
E099 - What it Really Takes to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand (Founder of Reebok)
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Before Reebok became a global sportswear giant, it was just Joe Foster and a vision. One shaped in a small UK workshop and fuelled by persistence, not funding. In this episode, Joe breaks down the early days of building Reebok from the ground up: cold calls, missed opportunities, and the moment aerobics unexpectedly catapulted the brand into the mainstream.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:46 Turning 90, family history and surviving against the odds
04:26 Brand building, luck and why fun matters most
06:40 Why sports brands thrived through recessions
09:27 The innovation that started with spiked running shoes
11:48 Leaving the family business and starting from zero
14:15 Launching Mercury Sports and the early branding struggle
16:25 Losing the Mercury name and the birth of Reebok
18:50 How a childhood dictionary led to the Reebok name
22:23 The move from athletic spikes to casual sneakers
26:55 Breaking into UK market through local clubs
29:57 Club-level selling and dominating UK athletes
31:56 Choosing white space over battling Adidas and Nike
33:23 First trip to America and navigating early export failures
37:47 The Runners World five-star rating breakthrough
43:52 Choosing Paul Fireman over Kmart and scaling US reach
49:28 Reebok's biggest challenge: the EVA foam failure
52:15 Crisis with a UK distributor and surviving with direct sales
56:05 The rise of aerobics and Reebok’s pivot to women’s fitness
59:26 Becoming number one globally with an unexpected audience
1:04:23 Expanding into tennis, basketball and new categories
1:13:05 Going up against Nike, using celebrities, and staying innovative
1:17:00 3D-printed AI shoes and what they reveal about new brand strategy
1:24:03 Losing momentum, big changes and the need for reinvention
1:31:53 Advice on building stories, visibility and modern branding
1:37:29 UK vs Dubai: Entrepreneurial energy and global opportunity
1:43:22 Final advice for founders
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Website: https://www.reebokthefounder.com/
First Things THRST
‘First Things THRST’ is a weekly masterclass that explores the secrets and experiences of entrepreneurs and content creators from across the globe. Each episode is unfiltered and guided by the premise of leaving no stone unturned, which is accountable for the deep discussions into the backgrounds, hardships and confessions of my guests. My goal is simple, to share insights and fresh perspectives on topics like entrepreneurship, success and fitness. Join me on this exciting adventure, and I'm hoping you gain as much from these discussions as I do.
- No. of episodes: 99
- Latest episode: 2025-07-10
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