Comfort for the Sole: Ski accessory company in Kentucky aims to expand global sales

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China is set to host the Winter Olympics in 2022 and US companies are jockeying to see if they can jump into the Chinese market. Especially to capitalize on the growing popularity of skiing ahead of the Games. One company comes from an unlikely spot. CGTN's Mike Walter has their story from Kentucky.

It's called the Bluegrass State. A nickname picked up because of the pretty pastures that dot the landscape. Kentucky is known for horse racing and bourbon. One thing it isn't known for is skiing. For good reason. There are no mountains or even ski hills. But it's home to a global ski accessory powerhouse, and the world headquarters are right here in a residential area of Louisville.

SALLY LAWLER, CO-OWNER SKI SKOOTYS "We are in Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Russia, I could go on and on." "France, Italy, we've got em covered."

And by covered, she means covered! Ski Skootys are a boot protector. They go on easily, they are adjustable, and give the skier added traction. But the selling feature is the curved sole which makes it easier to walk on difficult icy surfaces. Ski Skootys were invented by Sally's husband, and it's all because of their son Reid.

REID LAWLER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SKI SKOOTYS "When I was a kid, I was a skier like the rest of the family, and I got tired of walking on Ski boots so I decided I was gonna snowboard and after that my dad couldn't handle it so he decided to invent ski skootys which makes it so you can walk like you are in tennis shoes."

And the rest as they say is history. Now a local factory just minutes from his home is churning out thousands of ski skootys. Reid doesn't have time for snowboarding or skiing. He's the senior vice president of the company, and he spends his days inspecting ski skootys has they come off the production line.

And his nights are spent packing up products to be sent around the world. Meantime, Sally's commute to work lasts just a few seconds as she makes her way up the stairs to handle all of the paperwork associated with running a company that has global products. At the same time, she casually does some name-dropping of a few of her big-name customers.

SALLY LAWLER, CO-OWNER SKI SKOOTYS "This is Stacy Cook four-time Olympian." "This is Sara Hector skier from Sweden." "She's a gold medalist with the Russian Olympics. She's got her skootys right here."

MIKE WALTER LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY "They may be small but they've already carved out a large global footprint. They've seen their product used by skiers in the Olympics in Russia and South Korea. So now they have their eyes set on the future and of course they'd love to see their product used again in another country.

SALLY LAWLER, CO-OWNER SKI SKOOTYS "China is a big one for us, right now we are not there but my son Reid went there just a couple of weeks ago."

REID LAWLER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SKI SKOOTYS "Beijing definitely opened up my eyes to the possibilities there and being that the ski industry is so young there, I feel like there's a lot of potential to be had there."

SALLY LAWLER, CO-OWNER SKI SKOOTYS "That's a big opportunity for us. And they want us, and we want them because there is big money."

Big money for a little company and like the Olympic skiers who wear their product, they'll be as good as gold. Mike Walter, CGTN, Louisville, Kentucky.