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93. Wendy Yang: President HOKA One One · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What you learn from your losses is always so much
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: greater than what you learn from your victories. The confidence
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: that it instills in you just by knowing you can
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  Speaker 1: get through something. Whether it turns out good or bad
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  Speaker 1: or indifferent, you can get through it. You have a
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: bad day, you got to bounce right back because the
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  Speaker 1: next day, in the next competition is right around the corner.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: It's an awesome day to have a good day.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: Emily A body here checking in with episode ninety three
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where I sit down
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  Speaker 3: with inspiring individuals to talk about everything from their big
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: wins to how they've gotten through some of life's toughest moments.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: On the show, you can expect vulnerability, motivation, and candid
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: discussions with everyone from top athletes to aspiring entrepreneurs on
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: what it really takes to follow your passions. My mission
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: is simple to inspire you to be your best self,
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: move with intention, and have some fun.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Along the way. Y'all.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: I am amped right now?
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, total understatement. Hurdle is featured in the Sunday New
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: York Times. What is that sentence? I don't even know
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I am just I'm on cloud nine.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: And I'm sitting here reflecting on man the last two
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: years and the ninety two episodes that have come before
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: now and all of the hurdle moments, the interactions, meeting
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: so many of you, your support, and I'm just feeling
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: so grateful. With that said, if you are listening right
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: now and you are new to the show, thank you, welcome.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: I'm so happy to have you.
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  Speaker 3: I would love more than anything if you could subscribe,
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  Speaker 3: keep up with me on the regular, and of course
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: if you like what you're listening, to rate and review
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: the podcast on itea Tunes. Today, I'm going to be
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: bringing you my conversation with Wendy Yang. She is the
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  Speaker 3: president of Hoka on O Teva and Sanook all part
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: of the Deckers group. Before I get into it, a
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  Speaker 3: slash hurtle to grab yours today, no code necessary. All right, now,
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  Speaker 3: let's talk about Wendy. Wendy grew up in a super
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  Speaker 3: active family, the daughter of Major League Baseball pitcher wilver Wood,
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  Speaker 3: most known for his career with the Chicago White Sox.
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  Speaker 2: Wendy had a love for sport, just like her father.
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  Speaker 3: She played tennis at Rice University and then went on
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  Speaker 3: to play in the professional tour until nineteen eighty eight.
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  Speaker 2: Today we talk.
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  Speaker 3: About what it was like traveling the globe playing tennis,
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  Speaker 3: and what life was like after she put down the racket,
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  Speaker 3: leaning into an extensive career in.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: The athletic apparel and footwear industry.
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  Speaker 3: She's got so much knowledge, worked literally almost everywhere, from Reebok,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: the New Balance to Timberland and Tommy Hilfiger. We talk
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: about what it's like to be one of the few
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: women in senior management and how she landed such amazing
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  Speaker 3: and interesting jobs.
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  Speaker 2: At so many of these awesome brands.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Of course, we get into what exactly is happening with Hoko.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: We talk about those super cushiony sneakers, what the deal
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: is with those, why they're created like that, and how
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  Speaker 3: the company has grown to such a major player in
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: the running space. As always hurdlers, if you have a
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: hurdle moment of your own to share, or you just
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: want to say hi, you can reach me over email.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: It's Emily at hurdle dot us, and also connect with
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: the pod on Instagram and Twitter. It's at Hurdle Podcasts
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  Speaker 3: at Emily Abadi. I hope this good vibe is feeling
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  Speaker 3: less for a long time. With that, let's get to hurdling.
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  Speaker 2: Today. I'm sitting down with Wendy Yang.
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  Speaker 3: She is the president of Performance Lifestyle at Decker's brand
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  Speaker 3: that includes Hoka, Teva and Sinook.
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  Speaker 1: That's right, Hello, hi Emily.
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  Speaker 2: How are you.
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  Speaker 1: I'm good.
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  Speaker 3: I feel like there are just two things we need
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  Speaker 3: to establish on the record right off the bat okay
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  Speaker 3: first and foremost, how do you say the Hoka brand name?
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  Speaker 1: Well, technically it's Hoka on one okay, but we're fine
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  Speaker 1: with just saying Hoka okay.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: And another controversial one, Teva Teva.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, it tends to be east of the Mississippi. People
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: say Tiva, and west they say Teva. And actually I'm
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: from the Boston area and before I moved here and
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: came in contact with UH with Deckers, I myself said Tiva, So.
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  Speaker 2: I definitely grew up saying Tivas.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for coming to hang out with
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  Speaker 3: me today. We are in beautiful Santa Barbara, never been before.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're here. It is beautiful.
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  Speaker 3: It is I feel like I was saying to my
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  Speaker 3: girlfriend earlier that it seems like a little piece of
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  Speaker 3: aspen but without the snow and a lot of palm
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  Speaker 3: trees and.
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  Speaker 1: Not a bad place to be in UH in January
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  Speaker 1: when you're from the East Coast either, right.
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  Speaker 3: It's true and you yourself grew up on the East Coast,
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  Speaker 3: So why didn't you talk to me a little bit
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  Speaker 3: about your journey and starting back over near Boston?
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  Speaker 1: Okay? Yeah, born and raised and until five years ago,
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  Speaker 1: really that that's where I lived my whole life. We
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  Speaker 1: traveled a lot as when I was a kid, but
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  Speaker 1: always you know, the Boston area, Lexington and Conquered in
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  Speaker 1: specific though, that was home. You know, about five years
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  Speaker 1: ago an opportunity presented itself, and so my family and I,
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  Speaker 1: you know, decided why not.
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  Speaker 3: Talk to me a little bit about what life was
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  Speaker 3: like for you growing up in Boston. Were you an
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  Speaker 3: active kid?
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  Speaker 1: So, yeah, growing up in Boston, Yeah, I was a tomboy.
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  Speaker 1: I was always kind of running around and love sports,
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  Speaker 1: just loved to move. And my dad was a profe
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  Speaker 1: sational baseball player, Wilbur Wood, And you know, we traveled
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  Speaker 1: a fair amount. We would go to Florida in the
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  Speaker 1: spring for spring training, to Sarasota, c s. To Key
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  Speaker 1: and then we'd go to Chicago in the summer for
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  Speaker 1: the for the baseball season, and and in between, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we were we were you know, at home doing our thing,
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  Speaker 1: but I was always you know, outside and tormenting my
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  Speaker 1: brother and with my little sister too. And when I
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  Speaker 1: was twelve years old, my dad actually suffered an injury.
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  Speaker 1: Got and he got hit with a line drive and
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  Speaker 1: the knee and it was kind of a big deal.
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  Speaker 1: He was at the height of his career. And that
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  Speaker 1: was the first summer that we weren't going to go
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  Speaker 1: to Chicago. And my mother said, hey, you know, what
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  Speaker 1: do you want to do? What do you guys want
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  Speaker 1: to do this summer? And I had been hitting a
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  Speaker 1: tennis ball with a badminton racket off the side of
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  Speaker 1: our shingled house and just really thought that was I
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  Speaker 1: don't know how that happened, but it's what I was doing,
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  Speaker 1: and I was spending a lot of time doing it,
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  Speaker 1: and I said, I'd really like to go to tennis camp.
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  Speaker 1: So my mom said, okay, let's let's do that. Let's
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  Speaker 1: make that happen for you. And so I went to
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  Speaker 1: tennis camp and really never looked back. You know. It
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  Speaker 1: was first kind of real formal organized sport that I
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  Speaker 1: had done, and and I just loved it.
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  Speaker 3: I can't imagine first of all, hitting at a shingled
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  Speaker 3: house and all of the directions and how frustrating that
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  Speaker 3: must have been with the ball coming back at you.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, and then there's a big hill behind me. So
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  Speaker 1: it was a yeah. I'm not sure what I saw
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  Speaker 1: in it either, but I loved it. Maybe it was
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  Speaker 1: a challenge and add a challenge. How do you like
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  Speaker 1: tennis camp? You loved it. I loved it, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I loved it. And I was really really lucky. You know,
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  Speaker 1: this this small camp that my mom found for me.
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  Speaker 1: They were they were super picky about, you know, about form.
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  Speaker 1: And I was a real athletic kid and kind of
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  Speaker 1: run around and you know, do things came fairly easy
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  Speaker 1: to me, and but this camp was like they were
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  Speaker 1: sticklers on getting the right form. It wasn't just about
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  Speaker 1: getting the ball over the net. It was about hitting
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  Speaker 1: the ball properly. And I think having that real solid
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  Speaker 1: foundation of as a beginning was a real blessing in
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  Speaker 1: the long run.
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  Speaker 3: And so you started to fall in love with tennis?
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  Speaker 3: And did you play tennis throughout high school?
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  Speaker 1: I did, Yeah, I fell in love with tennis. I
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  Speaker 1: started playing and playing and played my first tennis tournament
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  Speaker 1: and was doing really well and sort of climbed up
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  Speaker 1: in the rankings and played all through high school and
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  Speaker 1: through New England tennis and then started playing national tournaments
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  Speaker 1: and you know, then it was time, you know, to
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  Speaker 1: go to college, and it was I had an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to play on in college and leave New England and
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  Speaker 1: play Division one tennis at quite a high level. And
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  Speaker 1: what school. I went to Rice University in Houston, Texas.
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  Speaker 2: A little bit of a climate change.
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  Speaker 1: Then climate change and culture change. Talk to me about that. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I feel very fortunate, you know, to have grown up
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  Speaker 1: in New England. And I don't know it any other
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  Speaker 1: way obviously, but you know, sort of the this work
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  Speaker 1: ethic and grit and I'm not saying that's not everywhere,
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  Speaker 1: but you know, I think New England is sort of
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  Speaker 1: known for that, and maybe the cold weather people feel
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  Speaker 1: they have to work harder or whatever. But going to
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  Speaker 1: to Rice in Houston, Texas, it was a great experience
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  Speaker 1: for me. It was you know, it was warm, you
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  Speaker 1: could play tennis outside all the time. But it was
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  Speaker 1: a culture shock because what I find in New England
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  Speaker 1: you have to prove yourself to people. They don't necessarily
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: give you the benefit of the doubt. You prove yourself
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: to people and then you're welcomed in in the South.
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  Speaker 1: And this is a gross generalization, but it was my experience.
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  Speaker 1: You know. I really found that people were very welcoming
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: right right out of the gate. They just warmly accepted you,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: you know, and then you know, so maybe you proved
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: yourself otherwise. So right out of the gate, people were like, oh, hey, Wendy,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: you know you want to do this, come on with us, Yeah,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: let's go do this. Yeah, let's you know. And I
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: was like, wait, who, what's happening here? They don't even
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: know me, you know, what do they want from me?
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  Speaker 1: You know? And I quickly realized, oh, no, this is
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: just how it is, and that's a beautiful thing.
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  Speaker 2: So did you go on a tennis scholarship?
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: Then?
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  Speaker 1: I did?
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  Speaker 3: Okay, And so how was balancing that at first with
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  Speaker 3: academics and making time for tennis and handling the two?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean by that time, you know, I was
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  Speaker 1: kind of used to that. All through high school. I
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: was playing more and more and more, So it wasn't
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: a huge adjustment for me. Really. I uh, I threw
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: myself into both. You know. I chose Rice because I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: felt like I wouldn't be sacrificing academics and I wouldn't
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: be sacrificing athletics. I could really have the best of
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the best of both worlds. And that's what I found
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: my experience to be, you know. And also, you know,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: my parents were going through divorce, and I think in
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: a way, getting that far away from home sort of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: enabled me to be free of everything that was happening,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: because in my mind I felt like, oh, you know,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I guess there's nothing I can do about it anyway,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: and you know, for a seventeen eighteen year old kid,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: that was really liberating.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: I think it's interesting also kind of coming to a
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: place with hard stuff like that where you understand that, hey,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: there's nothing I can do about this, it's already happening,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: and accepting that instead of just sitting there and blaming
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: yourself or internalizing how you feel, or to accept that
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: this is how it is now.
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  Speaker 2: And all I can do is move forward with what
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  Speaker 2: I have.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, And for whatever reason, having those many miles in
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: between was helpful to me. I think if I had gone,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: you know, to school closer to home, I might have
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: felt sort of still tied and maybe like there was
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: something I should be doing. It was really freeing for
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: me in a lot of ways. And then you know,
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  Speaker 1: I just I threw myself in to tennis and to school,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: but I really threw myself into tennis.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Do you have any like standout memories from your first
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: year playing collegiate tennis?
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: The biggest memories are being part of a team and
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: a really close team, and those women still remain some
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: of my closest friends. And you know, developing those really deep,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: rich friendships as a freshman in college that now our
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: relationships that have stood the test of time. That's the
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: richest part of it all. Without a doubt, it has
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: played such a role in making me who I am today.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: It more than anything, has formed helped to form me
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: in so many ways. What you learn from your losses
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: is always so much greater than what you learn from
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: your victories. The confidence that it instills in you just
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: by knowing you can get through something, whether it turns
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: out good or bad or indifferent, you can get through it.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Even if things don't go your way, you get through it.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: And sports is all about resiliency. So you have a
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: bad day, you got to bounce right back because there's
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: the next day in the next competition is right around
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: the corner, and realizing that, oh I can do that,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Oh I am resilient. Oh that doesn't define me. Wow.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: To have learned that life lesson at a relatively young age,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: which is what sports I think afford you, is just
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: it's just huge, you know. And also the ability to
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: dig deep the human spirit is so incredible, and I
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: think through through training, and that's certainly something you know
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: as an endurance athlete, and through putting yourself on the
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: line competing toe to toe, you find that you can
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: dig deep and go to levels you didn't know you had.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: And that's something that later in life, in whatever the
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: situation may be, you can tap into.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: While you are playing collegiate tennis, how is the college experience?
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Are you like going out and doing all that stuff?
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Are you kind of cut off from that because you're
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: so focus on tennis or what's happening there?
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: You know, I was probably kind of nerdy, Yeah, a
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: big get big into tennis and took that very seriously,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: and you know, and I really loved school too, and
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I took that very seriously. So there wasn't a lot
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: of other time. But I had a lot of fun.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: I just I was never like a big, a big partier. Yeah,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: but I had a lot of fun.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: And I mean you're also doing a fair amount of traveling.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: I'm sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, any any college athlete, Division one,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Division two, Division three, but but more and more. I mean,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a rigorous schedule, so the travel
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and keeping up with school and.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: But cool though, because when you were growing up, did
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: you have, aside from going to and from with your
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: father to follow him around and watch some baseball, did
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: you have the opportunity to do a lot of traveling.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: My mom was always really good about exposing us to things,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: and so it wasn't necessarily exotic travel. But you know,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: this was back in the day. It was before free agency.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So you know, when my dad was at the peak
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: of his career and you know, arguably one of the best.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: You could look it up. It's before free agency. So
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: in the off season he worked as a plumber for
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: my mother's dad. So I share that just to say
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: the travel we did would be like driving to Florida
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: for spring training and my mother, my mother would make
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: sure that we would stop along the way and check
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: out different places and see different things. And we'd go
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: to museums, we'd go to art exhibits, we'd go to plays,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: we'd go to music stuff. So she made sure that
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: we always kind of made the most of wherever we
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: were and saw new things and experienced different stuff.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: But a little bit different when you're literally traveling the
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: entire country for tenant. Yes, yes, absolutely, totally. Okay, So
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: then what are we studying in college?
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: I was a managerial studies major, which is like a
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: business major.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah, And did you have any aspiration for what
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: you wanted to do when you got out of there?
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Did you think that it would be professional tennis? No?
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't didn't really become a realistic opportunity
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: until you know, like my junior and senior year.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: What happens junior and senior year that playing pro tennis
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: seems like a viable option for you?
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Again, I was really lucky. I a lot of and
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I think this has changed over the years with nutrition
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: and training, but you know a lot of young women
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: peak by twenty years old twenty years old, depending on
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: what the sport is, And again I think that is
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: changing now. But I kept improving, and in part, again,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: I think it was the environment I was in. I
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: was playing number one for Rice and I was winning this.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: It was we were in the Southwest Conference back then,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: so these are big, big schools. I won the Southwest Conference,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and you know, I was ranked pretty highly nationally, and
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: so it became a really realistic opportunity to at least
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: give the women's circuit, you know, a chance.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: And how does that go for that?
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, that was an amazing experience talk about
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: that kind of travel and getting to go kind of
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: around the world and explore all kinds of different cultures
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: and places. But it it doesn't go as well, to
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: be perfectly honest, I was on the circuit for almost
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: three years. I definitely lost a lot more matches than
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I won, But it was pretty awesome to have the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: opportunity to do that.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: With all of those losses. What is it that kept
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: you going after it? That's like such an interesting first takeaway,
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Like I ask you how did it go, and you're like, well,
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: I lost a lot more than I won, but you
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: still seem to have such a positive reflection of the
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: time period.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think that that's sort of the
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: benefit of time too, right, you always look back and
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: you remember the highlights or the good things more than
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: you do the bad things. Fortunately, I think that's a
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: survival then, you know. I remember talking to my dad
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: during that time, like, jeez, you know, I just I
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: just don't know. This isn't it's not going well. I
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: don't know if I have it in me. And you know,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: he would he shared with me some of you know,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: what he went through when he was trying to break
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: through in baseball, and that was certainly helpful, but it
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: didn't you know, it didn't work for me like it
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: did like it did for him. So I sort of
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: got to a point after about three years and I said,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: you know, okay, I've given this my fair shot. I
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: really have, and I'm not going to look back and say, oh,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: you know what if. And I also realized that, you know,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: when I was winning matches, I didn't think I was
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: better than other people, but it was getting to the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: point where I was losing so much and I was
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: starting to think it was it was affecting my self
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: worth and I knew that that was not healthy, right,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: And I just said, okay, this is it's enough.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: So do you have an idea at this point about
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: what comes after tennis?
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I didn't.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: I said, well, okay, when I was at Rice Anderson Consulting,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: which is now a censure, they had a big presence
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: on campus, and you know a lot of students graduated
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: and took jobs with Anderson. I did get a job
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: with him. I actually had two offers, one in one
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: in Texas and one to work in the chief financial
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Officer's office in Chicago. And Jong and I my my husband.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I'm introducing him now. But Jong and I met in
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: high school and when I was fifteen and I went
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: to Jong senior prom and we then went our separate
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: separate ways during college and then got back together after college.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: You know, even through all my tennis and my travels,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: we had we had always dayed in touch, and we
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: had we had been dating and doing sort of the
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: long distance thing. And he had come over to Europe
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: a couple of times with me in the summer for
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the summer tournaments. And he was now at business school
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: at the University of Chicago. And so one of these
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: job offers was with Anderson Consulting in Chicago, and I thought, well,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: you know what, up until Now Jong's always been the
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: one to come to me. You know, I have a
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: chance to go to him and we can see this,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: you know, what we can do with our relationship if
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: we really can spend some time together. And you know,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: long story short, it worked out. We've been together ever since.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Maybe an ignorant question, but what does doing long distance
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: look like like? Not in these days, because now doing
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: long distance is like I can talk to you in
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: two seconds and you're you know, halfway around the side
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: of the world and it doesn't matter.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we're talking about Yeah, the eighties. Really, Yeah,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: it was hard, right, I mean, we didn't see each
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: other that much. There was no texting. We wrote letters
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: and we talked to each other on the phone, but
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it wasn't it wasn't every five minutes. It wasn't even
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: every day. So yeah, it's tough, tough, all right. So
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: you moved to Chicago, So motion to Chicago, cold and windy,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: cold and windy. Took this job with Anderson Consulting, but
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: very conservative, and I was working in the financial the
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: chief financial Officer's office as a financial analyst, you know,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: of which I knew very little. But maybe my background
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: at school did help, and they had a great training program.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: But I went from basically working out all the time,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: being outside playing tennis, to being inside an office for
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: long days in a conservative office, sitting at a desk
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: referencing small numbers. And it was not a good fit
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: for me.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: What does that do like to your emotional state? Because
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I mean you're getting like all this vitamin D and
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: being outside and moving your body, and now it's like.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was I had sort of hit a brick wall.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: What have I gotten myself into. I quickly realized, Okay,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: this is not going to be a long term solution.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: But I also realized I need some experience. You know.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: The tennis experience was great and it certainly counts, and
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: as I said, is sort of you know, helped form
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: me more than anything. But I needed I felt like, oh,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: I need to stick with this at least a little while.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: So it was during this time actually that well, two
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: things happened. One I applied to go back to school.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: I applied to business school. And the second thing that
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: happened was I started running. Oh I started running. And
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: you know, I had run as part of training for tennis,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: but I had never really been a runner.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Runner.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I just would get off work and I'd start running
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: along the lake. We had John and I had an
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: apartment down in the Printer's Row area, and you know,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: i'd leave our apartment and I'd run and i'd run,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: you know, like three to five miles and it was
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: the best time of the day where I felt like
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: myself again, like Okay, I'm still alive. I just need
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: to move, I need to sweat. And that was really
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: sort of probably the best thing I could do for myself,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the most therapeutic, as well as sort of kind of
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: formulate my next plan. So yeah, so I applied to business.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: School at the time when you started running so frequently.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: Did it start as a convenience.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Thing, convenience in that I need to do something and
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: that's the easiest thing to do totally?
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, because it was like, oh, I'm done with work.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: I don't need to pay it to go somewhere, right,
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: I can just put on some shoes, yeah, and get
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: out there and get out there.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Okay. So you applied to itsiness school and you get in.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: So I applied to business school. I applied to the
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: evening program actually, and I started at Kellogg as an
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: evening student while I was working at Anderson Consulting. So
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: I stayed at Anderson. I did my first half of
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: the program as an evening student and taught tennis to
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: kind of supplement in the summers. And I had finished
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: half the program, I transferred to the full time program
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and did the last half of the program full time,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: which was awesome.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: And so you graduate from business school, you're still in Chicago,
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: and you have an aspiration that you want to integrate
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: your passions for fitness and wellness and all this newfound
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: business knowledge.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. And I should say along the way, John
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: and I got married. Yeah, so we both had jobs.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Now he's working in Chicago and I'm graduated from business
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: school and we decided, okay, we want to be back east,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: we want to be near our family. And we were
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: kind of in both interviewing and really fortunate. John got
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: a job with Timberland, which is in Hampton, New Hampshire,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: and I got a job at Reebok as a social
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: product manager for tennis, which for me was like how
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: perfect is that? How lucky was I? They came and
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: interviewed on campus and I was like, I am going
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: to get this job. And I did, and I did.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: You guys should have seen my facial expression. I was like,
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: how could that have been more perfect? That's like unbelievable.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: And so is Reebok at this time? Where are they based?
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: Because now they're in Boston?
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Yep, so they were there in Boston? What if?
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Sweet new life stage though, like the both of you
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: working jobs that seemingly you're passionate about. Yeah, and is
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: the job at Rebok everything that you had hoped for?
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: It was awesome? Yeah, it was awesome just to you know,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: fast paced industry, something that I knew a lot about.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I got promoted quickly, moved up the ranks, and yeah,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: it was a great beginning.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: I can only imagine how different it must have been
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: to work for a company like Rebok then versus working
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: for a company like you do now. Just such a
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: different state of sport and industry.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: And yes, god, yeah, now the industry has changed. It
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: really has changed a lot over the years, and in
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: some ways it really hasn't you know what. Now, those
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: were the days when Reebok was fine with Nike for
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: the number one position for a nanosecond. But it was
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: fast and furious and a lot of fun.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: So how long are you at Reebok for?
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: So? Is that Rebok for about four years? And I
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: should I should say it was during that time, you know,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: shortly after I started at Rebok that Haley was born,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: our first child, our oldest daughter. And Hannah was born
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: when I was at Reebok as well, so I had
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: two little girls, and John and I were both working.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: You know, we had the benefit of his parents and
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: my mom a specially, who helped a lot with the kids,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: so that we could kind of both work like we
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: were and travel like we were traveling. Yeah, and then
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: then an opportunity came up to join Tommy Hill Figure footwear.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Stride Right was a company that had the license for
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Tommy Hill Figure, sort of launch footwear for Tommy Hill
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Figure back in the days. Tommy himself was super involved.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: I'd go to New York once a week and you know,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: be working with Tommy and his direct team. So that
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: was a huge learning experience and kind of a lot
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: of fun. I'd worked at Tommy for about three years
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: and then Sarah was born, so I took some time off,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: you know, and that was that was a great thing.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: It was really a gift quite honestly. And actually one
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: one of the things that happened next was Sarah was
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: was was our third And having babies is great, but
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: it's hard. And it's hard on the body too. Yeah,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: and with each with each pregnancy, your body is a
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: little less resilient. I had never had much trouble kind
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: of bouncing back. I've been sort of fortunate. But after Sarah,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: I was like, well, I'm not yeah, just not quite
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: bouncing back the same. And so it had a treadmill
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: and I was running when Sarah was napping or whatever.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Somehow I got into Tybo. Okay, yeah, Billy Banks. Billy Banks.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Billy Banks absolutely a TVT for hurdle today, Oh for sure.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: So I would put Billy Banks on in the living
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: room and have you know, at this point and maybe
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: now Sarah is starting to crawl around, and I would
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: do my Tibo workouts and those were game changers for me.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I love it it, you know, I love First of all,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: I loved him. I loved the sort of the aggressiveness
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: of the workout, and I love the results.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so you know.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Forty five minutes of that and you were like sweating
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: and felt great and you got results. And at one
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: point I remember being in the living room doing doing
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: the workout. I was down on all fours doing leg
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: kicks and at this point Sarah is crawling around and
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: I was so into the workout I didn't realize she
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: was behind me, and I actually kicked Sarah about four
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: feet across the room.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's frightening.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: It's frightening. Sarah's Sarah's survived. She's absolutely fine. But yeah,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: oh my god, that's multitasking.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: A quick Google search just to make sure that I
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: don't offend anyone. Billy Blanks b l A n KS.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: I called him Banks and two right now. Apparently he
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: lives in Orange County. Really, who knew? You guys can
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: hang out?
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we could connect.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: Tibo and Body's late nineteen nineties culture and its creator,
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: Billy Blanks is still going strong for a Google result.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: Awesome.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Oh man, Okay, Well, thank god. Sarah's okay, she's great.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: You get back into shape. That makes you feel better
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: about yourself, which is important. And how long until you
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: go back.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: To working again? I think I was off for about
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: a year and a half. Then yeah, which was really good.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: And then what's the next opportunity and do you actively
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: seek it or do they find you? Or how does
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: that happen?
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: They found me. I think it was after that that
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: I went to Timberland. Okay, yep, they had been They
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: had been calling me, and your husband Jong had actually left.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: It ended up we both ended up back at Timberland.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: He was there for a second tour of duty and
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: I was there for my first, and I headed up
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: the women's business, and you know, that was a that
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: was a great company and a really good fit for
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: me too, super into the outdoors, and you know, I
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: loved running the women's business and sort of helping get
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: that business, you know, on the map.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: When does New Balance come into the picture?
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I joined New Balance in two thousand and nine. I
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: was there for six years as a general manager of
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: women's kids and part of the lifestyle business. You know,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: they actually hired me and said we want you know,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: we want you to run the women's business and we
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: want you to really focus on wellness, which was just
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: sort of right up my alley. I had a great,
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: small but mighty little little team of primarily women, and
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: some of the work that we did there to sort
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: of put New Balanced Women's on the map and reframe
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: it and reposition it. Yeah, it was it was great.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: It was a really good time.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: New Balance or six years. And then what happened.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I got this phone call from a
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: recruiter and it's the kind of thing that had they
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: called me a week before, I may not have even
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: taken the call. But it was early on in the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: winter of twenty fifteen, which was especially harsh winter. We
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: had just you know, shoveled the flat roof for like
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: the third time in ten days. I got this call
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: to be the president of the Teva brand. I returned
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: the call and I started talking to the recruiter and
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: it was just really kind of interesting and I Sean
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and I talked about it, and it's like, think California.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, what are the chances we'd really do something
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: like that? And he said, well, just you know, take
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: the call, continue with it. Interviews. I was taking a
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: trip to Asia for New Balance, and I actually stopped
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: on my way back here in Santa Barbara and spent
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: a weekend and interviewed and went out to dinner, and
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: you got to know a couple of the key people
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: and looked around Santa Barbara and like you said, there's
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: a lot to like. This is a beautiful, beautiful place.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: And talked to John and actually talked to Sarah because
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Sarah was a junior in high school at the time.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: So now we're talking in the spring of twenty fifteen,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: she's a junior in high school. And I said, you know, Sarah,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: I think I could. I think I can get this job.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: You're not going to leave for your senior year. I'm
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: going to tell them, hey, call me in a year.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: And it was really Sarah who said, you know, Mom,
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: don't do that, get the job. We could go, we
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: could go there. Why not? And you know, that's really
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: brave of a junior in high school to have that
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: kind of attitude. It kept going with the interview process.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Long story short, they made me the offer. Decided to go,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: which doesn't sound maybe like such a big deal, but
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: it kind of was. I mean, we we lived our
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: whole life in New England, a lot of family, a
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: lot of friends, and so it was a huge decision.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: I think a lot about like, I love living on
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: the East Coast, I love New York. I do love
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: coming to visit here. I feel like my pace is
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: very new York, like how my head works. But I
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: do think about what it would be like to come
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: somewhere on the West coast or just toward the west
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: a bit, and it makes me a little unsettled to
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: think about leaving that behind, to not be able to
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: take an hour and a half to go see my parents,
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: or if something was to happen. It just makes me
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: a little anxious. Well, that's the hardest part totally. That
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: is the hardest part. I mean, I you know, staying
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: in touch with my parents and seeing them enough. It's
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: the hardest part for sure. But at the same time,
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: we really haven't looked back. I mean, five years has
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: gone by quickly. I just travel a lot for this job,
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: so I do get back. So talk to me now
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: about how this position for you feels at Hoka, at
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: least from the get go. I mean, it's not just Hoka,
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: I'm sure, But I spoke with Kelly Cortina, she is
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: at the North Face, and she talked to me about
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: how difficult it is to be a woman at such
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: a big company because there aren't many of them in
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: top leadership positions, especially in sport.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's very true in the industry and at the
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: company I'm at. That's very true. The higher up you go,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: the sort of harder it gets, and the more male
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: dominated it is. This thing we call sort of unintentional
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: bias is really real. I mean, very good people that
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: are well intended, but we all bring different unintentional bias
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: to whatever it is that we do. And I think,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: you know, higher up in the ranks and business, it's
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: very prevalent, you know, something to be mindful of and
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: to navigate carefully. It takes great confidence. But I'm not
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: done yet.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: I'm not done yet.
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: Where do you draw that confidence from when it comes
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: to being in these difficult situations.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: I'm fortunate I have a great team of whom I
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: recruited from the East Coast to join me at Hoka.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: I draw back regularly to I think my experience from
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: sport and being a competitive athlete, and that you know
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: that confidence.
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: I mean, Hoka is one of Decker's more recently acquired brands,
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: over like about five years now. Well think we're about
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: eight years old now, So so how has that been
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: kind of being at the helm of what is for
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: the corporation a newer business.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: So Hokah is about ten years Old Deckers acquired it
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: about six years ago, and it is growing like gangbusters. Yeah,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: it's it's fast and it's furious, and you know, this
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: is the team, it's my team. The job that they've
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: done to scale this brand is just incredible. You know,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: when we started four and a half five years ago,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: you know, the brand was about seventy million dollars and
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: it's it'll it'll go well past three hundred million this year.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: So we're not supposed to share a lot of numbers,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: but you a, you know, more than triple top line
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: and more than five times bottom line, so it's it's
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: a real success story. It's been a ton of fun
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: to work on, and we've really focused on very basic strategy,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: which from the beginning, which is really grow awareness when
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: with women, bold design, operational excellence, and I should say,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: first and foremost building out a world class team.
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: It's also interesting because I feel like for people that
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: don't have the brand recognition of Hoka, when they describe
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: a hopa sneka, they're like that really big bulky sneaker.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, do you guys just own that?
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: You know, we we do own it. Although you know,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: a lot of people are taking notice and starting to
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: develop their own versions. So you know, I truly believe
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: that Hoka is a better mouse trap when it comes to,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: you know, being just the best running product out there.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: It is both the geometry as well as you know,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: the foam and the thickness.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: The biggest thing too, is that people experience this Hoka
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: brand and it's they find it to be life changing.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: You know, people that couldn't run anymore. Some people were
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: having you know, trouble standing for long periods of time.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: They put on Hoka and they're able to get off
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: their couch and start running or get back to running.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: And we have consumers on a daily basis reaching out
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: to us saying, you know, you've changed my life.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: Can you give me a little bit of insight as
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: to I guess, like in Layman's terms, like the technology
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: that we're talking about when it comes to why is
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: it that the Hoka sneaker is enabling these people that
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: thought that running was a pastime for them able to
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: get back out on the road.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really the geometry of the bottom, the foam
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: that we use, and that combination of this rocker soul
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: and you know, you put it on and you feel it,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: and what it does is it helps you recover quicker,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: and it also helps you go more efficiently through your
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: gate cycle.
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: And that's how your foot hits the ground when you're
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: running correct. Some times I need to like really break
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: this down because I do. I'm super thankful. The audience
• 38:04
  Speaker 3: is like a ton a lot of them are super
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: into running. But sometimes it's like the words that you
• 38:09
  Speaker 3: and I feel are like the ABC is. It's like, oh,
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: this is what a gate cycle is. Yes, thank you,
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: this is pronation right, all of those things. Okay, so
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: it makes a more efficient less efficient gate cycle.
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: Yes, okay.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And if you think about, you know, the repetitive
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: motion of running, If every step can just be a
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: little bit easier and a little bit more gentle on
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: your body, you know that cumulative effect is considerable.
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: In more recent years, I would argue, and I'm sure
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: you'll close sind this, that the offerings from Hokah have
• 38:42
  Speaker 3: become some of them a little less quote unquote bulky,
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: and now you offer shoes that aren't necessarily one hundred
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: percent for running either.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Yep, we're still pretty focused on running, but we have
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: a couple models that are more more fitness, and what
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: we've tried to do esthetically is without compromising the bottom unit,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: which is where you get all your cushioning and cradling.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: What we've tried to do esthetically is make it look
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: a little slimmer, so some of that you know, with
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: paint lines or whatever. And I think, you know, the
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: job that they've done on the product to make it,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: to make the aesthetics more pleasing, has been considerable while
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: not compromising the functionality of the product.
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: Being in such arguably sought after position, being someone who
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: is making a lot of really great decisions at a
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: big company, I'm sure at times it's stressful. You think
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: about some of the best advice that you've been offered
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: in business, and what do you think.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: About Brene Brown listening to some of what she's done
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: and reading some of her books. Just the idea of
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: clarity is kindness. I think being direct and clear with
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: people is so incredibly important. The benefit of you know,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: working closely with a lot of young people and men
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: and women just great humans and seeing them at the
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: earlier stages of their career and you know, helping them
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: kind of navigate and bring confidence to what it is
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: they do and helping them to bet on themselves. You know,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: that's a big thing. It served me very well, and
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: I like to share that with other people too.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: I'm curious about this idea of mentoring people that are
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: younger than you, while still knowing that you want someone
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: to lean into for like the same sort of purpose
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: for yourself. Like, is there a point where you would
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: say that you have to make a transition into being
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: the mentor versus the mentee or do you think that
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: there's always room to play on both sides of the court.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, always room to play on both sides of the court,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: for sure. I mean you're I'm always learning, you know,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: and learning and growing, and that's what makes it interesting
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: and fun and you know, and the longer I've been
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: doing this, the more I realize, Oh, I have a
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: fair amount of stuff to share if people are interested.
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: I'm interested. I know the hurdlers are interested.
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: I think also what you said about being direct and
• 41:04
  Speaker 3: also being kind is very important, because I think that's
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: a lesson that so many people are constantly learning or
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: coming to understand is even possible. Yes, it's not like
• 41:16
  Speaker 3: you have to be cutthroat or rude to get what
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: it is that you want. You can be direct and
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: also be kind.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely, and you know and at the same time,
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: you know sometimes you have to take actions that are
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: not popular and won't be seen as kind by everyone.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: But I think that's really important too, Like when you
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: know you have to make a change, you know if
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: you have to, if you have to let someone go.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, these are hard things and they're affecting people's livelihoods,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: but you have to do it because it's the right
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: thing for the business and ultimately it's the right thing
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: for them to doing that and not waiting and not
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: pushing off for tomorrow what you really need to take
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: care of today. That's super important.
• 42:00
  Speaker 3: You have an opportunity right now to offer yourself one
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: piece of advice looking back on the hurdle moment, which
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: was going off to college, diving into tennis, being behind
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: what was a pretty difficult family situation, and probably feeling
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: a lot of pressure, especially put on by yourself. You
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: have an opportunity right now, when you look back on that,
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: to offer yourself one piece of advice.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: What do you tell yourself, bet on yourself.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: It's all going to work out.
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: I love it. Thank you so much. For your time.
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: Please take a moment and leave a quick review by
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: clicking the link with the description to this episode. We
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: all face multiple hurdles in life. I want to hear
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: about yours. Reach out to me at Emily at hurdle
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: dot us. Connect with the podcast on Instagram and Twitter
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: at Hurdle Podcast.
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: Wendy, how do they keep up with Hokah? Where can
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: they find them? Maybe? Where can they find you? Give
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: me some details.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: Well, they can find Hoka at Hoka dot com. That's
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Hoko O n E O n e dot.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: Com, not one one correct.
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: And you can find me at Wendy dot Yang at
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: deckers dot com.
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: next time.