Two brothers. One impossible idea.

While other neighborhood children played, David and Avi worked alongside their family after school. They laced shoes, packed boxes, and gradually learned the full craft from their father. By 13, they understood nearly every function of shoemaking.

Years later, they would describe those long days not as a hardship, but as the best school the shoe business could have given them.

At 17, the twins took their life savings and came to New York determined to build a footwear company. They rented a small corner store in Queens and followed the model they knew from home: live in the back, make shoes in the middle, sell them in the front.

The first business was called Dr. Michelle, and the store was named Dorit after one of their sisters. Sales were painfully slow. To keep the lights on, they worked 12-hour bakery shifts while continuing to make and sell shoes.

When the business was close to failing, an insurance broker suggested the weekend flea market at Aqueduct Racetrack — and even helped them find a van. The brothers sold 30 to 40 pairs their first weekend. Before long, customers were waiting for them and sales reached roughly 200 pairs a day.

More important than the volume was the education. Face to face with customers, David and Avi learned what women loved, what they rejected, and how quickly product could improve when you listened closely.

After four years of building momentum, the brothers returned to Israel to fulfill military service obligations and temporarily shut the operation down. During leaves, they continued planning the company they would build when they returned to America.

At one beach meeting, an airplane passed overhead carrying a banner promoting a drink called Spring. The word stayed with them. Spring Step felt right for the kind of comfort footwear company they imagined.

Back in the United States, they developed relationships with factories in Italy, Spain, and Portugal and grew Spring Step around European craftsmanship, roomier lasts, reliable comfort, and a commitment to doing business fairly.