Fox Cities, WI: Company Chronicles

Learn why one business owner built her business in the Fox Cities, and you can, too.

By Rebecca Treon on July 13, 2023

Red Shoes Inc. 

Entrepreneurs seeking a better lifestyle than that of a big city will love the Fox Cities, where there’s open space, affordable housing and quality schools – but also opportunity for go-getters who are ambitious enough to strike out on their own.

Lisa Cruz, founder and owner of Red Shoes Inc. in Appleton, is passionate about calling the region her home. Red Shoes is a full-service marketing agency that focuses on strategic communications. The agency works across industries, with clients in construction, transit, health care, and more, both regionally and across the country.

Cruz is also the founder of Multicultural Coalition Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to equity. Cruz relocated from Southern California with her family back to Wisconsin, where she grew up, and realized there was ample opportunity to create her own business.

What do you enjoy about doing business in the Fox Cities?  

There are a variety of industries here. When you work in an agency, you want to learn about a lot of different industries. Also, we might be in Appleton, but not all our clients are here. We have clients across the nation. It’s the best of all worlds – we’re able to live in this community and then be in the national scene, as well. It’s really exciting.

What’s the best local coffee shop for a meeting?

Most recently, I’ve been at Copper Rock Coffee Co. a lot. They have a location in downtown Appleton and on the north side of town. I love that it’s locally owned, and you always see people you know. It’s just a great place to connect with people and has a real local feeling – and I’m just a fan of coffee in general!

What’s next for your business?

When we went remote, we found that our company culture was benefitting from working at home, and we learned that our company culture thrives on people having that flexibility of being able to work from wherever. Some people love coming back to the office, and we’re grateful for that, but we aren’t going to demand that people are there, we’re going to keep moving forward.

The other thing is that during COVID, we started a nonprofit called the Multicultural Coalition Inc. to help support our community’s most vulnerable people of color with community resources. We are focused on making sure everybody feels like they belong here, and we’re really passionate about the work we’ve been doing to reach equity in our community.