Sonja Bata was a young bride from Switzerland when she settled in Ontario with her husband Thomas shortly after the end of World War 2. She joined him in the challenging task of building and expanding the Canadian branch of the world-renowned Bata Shoe Company.

Their partnership, both as husband and wife, and business partners, is the stuff of legend. And in this episode of Countless Journeys we hear from their daughter Christine Schmidt, about what drove her mother’s incredible success, which apart from the business, included a rich volunteer life, as well as the creation of the Bata Shoe Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of footwear.

“They found Canada as a fairly young country, just a land of incredible opportunity where you could if you really wanted to do something, you could jump right in and you could do it.”