While coaching quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys in 2019, Jon Kitna mentioned to Dak Prescott that his daughter was a talented artist and designer who had been customizing shoes.
The Cowboys’ franchise quarterback was interested.
So, when he was thinking about getting some Air Jordan 1 shoes customized for his friends as a Christmas gift, Prescott reached out to Kitna.
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“We sent them to her and she blew it away,” Prescott said.
Fast forward to the summer of 2021, Prescott signed a deal with Jordan Brand. That meant wearing various Air Jordan cleats during the upcoming Cowboys’ season.
“Because it was coming off COVID, we really couldn’t get the supply and the colorways in on time,” Prescott said. “So, I had just a bunch of plain whites and plain blacks. I’d send them to her, we’d come up with designs and colors and she nailed it.”
And that’s when customizing shoes and cleats began going from a hobby to a full-time job for Jada Kitna Henderson. After completing multiple pairs for Prescott, she posted photos on social media. And there were doubters.
“People would be like, ‘This is fake. She just wants clout or whatever,'” Henderson recalls. “But then they come back and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s wearing them in the game!’ It’s pretty cool to see stuff like that.”
Henderson has since added several Cowboys players to her client list, including All-Pro DE/LB Micah Parsons, Pro Bowl WR CeeDee Lamb, RB Tony Pollard, WR Michael Gallup, S Donovan Wilson, CB Jourdan Lewis, LB/S Markquese Bell, WR Jalen Tolbert and OL Chuma Edoga.
“I’m sure it’s annoying to watch games with me,” Henderson said, “because I’m like, ‘There’s my cleats! Look, you can see them.’ They do the slow motion (camera shot) of them running and I’m like, ‘Look! Look!’ It definitely made (watching games) more exciting.”
Henderson lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Ann Arbor, Mich., with her husband, LaDarius Henderson, a senior offensive lineman on the University of Michigan football team. Their second bedroom has been converted into a paint shop with shelves and a table full of projects. Some are new designs, others are touch-ups after regular wear and tear to a player’s favorite pair.
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“We’re just kind of making it work for right now,” she said. “When people come to visit, I obviously have to flip it back into a guest room.”
The process begins with preparing the surface of the cleats by removing the factory finish. While that can be accomplished by applying acetone on shoes, more work is involved with cleats. Sanding, scuffing, and adhesion promoter are all part of the routine. Some she can finish in a day, others might take two.
“It’s a long process because they go through a lot more,” Henderson said of painting cleats. “And the material isn’t leather.”
She often works directly with the Cowboys’ equipment staff. The boxes arrive at her apartment with tags explaining the players’ requests. Some are as simple as just painting the Nike Swoosh logos on the sides a different color. Others involve more unique artwork. When finished, Henderson usually overnight ships them back to the Cowboys’ practice facility, The Star. With new cleats, players often like to wear them in practice before wearing them in a game.
As an equipment manager at Arizona State from 2018 to 2021, Henderson started practicing on old cleats. While getting a degree in interdisciplinary studies, she saw others on social media customizing shoes and thought she could do something similar. She watched YouTube videos by experts, like DeJesus Custom Footwear.
“I learned a lot from watching his videos,” Henderson said. “And then through trial and error, you kind of pick and choose and learn new things. A little bit you find out on your own, but a lot of it you can learn from other artists.”
Things progressed from customizing her brother’s high school track spikes to shoes for friends. The number of requests steadily increased as she posted the finished products in photos and videos on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Similar to a tattoo artist, Henderson prefers going over design ideas with customers and coming up with something original.
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“I really like to keep it artistic,” she said, “which is why I have to turn down a lot of requests I get because they’re like, ‘Just put a logo on it.’ I don’t necessarily want to be a printer. I want to have some artistic (creativity). With NFL stuff, it’s usually not as artistic, but it’s cool because you can see your work on TV.”
One area she has struggled with is coming up with pricing. She worries about overcharging. When she started, the price for a pair of shoes was $50. That had to increase with demand. Shoes now starts at $180 per pair and cleats start at $280.
“A lot of people ask if I charge NFL guys more because obviously they have more money,” Henderson said. “I just don’t feel like that’s right to do that. I feel like I just think about how much I value my time. Each tier level it goes up, it takes more time to complete those projects. I may have to raise them slightly soon just because the demand is so high.”
Other NFL players have also joined her client list. She’s working with the Atlanta Falcons this season for their “My Cause, My Cleats” program. She has recently customized shoes for Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and legendary former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. She customized a pair of Air Jordan 1 shoes that were auctioned off for more than $2,000 to benefit Prescott’s Faith Fight Finish Foundation.
What does her father, a former NFL QB for the Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions, think about how she has turned this into her profession?
“He loves it,” Henderson said while laughing. “Him and my mom were like, ‘We always figured you’d do something that nobody even knew was a job.’ I was like, ‘I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be kind or not, but I’ll take it.’
“If I finish a cool project or something for somebody that people know who it is, I’ll send it to our family group chat. Every pair he’s like, ‘This is my new favorite shoe.'”
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Henderson says it’s “super crazy” to see how much her business has grown in the last couple of years.
“You never really feel like you’ve made it,” she added. “You kind of get that imposter syndrome of like, ‘Am I actually good at this?'”
The constantly growing list of customers seems to be a good indicator that Henderson is indeed very good at this.
“Just to see how far she has gotten now,” Prescott said, “and not only with the Cowboys’ locker room but players across the league, it’s awesome. I’m happy for her.”
(Top photo courtesy of Jada Kitna Henderson)
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