Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 85. Kelly Cortina, VP Global Product The North Face

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85. Kelly Cortina, VP Global Product The North Face · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

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Speaker 1: Hey, Hurdler's Emily Abadie. Here.
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Speaker 2: You are listening to episode eighty five of Hurdle, a
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Speaker 2: podcast that talks to everyone from entrepreneurs to top CEOs
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Speaker 2: and athletes about how they've gotten through tough times hurdles
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Speaker 2: of sorts by leaning into wellness. Today, I'm bringing you
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Speaker 2: my conversation with Kelly Cortinez. She's the vice president of
0:21
Speaker 2: Global product at the north Face. I was able to
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Speaker 2: sit down with Kelly when I was in Denver earlier
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Speaker 2: this month.
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Speaker 1: Before we get into it, I want to take a
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Speaker 1: minute to give.
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3:18
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about Kelly Guys. Kelly is the
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Speaker 2: epitome of who I would want my boss to be.
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Speaker 2: She has had the most impressive career path, going from
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Speaker 2: Abercrombie to under Armour and now to the North Face
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Speaker 2: where she oversees global product. I know that sounds like
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Speaker 2: a big deal, and that's because it is. What I
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Speaker 2: love the most about this woman is that she's just
3:42
Speaker 2: so down to earth and she tells it like it is.
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Speaker 2: In today's episode, she gets really honest about what it
3:49
Speaker 2: was like to uproot her family, including her two young sons,
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Speaker 2: from the East Coast, heading over to California, and then
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Speaker 2: right as they are getting settled to find out once
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Speaker 2: again that they have to make another move over to Denver.
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Speaker 2: She gets honest about the challenges that come hand in
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Speaker 2: hand with that and about how she handled it as
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Speaker 2: a leader as well.
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Speaker 1: You know, a lot of the time we talk about
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Speaker 1: this expression.
4:11
Speaker 2: In the episode, they say that leaders eat lass and
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Speaker 2: that it's so important, of course to show up for
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Speaker 2: your team and put up a strong front.
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Speaker 1: But the reality is.
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Speaker 2: As many of us know, that you have to put
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Speaker 2: on your own oxygen mask first before you can help
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Speaker 2: other people. So Kelly talks about learning how to do that,
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Speaker 2: what she did to get back to herself, from yoga
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Speaker 2: to meditation to literally climbing mountains appropriate for her job
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Speaker 2: at the North Face, and she also talks about her goals,
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Speaker 2: her aspirations, and what it's like to be one of
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Speaker 2: the only women sitting at such an important seat at
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Speaker 2: her company. Listen to Nick Kelly has interviewed the second
4:45
Speaker 2: time around. It made me think that this is really
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Speaker 2: the kind of insight that we don't get into often
4:49
Speaker 2: on the show, and I think it's something that you
4:50
Speaker 2: guys are really going to appreciate as always at Hurdle
4:54
Speaker 2: Podcast at Emily Body, if you have a Hurdle moment
4:56
Speaker 2: of your own to share, just want to say HI,
4:58
Speaker 2: feel free to always reach out to me. It's Emily
5:01
Speaker 2: at Hurdle dot Us. I can't believe we're approaching two
5:04
Speaker 2: years of Hurdle and every single time I look at
5:07
Speaker 2: that episode number and it creeps up. I'm just reminded
5:10
Speaker 2: of all of the hard work, all of the interactions
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Speaker 2: and feeling just super super grateful for where we've come
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Speaker 2: from and where we're going and with that, let's get
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Speaker 2: to hurdling.
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Speaker 1: Today.
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Speaker 2: I'm sitting down with Kelly Courtina. She's the vice president
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Speaker 2: of global product at the North Face. Hey, Hi, how
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Speaker 2: are you. I'm am to be in Denver, first time.
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Speaker 3: Welcome, Thank you, just in time for the snow.
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Speaker 1: How are you liking Denver?
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Speaker 4: I love Denver. My life has gotten a lot easier
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Speaker 4: since moving to Denver.
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Speaker 2: Everyone that I know that moves here actually says the
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Speaker 2: same thing, and it's the stress thing. A lot of
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Speaker 2: people I know that relocated came from the stress capital
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Speaker 2: of the world, ie New York City. So it's a
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Speaker 2: very different world it is.
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Speaker 4: I mean, it's definitely a slower pace. Access to the
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Speaker 4: mountains is really close, so you can get in and
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Speaker 4: out of the city easily, which is a lot different
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Speaker 4: for anyone coming from the Northeast or West coast. So yeah,
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Speaker 4: I mean your weekends are you know, a lot of
6:13
Speaker 4: time to do things?
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Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. Okay, So you're new to Denver and
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Speaker 2: we'll get to that in just a little bit. But
6:19
Speaker 2: I want to know a little bit about where you
6:20
Speaker 2: come from. So where did you grow up?
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Speaker 3: So I'm from the Northeast.
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Speaker 4: I grew up in Connecticut where Connecticut, right outside of
6:27
Speaker 4: new Haven, Connecticut.
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Speaker 1: Keep going, I'm I'm from Trumbull.
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Speaker 4: Okay, perfect. So I went to high school in New
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Speaker 4: Haven and I grew up on the shoreline.
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Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, my mom's my mom's in Milford now, Oh excellent.
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Speaker 1: So Connectic get through and through it.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: So I grew up in Connecticut.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
6:43
Speaker 1: College.
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Speaker 4: I went to college in upstate New York, so very
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Speaker 4: familiar with the snow and long long winters at Colgate University.
6:50
Speaker 4: And then shortly after Colgate, you know, I went and
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Speaker 4: I worked at Evercrombie and Fitch, which is in Columbus, Ohio.
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Speaker 1: Okay, what'd you go to college for?
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Speaker 3: So I double my and polyci in Spanish, and I
7:02
Speaker 3: thought I.
7:02
Speaker 4: Was going to law school, and I totally took a
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Speaker 4: right turn and I went into retail.
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Speaker 1: Okay.
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Speaker 2: And so your first job was at Abercrombie. Yeah, what
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Speaker 2: were you doing there?
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Speaker 4: So Abercrombie had at the time a merchandising program, so
7:14
Speaker 4: they would go to different schools and recruit and hire.
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Speaker 4: And so I was lucky enough to be part of
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Speaker 4: their merchandising program and got trained to be one of
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Speaker 4: their young merchants for the Hollister brand just after it started.
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Speaker 1: Wow, I haven't heard the word Hollister a long time.
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Speaker 3: I certainly haven't Warren Hollister.
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Speaker 1: Ye, but I have. You know what I have done,
7:35
Speaker 1: I have Warren Abercromby.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like they're they're recent resurgence of Abercromby
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Speaker 2: for the adult market is legitimate.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, they've really they've rebranded and they're Yeah, it's it's
7:47
Speaker 4: really interesting what they're doing because they were down for
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Speaker 4: a while and they're they're starting to come back.
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Speaker 1: We'll see, we'll see. Okay.
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Speaker 2: So obviously where we are now is a long way
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Speaker 2: from where you were. So what happens after Abercrombie.
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Speaker 4: So, you know, Abercrobi was a great experience and I really, like,
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Speaker 4: you know, established my roots there as a merchant and
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Speaker 4: and at that time, like two thousand and five, under
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Speaker 4: Armour was growing and became a household name pretty quickly,
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Speaker 4: and so I was lucky enough to be recruited and
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Speaker 4: got to join the under Armour team and was there
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Speaker 4: for almost fifteen years.
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Speaker 2: What is life like at this point outside of work
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Speaker 2: for you? Are you into activities?
8:26
Speaker 1: Are you? Are you an active person? What are you doing.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so at that time, I mean I was you know,
8:31
Speaker 4: I went to college. I swam through college, and then
8:33
Speaker 4: you know, after college, I was pretty burnt out on swimming,
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Speaker 4: and so I got to do all the things that
8:38
Speaker 4: I didn't have a chance to do with all of
8:39
Speaker 4: my time dedicated to the pool. And so I was
8:42
Speaker 4: doing triathlons, I was doing half marathons, and just really
8:45
Speaker 4: enjoying gym life as well. And that really fit well with,
8:50
Speaker 4: you know, my post college routine. And I had met
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Speaker 4: my soon to be husband and we were doing those
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Speaker 4: things together, which was great, and then the under armour
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Speaker 4: fit into my lifestyle at the time.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, so when you talk about like doing these things
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Speaker 2: with your partner, what would you say, like, where was
9:05
Speaker 2: the best place that you guys would go and travel
9:07
Speaker 2: to do?
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Speaker 4: Well, we actually got engaged on the West Coast, So
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Speaker 4: we went and we ran the Humble Half in northern
9:13
Speaker 4: California and that's where he proposed and so yeah, so
9:17
Speaker 4: we had done you know, a few races together and
9:20
Speaker 4: then had planned this trip to the West Coast, which
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Speaker 4: was a pretty magical place for us, you know, personally,
9:25
Speaker 4: and that was it. So that was probably our most
9:27
Speaker 4: special memory together.
9:28
Speaker 2: Okay, the West Coast. Did you think that you would
9:31
Speaker 2: end up over that way?
9:34
Speaker 4: You know, we my husband had lived in Portland, Oregon.
9:37
Speaker 4: We were very curious about extending west because we were
9:40
Speaker 4: both East Coasters and you know, certainly captivated with the landscape,
9:44
Speaker 4: and we had lots of friends out there and and
9:47
Speaker 4: so so yeah, I think in the back of our
9:48
Speaker 4: heads we always knew like that there was still more
9:50
Speaker 4: to explore and more to chase, and you know, then
9:53
Speaker 4: we had a few kids and that started to like,
9:55
Speaker 4: you know, sort of slip away a little bit until
9:58
Speaker 4: I got a call from the North Face. O.
10:00
Speaker 2: But fifteen years at under Armour is a long time,
10:03
Speaker 2: and I feel like that's something I think a lot
10:05
Speaker 2: of people when you spend more and more time with
10:07
Speaker 2: the company, it's really great because you can evolve with
10:09
Speaker 2: the company and you can get to know the company
10:11
Speaker 2: through and through. But for someone who after so much time, like,
10:16
Speaker 2: how do you continue to keep that kind of environment
10:19
Speaker 2: or that kind of passion for the same roles?
10:22
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, I mean I think the beauty about under
10:25
Speaker 4: Armour at the time and at that point in my
10:27
Speaker 4: career was just that there were opportunities opening up always
10:30
Speaker 4: because there was so much growth in the.
10:32
Speaker 3: Brand went you know, we went to a.
10:34
Speaker 4: Billion and then went to two billion, and then to
10:36
Speaker 4: three billion, So there was just like unprecedented growth in
10:38
Speaker 4: a very short amount of time. And so you know,
10:41
Speaker 4: having a merchant foundation that really lent itself to a
10:44
Speaker 4: few different roles at under Armour, and so it really
10:46
Speaker 4: allowed me to stretch and grow and pursue new things,
10:49
Speaker 4: and so I was never bored.
10:51
Speaker 3: I was always challenged.
10:52
Speaker 4: So that was like definitely what kept me there and
10:54
Speaker 4: super inspired around the product and the mission and making
10:58
Speaker 4: athletes better.
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Speaker 3: I mean, that was a big part of what we
11:01
Speaker 3: were dedicated to.
11:02
Speaker 2: So what were some of the titles that you held
11:04
Speaker 2: while you were at under Armor.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so I was I head up Specialty Retail. I
11:09
Speaker 4: was in product creation for a long time, so oversaw
11:12
Speaker 4: women's product creation for design and product management, and then
11:16
Speaker 4: I was also the VP of Merchandising for the Center
11:19
Speaker 4: of Excellence.
11:20
Speaker 2: Okay, So you're living in Maryland, Okay, and you get
11:25
Speaker 2: a call from the North Face.
11:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that you know.
11:28
Speaker 2: That this opportunity is based at the time in California. Yes,
11:32
Speaker 2: how does that make you feel in your gut.
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Speaker 4: Well, I thought, oh, California, amazing, Like we've always loved
11:39
Speaker 4: the Bay Area and you know, we'd love to be there,
11:42
Speaker 4: and how exciting.
11:43
Speaker 3: Our kids are still young.
11:45
Speaker 4: And at the time, you know, I had, you know,
11:47
Speaker 4: I was yearning for something, something new, something to keep
11:50
Speaker 4: me inspired. And the north Face is such a strong brand,
11:54
Speaker 4: and I had loved the product for so many years.
11:56
Speaker 4: I mean that some of my favorite products from back
11:58
Speaker 4: in high school and college was for the north Face.
12:01
Speaker 4: It you know, caught me a little off guard, and
12:03
Speaker 4: and and then I decided to pursue it.
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Speaker 2: And what kind of conversation, like do you recall any
12:08
Speaker 2: specific conversations you and your husband had around the idea
12:12
Speaker 2: of moving out west.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean we thought, you know, initially it was like,
12:18
Speaker 4: all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna check this out. And
12:21
Speaker 4: then of course, you know, you know, went and explored
12:24
Speaker 4: and loved the company, loved who I met from the company.
12:28
Speaker 4: You know, we talked about a life change. I mean,
12:30
Speaker 4: this was an opportunity for us to you know, have
12:32
Speaker 4: our two sons, you know, explore and have a different
12:36
Speaker 4: childhood than we had lived near you know, on the
12:38
Speaker 4: West Coast and get to you know, ski earlier in
12:41
Speaker 4: their lives than we did, get to like do you
12:43
Speaker 4: know amazing things. So we were just really jazzed around
12:46
Speaker 4: that whole idea. So it didn't take a lot of convincing,
12:50
Speaker 4: but it was you know, certainly hard. We have all
12:52
Speaker 4: of our family on the East Coast. We were surrounded
12:54
Speaker 4: by a support network and so that that was a
12:57
Speaker 4: big deal but super exciting because both passionate about the
13:01
Speaker 4: brand and felt like the right thing.
13:03
Speaker 1: Yeah.
13:03
Speaker 2: Okay, so describe to me, like how it feels to
13:09
Speaker 2: literally like uproot your entire family.
13:11
Speaker 1: Then, yeah, so not easy, Like I feel.
13:15
Speaker 2: Stressed enough, like thinking about like changing apartments in New
13:17
Speaker 2: York City. Nevertheless, like doing it with a significant other
13:20
Speaker 2: and two kids and.
13:21
Speaker 1: Like all of this stuff and a mortgage.
13:24
Speaker 3: Yeah.
13:24
Speaker 4: So my husband and I are both planners, so we
13:26
Speaker 4: thought like we got this, like we you know, of course,
13:29
Speaker 4: had planned the whole thing out to tell our children,
13:32
Speaker 4: like we had bought books for them, we talked about
13:34
Speaker 4: this big adventure to California. And at the time, they
13:38
Speaker 4: were five and seven, and so that was you know,
13:41
Speaker 4: a reality check for us because the seven year old said, hey, wait,
13:45
Speaker 4: a second, I'm not sure I want to go ahead
13:47
Speaker 4: and do that. So that was our first you know shock,
13:50
Speaker 4: this was not going to be as easy of an
13:52
Speaker 4: adventure to pull off as we thought. And then but
13:55
Speaker 4: we got everybody excited eventually and made our way and
13:59
Speaker 4: and and you know, I think for a while I
14:01
Speaker 4: was commuting until we actually all landed in California, So
14:04
Speaker 4: that that wasn't easy because I was trying to do
14:07
Speaker 4: the mom thing and then the new job thing and
14:09
Speaker 4: then you know, get you know, try to basically have two.
14:11
Speaker 3: Worlds and and yeah, so that was really hard.
14:15
Speaker 4: And I didn't learn later that like moving cross country
14:18
Speaker 4: was like one of like the biggest stressers you could
14:20
Speaker 4: actually probably experience in life.
14:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, because it takes a while for your
14:24
Speaker 2: stuff to get there too.
14:25
Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, and you're you're tired, you're you know, you're
14:28
Speaker 4: mentally drained because you're you're onboarding and you're you're you're traveling,
14:32
Speaker 4: so you're physically tired. So you go through all sorts
14:34
Speaker 4: of stuff you probably haven't you know, felt all at
14:38
Speaker 4: one time before. And that was definitely a new feeling
14:41
Speaker 4: for me.
14:41
Speaker 2: And so how does your routine shift at all? During
14:44
Speaker 2: this time. Obviously it's distressful, as you're saying, so, like,
14:48
Speaker 2: how are you kind of like channeling your energy to
14:50
Speaker 2: handle that? And obviously like there's times when you're by
14:52
Speaker 2: yourself versus when you're with your family, and so how
14:55
Speaker 2: are you as a person maintaining like a solid decent
14:59
Speaker 2: level sanity.
15:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it's really hard.
15:04
Speaker 4: I mean I didn't do it the way i'd recommend.
15:06
Speaker 4: I mean I was taking red Eyes, and I was
15:08
Speaker 4: you know, at work, you know, Monday through Thursday back
15:11
Speaker 4: on the East Coast until until we officially moved. But
15:15
Speaker 4: I wanted to spend as much time with my family
15:17
Speaker 4: during that time as I could. And so you know,
15:21
Speaker 4: I really like I learned to love essential oils. I
15:24
Speaker 4: learned like meditation was going to be my friend, you know,
15:27
Speaker 4: just being able to like be at peace with the
15:29
Speaker 4: decisions I was making and being able to kind of
15:31
Speaker 4: breathe through it. And you know, that was a way
15:35
Speaker 4: for me, Like, you know, as I was traveling, as
15:38
Speaker 4: I was able to sort of you know, keep keep
15:40
Speaker 4: a little bit of sanity and also like feel like
15:43
Speaker 4: I can get through this.
15:45
Speaker 2: But so spoiler alert, We're sitting in Denver, which is
15:49
Speaker 2: not California.
15:52
Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about that.
15:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, how long are you in California before you learn
15:57
Speaker 2: that your company is going to move.
15:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, you know, it was around it was probably July,
16:03
Speaker 4: early August, and I was feeling really good.
16:06
Speaker 3: We had officially made the move.
16:07
Speaker 4: We had said goodbye to everyone on the East Coast,
16:10
Speaker 4: and you know, I had signed the kids up for school,
16:13
Speaker 4: we had joined the pool club, We met our neighbors.
16:16
Speaker 3: They were awesome, and.
16:17
Speaker 4: I was feeling like officially grounded and ready to really
16:21
Speaker 4: dig in to my role, my new role with my
16:24
Speaker 4: new team. And and then, you know, I one morning,
16:27
Speaker 4: you know, came to work. It was the day after
16:30
Speaker 4: we had families visiting campus and you know, experiencing this
16:33
Speaker 4: new place, and and everybody was so excited. They were
16:37
Speaker 4: really excited to be there. And so we found out,
16:40
Speaker 4: you know, that the that next morning that the brand
16:43
Speaker 4: was making a big move and they were going to
16:45
Speaker 4: be relocating to Denver, and and that was obviously unexpected
16:51
Speaker 4: at the time, but and hard to hear at the time,
16:54
Speaker 4: to be honest, just because we had been through this
16:57
Speaker 4: huge personal, you know, transition, which was a big at
17:01
Speaker 4: the time though I could still see the vision for
17:03
Speaker 4: the move and could see that this was going to
17:04
Speaker 4: be like wow, a really bold thing to do and
17:06
Speaker 4: also really exciting for VF and for the north Face.
17:10
Speaker 4: But it didn't make it easier at the time, you know.
17:12
Speaker 4: So I thought, oh, I'll tell my husband, we probably
17:15
Speaker 4: should go to dinner tonight.
17:17
Speaker 3: And stuff to think about.
17:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, I had, you know, people visiting in town, so
17:22
Speaker 4: of course, yeah, so it is it.
17:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's complicated.
17:25
Speaker 2: I feel like like this is probably one of those
17:27
Speaker 2: days that, like it is a considerable amount of time ago,
17:31
Speaker 2: but it always feels like yesterday when you think about it.
17:34
Speaker 2: When I think about the last time that I was
17:37
Speaker 2: at a company and the magazine folded, I remember like
17:40
Speaker 2: the meeting where we walked in and you know, a
17:44
Speaker 2: bunch of different big names came into the room and
17:46
Speaker 2: told us that we were all losing our jobs.
17:48
Speaker 1: Like I remember that like it was yesterday and that
17:50
Speaker 1: was three years ago.
17:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I know the feeling of anxiety because you
17:54
Speaker 2: probably have all of these thoughts like, well, we just
17:56
Speaker 2: moved here, now we are like are we going to
17:59
Speaker 2: move again?
18:00
Speaker 1: Am I moving again? Are we all doing this? Like?
18:02
Speaker 1: Are the boys are they going to want to move again?
18:04
Speaker 3: Yeah?
18:04
Speaker 1: Like what was that like for you?
18:06
Speaker 3: Yeah?
18:06
Speaker 4: I think it was like initially really shocking. You know,
18:09
Speaker 4: I think, you know, Denver is an amazing place. So
18:13
Speaker 4: I think for both my husband and I as we
18:15
Speaker 4: think about, you know, places we'd love to live, you know,
18:17
Speaker 4: and raise a family, Denver was definitely on the top
18:20
Speaker 4: of that list. So yes, and my sister lives in Denver,
18:24
Speaker 4: so that was, you know, a great a great thing
18:26
Speaker 4: to know and so so yeah, so I think, you know,
18:31
Speaker 4: had it been somewhere else, maybe it would have been
18:33
Speaker 4: a little bit harder to digest.
18:34
Speaker 3: But then it was like the how like.
18:36
Speaker 4: Once you accept the news and then you start to
18:39
Speaker 4: think about all the steps and you realize you're still
18:41
Speaker 4: processing all the steps from the move to California.
18:44
Speaker 3: Okay, how do we how do we learn.
18:46
Speaker 4: From that and even improve on that experience to do
18:49
Speaker 4: it again in Denver? And you know, do you do
18:52
Speaker 4: it now? Do you do it faster like, or do
18:54
Speaker 4: you do you get through the year? You know, what
18:56
Speaker 4: would be the best thing for the family so that
18:58
Speaker 4: they don't get too rooted in California and then you
19:00
Speaker 4: uproot them again.
19:01
Speaker 3: So yeah, there was a lot to consider.
19:03
Speaker 2: What was the timeline then from when you arrived in
19:06
Speaker 2: California to when you guys were like family on ground
19:09
Speaker 2: in Denver.
19:10
Speaker 3: It was like a year to the day.
19:11
Speaker 4: Actually, Yeah, so like almost exactly a year after we
19:14
Speaker 4: moved to California, we moved to Denver.
19:16
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, how does the conversation go with the boys?
19:19
Speaker 1: For round two?
19:20
Speaker 4: So round two, you know, went a lot better, because, yeah,
19:24
Speaker 4: it went a lot better because at that point, the
19:27
Speaker 4: kids had been up to Tahoe, they had skied, they
19:29
Speaker 4: were like feeling really good about the idea of being
19:32
Speaker 4: closer to the mountains, and so we were able to
19:35
Speaker 4: get them, you know, really excited. They're both hockey players,
19:39
Speaker 4: so they were moving to you know, hockey country, and
19:43
Speaker 4: and so it went a little bit smoother. And and
19:46
Speaker 4: I think, you know, we weren't naive and understanding that
19:50
Speaker 4: this would be something that could be difficult for them
19:52
Speaker 4: to accept, not necessarilyarily an adventure because they had made
19:56
Speaker 4: friends already and so yeah, so we learned through it
19:59
Speaker 4: as parents, for sure, but we're closer as a family because.
20:02
Speaker 1: Of it totally.
20:02
Speaker 2: And I think what's interesting, and I mean, like woman
20:06
Speaker 2: to woman, I feel like we all have a tendency
20:08
Speaker 2: to handle so much and take so much on our plate.
20:10
Speaker 2: So not only are you trying to navigate like what
20:13
Speaker 2: this means for your family and your personal life, but
20:17
Speaker 2: you're also again like starting a new job, which is
20:19
Speaker 2: a big job. So talk to me about how you're
20:23
Speaker 2: finding any sort of balance with making sure that.
20:27
Speaker 1: You're doing everything to the best of your ability.
20:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, I mean I think, well, I don't know,
20:33
Speaker 4: balance is loosely defined these days, because I think it's
20:37
Speaker 4: it's hard. I mean, you're constantly navigating change as you know,
20:41
Speaker 4: a full time working mom, and you know your job changes,
20:45
Speaker 4: and then your kids grow and you know there's always
20:47
Speaker 4: something else you didn't kind of see coming. But yeah,
20:51
Speaker 4: it was definitely a challenge because you know, you're dealing
20:55
Speaker 4: with this stuff at home. You're trying to like, you know,
20:57
Speaker 4: make sure that's as stress free as possible, that everybody's
21:00
Speaker 4: all right, and then you're trying to, you know, make
21:03
Speaker 4: sure that you're communicating, you're letting your team know what's
21:07
Speaker 4: going on. You're trying to help them through this, but
21:09
Speaker 4: you know they're also accepting new news and nobody has
21:13
Speaker 4: a textbook for this like nobody knows what the rules
21:17
Speaker 4: of engagement are to kind of help people through, and
21:20
Speaker 4: so it's really challenging. And then I think as a leader,
21:23
Speaker 4: you're often left alone, you know, like you're checking in,
21:27
Speaker 4: but you know nobody's really checking in with you, right
21:30
Speaker 4: because you really have that role to help get everybody
21:33
Speaker 4: through it. So yeah, extremely challenging, I think, and definitely
21:38
Speaker 4: probably the hardest thing I've been through in my career.
21:40
Speaker 1: I mean, and super overwhelming.
21:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, just the idea of like everyone always says leaders
21:45
Speaker 2: eat lass. But then it's also like, if you don't
21:48
Speaker 2: put your oxygen mask on first, then how are you
21:50
Speaker 2: supposed to be there for everybody else around you? So
21:53
Speaker 2: was there anything specific during this transition that you felt
21:57
Speaker 2: like was like you like reaching for the oxygen matter
22:00
Speaker 2: to give back to yourself.
22:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I would say, you know, there were
22:04
Speaker 4: definitely some moments personally where you know, I had to
22:07
Speaker 4: really like take take some time, and and I I
22:11
Speaker 4: relied on the council of really good friends, you know
22:15
Speaker 4: I have. I'm lucky to have a few mentors in
22:18
Speaker 4: my professional life that are just they've seen many things
22:22
Speaker 4: and they've been able to be like you know, coaches
22:26
Speaker 4: and compassionate and.
22:27
Speaker 3: You know, they get it.
22:28
Speaker 4: They get the feelings that come with the pressure and
22:31
Speaker 4: the expectations that you sometimes put on yourself. Right, So,
22:35
Speaker 4: so yeah, so I had to I had to recalibrate
22:38
Speaker 4: quite a bit. And so I would say that it,
22:40
Speaker 4: you know, reached a point where it was like, all right,
22:43
Speaker 4: I got to figure out how to how to do
22:45
Speaker 4: this better?
22:46
Speaker 3: And and I.
22:47
Speaker 2: Think it's really hard when you feel like you don't
22:50
Speaker 2: want to ask for help but understand that you can't
22:52
Speaker 2: do it by yourself.
22:53
Speaker 3: Yeah.
22:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think you know, you know, vulnerability is
22:57
Speaker 4: sort of a you know, I guess a popular word
23:01
Speaker 4: right now, but it's true, like you have to like
23:03
Speaker 4: learn that vulnerability. I don't think it comes naturally, especially
23:07
Speaker 4: when you're trying to get so much done and you know,
23:10
Speaker 4: you're dealing with home life and work life. But yeah,
23:13
Speaker 4: there was definitely a moment where I had to just
23:15
Speaker 4: sort of like give up a little bit and just say, okay,
23:18
Speaker 4: how to let's think of new ways to get through this.
23:21
Speaker 4: And that was sort of a breakthrough for me.
23:25
Speaker 1: When you gave up a little bit, what happens next?
23:29
Speaker 4: You know, you feel this great sense of relief. You know,
23:32
Speaker 4: you don't have to have it all together. I think
23:34
Speaker 4: it's very natural, or at least what I experienced is,
23:37
Speaker 4: you know, you compartmentalize a little bit, like okay, family's okay,
23:41
Speaker 4: we're getting through this, move news and now focus on work,
23:44
Speaker 4: and you end up, you know, not really doing everything
23:48
Speaker 4: as as as you'd like. And so so yeah, I
23:52
Speaker 4: think once once you're able to kind of reflect and
23:55
Speaker 4: know that it's going to be alright, trust that it's
23:56
Speaker 4: going to be alright, have confidence in yourself and believe
23:59
Speaker 4: in yourself because there's a lot of uncertainty that comes
24:02
Speaker 4: with navigating change, Like you don't know am I doing
24:05
Speaker 4: the right thing? I thought I was doing the right thing.
24:07
Speaker 4: I'm not sure. You're kind of damned if you do,
24:09
Speaker 4: damned if you don't. And and so I think when
24:12
Speaker 4: you do release a little bit and just sort of
24:15
Speaker 4: kind of expose yourself, and I, you know, I've done
24:19
Speaker 4: that and I feel like I learned a lot through it.
24:21
Speaker 1: So the family moves to Dunver.
24:24
Speaker 3: How is that it's good?
24:26
Speaker 4: I mean we've been fortunate our kids have have you know,
24:29
Speaker 4: developed socially. I think they're able to accle me, and
24:33
Speaker 4: but you know, staffing a new team and you know,
24:37
Speaker 4: bringing moving a team and then fully staffing a team
24:41
Speaker 4: is you know, a new challenge. And then of course
24:44
Speaker 4: getting those teams to work really closely together and and
24:48
Speaker 4: figuring out what like the future looks like. Those are
24:50
Speaker 4: you know things that again, there's no textbook for this.
24:53
Speaker 4: There's lots of like insights, but it forces you to
24:57
Speaker 4: slow down, like you can't just get stuff done anymore.
25:00
Speaker 4: You can't just you know, there's no speed to it, right, like,
25:03
Speaker 4: because every day is a little bit different and something
25:05
Speaker 4: happens you didn't predict or you have to constantly recalibrate.
25:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, so when you come to Denver you are one
25:15
Speaker 2: of and correct if I'm wrong, But like a few
25:17
Speaker 2: women at your level in the company, I feel like
25:21
Speaker 2: that in itself can also be a little bit overwhelming.
25:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, yeah, there's there's definitely at least I
25:30
Speaker 4: you know, I certainly have felt, you know, a sense
25:32
Speaker 4: of extra responsibility.
25:34
Speaker 3: I would say as as a female leader.
25:38
Speaker 4: You know, when you're when you're a minority, I mean
25:40
Speaker 4: I think that you know, it really does put a
25:43
Speaker 4: little bit of extra pressure on you to have you know,
25:45
Speaker 4: a voice that resonates to represent to you know, feel
25:51
Speaker 4: some urgency around accelerating change, to create more diversity and
25:57
Speaker 4: see other other people in your role or have a
26:00
Speaker 4: partner at the table. Yeah, those are all really real things.
26:04
Speaker 4: Then to add sort of an extra sense of responsibility.
26:09
Speaker 2: And so this is in June when you're moving your
26:11
Speaker 2: family here and I remember you telling me that within
26:14
Speaker 2: the same week of moving them, you like also had
26:16
Speaker 2: the opportunity to do a summit of Mount Baker with
26:22
Speaker 2: all of these.
26:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, with the whole team.
26:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, so back to balance.
26:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it was like this was sort of
26:30
Speaker 4: like the peak of you know, like this is my life.
26:32
Speaker 3: You know.
26:33
Speaker 4: We we were leaving California. We were on our way
26:36
Speaker 4: to Denver, so we were moving out of our house
26:39
Speaker 4: and you know, literally in the same week we were
26:42
Speaker 4: moving out of our house, we were saying goodbye to
26:44
Speaker 4: our community. I was on a plane to you know,
26:47
Speaker 4: do this incredible summit with our executive team of Mount
26:50
Speaker 4: Baker in Washington.
26:53
Speaker 3: And you know, we did it. It was amazing.
26:56
Speaker 4: I was, you know, the only woman that summitted, which
26:59
Speaker 4: was also kind of incredible. Just that feeling of feeling
27:04
Speaker 4: that again, that responsibility that you know, I'm going to
27:06
Speaker 4: make it to the top, and all while I'm thinking
27:10
Speaker 4: about my son's last day of school, which would be
27:13
Speaker 4: the following day that I'm flying home for to go
27:15
Speaker 4: to their school play, and you know, get back and
27:18
Speaker 4: finish the work week. And so this is like, you know,
27:21
Speaker 4: within five days, you're summoning you know, you know, over
27:25
Speaker 4: ten thousand feet and you know, getting back to real life, yeah, which.
27:31
Speaker 3: Is sort of surreal.
27:31
Speaker 4: And then you realize when you're back in real life,
27:33
Speaker 4: this is not everybody's day to day and so which
27:36
Speaker 4: can also make you feel like a little bit like
27:38
Speaker 4: an outsider.
27:41
Speaker 1: Like how am I doing that?
27:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, like I'm not sure I'm doing it?
27:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, but like where then?
27:46
Speaker 2: So obviously, like the activity of summoning is probably helpful
27:49
Speaker 2: in that it's like a little bit of a stress reliever,
27:52
Speaker 2: but how else are you finding that you are coming
27:55
Speaker 2: back to yourself during all of this when you're literally
27:58
Speaker 2: like where.
27:58
Speaker 1: Is the time?
27:59
Speaker 3: Yeah?
28:00
Speaker 4: I mean I will say after that, I was able
28:02
Speaker 4: to take a two week vacation, which was you know needed.
28:06
Speaker 4: So you know, I think just certainly what I've learned
28:08
Speaker 4: through my career is like rest and recovery is really
28:11
Speaker 4: important because you're putting so much emotionally and physically into
28:15
Speaker 4: what you're doing, and.
28:16
Speaker 3: That takes a lot of mental strength.
28:18
Speaker 4: And so definitely after that, you know, I knew I needed,
28:22
Speaker 4: you know, to rest so that I could recharge a bit.
28:25
Speaker 2: I feel like in this scenario, though, it's kind of
28:27
Speaker 2: going back to what we were talking about about not
28:29
Speaker 2: wanting to ask for help. So it's like, so much
28:32
Speaker 2: is happening at this moment, and you're moving your ome family,
28:34
Speaker 2: and you're trying to show up at your job because
28:37
Speaker 2: you want to be like a strong woman. And in
28:41
Speaker 2: all of that, I find that when everything feels like
28:43
Speaker 2: it's piling on me and then I don't ask for help,
28:46
Speaker 2: it's when I feel like the most alone. And I
28:51
Speaker 2: also realize that it doesn't matter if it's like I
28:54
Speaker 2: so like, I am a thirty one year old New
28:58
Speaker 2: Yorker at single by myself, and you are a mother
29:02
Speaker 2: of two with a husband and like this huge role
29:05
Speaker 2: at this big company. But the thing that we have
29:07
Speaker 2: in common is that we probably both feel really alone sometimes.
29:11
Speaker 3: Yeah.
29:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's I was actually thinking about this the other day,
29:14
Speaker 4: and I think it it really you know, like I
29:17
Speaker 4: said before, I've relied on really you know, close friends
29:20
Speaker 4: that have inspired me. But when you are feeling alone,
29:24
Speaker 4: you want to reach out, like you want someone to
29:26
Speaker 4: talk with, and but you also want someone that can
29:29
Speaker 4: relate to some of the things you're going through, and
29:32
Speaker 4: so you end up having to sort of seek out
29:34
Speaker 4: a network, you know, seek out tools, you know, because
29:39
Speaker 4: there's when there's few people that you feel like you
29:41
Speaker 4: can relate to, it's it is really hard. I mean,
29:44
Speaker 4: I've sometimes had the urge to maybe write or like
29:47
Speaker 4: you know, somehow find ways to sort of express myself.
29:50
Speaker 4: I have definitely gotten more into yoga, like definitely ways
29:54
Speaker 4: to sort of reflect and process. You end up finding
29:58
Speaker 4: new vices. I guess kind of help you through that.
30:01
Speaker 4: But I think for me, I just you know, I
30:04
Speaker 4: want if that's if I can learn through that and
30:06
Speaker 4: share that with other people too. I think that's really
30:09
Speaker 4: important because then you can kind of help people through
30:13
Speaker 4: it because I don't think, you know, I didn't always
30:15
Speaker 4: have that voice reassuring me, use your voice, keep going.
30:19
Speaker 4: And I think that's really important for people to hear
30:22
Speaker 4: that are young in their careers because you might feel alone,
30:25
Speaker 4: but you may not really be alone.
30:27
Speaker 2: It's important as a leader to almost it's like, I
30:31
Speaker 2: see the benefit of both sides, right. It's like we're
30:34
Speaker 2: talking about like putting your oxygen mask on first and
30:36
Speaker 2: then helping everybody else, and like being strong for your
30:38
Speaker 2: team and like helping them out and not really alluding
30:41
Speaker 2: to the fact that you're like what the hell is
30:42
Speaker 2: going on? But sometimes it's like you have to say
30:45
Speaker 2: what the hell is going on? And like can we
30:47
Speaker 2: have a meeting of the mind, yeah, and be like,
30:49
Speaker 2: all right, are you guys all also really stressed out?
30:51
Speaker 2: Because this is a.
30:52
Speaker 1: Lot right now.
30:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean I'm sure the team becomes then
30:56
Speaker 2: better for it. It's just how do you have that
30:58
Speaker 2: kind of conversation where it's not, oh my god, no
31:01
Speaker 2: one knows what's going on here?
31:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think, you know, one of the
31:05
Speaker 4: breakthroughs I think recently for us, and you know, with
31:07
Speaker 4: my team in particulars you know, we we acknowledge that,
31:11
Speaker 4: like we acknowledge that, hey, we're in uncharted territory. We're
31:15
Speaker 4: all like living through this awesome change and we're building
31:18
Speaker 4: the future. So that's something to really focus on. But hey,
31:22
Speaker 4: we're all in it together. So forget titles and all
31:25
Speaker 4: of that, Like we are all going through personal life
31:28
Speaker 4: change and figuring out how to establish ourselves and so,
31:32
Speaker 4: you know, I think this idea of like it's not
31:35
Speaker 4: just up to the leader to get people to the
31:37
Speaker 4: next you know, wherever they're going. It's like the whole
31:40
Speaker 4: team really has to help out. And so I guess
31:43
Speaker 4: a breakthrough for us recently was like we solicited that
31:45
Speaker 4: from the team, like, hey, we need you, like, you know,
31:48
Speaker 4: we're all better for it because it is lonely at
31:50
Speaker 4: the top.
31:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely.
31:52
Speaker 2: I mean so then talk to me exactly what does
31:56
Speaker 2: a VP of Global product.
31:57
Speaker 3: Do just on the day to day.
32:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I mean I think we're we're always looking
32:03
Speaker 4: to be you know, to make obviously industry leading product,
32:07
Speaker 4: so we're always you know, curating that next innovation. We're
32:10
Speaker 4: always thinking about how to resonate with the consumer and
32:13
Speaker 4: solve their problems. So that's just a constant thread that's
32:16
Speaker 4: through literally every conversation. But we're really taking you know,
32:20
Speaker 4: ideas from concept to store to site, so we're really
32:24
Speaker 4: thinking about that entire product creation cycle. But you know
32:28
Speaker 4: with that also comes you know, you want to be
32:31
Speaker 4: faster to market. So new processes, implementing and you know,
32:34
Speaker 4: new ways of doing things, like being on the forefront
32:37
Speaker 4: is always an effort that we're focused on.
32:39
Speaker 3: So you know, constant change, constant innovation.
32:42
Speaker 4: No day is the same, and but it's exciting because
32:46
Speaker 4: you get to be like living your product. You're with
32:48
Speaker 4: your consumer all the time, and you know, it's it's
32:51
Speaker 4: a privilege.
32:51
Speaker 2: Where do you think that you get your best ideas?
32:56
Speaker 4: Definitely like out in you know, in whether it's the
33:00
Speaker 4: mountains or you know, just being outside or just giving
33:03
Speaker 4: yourself space to kind of think about, you know, the
33:06
Speaker 4: product you're wearing and how could it be better? And
33:09
Speaker 4: so I think I really think all of the truth
33:12
Speaker 4: lies with the consumer. I mean, we can idate all
33:15
Speaker 4: day long inside, but if we're not talking with the consumer,
33:17
Speaker 4: talking with athletes, really understanding what their needs are, you know,
33:22
Speaker 4: we're not going to be able to solve their problems.
33:23
Speaker 4: And so many great marketing ideas come from that conversation too.
33:27
Speaker 4: Like it's one thing to solve the problem, but if
33:30
Speaker 4: you can't communicate around it and really like you know,
33:32
Speaker 4: resonate with your consumer, you know you're not going to
33:35
Speaker 4: be You could miss and so I think that the
33:38
Speaker 4: being able to have that easy conversation with them is
33:41
Speaker 4: comes through some of that research too.
33:42
Speaker 1: How does that look different now that you're in Denver?
33:46
Speaker 4: Well, in Denver, I mean we've already been able to
33:49
Speaker 4: like get out in the field so much easier. So
33:51
Speaker 4: we've you know, done you know, several off sites with
33:54
Speaker 4: our teams, our teams already with the athletes. Like the
33:57
Speaker 4: accessibility in Denver is it's a little bit easier than California,
34:00
Speaker 4: which was part of the vision of bringing all of
34:03
Speaker 4: our outdoor brands here. But you know, we're living it now,
34:07
Speaker 4: so it's it's exciting. I mean, you're already seeing people
34:09
Speaker 4: are already they see the first snow, they're already getting
34:11
Speaker 4: in the mountains. They can't wait for you know, ski season,
34:14
Speaker 4: and so we I think we're going to be able
34:17
Speaker 4: to be more in touch with our consumer for being here.
34:19
Speaker 1: Would you say that? So how long have we been
34:23
Speaker 1: in number now?
34:24
Speaker 3: Gosh, it's only been three months.
34:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a quick around time.
34:28
Speaker 2: Three months okay, so three months in how do we
34:32
Speaker 2: feel on the like, oh my god, I'm overwhelmed scale.
34:35
Speaker 3: I think we're settling in now.
34:37
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think that initial overwhelmedness probably comes as
34:41
Speaker 4: you're moving. You don't know where your stuff is, You're
34:44
Speaker 4: trying to like find a place to live. And and
34:47
Speaker 4: now we're seeing that, you know, we're almost complete with
34:50
Speaker 4: our hiring and we're starting to get you know, people
34:52
Speaker 4: are settling, so which is which is really fun because
34:56
Speaker 4: there's this whole socialization of just people that are energized
35:00
Speaker 4: to be with the brand and chart this future together.
35:03
Speaker 3: And so yeah, it's almost like startup mode. It's really cool.
35:06
Speaker 2: How does your day to day look different here than
35:08
Speaker 2: it did in California? And I mean I'm sure so
35:11
Speaker 2: much different than when you were on the East Coast.
35:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I mean here like definitely as a leader,
35:16
Speaker 4: like there's there's a big build piece of of the
35:19
Speaker 4: role now right like thinking ahead and how we're going
35:21
Speaker 4: to start to really like see this future through and
35:25
Speaker 4: so you know, assembling the team, recruiting for talent, evolving
35:30
Speaker 4: you know, a diverse pool of talent, and so that's
35:33
Speaker 4: that's a big part of the focus right now, is
35:35
Speaker 4: really setting up for the future, and then you know,
35:38
Speaker 4: giving the leaders that we have within the teams the
35:40
Speaker 4: opportunity to actually like you know, build their team. So
35:43
Speaker 4: it's you know, it's really about empowerment and making sure
35:47
Speaker 4: that like we're really like setting up this opportunity for
35:49
Speaker 4: everyone to grow.
35:50
Speaker 1: And then from a lifestyle perspective, like what's different here?
35:54
Speaker 4: So I would say just the you know, there's an
35:57
Speaker 4: easiness to Denver that you probably don't get in the Bay.
36:00
Speaker 4: You know, it's a little less congested, you can get
36:03
Speaker 4: places faster, that hurdle of traffic isn't as big of
36:07
Speaker 4: a deal. So you know, I think, you know, personally,
36:10
Speaker 4: we're very settled in a great community. You know, easy
36:14
Speaker 4: access to parks, easy access to the mountains, easy access
36:17
Speaker 4: to work. So you know, I would just say there's
36:20
Speaker 4: just like a slower pace definitely than compared to the
36:22
Speaker 4: Eastern or West Coast.
36:24
Speaker 2: And then for you guys, what is like what's happening
36:28
Speaker 2: on the weekends. Then if we're so close to all
36:30
Speaker 2: of this nature.
36:31
Speaker 4: Well, personally, I'm at a lot of hockey games on
36:33
Speaker 4: the weekends, so we are already embedded in the hockey
36:36
Speaker 4: and lacrosse communities. I am raising two young sons who
36:39
Speaker 4: are you know, little athletes. But you know, when the
36:42
Speaker 4: season dies down, we're definitely gonna spend our holidays in
36:45
Speaker 4: the mountains and and get them out there, and we're
36:48
Speaker 4: excited for that. And we're just exploring. I mean we've
36:51
Speaker 4: we've been to Denver and Vale over the years, but
36:54
Speaker 4: you know, in terms of like exploring Greater Colorado and
36:56
Speaker 4: all the amazing places to go, Like that's you know,
36:59
Speaker 4: kind of our bucket list right now.
37:00
Speaker 1: I was just going to ask you, so, like what's
37:02
Speaker 1: on the bucket list?
37:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, so winter Park for Thanksgiving, that's sort of the
37:05
Speaker 3: next step for us.
37:06
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, amazing.
37:08
Speaker 2: Talk to me about what's next aside from you know,
37:12
Speaker 2: our Thanksgiving plans, Like what's what's on your radar? What's
37:15
Speaker 2: next for you, either personally or professionally, Like what is
37:18
Speaker 2: it that you want to do?
37:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think you know, I had this,
37:22
Speaker 4: you know, a few years back. I really reflected on
37:24
Speaker 4: my career. I had kind of had that experience of
37:26
Speaker 4: like slamming into the glass ceiling, like it was hit
37:30
Speaker 4: me in the face. I had accelerated and ascended and
37:33
Speaker 4: things were going really well and and then I really
37:36
Speaker 4: like slammed into it. And so that really forced me
37:39
Speaker 4: to like really think about, Okay, something doesn't feel right here,
37:44
Speaker 4: How do I want to chart my own career because
37:46
Speaker 4: it is not only up to you know, the people
37:49
Speaker 4: that are around me, but also myself. You know, it's
37:51
Speaker 4: up to me on what I do.
37:53
Speaker 3: And so.
37:54
Speaker 4: You know, that reflection allowed me to focus more on
37:57
Speaker 4: how I can be a bigger advocate for women in
37:59
Speaker 4: the work place and start to you know, be a voice,
38:02
Speaker 4: so a sort of a fearless voice. I would say, like,
38:05
Speaker 4: it's really important to be fearless, to use your voice
38:07
Speaker 4: because you know, I really do believe good can come
38:11
Speaker 4: when people feel that way. And that's sort of how
38:14
Speaker 4: I've how I've sort of navigated my career, you know,
38:17
Speaker 4: in the last few years. So transitioning into not only
38:21
Speaker 4: like you know, more of an executive role and continuing
38:24
Speaker 4: to lead in that capacity. You know, you know, I
38:26
Speaker 4: could see coaching or mentoring being a big part of
38:29
Speaker 4: what I do as a leader. And and then however
38:32
Speaker 4: I can extend into the Denver community to do that
38:36
Speaker 4: I think would be very fulfilling. So I'm just you know,
38:39
Speaker 4: I'm I think conversation is great and just you know,
38:42
Speaker 4: do you realize, like you know, people are looking for,
38:45
Speaker 4: you know, some inspiration around how to get to the
38:48
Speaker 4: next step, or just some you know, someone to talk
38:50
Speaker 4: with to like think through some things. And and I
38:53
Speaker 4: do find, unfortunately that there are limitations that are sometimes
38:56
Speaker 4: self imposed. And I hope that I can at least
38:59
Speaker 4: be a symbol for folks that there are ways to
39:02
Speaker 4: kind of break through and the opportunity is yours and
39:06
Speaker 4: to continue to seek those.
39:07
Speaker 2: Out even when you're being like that voice of support
39:10
Speaker 2: and motivation for other people. Like where do you find
39:13
Speaker 2: your motivation from?
39:16
Speaker 3: I guess, yeah, I like seeing people succeed.
39:18
Speaker 4: I mean I think, you know, being an athlete, like
39:20
Speaker 4: you know, I you know, I loved, you know, playing
39:24
Speaker 4: for coaches and like really like, you know, seeing teams
39:27
Speaker 4: get better. And I think when when you see that
39:30
Speaker 4: and you see you know, high performance and in the
39:33
Speaker 4: best ways it can, it's very inspiring. So I guess personally,
39:37
Speaker 4: I enjoy, you know, seeing that come to fruition with
39:41
Speaker 4: with individuals or with teams, and so if I can
39:45
Speaker 4: help others, that's definitely what.
39:46
Speaker 3: I want to do.
39:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think I didn't always have, you know,
39:50
Speaker 4: I was so self motivated personally, and I kind of
39:53
Speaker 4: like if there was a barrier, I broke through it,
39:56
Speaker 4: and I was sort of mentally like how I was
39:58
Speaker 4: conditioned I think as an athlete, but you know that's
40:01
Speaker 4: not how everybody operates. And and the world's a different
40:04
Speaker 4: place now than when I started my career. So I
40:08
Speaker 4: see that there's an opportunity like to help guide if
40:11
Speaker 4: people want that help.
40:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think also that it's like I get
40:15
Speaker 2: to I get questions a lot from listeners, and it's like.
40:18
Speaker 1: How do you stay motivated? And that can be in anything, right.
40:21
Speaker 2: It can be like in a fitness routine if you're
40:23
Speaker 2: training for a marathon.
40:24
Speaker 1: It can be in the workplace.
40:25
Speaker 2: It can be like I'm a freelancer, so people are like,
40:27
Speaker 2: how are you continually chasing after.
40:29
Speaker 1: Stories and individuals and all the things?
40:32
Speaker 2: And when I speak with them, I'm like, you just
40:35
Speaker 2: need to do things that you're passionate about. Yeah, Because
40:37
Speaker 2: you're not passionate about it, then yeah, it is going
40:39
Speaker 2: to be hard to find motivation. So I mean for
40:43
Speaker 2: people that come to you and they say, like, how
40:45
Speaker 2: do you stay motivated?
40:47
Speaker 1: What drives you?
40:49
Speaker 4: I mean, I love, like, I'm a very curious person,
40:52
Speaker 4: so like I love like finding out new ways to
40:55
Speaker 4: do things. So I mean, the problem solving part of
40:58
Speaker 4: my role is you know, ination at its core, and
41:01
Speaker 4: that's that's what gets me up in the morning. So
41:04
Speaker 4: if we can continue to deliver new things for our
41:06
Speaker 4: athletes and consumers and like make their lives better, help
41:09
Speaker 4: them achieve their goals, I mean that to me is
41:12
Speaker 4: like our superpower. And that was really what guided me
41:16
Speaker 4: into the athletic and active industries. Is because you know,
41:19
Speaker 4: I loved what I was doing at Abercrombie and Fitch.
41:21
Speaker 4: But the idea of an athlete or someone having their
41:25
Speaker 4: personal best and the product you made or surviving you know,
41:29
Speaker 4: we're you know, the product we're building here, like we
41:31
Speaker 4: are talking about survival and performance and so being able
41:34
Speaker 4: to provide that is an experience for someone that.
41:38
Speaker 3: Is life changing.
41:38
Speaker 4: And so I guess I mean in some ways, like
41:42
Speaker 4: we do believe what we're what we're doing here is
41:44
Speaker 4: changing lives and inspiring others to have new life experiences.
41:49
Speaker 3: So that's something I'm passionate about personally.
41:52
Speaker 4: I mean, continuing to do new things and saying yes
41:55
Speaker 4: to things I haven't done before because there's tremendous growth
41:58
Speaker 4: that's come from that. It's not always easy at all,
42:01
Speaker 4: what's something you've said yes too recently? Oh gosh, I
42:06
Speaker 4: mean certainly like getting on board and getting to Colorado
42:09
Speaker 4: and like you know, moving and I mean that's that
42:11
Speaker 4: was a big one for me. And just you know,
42:14
Speaker 4: I've made a list of things that I'm not done
42:17
Speaker 4: that I want to do, so, you know, I.
42:19
Speaker 1: Feel like people are so scared to do.
42:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like, why are we so scared just to like
42:23
Speaker 2: write down the things that we want?
42:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know, because I think, you know, I
42:27
Speaker 4: had sort of an epiphany two years ago. We were
42:29
Speaker 4: going on our vacation and I go with you know,
42:31
Speaker 4: a group of friends, and we set goals for each
42:33
Speaker 4: other and like not for each other doing we share
42:36
Speaker 4: like you got to me, it's an annual vacation, and
42:38
Speaker 4: we talked about like, hey, what are our goals?
42:39
Speaker 3: And it's been cool.
42:40
Speaker 4: It's you know, it's a group of couples and everybody's
42:43
Speaker 4: kind of you know, they've started their own businesses, they've
42:45
Speaker 4: done you know, new things, and and it's we kind
42:49
Speaker 4: of encourage each other. Yeah, And so yeah, I learned
42:52
Speaker 4: that like most often you can achieve what you want
42:54
Speaker 4: to do. You just have to be bold enough to
42:56
Speaker 4: say you want to do something, so you know, and
42:59
Speaker 4: that can be anything. That could be saving up to
43:02
Speaker 4: get a beach house. That can be you know, surfing
43:05
Speaker 4: for the first time. That can be like snowboarding somewhere
43:07
Speaker 4: you know, like or it can just be like having
43:09
Speaker 4: that conversation with your manager, but like just say yes, yeah,
43:13
Speaker 4: like just don't wait and just do it.
43:15
Speaker 1: Yeah.
43:15
Speaker 2: So you have the opportunity often too, with your teams
43:19
Speaker 2: inspire a lot of people. What would you say has
43:22
Speaker 2: been some of the best advice or inspiration that you
43:25
Speaker 2: have gained so far in your career.
43:28
Speaker 4: I mean, I think that there's definitely two things that
43:30
Speaker 4: I rely on that are pretty foundational, and one is
43:33
Speaker 4: related to business and like being able to predict what's
43:36
Speaker 4: next is a pretty big part of you know, our
43:39
Speaker 4: retail culture, like how do you anticipate what the consumer needs?
43:42
Speaker 4: And so something that I always like share with folks
43:44
Speaker 4: is like know what you don't know. I mean, often
43:47
Speaker 4: you hear the saying like I don't know what I
43:48
Speaker 4: don't know, or we don't know what we don't know.
43:50
Speaker 4: But I actually believe that you can know what you
43:52
Speaker 4: don't know, and that should instill sort of a curiosity around,
43:57
Speaker 4: you know, being able to sort of problem solve, you know,
44:00
Speaker 4: for the consumer ahead of time and think about where
44:03
Speaker 4: things are moving and trends. And then I think the
44:06
Speaker 4: other piece of advice I received is use your voice.
44:10
Speaker 4: And so someone you know, pretty amazing that I had
44:12
Speaker 4: the opportunity to work with. You know, we were talking
44:14
Speaker 4: about something that we're both dealing with, and you know,
44:17
Speaker 4: I was sort of delivering that problem to this person
44:19
Speaker 4: to then go do something about. And then you know,
44:21
Speaker 4: they looked right back at me and they said, use
44:23
Speaker 4: your voice. And so I realized in that moment, oh
44:25
Speaker 4: my gosh, I have the power to use my voice too.
44:28
Speaker 4: You know, this is not this is not about hierarchy.
44:31
Speaker 4: This isn't about leaders leading. This is about you know,
44:34
Speaker 4: people who are passionate and care about the right thing,
44:37
Speaker 4: you know, speaking up and advocating for themselves.
44:39
Speaker 1: Yeah.
44:40
Speaker 2: Okay, So the way that I wind down the podcast
44:43
Speaker 2: every time, you have the opportunity right now to offer
44:46
Speaker 2: yourself one piece of advice when you're going through this
44:48
Speaker 2: crazy time of uprooting your family not once but twice
44:52
Speaker 2: and using essential oils.
44:54
Speaker 1: And going to yoga and like kind of figuring out
44:56
Speaker 1: how to get through it.
44:58
Speaker 2: You have an opportunity right now to offer your solve
45:00
Speaker 2: a piece of advice then going through that hurdle moment,
45:03
Speaker 2: what do you tell yourself now?
45:05
Speaker 3: Slow way down?
45:06
Speaker 4: You know, when I reflect on, you know, being a
45:08
Speaker 4: planner and being you know, kind of an A type
45:11
Speaker 4: personality and wanting to get things all lined up, you know,
45:14
Speaker 4: it's almost like planning a wedding, like something is going
45:16
Speaker 4: to go wrong and you just have to trust that.
45:18
Speaker 4: And so I think you have to slow down to
45:21
Speaker 4: speed up. And it's really important that you give yourself
45:25
Speaker 4: the opportunity to trust yourself and try to maintain the
45:30
Speaker 4: balance you need to get through things and surround yourself
45:35
Speaker 4: with the love and support of your good friends and
45:38
Speaker 4: family and ask for help.
45:41
Speaker 3: If you need it.
45:41
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for bringing out with me.
45:43
Speaker 3: Thank you.
45:43
Speaker 2: Please take a moment and leave a quick review of
45:45
Speaker 2: the podcast by clicking the link with the description to
45:48
Speaker 2: this episode. We all face multiple hurdles in life. I
45:51
Speaker 2: want to hear about yours. Reach out to me at
45:52
Speaker 2: Emily at Hurdle dot You as connect with the podcast
45:55
Speaker 2: on Instagram and Twitter at Hurdle Podcast. How do they
45:58
Speaker 2: keep up with you? Kelly how do they keep up
46:00
Speaker 2: with the north Face. Give me some information.
46:03
Speaker 4: You can find me on LinkedIn at Kelly Cortina and
46:07
Speaker 4: then I would say follow the north Face on Instagram.
46:09
Speaker 1: And that's it.
46:10
Speaker 2: I am at Emily a body, another hurdle conquered. Catch
46:14
Speaker 2: you guys next time.