As the founder of SheWear, Stacey Head has transformed a personal injury into a successful footwear manufacturing business that prioritises both safety and style for women. Her journey illustrates how identifying a market gap can lead to innovative manufacturing solutions.

“I tried to source a pair of women’s work boots and the safety footwear manufacturers just weren’t looking after women,” said Stacey Head, recounting the incident that sparked her business journey after suffering a nail through her foot on a construction site.

The innovative footwear designer launched her business eleven years ago with determination rather than manufacturing experience.

“I started in my home garage. I imported a container load of shoes and just thought I’d give it a go. I was quite naive when I started, but I do have a pretty strong work ethic,” said Stacey. “My career was operational management in travel and aviation. Then I had a career change and went into property development.”

That unexpected career shift led Stacey to identify a critical gap in the market for women’s safety footwear, eventually establishing a manufacturing business that has evolved significantly since its inception.

“We’re releasing proper fit-for-purpose women’s walking shoes and waterproof hiking boots—I want to get women who can’t be active because they have health problems or bad ankles active.”

Stacey challenges narrow perceptions of manufacturing careers, emphasising the diversity of roles available in the sector.

“Manufacturing is so broad and people have this misconception that if you work in manufacturing, you’re on a factory floor. Manufacturing is so broad from design—I would probably classify myself as the designer in the manufacturing process—to everyone from sample makers to designers, all the way to women in fabrication,” said Stacey.

For her, manufacturing encompasses the entire product journey: “Manufacturing is a product at the end of the day, it’s from design concept all the way to actual manufacturing and producing that product and everything and anything in between.”

As a woman in a non-traditional industry, Stacey acknowledges that resilience is required to overcome the unique challenges women face.

“You’ve got to have a lot of drive, but you also have to be really resilient. Manufacturing is such a nontraditional career path for women. You have to double down on what you can and can’t do and you can get criticism from everybody along the way. You just need to back yourself even when you’re not backing yourself,” said Stacey.

She believes education is critical to increasing women’s participation in manufacturing and has observed interesting patterns among women who pursue non-traditional paths.

“It all starts in education and knowing what your options are. Girls are still taught that they should be nurses and teachers—there’s nothing wrong with that—but if I was going through school now, I probably would have gone into a trade or manufacturing,” said Stacey. “Girls with dads that are in trades or manufacturing or run their own business often see a different career path than traditional girls who maybe have university educated fathers.”

Her advice for women considering entering manufacturing is straightforward and encouraging: “Stick to your guns. Women tend to work harder to prove themselves in non-traditional industries. You need a tough skin, and even when you’re feeling not confident inside, you just have to keep going.”

By creating footwear that truly works for women’s needs, SheWear is not just manufacturing products—they’re engineering greater safety, comfort, and opportunity in spaces where women have traditionally been underserved.