It’s a scenario all too familiar for many women. She’s out at an event or nightclub wearing high heels and, as the hours go by, her feet begin to hurt. She doesn’t have a pair of flats to change into, so she is forced to endure the discomfort. This happened to Dawn Dickson and she decided to do something about it.

“I was out on South Beach and I was thinking that there should be some type of alternative to Women walking around in Heels being in pain just to look good, and there’s no other alternative,” says Dickson, founder of Flat Out of Heels.

“It just came to my mind, ‘What if there were vending machines that sold shoes that you could buy in the event of an emergency?’ When I got the idea, I just decided to pursue it because there wasn’t anything like that.”

From that idea, in 2012, she launched her Rollable, stylish and compact ballet Flats along with the innovative vending machines that dispensed the comfy shoes. The flats retail for $19.99 and its signature sole is what sets the shoe apart from others in the market.

“I didn’t invent rollable flats, they were actually around long before me. I just found a better sole.”

Other brands have soft soles and are rollable, but are flimsy and not very supportive. However, the Flat Out of Heels flats are both flexible and durable, so women can walk around and not risk hurting their feet, Dickson points out.

Along with the website and boutiques, Flat Out of Heels vending machines carry the Rollable Flats at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (Concourse E) and Miami nightclubs such as LIV, Mansion and Cameo. These were all opportunities Dickson received due to relationships she fostered when working with entertainers, athletes and non-profit organizations.

“When I first started Flat Out of Heels, I sent an email to close people in my network to let them know what I was working on. A friend of mine from my network responded to an email asking if I would be interested in placing a vending machine in the Atlanta airport because the airport contract year was expiring. There’s a new contract every 10 years. It just happened to be good timing, and also good networking.”

The situation played out very similarly with LIV. A meeting, which was coordinated by a contact, resulted in a deal secured in under 10 minutes.

Dickson would like to expand to other airports and nightclubs, but it all comes down to capital and attracting investors who can help in expanding her customized vending machines. Even though the rollable flats have taken off and done well online and in boutiques, Dickson would like to move towards big-box retailers. The initial concept behind Flat Out of Heels was the vending machines because it was apart of the distribution strategy of capturing women at the various times they may need flats.

Dickson is currently looking for an investor for Flat Out of Heels and made an appearance on Yahoo! Finance’s The Biz Fix hosted by CNBC’s Marcus Lemonis of The Profit. She was seeking advice on how to fill large orders she wasn’t able to complete due to the lack of funds needed to keep the shoes in stock. Dickson was close to selling her company after getting an offer from a major retail brand. Lemonis’ advice convinced her to stay as Flat Out of Heels’ CEO, pitch the shoe line and vending machines separately to investors and to only take money from an investor who could open a door to business that she couldn’t secure on her own.

This proved to be great exposure for the brand as Dickson appeared on the homepages of Yahoo.com and CNBC.com, seeing an increased traffic to the Flat Out of Heels website and piquing the interest of several investors.

The Miami-based founder received another opportunity to connect with investors at this year’s NewME x REVOLT Idea Lab, which was held during the REVOLT Music Conference in Miami. Dickson placed second during the pitch competition. As a member of NewME Accelerator, she has spent time with NewME founder Angela Benton in San Francisco working on her business model.

“The [NewME] Accelerator was definitely helpful because Angela spent a lot of time walking through the financial models with me. Finance wasn’t typically my strength, but now I feel very confident in my ability to understand financial documents, budgets, put together budgets and projections on my own,” confirms Dickson. “That was very valuable.”

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