more than $90,000.

Nunorm officially launched its first product in March, with shoes available to buy on the website as well as in-store at Sole Freedom on Richmond Road. Since then, the couple has partnered with a footwear retailer in Vancouver and had interest from similar stores in Europe and Asia.

In the few months the business has been operating, Nunorm has already sold to more than 1,000 clients in 15 countries. Meryl said they’ve even hand-delivered some orders to show their appreciation for their clients. 

“At the store in Ottawa, we’re already one of the best-selling shoes in that category. The feedback has been amazing, so that’s why we’re really excited about Stackt. We’ll be able to get that instant feedback,” Michael said.

With much of the money they make being re-invested into the company, Michael said Nunorm is expecting to turn a profit by the end of 2025.  

Looking forward to September, Meryl said the Stackt pop-up will allow passersby to try out Nunorm’s shoes on a mobility course or during workshops with other local partners. 

“We wanted to have a run club with Anytime Fitness. We’ll do a lot of local activations while we have the Stackt lease to get the health and fitness industry together in Ottawa,” Meryl said.

Planning for growth over the next few years, Meryl said they want Nunorm to become the “Vessi of the East Coast,” referring to the success of the Vancouver-based waterproof shoe company. They hope to grow their five-person team and expand their offerings. 

She added Nunorm will be releasing its current product in three new colours and a new style of shoe early next year. As parents of young children, Meryl added that she and Michael would like to develop a barefoot shoe for kids one day.

“Some shoes have a wide toebox for toddlers’ (shoes) but as soon as they get to about six (years old), the shoes become narrow and it’s hard to see because that’s when they really start with sports and it’s working against them,” she explained.

Having lived in many countries, the couple said they are happy to have established their businesses in Ottawa. 

“Besides the fact that it’s home for me, I see a lot of potential here for businesses and startups. There isn’t much competition in terms of the barefoot shoe business,” she said.

“For me, coming from Australia, I’ve always wanted to move to Canada. It’s such a great market for us and it’s given us so much opportunity to grow our business. I think a lot of Aussies come here for that reason,” Michael said. “It’s a fast-growing city. It’s going to be the next Toronto or Vancouver. Since being here for five years, so much has changed. New coffee shops, run clubs. A lot of fun things are happening here.”