FIND YOUR FLOW!

How Lululemon's Founder Chip Wilson Built A Billion Dollar Brand

Posted by: Team Tony

In this special 3-PART MASTERCLASS, we drop you inside a Tony Robbins Business Mastery seminar to learn HOW TO BUILD A BRAND, SHOWCASE YOUR X FACTOR, and BRING YOUR UNIQUE PRODUCT or SERVICE to a COMPETITIVE MARKET.

In PART TWO, you’ll hear Tony Robbins in a one-on-one interview with CHIP WILSON, the Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist who is best known for founding the athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica.

Wilson is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential entrepreneurs in the apparel industry.  After working in the ski industry for several years, Wilson first founded Westbeach Snowboard in 1979, which eventually became one of the largest snowboarding apparel companies in the world.

In 1998, Wilson started Lululemon Athletica with the goal of creating high-quality yoga apparel that was both functional and fashionable. Thanks to Chip’s commitment to innovation and culture, Lululemon quickly gained a following among yoga enthusiasts, growing into a billion-dollar global brand. Wilson served as CEO of Lululemon from its inception until 2005, and he remained a board member until 2013.

Throughout his career, Wilson has been known for his unconventional approach to business and his willingness to take risks. He has also been an active philanthropist, supporting a variety of causes related to education, health, and the environment – including his own non-profit imagine1day, which works to improve education in Ethiopia.

Special Note: Please stick around to the end of this interview for an exclusive Q&A with all three of our Business Mastery guests – Gail Becker, Dan Cathy and Chip Wilson!

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Business Mastery is the world’s premier business training event designed and hosted by the world’s #1 authority on personal growth, business transformation and peak performance – Tony Robbins. This five-day event equips entrepreneurs, business owners and operators with cutting-edge systems, skills and strategies not found anywhere else to create an invincible advantage against competitors.

Business Mastery is designed to help participants thrive in any economic climate as they discover critical factors impacting their businesses currently, and design an action plan for the next phase of growth, whether they seek more profits or an exit strategy. This includes marketing tips, maximizing a business’ digital presence to actually get seen and discovered online and how to anticipate and solve the biggest business problems.

During this comprehensive program, participants gain the same proprietary tools and methodologies Tony Robbins has used to make more than 70 businesses profitable. They’ll also unlock exclusive growth tips from industry giants from companies like Airbnb, OrangeTheory, Shake Shack, SoulCycle, Warby Parker and more.

Now available as an immersive virtual event, Tony Robbins’s Business Mastery is drawing even larger crowds and a new generation of business owners.

Learn more about Business Mastery: https://tonyr.co/bm-podcast

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EPISODE NOTES

[00:00] Mary B. Intro

[01:37] Introduction to Chip Wilson

[02:44] The 7 year arch

[04:04] Knowing when to sell

[05:15] Power through reinvention

[06:03] Three books that made an impact

[06:37] Embracing your inner “risk taker”

[07:14] Muscular Dystrophy diagnosis led to Lululemon

[09:31] A mission to make lives better

[10:35] Bringing innovation (and style) to yoga

[14:00] Find your ideal customer

[14:40] Business Mastery Ad

[18:37] Disrupting the athletic leisure space

[22:17] Keeping up with trends

[24:43] Navigating challenges

[29:00] The hedgehog and the fox

[30:19] Lululemon’s manifesto

[32:03] Chip on seller’s remorse

[34:57] Creating culture at Lululemon

[37:37] When accountants run the company

[41:06] Sharing lessons learned

[42:45] Audience question for Gail: Was there an employee you hired who really pushed your company forward?

[44:29] Audience question for panel: How do you choose the right project when you have several choices?

[49:33] Audience question for panel: How can we create family-life balance as entrepreneurs?

[01:02:38] Audience question for panel: How do you take a company with a loyal customer base and continue growing it?

[01:07:49] Question from Gail: Did you ever feel like giving up?

[01:10:06] Question from Chip: Did the struggles in your younger years make you the entrepreneurs you are today?

[01:12:00] Questions from Tony: What are you most proud of in your journey, and what is the best business advice ever received?

[01:18:22] Sign off