Presented by
Management Forum
The Leading Note with Kinky Boots' Steve Pateman: Turning Adversity into Opportunity
Free
Transform challenges into opportunities with insights from the entrepreneur whose innovative thinking created the globally celebrated Kinky Boots phenomenon.
- Format: Free webinar
- CPD: 1 hours for your records
- Certificate of completion
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- The Leading Note with Kinky Boots' Steve Pateman: Turning Adversity into Opportunity
Part of The Leading Note series:
Join us for a FREE monthly series of motivational talks featuring remarkable individuals from diverse fields. Discover their strategies and mindsets that drive success—and how to apply them both professionally and personally. In music, the leading note is the final note before the keynote of the scale. Unlike a keynote talk, which represents the main idea or conclusion, these leading note talks explore the path and momentum that guide you there—an ideal metaphor for talks focused on strategies that drive success.
Talk overview
From the back streets of Earls Barton to the bright lights of Broadway, Steve Pateman tells the extraordinary true story of how he saved his family shoe factory by stepping into an entirely unexpected market.
Starting work at W J Brookes at 17, Steve learned his craft under his father before taking over the business. When the traditional shoe trade collapsed, he turned to a niche market that transformed his life and career: producing kinky boots for the transvestite and transgender community.
His journey was captured in the BBC2 documentary, 'The Kinky Boot Factory', adapted into the 2005 film, 'Kinky Boots', and ultimately became a Tony Award–winning Broadway musical. Steve’s story is more than entertainment – it’s a powerful case study in resilience, creativity, and business.
Benefits of attending
By hearing Steve’s story first-hand, delegates will:
- Gain insights into how to turn business challenges into opportunities and how to pivot when traditional business models fail
- Understand the importance of embracing change and thinking creatively in uncertain markets – spotting and seizing unexpected opportunities
- Learn the value of storytelling, authenticity and humour in leadership and communication
- Be inspired by a real-life example of innovation in adversity that led to global recognition
- Discover how courage and adaptability can open doors to entirely new possibilities
- Explore how to have a resilient mindset, persevering through challenges with humour and courage
Who should attend?
This talk will resonate with:
- Business leaders and entrepreneurs facing challenging markets
- Business professionals seeking fresh approaches to problem solving
- HR and Learning & Development professionals who want inspiring case studies of resilience and creativity
- General audiences looking for a unique, engaging, and motivational story, with the Kinky Boots story having universal appeal and worldwide fame
Steve Pateman
Steve Pateman is renowned for his anecdotes from how he went from Earls Barton to Broadway. Starting in the family shoe business, W J Brookes, straight from school at the age of 17, he learnt the trade from his farther, eventually taking over the running of the factory when his farther retired. When a down turn in the shoe industry led Steve to look to new ideas he stumbled into the market of making kinky boots for the transvestites and transgender community. A series of events then led him into a world of new experiences, people and celebrities, as well as becoming a television star BBC2 programme, 'The Kinky Boot Factory' – with shaving his legs and learning to walk in six-inch stiletto heels were just two of the things he did to save his family business. The programme caught the attention of film-makers and in 2005, it became the film, Kinky Boots. Now the New York stage version has won the Tony award for Best Musical.
Register for The Leading Note with Kinky Boots' Steve Pateman: Turning Adversity into Opportunity
2 December 2025
12:00-13:00 UK (London)
13:00-14:00 Paris
07:00-08:00 New York
