When most hear the name Steve Madden they think of a shoe, a store and maybe even a brand; rarely do some ever look beyond the obvious and see the successful entrepreneur. Born in 1958 in Far Rockaway Queens and growing up in the neighboring town of Cedarhurst in Nassau County New York from a mixed religious background of an Irish-American and Roman Catholic father who owned a textile company and a Jewish mother Steve Madden knew from very young the possibilities of the world. At 16 Madden begin working in a shoe store called “Toulouse”, which opened his eyes to the possibility that the fashion industry. Madden recalled with Johanna Berkman for New York magazine. "My boss was 26. He had his own business. He was this really cool guy. He drove a Mercedes. He was my idol.” Fast forwarding about 4 years later Madden found himself as a University of Miami dropout and working for clothing boutique back in his hometown and then later moving to Greenwich Village to work as a sales representative for a L. J. Simone, a wholesaler of women's boots. He spent the almost of a decade with the company, holding various positions and learning the business. However, Madden had to resign from L.J. Simone while he battled a serious substance abuse problem.
Determined to start a foot wear line and prove naysayers wrong, Madden first teamed with a colleague from Simone, but the venture, which they called Souliers, failed. In true entrepreneur spirit Madden did not let the failure stop him and in early 1990 he launched his own company, naming it after himself and using a line of credit to pay for the cost of manufacturing 500 pairs. Traveling around New York City with only $1,100 to his name he sold his first design—a clog with a pointy toe he called the "Marilyn" out of the trunk of his car, Madden made a name for himself and the company expanded rapidly after that. “Madden