Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So this hour there's a
Speaker 1: work going on, no doubt about it, this day and
Speaker 1: this week, but this hour in light of International Women's
Speaker 1: Day officially this Sunday, UM, we wanted to shift gears
Speaker 1: a little bit. Some great guest talking about women's issues.
Speaker 1: So joining us right now is Jillian Meek. She is
Speaker 1: president at the Boston based Kids And specifically we're going
Speaker 1: to get into the kid's handbook handbook for women. Will
Speaker 1: get into that in just a moment. She joins us
Speaker 1: in our Bloomberg Interactive Broker Studio. Nice to have you here, Welcome,
Speaker 1: thank you so welcome back. I should say thank you
Speaker 1: so much for stopping here. Um, we want to get into,
Speaker 1: um this handbook that you guys have, But I do
Speaker 1: want to ask you because the headlines about the virus
Speaker 1: seemed to be kind of NonStop here. So as someone
Speaker 1: who is you know, running a company, how are you
Speaker 1: guys thinking about this and what impact has it had
Speaker 1: on you? Yeah, it's you know, every day it's new,
Speaker 1: there's new information rolling in. We are part of a
Speaker 1: larger enterprise Wolverine worldwide. So we have a pretty robust
Speaker 1: network of brands and therefore we have a really large
Speaker 1: global sourcing arm who who's helping us navigate these times.
Speaker 1: I would say, right now, we don't have any delays
Speaker 1: on product one of those tactical things. Um, I'm sure
Speaker 1: that we eventually will, as you have overseas suppliers, We
Speaker 1: have overseas suppliers overseas manufacturing. So right now all things
Speaker 1: are moving ahead as normal. But we're all waiting, you know,
Speaker 1: all of us in the industry for or industry and
Speaker 1: of course other consumer products industries are waiting to see,
Speaker 1: you know, how this unfolds. We also have retail in
Speaker 1: some of the countries that have been hardest hit, and
Speaker 1: that will also take some time to manifest itself. But
Speaker 1: we're really just trying to do the best that we can.
Speaker 1: We have great e commerce businesses, which is a great
Speaker 1: you know alternative at this time pick up an e
Speaker 1: commerce as a result, not necessarily as a result of
Speaker 1: this situation. Yet, UM, we've had, you know, growing e
Speaker 1: commerce business for quite some time, so it'll be hard
Speaker 1: to sort of pull apart. What the what the natural
Speaker 1: contributor is, but so far it's a wait and see
Speaker 1: along with all of our you know peers in the
Speaker 1: business absolutely well. And you know, obviously we're seeing you know,
Speaker 1: people's scale back travel. We just heard from Charlie about
Speaker 1: uh south by Southwest. So meanwhile, business is going on
Speaker 1: in many ways. I mean, here we are doing our show,
Speaker 1: we're visiting with you and and lots of other folks.
Speaker 1: And it is International Women's Day on Sunday. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be talking more about that on Monday as well. But
Speaker 1: tell us about the Kid's Handbook for women because it
Speaker 1: is coming at a really interesting time in the broader economy,
Speaker 1: uh and and sort of the broader movement. I think
Speaker 1: we talked a little bit about that last time we
Speaker 1: caught up with you. Yes, So the handbook is actually
Speaker 1: a manifestation of some work that we've been doing over
Speaker 1: the last year. Our brand is a hundred and four
Speaker 1: years old, which is an amazing opportunity, and it has
Speaker 1: really rich history in creating footwear for women. We made
Speaker 1: some of the very first sneakers for women a hundred
Speaker 1: and four years ago, and in fact, in the nineteen
Speaker 1: twenties we published a handbook for girls. It was called
Speaker 1: at the time, and it was a very small handbook
Speaker 1: that was full of a lot of content that was
Speaker 1: groundbreaking for the day and really inspired the women of
Speaker 1: that era to go and tell our stories and do
Speaker 1: the things that you know they wanted to do, live
Speaker 1: their dreams, live their best life. And so as a
Speaker 1: part of that, we're relaunching it to our modern day consumer.
Speaker 1: One of our biggest challenges in the businesses. Everyone knows
Speaker 1: us great brand recognition, but they're looking to understand what
Speaker 1: our voices in the in this contemporary So what is
Speaker 1: the voice that you're putting out there? So the voices
Speaker 1: the umbrella is made for women, whatever that means, and
Speaker 1: that came directly from our consumer in all of the
Speaker 1: conversations that we've been having with her her she was
Speaker 1: really clear to say, there's no one definition of a
Speaker 1: woman in today's environment, and so if you want to
Speaker 1: emotionally connect with me, you can't put me in one
Speaker 1: little box or one little corner. And so made for Women,
Speaker 1: whatever that means, as a headline, allows us to bring
Speaker 1: in all kinds of storytelling. So the handbook this time around,
Speaker 1: in this era is called the Handbook for Women. So
Speaker 1: We're going to grow it up a little bit and
Speaker 1: it's a platform for us to allow women in our network,
Speaker 1: women who love our brand, women who have a story
Speaker 1: to tell, to come and actually tell that in the
Speaker 1: goal will be you know, inclusivity, more diverse cities. We
Speaker 1: really feel like the more stories we tell, the more
Speaker 1: we can demonstrate that that thesis that there is no
Speaker 1: one definition. And are you finding as I think we are,
Speaker 1: that women and men for that matter, are looking for
Speaker 1: a little bit more from their brands, to connect a
Speaker 1: little bit more and and knowing that it reflects a
Speaker 1: certain thing about them when they put on a shoe
Speaker 1: and walking the talk as a company without question. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think today's consumer tells us that, you know, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't call it skepticism. I would say they're more curious
Speaker 1: and they want emotional connection means that you have to
Speaker 1: resonate with something that is important to them in their life.
Speaker 1: And so for men and for women as you as
Speaker 1: you point out, you know, it's not just about consumerism
Speaker 1: for the sake of that. It's consumerism and purchasing a
Speaker 1: product because it's meaningful and money to know sort of
Speaker 1: like where it's made and how it's which is something.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've been in the shoe business for some time,
Speaker 1: you understand that as well as anyone or how many
Speaker 1: women are on your board or or or or involved
Speaker 1: in like senior management. What I do wonder too, is
Speaker 1: Jillian and speaking to what Jason is getting at, because
Speaker 1: we talk about this a lot with our you know,
Speaker 1: our own kids care about this in a big way.
Speaker 1: We both have teenagers. But I do wonder how provocative
Speaker 1: and how much the brand, which has been around for
Speaker 1: so long iconic, but is willing to push it, whether
Speaker 1: it's on me too or gender identity, Like, how willing
Speaker 1: are you to push it? So we're very willing and
Speaker 1: very open. And I think the great thing about this
Speaker 1: handbook is it's allowing us to step into this space
Speaker 1: in a really meaningful way, but not jump into it,
Speaker 1: if that makes sense. So a brand that's kind of
Speaker 1: pivoting and telling those stories. We're starting off this first
Speaker 1: handbook under the theme of power um and what does
Speaker 1: that meant to you? So all the women who are
Speaker 1: telling stories in the handbook are telling stories about what
Speaker 1: power means to them. I told my own story, which
Speaker 1: has to do with becoming an American citizen and exercising
Speaker 1: my right to vote only five years ago for the
Speaker 1: first time. That was powerful to me. And so you'll
Speaker 1: see throughout this handbook, you know, everything from producers to
Speaker 1: photographers to writers who are telling you what it means
Speaker 1: to them personally interesting. So what does it go from here?
Speaker 1: I mean what you know, we've talked. I think we
Speaker 1: talked about this last time, that we are at this moment,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, we are not to take it
Speaker 1: down too far, and I should be like, you know,
Speaker 1: we're a week out from Harvey Weinstein getting convicted. We're
Speaker 1: at this moment where, at least at times, setting aside
Speaker 1: some of the recent drama around coronavirus, it does seem
Speaker 1: like we're more engaged on a lot of these issues.
Speaker 1: Is that going to continue or we just sort of
Speaker 1: having a moment that that may pass. How how much
Speaker 1: do you worry about this being fleeting? I guess I
Speaker 1: don't worry about it being fleeting. I think it's here
Speaker 1: and we are all a part of it, and we
Speaker 1: welcome change, and and I think it's not a moment.
Speaker 1: It's a moment of change in that and I think
Speaker 1: we will continue to develop I have a young daughter.
Speaker 1: I want her to see that opportunity. But I also
Speaker 1: have a young son, and I don't want him to
Speaker 1: grow up thinking that there is a you know, a
Speaker 1: different point of view for his sister than him. And
Speaker 1: I think this is where we're going, all right. Great
Speaker 1: to catch up you, Julling meet president of Kids based
Speaker 1: up in Boston. Here with us in New York City
Speaker 1: today