It started with a pair of Timberlands in 2017.

She turned the basic, wheat nubuck boot into a Disney-themed shoe that even Mickey Mouse would be proud of, with his face on the sides, a red ‘M’ on the right boot and his famous white glove on the left.

“It literally took off,” Breanna Berry said. “I have gotten so many opportunities since then. It’s been the best three years of my life, I can tell you that.”

Now, hundreds of boots and shoes later, Berry is in charge of designing the Broncos’ cleats each year for the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign — an opportunity for NFL players to choose and represent a nonprofit, foundation or organization they support, with the shoes later being auctioned off to raise money for those select causes.

“I think it’s great,” coach Vic Fangio said. “It gives the players a chance to bring some attention for their causes, raise some money for them… Anytime we can use sports as a medium to help good causes, I think it’s all good.”

This year, Berry designed 50 cleats for the Broncos over a seven week period, with each pair taking her approximately an hour and a half to uniquely design. She’s given a sheet of paper with each player’s cause and any specific requests they have for colors and design. 

The cleats vary from some of the players’ own foundations, like safety Justin Simmons’ foundation, which promotes the benefits of youth sports and supporting youth education; to national organizations, like the Black Lives Matter movement, Berry’s favorite, which will be represented by Malik Reed, DeMarcus Walker and Josh Watson; to personal causes, like Jerry Jeudy’s Trisomy 18 Foundation, which honors his late sister, Aaliyah, who died at 7 years old to Trisomy 18 — a rare condition that causes severe developmental delays because of an extra chromosome 18.

“This year has been crazy, but this is something that you always look forward to because it’s a way to personalize what you care about,” Simmons said. “It puts that humanity level back into the players. We’re more than just football players, and here are the things we care about. Here are the things that hit close to home. A lot of guys know for My Cause My Cleats, almost every guy that has a cause that they are representing or donating the funds to. It hits close to home, and it’s important to do it.

“(Berry) is amazing. Bree is the one that does all the custom cleats. She’s been doing an amazing job. She’s just awesome and always helping us out. She does most of the cleats that the guys have.”

This is Berry’s second year being the main artist for the Broncos, having applied last year and doing 48 pairs for the Broncos in 2019.

A Denver native and graduate of Aurora Central High School, Berry’s first NFL client was wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Since then, Berry has designed shoes for several different celebrities, including NFL and NBA stars such as Los Angeles Laker Montrez Harrell, as well as rapper G-Eazy.

Berry has fallen in love with her work and says she’s especially become fond of working with athletes.

“What’s funny about all this is that I mainly work with athletes and all my life I had never been into sports, never understood them or anything,” Berry said. “But I love going to the games, but all my life I’ve never really been into sports. It’s so funny to me that now that’s all I do — I’m here for it. The Broncos, those are my guys.”

Berry, 31, hasn’t always been a shoe artist. In fact, right now, she works a second job as a night-time security guard for Loomis. 

But she’s always been drawn to painting and being creative. She just never thought it would lead to designing shoes for NFL players. 

“I’ve really been doing art my whole life,” Berry said. “But really struggled with what to do with it because I’m not a traditional artist — I don’t necessarily like to paint regular things like canvases and stuff. So I’ve been back and forth, painting my daughter’s walls and sometimes I’d stop painting.”

While painting shoes was never a part of Berry’s artistic dream, she couldn’t be happier to partake in what she believes is one of the best causes in sports. 

“It means everything to me to just be able to make their visions come to life and be a part of these causes that are very near and dear to their heart,” Berry said. “Some are super sentimental. Some of these are things that family members deal with, so to be able to be part of that and the nonprofits that they’re representing, it’s so great. It really is an honor. I always sit back and reflect on how grateful I am to be a part of it.”

Below are all 50 Broncos’ causes: