I’ve always been interested in health and wellbeing, which led me to become a physiotherapist, personal trainer and nutrition coach. My husband Jonathan and I have been together since our teenage years, and he introduced me to adrenaline-filled sports like snowboarding, kitesurfing, downhill biking and trail running. I’ve also always loved writing and kept my training blog, www.linabjorkskog.com, active for many years.

I trained clients as a personal trainer in Helsinki and used barefoot shoes myself during workouts. In summer my feet were constantly dirty from spending so much time barefoot outdoors. At that time, barefoot shoes were so ugly that I would never have worn them in everyday life – I’ve always been a shoe lover. Jonathan and I love travelling to kitesurf around the world, and almost every trip ended with me bringing home a new pair of shoes as a souvenir. Usually colourful high heels!

A few years later we moved back to our hometown Jakobstad, where we had our children Arthur, Greta and Morgan. While on maternity leave I prayed for a new direction for my business. There wasn’t as much demand for personal trainers in Jakobstad as in Helsinki, and I was ready for something different. As the kids grew and needed shoes, I became interested in barefoot shoes for everyday use, not just sports. I noticed how clumsy and stiff children’s shoes often were, limiting natural movement.

At first I was skeptical about barefoot shoes for kids. The community around barefoot shoes sometimes felt a bit “alternative,” and the shoes didn’t always seem practical – something that matters a lot to me since we spend so much time outdoors as a family. But still, I felt a strong calling to start selling barefoot shoes, to my own surprise.

I didn’t want to keep inventory or handle returns. I had always focused on online business. But as a Christian, I wanted to follow what I believed God was telling me, and I trusted it was the right path. I began researching intensely to make sure barefoot shoes were scientifically sound. I found a lot of studies and compiled them into a document. Not long after, I started selling my first brand, Be Lenka.

This was in 2021, and the timing was perfect. The barefoot industry was evolving, and new, stylish, more practical models were being released. Waterproof children’s shoes, shoes with good grip – options that made sense for families like ours. I gradually found more brands. Demand grew quickly, and customers found me easily thanks to my blog. Being a Finland-Swede, I soon got many customers from Sweden too. When orders came in, I packed them on the kitchen floor together with Arthur and Greta.

When our youngest son Morgan was born in spring 2022, the business picked up even more. We moved the inventory from our home sauna to a warehouse in Jakobstad. I hired help for packing, and it was time to find my first full-time employee. That became Hanna – right at the same time as I burned out. I rested at home with the baby for the whole autumn while Hanna and Jonathan ran almost everything.

In November 2022 we had outgrown the warehouse. Hanna had too much on her plate and we needed to scale up. We rebranded to Widetoes and Jonathan joined as an owner. The name felt perfect because our mission has always been to help people stop damaging their feet by squeezing their toes into narrow shoes. A wide toe box is the most important feature for healthy footwear.

We found a shop space on Stationsvägen and hired Fanny, Heidi and Adina, among others. If we were going to do this, we wanted to do it properly! We scaled up quickly. Whenever Jonathan set new sales goals, I ordered more shoes to match the demand. My vision has always been to offer shoes for all ages and all activities, and I will keep expanding until we have everything our customers need.

Fast-forward to now, November 2025: we’ve doubled in size every year and are now the most well-known barefoot shoe store online in Finland and Sweden. We have a new store on Rådhusgatan and a 3PL warehouse in southern Sweden for faster deliveries. We have around 15 employees plus seasonal workers. I am truly grateful for everything.

The work is hard – absolutely! There are new challenges every day. But that’s also the beauty of it. I love doing this together with my best friend Jonathan and our amazing team who deliver day after day. We continue working to make barefoot shoes more known through Widetoes, especially for people who haven’t tried them yet.

I no longer buy high heels as travel souvenirs. Instead, I keep an eye out for barefoot shoe suppliers – and sometimes I bring home a few hundred pairs instead of one. It’s a wonderful feeling not knowing what the future holds, but being excited to keep working with what I’m passionate about!