WEBVTT - NBA Owners Blitzer, Plotkin Bet on Menswear Brand Rhone

0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.960
<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim

0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.280
<v Speaker 1>Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.

0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:08.760
<v Speaker 2>Well, our audience knows our next guest very well. He's

0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:10.480
<v Speaker 2>been joining our program for years.

0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:11.440
<v Speaker 3>I know you.

0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:13.399
<v Speaker 2>We were talking about it as we were getting ready.

0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:14.800
<v Speaker 4>I went deep into the terminal.

0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.160
<v Speaker 2>Carol like, just search on my name and put in

0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:18.280
<v Speaker 2>Nate's name, and.

0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:19.840
<v Speaker 1>You'll say, and Carol, just you know, she leans over

0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:21.360
<v Speaker 1>me and starts typing into the terminal. She's like, I

0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:22.439
<v Speaker 1>search on my name all the time.

0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:23.480
<v Speaker 4>No, she didn't really do that.

0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:25.760
<v Speaker 1>I did find though. He was on with you and

0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.480
<v Speaker 1>Mike McKee. Mike McKee, Okay, the show was called taking

0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:30.720
<v Speaker 1>Stock Back in twenty fourteen. That was the year they

0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:32.120
<v Speaker 1>actually launched Roan.

0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:33.360
<v Speaker 5>That was the first year.

0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.280
<v Speaker 4>That was the first So he's been here since the beginning.

0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.880
<v Speaker 2>Nateateek, it's of course, co founder and CEO of Roan

0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:40.520
<v Speaker 2>joining us now.

0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:42.880
<v Speaker 3>Welcome, Welcome, welcome back.

0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.200
<v Speaker 5>Thank you so much. I feel I feel as close

0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.400
<v Speaker 5>to being at home on air here than anywhere else.

0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.560
<v Speaker 2>Well, likewise, we feel like you're part of the family,

0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.400
<v Speaker 2>and we're so glad to have you back. It's been

0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.240
<v Speaker 2>I feel like a big year for you guys, really

0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:56.840
<v Speaker 2>big year.

0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.320
<v Speaker 5>I've been big month in particular, a lot of a

0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:00.560
<v Speaker 5>lot of exciting thing's happening.

0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:05.280
<v Speaker 2>Can we talk though, about the billionaire Blackstone executive David Blitzer,

0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:09.720
<v Speaker 2>former hedge fund manager Gabe Plokin, ex football stars Tim Tebow,

0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:10.440
<v Speaker 2>Steve Young.

0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.400
<v Speaker 3>They did a deal and they're now involved in the company.

0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.920
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's so the quick story is.

0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.720
<v Speaker 3>A year ago, right, July twenty.

0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:21.760
<v Speaker 5>So we just announced it, but this happened July of

0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:25.160
<v Speaker 5>last year, and effectively what happened is we put a

0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.800
<v Speaker 5>group together in an SPV with really exciting names, a

0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.320
<v Speaker 5>bunch of kurrent and retired athletes as well as just

0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:37.120
<v Speaker 5>incredible people like Blitzer and Gabe, and we bought out

0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.679
<v Speaker 5>the private equity interest in our business so that we

0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:42.000
<v Speaker 5>can really think about the business in a more long

0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:43.120
<v Speaker 5>term way.

0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:45.720
<v Speaker 1>What was it that the private equity firm wanted to

0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:46.800
<v Speaker 1>do that you weren't ready to do?

0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:47.640
<v Speaker 4>It?

0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:49.960
<v Speaker 5>Really wasn't. They weren't pushing us to do anything. But

0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:52.400
<v Speaker 5>the nature of private equity is a five to seven

0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.960
<v Speaker 5>year whole time, and we were in we were coming

0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.880
<v Speaker 5>into year five and they're great partners. In fact, that

0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.160
<v Speaker 5>we're talking about el Ca Caterton, the managing partner of

0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:04.560
<v Speaker 5>their growth fund, is still on our board. Even though

0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:06.680
<v Speaker 5>they sold their interest. That was part of something that

0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:10.400
<v Speaker 5>I really wanted as part of the deal and they

0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.080
<v Speaker 5>you know, I just was kind of forecasting the future macroeconomically,

0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:16.680
<v Speaker 5>time of uncertainty if they wanted us to sell the

0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.200
<v Speaker 5>business and it wasn't right for us. So and more

0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.480
<v Speaker 5>than anything, I kind of fell back in love with

0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.079
<v Speaker 5>the brand and the company, and I thought I kind

0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:26.760
<v Speaker 5>of want to do this maybe for thirty forty years,

0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:27.720
<v Speaker 5>not five years.

0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:29.880
<v Speaker 3>Why had you fallen maybe out of love a little bit.

0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.239
<v Speaker 5>Well, the pandemic was a really stressful time, you know, not.

0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:33.960
<v Speaker 3>Just your statement.

0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.680
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, yeah, it was a stressful time for every business,

0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.000
<v Speaker 5>every person, but certainly I think for me as a

0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.640
<v Speaker 5>leader of a company, it felt like there was a

0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.200
<v Speaker 5>new crisis every single week and we had some growing

0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.560
<v Speaker 5>up to do. You know. The business still grew tremendously

0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:50.760
<v Speaker 5>during that time. In fact, it was great for businesses

0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.680
<v Speaker 5>like ours, but it really wrung me out, and I

0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:56.360
<v Speaker 5>think I was at a point where, you know, just

0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.280
<v Speaker 5>we talk a lot about mental health in our company,

0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.440
<v Speaker 5>I was at a breaking point, and I like, I

0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.880
<v Speaker 5>either need to sell this company or something needs to change.

0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:05.280
<v Speaker 5>And for me, the thing that needed to change is

0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.880
<v Speaker 5>I needed to feel almost more invested in it and

0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:09.000
<v Speaker 5>I need to make some changes.

0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:11.639
<v Speaker 2>I've heard of quote I just want to where you said,

0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.320
<v Speaker 2>I think after this and kind of getting back control,

0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:16.959
<v Speaker 2>nothing has changed and everything has changed, Yeah, which kind

0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:17.760
<v Speaker 2>of says so much.

0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.959
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's really exactly how I feel. Even though conceptually,

0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.800
<v Speaker 5>you know, el Caderton was a minority shareholder in the business,

0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.520
<v Speaker 5>so in theory their ownership change to a new group

0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:33.600
<v Speaker 5>didn't change anything, but the way I feel has changed completely.

0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:34.760
<v Speaker 4>Do you feel more in control?

0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:36.240
<v Speaker 5>Absolutely? Yeah.

0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.360
<v Speaker 4>And I have a controlling stake in the company.

0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.920
<v Speaker 5>Yes. So you know, we call it because my brother

0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.400
<v Speaker 5>is involved. I've got a brother in law, so we've

0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:48.440
<v Speaker 5>got family control of the business and the goal is

0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.160
<v Speaker 5>to have a long term hold here.

0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:51.920
<v Speaker 3>Dad's involved.

0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.600
<v Speaker 5>Well, that was one of the most exciting parts about this.

0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.040
<v Speaker 5>I called him. You know, my parents have spent three

0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:01.280
<v Speaker 5>years in London doing service and came back and I said, hey,

0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:03.680
<v Speaker 5>I have this crazy idea. What do you think about this?

0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:08.640
<v Speaker 5>And you know, he's an incredibly experienced executive and he said,

0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:10.960
<v Speaker 5>I love it. What can I do to help? So

0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.560
<v Speaker 5>we added him to the board and it's been a dream.

0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.719
<v Speaker 5>I've told people, Look, there are people who are going

0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:20.880
<v Speaker 5>to say, oh, you know, you're working with your dad

0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.480
<v Speaker 5>and I all I do is I forecast twenty years

0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:26.440
<v Speaker 5>in the future, and I think if I could, if

0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.599
<v Speaker 5>I didn't take this opportunity, I would regret it for

0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.960
<v Speaker 5>the rest of my life. And I get a chance

0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.440
<v Speaker 5>to I get a chance to work with him and

0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.800
<v Speaker 5>you know, and have that family relationship. It's incredibly unique

0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:38.320
<v Speaker 5>and special.

0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:39.560
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, no doubt about it.

0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:39.719
<v Speaker 5>Right.

0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:41.720
<v Speaker 3>We only get to do this once. Yeah, right, got

0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:42.920
<v Speaker 3>to figure out how you want to do it.

0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.479
<v Speaker 2>Well, not investors though, in the sports world yep. So

0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:49.919
<v Speaker 2>how are you then, maybe thinking about you know, we

0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:54.160
<v Speaker 2>talk often about branding and partnerships and especially with athletes.

0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.719
<v Speaker 2>How are you guys thinking about that as part of

0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:58.919
<v Speaker 2>the strategy, the growth strategy going forward?

0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.680
<v Speaker 5>Well, it's interesting our brand launched as an active brand,

0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.320
<v Speaker 5>so we were carried in Equinox and Peloton and Soul

0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.240
<v Speaker 5>Cycle and Barry's boot Camp in places like that, and

0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.159
<v Speaker 5>then we added in our commuter lane. I'm wearing a

0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.480
<v Speaker 5>full commuter shirt and a commuter you know, commuter the

0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.400
<v Speaker 5>computer and it's been an incredible part of our business.

0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:18.880
<v Speaker 5>But active is at our roots. That's how we still

0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.919
<v Speaker 5>see ourselves as a performance brand. So the sports partnerships,

0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.479
<v Speaker 5>the athlete partnerships, is something that we're planning to lean

0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.839
<v Speaker 5>into more as part of this. We have seven professional

0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:33.159
<v Speaker 5>sports team owners on the cap table. We have the NFL, NBA,

0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:36.360
<v Speaker 5>Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, English Premier League all

0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.800
<v Speaker 5>represented across the ownership group, and that's that's a great

0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:42.360
<v Speaker 5>opportunity for us.

0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:43.480
<v Speaker 3>And a great revenue mover.

0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:47.160
<v Speaker 2>Eventually, could you see yourself doing lines around an athlete.

0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:50.280
<v Speaker 5>I certainly think there would be collections and collaborations in

0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:51.400
<v Speaker 5>the future. Yeah.

0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.280
<v Speaker 1>What's the bricks and mortar strategy right now?

0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:56.159
<v Speaker 5>So we've opened eleven stores in the last twelve months,

0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.880
<v Speaker 5>so we have we have fifteen source total. Now I thought, yeah,

0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.839
<v Speaker 5>it's it is certainly not for us in our stores

0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.720
<v Speaker 5>are all profitable. The payback period has been incredibly quick

0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.760
<v Speaker 5>on these stores and what they do for us in

0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.360
<v Speaker 5>a market. We can measure the e comm impact and

0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.120
<v Speaker 5>the awareness impact when we open a new store, So

0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:20.360
<v Speaker 5>I think it's getting more competitive though. Every brand is

0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.360
<v Speaker 5>trying to open retail, So there, you know, there was

0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.160
<v Speaker 5>kind of a window of opportunity. I think that window

0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:28.200
<v Speaker 5>is starting to close. Also, you know what's happening macroeconomically,

0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.520
<v Speaker 5>that may shift over time. But online digital acquisition costs

0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:36.760
<v Speaker 5>have been growing at such an increasing rate everybody's playing

0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.600
<v Speaker 5>in that space that it became really expensive to acquire

0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:42.480
<v Speaker 5>companies online. Now you now you can acquire companies or

0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.279
<v Speaker 5>customers the old fashioned way through retail and make money

0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:47.840
<v Speaker 5>as you're acquiring them. How do you how do you

0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.560
<v Speaker 5>track that the eCOM left?

0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:51.839
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, how do your yeah? Exactly?

0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:53.719
<v Speaker 1>How do you know that what's happening in the store

0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:55.799
<v Speaker 1>outside of a store will lead to a sale online?

0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.000
<v Speaker 5>So we have a baseline of data in every single

0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:02.360
<v Speaker 5>market that be tracked by a zip code. Right and

0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.000
<v Speaker 5>after you open a store, there's a thirty day measurement,

0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.279
<v Speaker 5>a three month measurement, a six month measurement, and a

0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.880
<v Speaker 5>year long measurement. And you try and see did the

0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.720
<v Speaker 5>baseline of e comm rise since the store opening? Is

0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.640
<v Speaker 5>it complete direct correlation? Hard to know because the brand's

0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.080
<v Speaker 5>also growing, But if you if you then minus overall

0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.080
<v Speaker 5>brand growth did the market grow at an above rate

0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:26.280
<v Speaker 5>of the standard growth rate? And that's kind of how

0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:27.200
<v Speaker 5>we think about measuring it.

0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:29.400
<v Speaker 2>I am always curious about like a product line or

0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:32.200
<v Speaker 2>a brand because I think sometimes you can grow too

0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:33.880
<v Speaker 2>fast in terms of the stuff you offer that it

0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:34.840
<v Speaker 2>just gets overwhelming.

0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.640
<v Speaker 3>So how do you think about how you.

0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.160
<v Speaker 2>Kind of, you know, cultivate that or curate that so

0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.040
<v Speaker 2>that you don't kind of overwhelm the consumer.

0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:46.200
<v Speaker 5>It's tricky because the customer has given us such opportunity

0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.560
<v Speaker 5>to do so many things, as we've introduced commuter and

0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:53.400
<v Speaker 5>we have we have to guard ourselves a little bit

0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.560
<v Speaker 5>against it. But right now we say we really can

0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:00.520
<v Speaker 5>outfit about eighty percent of a guy's closet. And not

0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.800
<v Speaker 5>a single day passed in the pandemic where I didn't

0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:06.840
<v Speaker 5>get a text from somebody saying I've realized all I've

0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.080
<v Speaker 5>worn for the last six months is Roan. I walked

0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.880
<v Speaker 5>in today and our friend Jason Kelly's like, I didn't

0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.440
<v Speaker 5>know you were coming, and I'm top to bottom, so

0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.280
<v Speaker 5>it's kind of top to bottom. Yeah, So we're really

0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.720
<v Speaker 5>lucky that we've got diehard customers and they really wear

0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:23.640
<v Speaker 5>the brand in multiple settings we've.

0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.760
<v Speaker 2>Got to take a commercial break, but we know that

0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:31.000
<v Speaker 2>finally you're doing something for the better half.

0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:32.680
<v Speaker 5>Yes, absolutely, the better half.

0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.080
<v Speaker 2>So we want to talk about that and your offerings

0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.400
<v Speaker 2>and just kind of where growth goes from here, because

0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:40.880
<v Speaker 2>it sounds like going public.

0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:42.720
<v Speaker 3>Should we wait to talk about that.

0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:44.800
<v Speaker 5>Let's talk post commercial break about that.

0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:46.760
<v Speaker 3>We are here with Nate Check.

0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:48.960
<v Speaker 2>It's Ron co founder and CEO with us in our

0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.880
<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Interactive Broker studio. I'm only going to ask this

0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.439
<v Speaker 2>because we are focused on the labor market right now

0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:57.400
<v Speaker 2>with all the data points coming, are you getting all

0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:58.319
<v Speaker 2>the workers you want?

0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.959
<v Speaker 5>Yeah? I mean we've been lucky. We've always paid above

0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:05.559
<v Speaker 5>market for retail in particular, that was the toughest piece,

0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.680
<v Speaker 5>you know, as we've scaled the But it's so critical

0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.959
<v Speaker 5>to have good people in your stores. It makes all

0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.960
<v Speaker 5>the difference. If a store is not performing well and

0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.199
<v Speaker 5>you put the right person in, it will just completely

0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.120
<v Speaker 5>transform how the store performs. So we've been fortunate that

0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:22.720
<v Speaker 5>we've been able to attract really good talent.

0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.480
<v Speaker 2>Speaking of those stores, they're going to start selling women's

0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.040
<v Speaker 2>stuff finally.

0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:31.760
<v Speaker 5>Even every interview at the end either, Yeah, So when's

0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:35.440
<v Speaker 5>it happening. So this coming May, we will be launching

0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.240
<v Speaker 5>women's and it's incredibly exciting. It's been a long time

0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:41.920
<v Speaker 5>in the works. You know, we've started. We started as

0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.440
<v Speaker 5>a men's brand. We did a women's capsule in twenty

0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.320
<v Speaker 5>nineteen and it went so well, it sold out. But

0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.240
<v Speaker 5>you go into twenty twenty and do you want to

0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.960
<v Speaker 5>take the inventory risk and continue to lean into it.

0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:57.640
<v Speaker 5>But we brought an incredible chief product officer who is

0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.760
<v Speaker 5>really the most talented fabric person I've ever worked with,

0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:06.200
<v Speaker 5>and she has put together an incredible initial collection. It's

0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.800
<v Speaker 5>been received so well as we've taken it to market

0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.600
<v Speaker 5>and introduced it to wear testers. And part of the

0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.160
<v Speaker 5>big story of Roan is that we added three very

0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.360
<v Speaker 5>talented female executives over the last three years and they've

0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.800
<v Speaker 5>been a big part of our success. And seventy percent

0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.840
<v Speaker 5>of our team is female. So we wanted to build

0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.160
<v Speaker 5>a collection that they were proud and excited to wear,

0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.079
<v Speaker 5>and I basically just tried to get out of the

0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:37.960
<v Speaker 5>way intentional hiring women. I would say we hired the

0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.600
<v Speaker 5>absolute best people for the position, and they happened to

0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.160
<v Speaker 5>be women. I think we have always believed in building

0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:49.400
<v Speaker 5>a diverse and strong team, and we needed that at

0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:53.320
<v Speaker 5>every level. We've just added a female board director named

0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:57.040
<v Speaker 5>Tess Roaring, who's incredibly talented. But we always try and

0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.800
<v Speaker 5>hire the best person for the job, and the best

0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:01.880
<v Speaker 5>for the job for these jobs were the women that

0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:02.240
<v Speaker 5>we hired.

0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:03.760
<v Speaker 4>I talked to us about financials.

0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.040
<v Speaker 3>You guys have said publicly, are you going to do

0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:07.319
<v Speaker 3>a commuter suit for women?

0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.319
<v Speaker 5>I can't reveal new collections on.

0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.760
<v Speaker 4>How they're waiting numbers.

0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.160
<v Speaker 2>I know you're going to be bluebarg as we should be,

0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:17.319
<v Speaker 2>but I'm just okay.

0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:24.240
<v Speaker 1>So one hundred million dollar annual run rate profitable last

0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:26.199
<v Speaker 1>three years, yep. What else can you tell us?

0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.280
<v Speaker 5>Well, the company's growing twice as fast since we did

0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:32.400
<v Speaker 5>this transaction than we did, you know, than we were

0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:33.160
<v Speaker 5>growing before.

0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.199
<v Speaker 3>And better environment or what.

0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.040
<v Speaker 5>I would say. It's actually probably a harder environment. Most

0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:41.880
<v Speaker 5>of the brands in our space are flat down quite significantly.

0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.839
<v Speaker 5>This year. We've opened eleven stores, as I mentioned, in

0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:49.760
<v Speaker 5>the last twelve months. There's been strong growth in a

0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.400
<v Speaker 5>couple of our categories. We have some product lines that

0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:54.520
<v Speaker 5>are growing at north of three hundred percent this year.

0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.559
<v Speaker 5>So we feel really good about where the business is today,

0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.800
<v Speaker 5>and we you know, we have a lot of conviction

0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.079
<v Speaker 5>that we can continue to grow in scale. It's not

0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:06.840
<v Speaker 5>not easy, but we're excited. All right.

0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.720
<v Speaker 1>We got a little bit of a lightning round.

0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.439
<v Speaker 5>I don't think this has ever happened before the first time.

0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.000
<v Speaker 1>Okay, you don't have to answer in a lightning way,

0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.400
<v Speaker 1>because some of these are longer answers. Okay, work life balance,

0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.120
<v Speaker 1>we talk a lot about work life balance. You share

0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.200
<v Speaker 1>so much of your life on Instagram. I followed you

0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:28.760
<v Speaker 1>for years. You have family, kids. Is work life balance

0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:29.280
<v Speaker 1>and illusion?

0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:33.280
<v Speaker 5>Yes it is. I mean, I don't even like the

0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.440
<v Speaker 5>word balance. I think it's a I think it's the

0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.240
<v Speaker 5>wrong term. And I think I've grown as I've thought

0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.839
<v Speaker 5>more about this. I really love I can't remember where

0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:43.679
<v Speaker 5>I heard this. I love the word harmony because in theory,

0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.760
<v Speaker 5>when you're doing it right, your work should help you

0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.000
<v Speaker 5>at home and your home should help you at work.

0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.280
<v Speaker 5>And you know that the balance makes it feel like

0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.480
<v Speaker 5>there should be a bucket of each and you need

0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.240
<v Speaker 5>to make them equal or a certain proportion, and harmony

0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.439
<v Speaker 5>shows you how they can really influence each other. And

0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:06.320
<v Speaker 5>for me, becoming a better leader in the workplace. Being

0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.320
<v Speaker 5>more thoughtful and sensitive, how I approach conversations, how we

0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.720
<v Speaker 5>think about long term planning has for sure made me

0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.760
<v Speaker 5>a better parent and I hope a better partner.

0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:17.280
<v Speaker 3>Do where to go?

0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:21.120
<v Speaker 2>Okay, this is back to kind of hardcore business.

0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:24.640
<v Speaker 3>What prompts men to buy activewear these days? Has anything changed?

0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.800
<v Speaker 2>What gets their own target demo to pull out the

0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:28.760
<v Speaker 2>plastic and buy?

0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.320
<v Speaker 5>Yeah? What's really exciting is I think that the shift

0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.520
<v Speaker 5>during COVID, where I think in particular, we saw a

0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.160
<v Speaker 5>shift for men to start taking better care of themselves,

0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:40.760
<v Speaker 5>to allow themselves to take better care of themselves. That

0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.640
<v Speaker 5>I think has continued and I hope never goes back.

0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.240
<v Speaker 5>It's really important. And so you know, there's a lot

0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.720
<v Speaker 5>of different modalities. It could be yoga, it could be running,

0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:52.280
<v Speaker 5>it could be cycling. But most of our customers do

0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:54.040
<v Speaker 5>a balance of all of those.

0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.040
<v Speaker 2>You talked about the athletic side of the business. Is

0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:57.559
<v Speaker 2>that still the big chunk of the business.

0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.400
<v Speaker 5>It's pretty equal at this point in our commuter lines. Yeah,

0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:03.560
<v Speaker 5>there are a lot of customers who only know us

0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:04.440
<v Speaker 5>for our commuter line.

0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:06.520
<v Speaker 3>Wow, what's more profitable?

0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.080
<v Speaker 5>I would say our commuter line is more profitable. It's

0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:10.920
<v Speaker 5>a higher price point.

0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.720
<v Speaker 1>Okay, Okay, So when you told us earlier that covid

0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.560
<v Speaker 1>was really challenging, Yeah, was that as challenging as the

0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.680
<v Speaker 1>first couple of years of just getting the brand off

0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.200
<v Speaker 1>the ground and like knocking on doors and getting Peloton

0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.320
<v Speaker 1>and Equinox and barriers to carry this stuff.

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.240
<v Speaker 5>It was more challenging for me, it was. There's no

0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.640
<v Speaker 5>question it was more challenging. In the beginning. You're so

0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.320
<v Speaker 5>excited and you've got nothing to lose, right, So you're

0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.400
<v Speaker 5>kind of trying to build this business from scratch, and

0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.160
<v Speaker 5>if you lose it, you know, no harm, no FAULI it,

0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.200
<v Speaker 5>it doesn't it's not worth anything at that point. But

0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:44.200
<v Speaker 5>then as it grows, there's more pressure. There's more people,

0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:48.480
<v Speaker 5>you know, and I care so deeply about how our

0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:54.480
<v Speaker 5>team feels about work and and so the pandemic was

0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.000
<v Speaker 5>hard again on so many people and so many families.

0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.240
<v Speaker 5>I just felt that weight all the time, and I

0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.720
<v Speaker 5>didn't know how to relieve it. So for me, it

0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:03.160
<v Speaker 5>was harder.

0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.640
<v Speaker 2>Last question, right, Yeah, if everything goes according to plan,

0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:09.800
<v Speaker 2>Ron will fill in the blank.

0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.400
<v Speaker 5>Ron will have a massive impact on the mental health

0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:14.040
<v Speaker 5>in this country.

0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:15.160
<v Speaker 3>Wow.

0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.040
<v Speaker 4>We have we do have one minute left. Oh huh yeah.

0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:25.440
<v Speaker 1>Mental health okay, personally yeah, how did you get past

0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.120
<v Speaker 1>that hump that you faced during the pandemic.

0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:28.920
<v Speaker 5>Well, I think a big part of it for me

0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.080
<v Speaker 5>was building a toolkit and understanding how to deal with

0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.200
<v Speaker 5>those challenges because these things tend to catch us unaware,

0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:40.040
<v Speaker 5>you know, anxiety, depression. You can't fully prepare for them,

0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.680
<v Speaker 5>but you can build a toolkit to know how to

0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.720
<v Speaker 5>address it when you feel that way. And there's a

0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.680
<v Speaker 5>number of things that I do, but motion exercise. I

0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:54.440
<v Speaker 5>got really into contrast therapy, cold plunging saunas, and social connection,

0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.720
<v Speaker 5>intentionally seeking out. It's hard to build friends, you know,

0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:02.040
<v Speaker 5>as you age, but getting yourself uncomfortable makes a big difference.

0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:04.480
<v Speaker 3>Well, you've definitely made a big difference.

0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.160
<v Speaker 2>You can tell in what you're doing in the last year,

0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:08.880
<v Speaker 2>and you can tell how much you're enjoying it.

0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.320
<v Speaker 3>So looking forward to the next.

0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:15.080
<v Speaker 2>Ten years, oh at least twenty years, thirty years, be

0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.240
<v Speaker 2>welcome back soon, Thank you always welcome of course. Nate

0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:20.760
<v Speaker 2>check It's co founder and CEO of Ron joining us

0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:22.800
<v Speaker 2>in studio. If you missed any of that conversation, be

0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:25.240
<v Speaker 2>sure to check out our podcast feed and we'll be

0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.200
<v Speaker 2>sure to highlight it to in our weekend So you

0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:29.160
<v Speaker 2>are listening and watching Woodberg Radio