On this 231st episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Good Man Brand CMO Nancy Richardson. Richardson has held executive positions at companies like Starbucks and Lululemon, and that experience led her to where she is today.
We kick off our conversation talking about Richardson’s past, how being born and raised in Hawaii led her to a career that she just wasn’t happy with, and how her competitive nature from her soccer-playing days brought her into the marketing field. Holding executive positions for a series of startups and fast-growth companies taught Richardson the value of a dollar. “When you have a company that has a finite amount of money in the bank, you have to be so strategic and work with your partners to keep it alive.”
Richardson dives into her ventures. She founded Mom and Pop Shop, a company that pools readily available marketing talent to avoid contracting agencies’ overhead. Her desire to provide value inspired her to write “Work Freely,” a book about loving life and your job at the same time, with the idea “to create something that can help other people.” Next, Richardson talks all about working for Russell Wilson’s Good Man Brand, where “impact is the strategy; revenue is the result.” Good Man Brand creates clothing and shoes “that are made to flex between home, work, and day.” Aligned with a plethora of foundations aimed at changing the world for the better, Richardson and Good Man Brand want to show the world that “doing business and doing good are the same thing!”
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:
- Nancy’s past as a competitive soccer player and strategy-driven mindset led her to practice kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. 1:43
- Born and raised in Hawaii, Nancy eventually found herself in a banking career that she wanted no part of. 2:22
- Nancy landed her first marketing role at Starbucks, which led her to become VP at Lululemon. 2:45
- Learning how to build a company from the ground up led Nancy to join Good Man Brand. 3:20
- Mom and Pop Shop was built out of necessity to stay agile with readily available marketing talent without the overhead. 5:08
- Work Freely, Nancy’s book, shows people how to love their job and their life simultaneously. 6:00
- It took Nancy 3 years to write her book, three years filled with self-doubt and vulnerability. 6:54
- Russel Wilson and his cofounders founded Good Man Brand to create a large-scale positive impact. 7:44
- 3% of every sale is donated to the Why Not You Foundation to enable and power today’s youth. 8:30
- Every $100 donated to Friend’s of the Children provides mentors for children that need the most help. 9:05
- The Everyday Hero Project aims to lead, inspire, and live by highlighting everyday heroes nominated in their communities. 9:57
- Everyday heroes do what they do to make a positive impact, not so much for the recognition. 10:50
- The goal is to tell a bigger story around being an everyday hero and what that means to those affected. 11:24
- Good Man Brand takes a unique approach when it comes to prioritizing impact over revenue. 12:29
- With impact as a strategy and revenue, as a result, Good Man Brand has reached its target of over 300% growth year-over-year. 13:45
- Doing business and doing good are completely aligned in Good Man Brand, allowing for positive impact and growth. 15:13
- Having the right team and people have allowed Nancy to grow with the mindset of making her role obsolete. 16:24
- Good Man Brand creates clothing that moves with you throughout the day. 18:27
- There is an equation that relates to looking good, feeling good, and doing good. 19:17
- Growing up in a traditional Chinese family showed Nancy that working hard isn’t enough to rise above. 19:49
- You can learn the most from the people that you clash with the hardest. 21:14
- Nancy invested in a firepit this summer to spend more quality time with her family at home. 22:22
- For Nancy, it’s about a movement of good brands that empower people and solve a problem. 23:30
- Too much time is spent analyzing the past when it should be spent innovating for the future. 26:30
Resources Mentioned:
- Good Man Brand
- Career stops: Starbucks, Lululemon
- Christine Day (leader, mentor)
- Work Freely: Love Your Job, Love Your Life (book)
- Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
- Why Not You Foundation
- The Everyday Hero Project (@goodmanbrand #MyEverydayHero)
- Firepit for backyard
- Nancy Richardson
- Marketing Today – Website
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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.