MANILA, Philippines?Usually, daydreaming is not a good way to spend time.

But for the creator of footwear sensation FitFlop, her daydreaming led to an innovation that would shake up the shoe industry, and earn her big money in the process.

Marcia Kilgore, the brains behind the ?flip-flop with a gym built in,? is no shoemaker.

The forte of the willowy entrepreneur is cosmetics, and her first venture was the Bliss Spa group in 1996, a mail order catalogue and wholesale cosmetic business whose customers include prominent retailers from Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales to Sephora and Selfridges. She also has an international bath, body and beauty product line called Soap & Glory.

Kilgore, who was in Manila recently, said that the FitFlop idea actually came from this cosmetics background.

?After I sold my first company (Bliss Spa), I was pregnant with my first son, and I didn?t want to take on a full-time job,? says Kilgore at a forum held last Oct. 14 at Le Souffle, Fort Bonifacio Taguig City.

She decided to do consultancy, and was soon chosen to be part of a panel of experts of a large cosmetics company looking to market anti-cellulite products.

At a meeting with other experts, however, Kilgore found her mind wandering and thinking of other ways for women to tone their lower bodies.

?I thought, what?s something that women do every day, that doesn?t take up too much time, doesn?t cost too much and isn?t messy?? asked Kilgore.

Her simplistic thinking led to the most obvious answer: Walking.

With that start, Kilgore wanted to make something that would make walking more intense on the legs. A shoe immediately came to mind, but Kilgore didn?t really see anything new with it. She couldn?t strap anything too heavy on the foot either, because it would just injure the knee?as her experience as a personal trainer taught her. It was a job that put Kilgore through university and beauty school.

?So what was a more lightweight thing that I could strap to my feet? And I thought, a flip-flop that tones your muscles as you walk,? Kilgore said. ?And at that moment I had that light bulb going off in my head, and I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end.?

Kilgore finally had the concept built, but for the science, she needed help. Through the recommendation of a colleague, Kilgore met Dr. David Cook of the London South Bank University, a convenient place for Kilgore since it was just a mile and a half from her home. The university also had a biomechanics department, and when Kilgore pitched her idea to Cook, he was eager to jump in.

?[Dr. Cook] had an idea already,? Kilgore said. ?It was like he was thinking of it his whole life.?

After coming up with an ?ugly? prototype??a big black chunk with ropes on the side??Kilgore and Cook spent around two and a half years developing the sandal into something people would actually put on their feet.

The development process was funded by Kilgore herself, with the savings she was able to keep from selling shares of her Bliss Spa group to Louis Vuitton, Moet Henessy in 1999, and to the Starwood Hotel Group in 2004.

Now, the sandal has sold over four million pairs to over 30 countries. Although the FitFlop was, in Kilgore?s initial concept, a cosmetic product, the feedback she received within just two weeks of its launch in 2007 proved something else.

Not only was it a vanity product, it was also able to help people with lower body health problems.

?What we saw in a couple of weeks of selling FitFlops in the UK was amazing testimonials?we heard from people with arthritis pain saying how they were relieved because they wore FitFlops,? Kilgore said. ?And more and more of those come in everyday.?

Put simply, the FitFlop has a Microwobbleboard technology. It has a firm, shock-absorbing heel strike, a soft center-foot platform and a mid-density toe off, which all aid in ?switching? muscle groups on longer. The FitFlop also lets the leg muscles work 16 percent harder, as compared to regular footwear.

With the success of the FitFlop since its launch in 2007, Kilgore continues to find other things to do with the functional sandal. The 40-year-old entrepreneur has already launched a men?s line, and is now also developing a line for children.

?We are also working on an enclosed version, because when it?s cold, we lose a few die-hard [customers],? said Kilgore. ?We?re basically coming up with designs for every occasion, without compromising the quality and experience.?

Kilgore also takes time to visit countries with established FitFlop followers like the Philippines, which is considered the biggest in Asia.

She was in the country recently to get a better grasp of the Philippine market and how the FitFlop is working?or not working?for them. She also personally handed over her donation worth P1 million to the typhoon victims?P500,000 each to ABS-CBN and Kapuso Foundation.

?I also want to understand the people, the climate, the culture; and I also go to support our distributors,? Kilgore said. ?And I haven?t been to this part of the world for quite some time, too, so it was a welcome trip.?

Ultimately, for Kilgore, the FitFlop is a product that brings her clients back to the basics of footwear.

?There are a lot of areas where we think we?ve progressed, but we haven?t really at all,? she said. ?Like with footwear, high heels may look good with a dress, but it?s not great for your feet and body. With FitFlops, the way your feet touch the earth is solid, making the rest of your body solid, too.?