4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2023
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Can you reinvigorate a beloved but troubled brand by applying lessons from a different industry? Under Armour CEO Stephanie Linnartz firmly believes so — and earlier this year made the leap from Marriott to become the first woman to helm a major sports apparel brand.
She joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to talk about how her 25 years with Marriott is giving her unexpected insight as she works to pivot Under Armour back to growth by leaning into sports style, sharper product segmentation, and an amplified emphasis on women as customers.
Stephanie shares why she hired fashion designer John Varvatos, the importance of the Taylor Swift phenomenon for all brands, and what trying every single item in Under Armour's female line taught her.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | Hi, it's Bob Safian. You've been hearing me as the host of rapid response in this feed for a few years now, |
0:07.8 | with short newsy interviews alongside the deeper dives of Masters of Scale. Well, I'm excited to share that rapid response is expanding into its own feed. |
0:17.0 | We'll be putting out shows twice a week, focusing on the urgent issues that business leaders are dealing with in real time. |
0:24.8 | So search for rapid response in your podcast player and subscribe to make sure you get all our episodes. |
0:31.2 | I'll see you on the other side. |
0:33.8 | The competitive landscape in sports apparel and footwear is quite complex. |
0:40.8 | It's not just Nike and Adidas. There's lots of other smaller players that are |
0:44.2 | growing rapidly. You know, there's the Lulu's and the Hokas, etc. |
0:48.0 | You're going to see underarm or leaning more into sports style and shoes. |
0:54.4 | You think about what gives a brand cultural currency. |
0:57.5 | You very rarely see a line around the block |
0:59.5 | for the latest drop of a hoodie. I have two teenagers, one of whom is a teenage daughter and I've taken her |
1:06.8 | to a couple Taylor Swift concerts. So yeah, I can say I've seen the Taylor Swift effect. It's |
1:12.0 | pretty incredible. You think about that |
1:15.0 | social influencer or actress who's sitting court side every game. How can we leverage |
1:20.2 | opportunities like that to tell our brand story. |
1:23.0 | That's Stephanie Lenart's, CEO of Under Armour. The first woman CEO of a major |
1:36.9 | sportswear company, Stephanie took the reins earlier this year coming over from |
1:41.6 | Marriott International. |
1:43.0 | I'm Bob Safian, former editor of Fast Company, founder of the Flux Group, |
1:48.0 | and host of Masters of Scale Rapid Response. |
1:51.0 | I wanted to talk with Stephanie because Under Armour is an iconic entrepreneurial |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WaitWhat, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WaitWhat and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.