Leading with James Ashton

Under Armour

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Episode notes

Patrik Frisk is CEO of Under Armour, the US sportswear brand worn by top boxer Anthony Joshua, rugby star Maro Itoje and taekwondo champion Jade Jones that goes head-to-head with Nike and Adidas every day.

Frisk joined UA in 2017 to help get it back on track after sales growth stuttered. He oversees a global team of 15,000 and annual revenue of $5bn.

He joins James Ashton to discuss:

Taking the helm from UA’s long-serving founder Kevin Plank, who created his first T-shirt in 1996;

What he learns from the athletes that have become UA brand ambassadors;

Battling loneliness in leadership;

His last job, running shoe brand Aldo, and earlier years spent at Timberland and North Face;

And betting – and literally losing - the farm because of one of his business ventures flopped in his native Sweden. What are the lessons you take from failure?

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James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available now