001 - Joe Foster, Reebok "Shoemaker"

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Perseverance and the relentless pursuit of excellence. In 1958, Joe and his brother, Jeff embarked on a mission to revolutionize the athletic footwear industry. Their vision was clear. To create shoes that blended performance with style. Shoes that would become a companion to the athletes across the globe as with any entrepreneurial endeavor. The foster brothers journey was not without its challenges, but as Joe will tell you, sometimes you just need the right person at the right time to step in. After finding that leader, Reebok emerged as a global powerhouse [00:01:00] synonymous with some of the most memorable moments in sports and popular culture. You're about to hear Joe express his excitement for the resurgence of the Reebok brand, as it stands at the cusp of a new chapter of promising innovations and a commitment to excellence that will undoubtedly shape The next generation of athletic apparel and footwear. I'm Damon Davis, And this is my discovery diary with Reebok co-founder Joe Foster.

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[00:01:28] Damon: Good

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[00:01:33] Damon: speaking from? I'm coming to you from Maryland, right outside of Washington, D. C. Okay. Very good.

Joe, you have a new book out called shoemaker that I'm excited to dig into with you here today.

necessarily able to see the [: 00:02:00

Now, I know that it took a moment for you to step in and say, dad, My brother and I are leaving. Can you talk a little bit about that challenge of making an innovative change for a business and the, and what you would recommend for young entrepreneurs who are stagnating in their current business model and unable to, see the writing on the wall in order to innovate.

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And my grandfather, he obviously had a very good a very good business model. And he knew what to do. He knew about influencing before he even [00:03:00] knew the word. And he used to give his shoes to athletes who could win races. And therefore this influenced Everybody else. We didn't have what we have today.

We have today fashion, we have street, and sport is influencing street, and volumes come from that. Whereas in my grandfather's day, the volumes were not as big because his product were pure performance. So that's all. Street was something else. They were different shoes altogether. So he wanted to have as big a business as we see now.

, is when he died, he died in: 1933

In fact, they feuded. They seem to fight with each other more than one that would talk and you possibly know the story of Adi Dassler and Rudy Dassler. And they also had the same problem. They could not get on together. They didn't get on together, but Rudy has the good sense to move. and start Puma.

ear with the company because [: 00:05:00

And Jeff and I, for whatever reason, Jeff was deferred a bit on his time. We were almost away at the same time. So we almost came back to the factory at the same time. And those two years just changed your life. You learn how to be self sufficient, you do things differently, your mother's not there, your father's not there, you become independent, you start to look at what's going on in life, and when we came back, and back to the factory, we immediately saw a failing company.

mething, but all he could do [: 00:06:00

and your uncle's gone, this company will be yours. And my response to that was, Dad, we don't want you to go. That's not the plan, but this company will be gone long before you are. So we need to do something ourselves. It took a little while. We decided to go to college, Jeff and I, we went to college to learn more about footwear, but and then we left.

So yes when people are thinking about starting a company depends where they're coming from. If they're coming from they're not happy with the job that they're working in. They've got to turn around. It's not just a matter of leaving a company. What you're doing is you're going to do something new.

move a lot of people who are [: 00:07:00

So it's a good reason for them to step aside and do something. When you do that, you really need to know where you're going. However. You can't know the outcome, so you have to take that gamble and that gamble is being an entrepreneur. That's what you do. And you've got to be optimistic if you want to be successful.

Because you'll find lots of problems in your way. You'll find lots of difficulties you didn't expect. Just as Jeff and I did. And when you read the book and you get through, you'll find we had lots and lots of problems. Yeah.

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You have this company set up and so first of all, congratulations, you produced a wonderful company is a company that I grew up with. I had Reeboks on my feet when I was a young guy. So it's really an honor to be with [00:08:00] you today and meet you. But I wanted to take a step back a little bit because there came what I saw as kind of a parallel moment for you.

You've matured the company that was based in Britain. And you matured the company and you've reached the point where it has grown tremendously in America. And you and your team, after growing this brand to those sort of global recognition, realized that the brand could grow so much more in the United States, if you stepped aside, this was something that I thought was sign of a parallel between your father and the inability to see the changing marketplace.

And your own growth of the company and actually recognizing that if you did step aside, the company would do that much better. Did you see that sort of parallel between your own desire to step aside and let the company be its own thing and your father's inability to step aside and let you and your brother take over?

What went through your mind around that time about your father's experience?

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And that for me meant we needed Americans to run the company, Americans to feel ownership, Americans to really feel that they were Reebok, , instead of me sort of butting in every now and then and asking questions, no you, you want to release the company to do whatever it can. And the only regret I have is that unfortunately at a certain point it was sold onto Adidas.

think that Reebok could be a [: 00:10:00

They've got Shaquille O'Neal now becoming president of basketball, and that's good focus because They have these good people. So focus where your strengths are. And I think they're going to, they're going to lead out basketball in two or three years. I think you're going to see a tremendous difference.

So, you know, anybody starting up today is look for the strengths and, if the strengths are not in with you be prepared to step back.

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In the book, you talk about the concept of a quote unquote gatekeeper. You've alluded to Paul Fireman. Who was your gatekeeper for launching the [00:11:00] company and growing it to tremendous success. You also talk a little bit in the book about the culture of the company being the lifeblood of it, right?

That the people, the culture are really important to how a company develops and grows. Can you just talk a little bit more about the importance of finding your gatekeeper for your company and how it can be a catalyst for greater

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So, am I good or am I bad? Or did I learn? Did I learn? I probably learned from having six. That didn't work. And what I learned, it wasn't the people. It was how we approach the market. Because for those years that I tried, for 10 years, I tried to push, promote, try to get the brand on the market. And maybe if we had understood more about influences and had the finance to do that.

probably used influences to [: 00:12:00

It influenced us to take onto the market. Paul, we just put Paul on at that time, Paul came in with the five stars. So he had the influence in behind him. And our previous six attempts, we'd not found a way to influence the market. But once we influenced the market with five stars, that was it. And Paul took tremendous advantage of that.

e growth, but I think you're [: 00:13:00

[00:13:08] Damon: That's really amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next with Reebok. Thank you so much for your time today, Joe. I really appreciate you being here. I know it's early. Once again, the book is called Shoemaker. I hope you'll pick it up. It's a wonderful read, Joe. Thanks for being here. I appreciate your time.

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[00:13:31] Damon: an early guy, Joe. I'm an early guy. I gotta get stuff done. Take care. All the best.

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