How I Burned Down My Business
And...the growing opportunity for athletes and brands.
Starting Line
Eighty episodes. 8-0. It has a different ring to it, right? We’re not just a new podcast anymore, 80 episodes is a legit catalog by any standard. Originally we thought this would be driven a bit more by the news of the industry, but it’s turned into something a little different. Guests have been sharing so much experience and wisdom on the pod, you can scroll back to older episodes and still get a mountain of value. We’d like to keep it that way, and we hope you agree.
How I Burned Down My Business
Martina Brimmer founded Swift Industries 17 years ago in the basement of a punk house. Over those years, she held on to a rollercoaster of ups and downs as the business grew, adapted and survived to meet market demand. After the softening of the cycling industry post-pandemic, Martina had to make some big decisions for the survival of the business, and this incredibly transparent conversation is an honest recounting of the lessons learned and insights gained.
The Growing Opportunity For Athletes And Brands
Patrick Crawford has had a legendary run in the outdoor industry - launching Freeskier magazine, followed by one of the original athlete social agencies, Inkwell. During his time leading Inkwell, he worked with the top outdoor athletes in the world - as well as the brands that supported them - to launch massive projects, the Free Solo film among many others on the list. Find out what Patrick has to say about the state of Athlete and Brand social - both its history as well as its future.
Job Of The Week
🏔️ Nike - ACG Sr. Principal, Strategy: Nike is making another run at ACG, this is not a drill. If you’re in our Slack channel, you can get your details forwarded directly to the hiring manager. Just saying.
❄️ Protect Our Winters: Sr. Director of Finance & Operations: Lead the financial and operations strategy for POW to maximize their impact!
🏃♂️ Salomon - Field Marketing Specialist, Ontario: If you’re in Canada and want to work for this legendary brand, here’s your chance!
⚡️ Rivian - Lead, Strategic Brand Partnerships: Rivian has a strong history of working with outdoor athletes, this could be an epic role!
⛷️ Vail Resorts - Epic Pass Brand Marketing Director: Based in Broomfield, Colorado.
If you want to catch these job openings early, join our Slack channel, where jobs are regularly posted directly by the hiring managers.
Article Of The Week
It feels appropriate to share an article from Patrick Crawford, who was our guest on Episode 80 this week. Although we’ve talked at length about short form content, athlete social media and plenty of deliverables in between. In this article, Patrick dives into the value of the opposite end of the spectrum: long form and newsletters.
Show Notes
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
BPC is our weekly collection of recommendations that our guests share with us on the podcast every week. It’s our favorite stuff that falls into a category of brand, product, or content. Here’s what was shared on the episodes this week:
🗺️ Topo Designs: Martina shared Topo Designs during this week’s discussion about the founding story and the future of Swift Industries.
💰 DB Clay DIY Wallet: A few weeks ago, we shared the story of the rebirth of the DB Clay brand, here’s a DIY kit (Aaron’s daughter put one together, so it’s kid-friendly) to make and design your own wallet!
📕 Invisible Rulers (Book): Patrick Crawford shared this book on the podcast this week, one of the latest that he had read.
🧐 Everybody Lies (Book): Aaron referenced this book after Patrick brought up Invisible Rulers. This book is about data and how people show up online.
😬 DuoLingo Owl: What will become of the Duolingo Owl, is it done for good?
🤯 Billy Oppenheimer Newsletter: Seriously, just click and subscribe to this newsletter now, thank us later. Ryan Holiday’s research assistant - this is a legit Sunday e-mail series that you don’t want to miss out on.
Thank You
Thank you for joining us this week - and for the past 80 episodes! We’ve got some exciting episodes on the way, stay tuned for a deep dive into Brand Social and a discussion with the top athlete agency in the outdoor industry next week.