Hello :)

My name’s Hector. I'm 5'9".

I’m 27, born into a French/British family and raised in London and Suffolk - massive Liverpool fan (my dad’s from there, I’m not just a glory hunter!).

Now then, enough chit chat:

I started Öndörq because of something I’ve felt all my life: the struggle of being shorter than most of my friends - and the issues that it led to, in terms of confidence, when talking to girls.

Now I’m aware 5’9 is only a touch below average in the UK, but maybe I just have above average height friends, because I always felt it.

I don't want this to come across like a sob-story. It's not. I have a loving family, we were working class but we always had food and could afford the heating and the odd holiday, so I’ve been incredibly lucky, truly.

But also, I’ve always had that itch to start my own business, but like a lot of lads from where I’m from, money and time were tight. I worked a few dead end jobs, and part of me felt that that’s what work is for most people… boring and uninspiring. 

Deep down I always knew I wanted to build something for myself - in the hopes to help my family, and to live a more exciting life - but until very recently it felt incredibly out of reach.

Then I finally had had enough, I thought I’ve got to try. If it goes tits up I can always just get another job anyway.

For years, my height was something I thought about more than I should. It wasn’t until my mid 20s that I started to let go of the insecurity and accept my short little legs more.

That shift gave me a new perspective: women wear makeup, lads go gym (women do too - god bless gym girls), people do all sorts of small things to feel better about themselves. So why should insoles, that make you a couple inches taller, and feel more confident, be any different?

That’s where the idea for Öndörq was born. I started trying insoles that were already out there - but honestly, none of them were good enough. They’d sink over time, feel uncomfortable after a few hours, or make your foot sit way too high above the shoe, so everyone could tell you were wearing them. They just didn’t work in the real world.

I knew I could do better. So with all the money (literally every last penny) I'd scraped together in my first 25 years on this planet (just under £3k), I built öndörq.com. The first generation insoles, just: Öndörq 1's, got us off the ground, and sold pretty well in the two years we sold them.

From there, I went back to the drawing board and improved everything - comfort, durability, and the shape itself, so your foot sits naturally and you can wear them all day without losing height. That’s how Inchmaxxers 2.0 came about.

I’m proud to say it’s been a success, but I’m not stopping here. I still use them myself, I still talk to customers every week, and I’m still working to improve the product. Because I know exactly what it feels like to want that extra edge, quietly and confidently.

Öndörq isn’t about pretending to be someone you’re not. It’s about giving you a little boost - so you can walk taller, feel sharper, and carry yourself the way you want.

I've never had to write something so self involved like this before, so if you made it this far, I APPRECIATE YOU.

Thank you

-- Hector