The Crux: Recent Episodes
The Brand Leader
Investigating the problems (and solutions) to businesses and brands in the Outdoor and Active Lifestyle industries by interviewing the businesses, athletes, and deciders from within the outdoor world.
Deckers X Lab is an experiment in feeling good from the ground up. At least, that is what today’s guest believes! Jean-Luc Diard is the former CEO of Salomon, the Founder of Hoka One One, and the Global VP for Innovation of Deckers X Lab, which creates shoes and apparel for the next human evolution. As part of the Decker’s family, the X Lab develops innovations in comfort for its own label as well as brands like UGG, Hoka, Sanuk and Teva, with its sights set on feeling good from head to toe. In today’s episode, Jean-Luc shares how X Lab is looking beyond footwear and towards the potential in considering multiple different perspectives as well as how they quantify the new and improved experiences they create for their consumers. He also elaborates on the difference between selling shoes and selling wellbeing and how the latter not only makes consumers happy but shareholders too! We also touch on developing footwear for military personnel, the importance of enhancing both performance and experience, and why it’s essential that X Lab considers not just elite athletes but the masses too, plus so much more, so make sure not to miss today’s episode of The Crux with Jean-Luc Diard!
It is not every day that a brand guy is CEO, but when it happens, it can yield some truly incredible results, such as the case of Rapha, the world's finest cycling clothing and accessories. Simon Mottram is the Founder and CEO of this iconic hero brand, and as a lifelong cyclist and career brand guy, he brings his two areas of expertise together in his role. In this episode, Simon pulls back the curtain on this formidable brand. We hear about their passion for storytelling and why this is far more than a marketing strategy to them. They want to build a shared space with their customers and stories are the best medium for them to connect. Simon talks about their approach to inclusivity and building community and shares how these core tenets have been the cornerstone of the brand's success. Our conversation also touches on how the brand retains loyal customers, the pandemic, and a memorable crux in Simon's career.
No matter how fancy a product’s packaging is or how engaging its adverts are, the product itself is what plays the most important role in building the brand that surrounds it. Today we speak to Tim Moxey, and he joins us to talk about how he creates top-class products by putting his customer first, and the role this plays in brand positioning. Tim is the founder of the electrolyte tablet company nuun Hydration, but he did not start there, and neither has he ended there. We hear about Tim’s initial dream of becoming a consultant and the education he received to this end. He talks about how he fell into entrepreneurship by accident and honed his skills in brand positioning while he was working for Ironman Wetsuits. Tim traces the path he walked after Ironman to creating his own wetsuit company Blueseventy and how that led him to start nuun. Here we talk to our guest about his ideas about branding and he shares some amazing golden nuggets about how to gain credibility for your product. We then get into the pivot Tim made from sports and wellness into the cannabis industry. He shares the different ways he has positioned the many companies he has started in that space such as Mr. Moxey’s Mints, Journeyman, BotanicaSEATTLE, and most recently, Austin and Kat. For an episode brimming with value on the best ways of serving your end-user as a brand, tune in today.
Today on The Crux Podcast we have a very special guest and friend! We are excited to share our conversation with Chris Carmichael, former pro cyclist turned coach, who is the founder and CEO of CTS, through which he and his team bring the best in coaching methodologies to their elite athletes and private clients alike. In our conversation, we go deep into the philosophy that Chris and his company use as a foundation, and we get Chris to weigh in on some of the basics of coaching and training before getting more specific on areas of interest. Our guest shares his thoughts on the rise of new technologies, data usage, the advent of AI, and how these can both help and hinder the mission of coaches and athletes. As you will hear throughout this insightful episode, Chris is a strong believer in continuing the traditions of coaching and using the eternal building blocks of improvement, momentum, and determination, before looking to newer and shinier ways to approach challenges. We also get to talk a bit about what Chris' professional life looks like now, and why he still prioritizes his coaching practice this far into his career. You are not going to want to miss this fantastic chat with a true legend, so be sure to listen in!
If you’re an athlete, or have any interest in sport of any kind, you would have heard of PowerBar. Although it has changed hands over the years, the iconic nature of the brand is unwavering. Today’s guest is Eric Zaltas, who started working at PowerBar over 20 years ago, and who now holds the exclusive license to the product through his own company, Pivot Nutrition. In this episode, you’ll hear about the fascinating roles that Eric has held while working at PowerBar, how the brand manages to retain the appeal of its athlete and non-athlete target markets, and even some of the science behind the formula which he helped create. Eric was first introduced to PowerBar during his time as a long-distance cyclist and he has had to tap into a different kind of endurance power while rebuilding the PowerBar brand, with a great deal of success!
Every once in a while you get a founder who genuinely wants to make an incredible product, just for the sake of doing good things for others and being true to themselves. We have such a guest on today’s show, Nate Checketts, Founder of Rhone Apparel. Nate joins us to talk about the crux moments in his life and the philosophy behind this incredible sports brand of his. Nate gets into the entrepreneurial spirit he had as a child and the successful businesses he started before founding Rhone. He then speaks about how he found a gap in the market for a direct-to-consumer men’s fitness brand that focused on making high-quality products. From there, we talk about some of the ways Nate is building such a strong community around Rhone by associating the label with issues like mental health, gender equality, and healthy masculinity. Our conversation moves to focus on how this authentic approach stems directly from Nathan’s character and personality, and he talks about some of the influences on this, Benjamin Franklin and his parents being major ones. Wrapping up for the day, Nate gets into his biggest motivators, lessons learned, and challenges overcome, recounting a story his dad told him that helps put seemingly big problems into perspective. So for all this and more about building a brand from a place of honesty, integrity, and authenticity, tune in today!
Reinventing yourself after a career as a professional triathlete is not easy, but it is something today’s guest Tony DeBoom has managed to excel at. After retiring from triathlons, Tony worked as a coach and then turned his side hustle, Endurance Conspiracy, a t-shirt company, into his full-time business. Along with being the company’s founder, Tony also serves as the Creative Director. Endurance Conspiracy is more than just a sports apparel business. They want to make everyone feel included, and this ethos is evident in the range of products and accessible price points they offer. In today’s episode, Tony offers insights into his incredible journey and the factors that got Endurance Conspiracy off the ground. Building a business is not without its challenges, and Tony talks about some of the pivots they have made and the cruxes he has faced along the way. Tony's approach to business is admirable not only because of his inclusive philosophy but also because he truly embodies the culture his brand represents
In our 2nd of our 4-part series on Affiliate Marketing, we speak with Ben Fox of InsideHook.com on how he sees affiliate marketing from a publisher's point of view. Brands discussed: Burley, Thule, Hamax, Le Creuset, Made in, Solo Stove, Levi's, REI, Sonos.
Join Kyle and Rob as they talk to Affiliate Marketing expert Jacob Hauge on the purpose, idea, and results of affiliate marketing in the outdoor and active lifestyle space — all from the agency side of things. Brands discussed: Levis, Chrome Industries