E099 - What it Really Takes to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand (Founder of Reebok)

» Produced by Hack You Media: pioneering a new category of content at the intersection of health performance, entrepreneurship & cognitive optimisation.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hackyoumedia/Website: https://hackyou.media/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 Introduction01:46 Turning 90, family history and surviving against the odds04:26 Brand building, luck and why fun matters most06:40 Why sports brands thrived through recessions09:27 The innovation that started with spiked running shoes11:48 Leaving the family business and starting from zero14:15 Launching Mercury Sports and the early branding struggle16:25 Losing the Mercury name and the birth of Reebok18:50 How a childhood dictionary led to the Reebok name22:23 The move from athletic spikes to casual sneakers26:55 Breaking into UK market through local clubs29:57 Club-level selling and dominating UK athletes31:56 Choosing white space over battling Adidas and Nike33:23 First trip to America and navigating early export failures37:47 The Runners World five-star rating breakthrough43:52 Choosing Paul Fireman over Kmart and scaling US reach49:28 Reebok's biggest challenge: the EVA foam failure52:15 Crisis with a UK distributor and surviving with direct sales56:05 The rise of aerobics and Reebok’s pivot to women’s fitness59:26 Becoming number one globally with an unexpected audience1:04:23 Expanding into tennis, basketball and new categories1:13:05 Going up against Nike, using celebrities, and staying innovative1:17:00 3D-printed AI shoes and what they reveal about new brand strategy1:24:03 Losing momentum, big changes and the need for reinvention1:31:53 Advice on building stories, visibility and modern branding1:37:29 UK vs Dubai: Entrepreneurial energy and global opportunity1:43:22 Final advice for founders» Escape the 9-5 & build your dream life: https://www.digitalplaybook.net/» Transform your physique: https://www.thrstapp.com/» My clothing brand, THRST: https://thrstofficial.com» Custom Bioniq supplements: https://www.bioniq.com/mikethurston  • 40% off your first month of Bioniq GO  • 20% off your first month of Bioniq PRO» Join our newsletter for actionable insights from every episode: https://thrst-letter.beehiiv.com/» Join @WHOOP and get your first month for free: join.whoop.com/FirstThingsThrst» Follow JoeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/founderrbk/?hl=enWebsite: https://www.reebokthefounder.com/