Rags to riches and then paying it forward

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A homeless man’s success story
By Jinny Throup
Drew Goodall, owner of the Sunshine Shoeshine company, may seem like any successful businessman, but his is an inspirational story of triumph over hardship and deprivation. When he was in his twenties, Drew was on the brink of a promising acting career after securing roles in some important movies. Sadly, after this initial success, work began to dry up. Drew eventually ran out of money and, after being evicted from his home, was forced to live rough on the streets of London. In order to earn some money he had the idea to offer a shoe polishing service to the city’s affluent business community. Six months later one of his regular customers allowed him to set up a tiny shop in the lobby of his office, and this helped Drew to earn enough to get off the streets.

He then decided to expand his business, branching out into offices all across London... and thus Sunshine Shoeshine was born. The company now has dozens of employees, almost exclusively homeless people or those with special needs. He also donates a large portion of his personal salary to charity, in a bid to never forget the journey out of rock bottom that he had to endure to get where he is today.

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