The Birth of Gaynor Minden

July 7, 2013

Dancers have a love-hate relationship with their pointe shoes. They give us blisters, make our feet throb and don’t last very long—but if anyone tried to take them away, we’d chase them off with a stick.

So when former dancer Eliza Gaynor Minden took a closer look at traditional pointe shoe brands and noticed where improvements could be made, she jumped at the chance to develop a high-tech pointe shoe under the label Gaynor Minden.


While most dancers are familiar with the brand, Nightly Business Report host Tyler Mathisen went behind the scenes with Gaynor Minden and several of the shoes’ wearers. Watch this video, which talks about the initial idea two decades ago, and how it has grown into a company that now serves over 200 major dance companies.