Trailblazers

Birdies Footwear

Birdies Shoes: Flying to the Top

Gates co-founded Birdies, the San Francisco-based shoe company, with her friend Marissa Sharkey. The company’s original concept was comfortable, stylish shoes one can wear while hosting a fashionable dinner party: flats as comfy as slippers. They built the company as young women, holding full-time jobs and without experience in the field.