How Gymshark took on the sportswear giants - Carly Natalizia

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Uncensored CMO

Episode: How Gymshark Took on the Sportswear Giants – Carly Natalizia

Host: Jon Evans
Guest: Carly Natalizia, Chief Commercial Officer, Gymshark
Date: March 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the commercial growth engine behind Gymshark’s rise from a Birmingham garage start-up to a global sportswear challenger brand. Host Jon Evans sits down with Carly Natalizia, Gymshark’s newly appointed Chief Commercial Officer, to uncover the secrets behind their commercial success, the brand’s culture of innovation, and what it takes to compete with legacy giants like Nike and Adidas. Carly shares her own unconventional career trajectory, what it’s like working with Gymshark’s founder Ben Francis, and the philosophy underpinning the brand’s shift from pure DTC to omnichannel retail.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Carly Natalizia’s Unconventional Career Path

• Finance to Fitness: Carly discusses her 25-year marketing career, starting with 18 years in financial services.
  • “I spent the first 10 years of my career at MBA... very, very data led, very commercial business. Huge growth trajectory...” (01:13)
  • She later moved to retail with The Very Group before joining Gymshark nearly four years ago.
• Career Advice:
  • “Back yourself, have the confidence... In my 20s, I doubted myself so much and I think I probably could have just backed myself a little bit more.” (02:26)
  • “Don’t chase the promotions, right? ...take the sideways step, say yes to the new thing and see what evolves from there.” (36:27)

2. Transitioning Industries and Learning Fast

• Applying Banking Rigor in Retail:
  • “Actually understanding your customer, how do I reach them? How do I get their attention? It’s all the same. You're just thinking about a different product.” (04:15)
  • The pace in retail is dramatically faster and more reactive – “You lose a day's trade and that trade is gone.” (05:55)
• Embracing Retail’s Pace:
  • “You put a product live, it’s flying off the shelves, you can’t keep it in stock, you have to react...” (07:10)

3. The Gymshark Story & Founder Culture

• Origin Story:
  • “Our founder CEO Ben Francis... got himself a sewing machine. He learned how to make them and started making those products for himself...” (07:48)
  • Now sells in 230 countries and recently shifted from a DTC model towards omnichannel and retail stores.
• Founder Impact:
  • “When you work for a founder, the energy that they bring is just different... He lives and breathes the brand...” (09:19)
  • Ben wants “to build a 100 year brand” (11:01) and welcomes challenge over blind agreement: “The worst thing you can have around a founder is lots of yes people.” (11:01)

4. Decision-Making & Leadership Dynamics

• Aligned Values, Complementary Skills:
  • “We’ve got really similar upbringings, we’ve got the same hard work ethos... but the way that we think about getting there will be different and that's where there needs to be tension.” (10:41)
• Handling Disagreement:
  • “There’s a good Disagree and commit at the end. We might think different things, but... sometimes I share my view. He doesn’t agree, we disagree and then we commit and I move on. And I back that idea 100%.” (12:02)

5. Founder’s Mentality vs. Corporate Mindsets

• Bias for Action & Risk Appetite:
  • “Ben definitely has the bias for action... there’s a risk appetite... He’s really happy for something not to work...” (14:09)
  • In contrast, “Corporate life is really about risk mitigation, isn’t it? ...rather than risk opportunity.” (14:43)
• Resilience and Bouncing Back:
  • “He bounces back from something going wrong faster than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.” (14:09)

6. Customer Obsession & Omnichannel Growth

• Omnichannel Expansion:
  • Carly is transitioning from Chief Digital Officer to Chief Commercial Officer: “...after having many successful years as an E commerce only business, we’re now venturing into Omnichannel. So we’ve got retail stores and... wholesale and franchise partnerships.” (15:15)
• Customer Insights:
  • “We do big Lyft events... you can literally stand in the middle of your customer and be completely surrounded by them.” (16:08)
  • Instant feedback loops through in-house gym and community events—though, “it can be dangerous... straw poll of one.” (17:00)

7. Leading Large Teams & C-Suite Relationships

• Peer Relationships are Critical:
  • “If you’ve got a marketing budget and you haven’t got a strong relationship with your CFO, then that’s not going to be a good recipe...” (17:44)
• Functional Leadership:
  • “As much repetition as possible of what the priorities are... and stay as connected as I can on a personal level with people.” (17:44)

8. Commercial vs. Marketing Balance

• Dynamic Duo with Noel (Chief Brand Officer):
  • “On paper you’ve basically got two marketing professionals in the same executive team... it works amazingly well for us. His skills are literally the opposite of mine.” (19:16)
  • Both believe “together are building the brand and we both together are selling the product.” (19:16)
• Brand Drives Sales:
  • “When we have big brand moments... the commercials just follow. The sales job... is so much easier when the brand and the product is firing on all cylinders.” (22:48)
  • “Great marketing makes sales easy, doesn’t it?” Jon (23:36)

9. Sustaining Growth & Retail Success Stories

• Physical Availability as Next Growth Phase:
  • “The next stage of our growth really is about expanding into physical availability... make Gymshark more accessible. ” (25:26)
  • “When you put it in the store... it just brings it to life in such an amazing way.” (26:37)
• New York Store Launch:
  • “As they were locking the door, the first people started queuing... overnight in New York, sub zero temperatures, people were setting out their camp chairs.” (27:01)
  • Over $1M in sales in first 18 days (28:48)

10. Brand Simplicity & Strategic Focus

• Simple, Memorable Messaging:
  • “We do gym. It’s a very simple message... a really amazing rallying cry inside the business.” (29:55)
  • “You need to be amazing at your core to have permission to do anything else.” (31:09)
• Focus Leads to Innovation:
  • Story of Nvidia: “They were obsessed about only being the best gaming chip... it turned out accidentally by doing that, they became the best AI chip.” (30:24)

11. Practical Advice for Marketers

• Ideas vs. Execution:
  • “He is definitely the ideas man... I would say I’m an executor... I'm very good at creative problem solving.” (32:09)
  • “You need both kinds of people ultimately. Right. And... the right interaction and handoff points between the two.” (32:09)
• Prioritization:
  • “There’s loads of things you could do, but not necessarily lots of things you should do... being able to really be strict about prioritizing and thinking... that's the thing that's going to move the needle.” (33:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Career Strategy:

  • “Don’t chase the promotions... take the sideways step, say yes to the new thing and see what evolves from there.”
    (36:27, Carly Natalizia)

• On Founder Dynamics:

  • “He [Ben] lives and breathes the brand... there’s no work-life balance for him, it’s all one thing.”
    (09:19, Carly Natalizia)
  • “He bounces back from something going wrong faster than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.”
    (14:09, Carly Natalizia)

• On Omnichannel Execution:

  • “When we have big brand moments... the commercials just follow. So the sales job... is so much easier when the brand and the product is firing on all cylinders.”
    (22:48, Carly Natalizia)

• On Discipline and Focus:

  • “You need to be amazing at your core to have permission to do anything else... If we’re not making the best apparel to wear in the gym, why would anybody trust us for anything else anyway?”
    (31:09, Carly Natalizia)

• On Decision-Making:

  • “There’s a good Disagree and commit at the end... we disagree and then we commit and I move on. And I back that idea 100%.”
    (12:02, Carly Natalizia)

• On Brand Simplicity:

  • “We do gym. It’s a very simple message... just reminder of why we’re here, what we do...”
    (29:55, Carly Natalizia)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:13 – Carly’s early career in finance and advice to her younger self
• 04:15 – Transition from banking to retail and learning the pace of retail
• 07:48 – Gymshark’s origin story and international growth
• 09:19 – Working with Ben Francis: founder’s impact and company culture
• 11:01 – Values alignment, handling disagreement, and founder mentality
• 14:09 – Bias for action, risk-taking, and resilience in founder-led businesses
• 15:15 – Carly’s new Chief Commercial Officer role and omnichannel strategy
• 16:08 – Staying close to the customer and community-driven feedback
• 17:44 – C-suite relationships and leadership strategies
• 19:16 – Relationship between commercial and marketing functions
• 22:48 – Long-term brand building vs short-term commercial focus
• 25:26 – Sustaining growth: omnichannel and retail strategy
• 27:01 – New York flagship store launch and community response
• 29:55 – Brand simplicity: "We do gym"
• 32:09 – Ideas versus execution in marketing teams
• 36:27 – Final advice: chasing experience over titles

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Engaging Moments

• Launch of New York Store:
  • “Queues were literally looping around the block, thousands of people... over a million dollars within the first 18 days.” (27:01)
• On Great Marketing:
  • “Great marketing makes sales easy, doesn’t it?” (23:36, Jon Evans)
  • “So easy.” (23:38, Carly Natalizia)

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Conclusion

This episode offers a candid, insightful look at how Gymshark’s commercial and brand strategies work hand-in-hand to drive success. From startup hustle to global omnichannel growth, Carly’s journey and leadership showcase how aligning values, embracing calculated risks, and staying obsessively close to the customer can take on industry giants—and win.

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Note: Advertisements, general podcast housekeeping, and outro sections have been omitted to focus on the episode’s core content.

Transcript

[A]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Uncensored cmo. Now, one of my favorite brands is gymshark and regular listeners will know that we had the wonderful Noel Mac, their chief Brand officer on the podcast just a couple of years ago. Now, one question that I get asked over and over again to cover on Uncensored CMO is the commercial side. So not just brand, but how do you activate and how do you deliver the commercial performance of a brand? So in this episode I'm being joined by their chief Commercial officer, Karli, who who tells me all about the secret to gymshark's continued success and commercial growth. This is an amazing episode. There's lots in it. Karlie is great. You'll love it. Welcome to the show.

[B]

Thank you, thank you for having me.

[A]

It's great to see you. And this is a lovely addition to my conversation with Noel from a couple of years ago. And I feel like everyone talks about sales and marketing, don't they? And one bit of feedback I always get on the show is, Jon, can you talk about commercials a bit more? You're always talking about the nice sexy stuff from the brand side. We need to know how it's delivered and commercial. So I've got the other half of the equation. We're doing it now, but before we get into Gym Shark, it's an amazing story. You've got an amazing role. Tell us how you got to where you are today. Because you had some high profile roles in finance in particular.

[B]

Yeah, definitely. I mean 25 year career at this point, but the first 18 years of it was actually spent in financial services. For my sins. I've always been in marketing roles, always in very mostly in growth focused businesses, a lot of digital roles as well. But yeah, 18 years in financial services. So I spent the first 10 years of my career at a company called MBA and an American credit card company since part of bank of America. Amazing place to start my career, amazing learning ground, really high expectations, very, very data led, very commercial business. Huge growth trajectory over those 10 years. So just year, year over year growth like you've never seen before. I spent five years at Virgin Money, which I loved. So if you're going to be in banking, being in the Virgin brand is a really fun place to do banking. It gives you the freedom to be a little bit more out there with how you go to market versus in other businesses. And then I made the jump over into the retail sector after those first 18 years. I spent three and a half years at the very group and then I've now been with Gymshark coming up on four years. So, yeah, retail sector, hugely different, massive shift, but loved every minute of it.

[A]

That's an amazing trajectory. Looking back, if you were to go back to young Carly and give her one bit of advice, having done all that, what would it be?

[B]

I think I would. So the very early me, I would say chill out a bit, it's all gonna be fine. You don't need to kind of rush your way through things. And then I think I would just say, back yourself, have the confidence. I think I'm much, much more confident now. I think a lot of that just comes with age and experience too. In my 20s, I doubted myself so much and I think I probably could have just backed myself a little bit more, pushed myself a little bit harder. I don't know that I would do it differently though. I think that kind of a little bit of reticence to push myself has made me build my career in a different way, which I actually reflect back and think is a good way to do it. But taking a little bit of that self doubt away, I think would have helped me, Joe.

[A]

I'd have been exactly the same as you. I just think, like, take the jump. Right. Because also when you're young, you've got less commitments, it doesn't matter as much if it goes wrong and you've got that kind of energy and you know, I'll try anything kind of thing. I just think, I wish I just taken the bets because often you learn, don't you, when you make the jump. But that's when you learn the most, is actually jumping slightly ahead of when you think you should.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Which is absolutely the opposite of what I've done. So I've. I've kind of waited till I'm super ready, then probably have been ready for ages and then have made the jump. But actually I think that's allowed me to then approach it all with huge confidence because I've had this really solid grounding to know I can really do this. This is not a stretch beyond what I'm capable of doing. And so I've been able to deliver with confidence without horrible self voice like that nagging thing in the back of your mind making you question whether or not you're ready.

[A]

That's real, isn't it? That is real. And I feel that. It's funny actually, when you get to a point in your career when you just go, oh, I do know something. You know something. It takes a while, but suddenly go, oh, yeah, you suddenly kind of talk Somebody asks your advice, go, yeah, I do know what I'm talking about, you know, which is good to discover. So what inspired the move from finance to fitness? Because completely different industries, aren't they, and different cultures and so on.

[B]

I mean, when you spend 18 years in financial services, you know a lot about financial services. So I kind of got to the point where I was like, oh, gosh, am I a banker or am I a marketer? Because I'm only really a marketeer if I can go and do this on another sector, because otherwise I just know banking really well. And banking is a really interesting industry because you've got nothing to touch. You're creating propositions for customers basically out of thin air. You're trying to convince them to get engaged with something that, let's face it, they don't always necessarily want to engage. And we don't all kind of like, jump out of bed in the morning and think, I want to think about my finances today. And so really what I wanted to do was push myself to go a bit, like we just said, prove to myself I can do this and I can do this in a different sector. I was really lucky to get an opportunity at the very group. So the very group is kind of, you know, mostly a retailer, but also partly financial services, because there's a credit offering that underpins that customer proposition. And so I was able to go into a retail part of the business, but in a place where my financial services knowledge was hugely valuable. So that again, gave me that boost of the confidence that I would be able to add value straight away whilst learning retail. And I moved into that business in very much a sideways step, I guess, back to the point of, if I'm going to change businesses, I want to go in at the level that I know I can deliver at and add value immediately. And I didn't know how long it was going to take me to learn retail and whether that was going to be a big adjustment. I think within about four or five weeks, I realized, other than a ton of different acronyms and a huge pace to retail, which I think is very different to financial services, actually understanding your customer, how do I reach them? How do I get their attention? It's all the same. You're just thinking about a different product and this time you've got a product they're excited to get engaged with, so that's really fun. And was able to quite quickly progress through that business. And so, yeah, that again gave me the boost. I was suddenly responsible for a creative studio. So we had Models and we were shooting product and all these things that never existed in services. I found that so energizing the pace of retail is like nothing I've ever seen in financial services. You can get your results over a month, a quarter, a year. You don't need to worry by day in retail, you lose a day's trade and that trade is gone. And so the pace of reacting to commercial performance was very, very different. But there's so much data to feed off that I loved that part of it.

[A]

Yeah. Anyone I talked to in retail, I'm always blown away by how fast it goes because I guess, I mean, my background is fmc, well, supposedly fast moving. But you might plan something for nine months or 12 months out in terms of product innovation or new campaigns. In retail, things are changing literally every single week. It's like, what price are we going to be at this week, what we're going to promote this week, what new products we launched or how many new products are we launching this week? And the pace and the competition in retail is intense. Tracking your market share every single day kind of thing. It's a real place to cut your teeth, isn't it?

[B]

It really is. And you have to react so quickly, right? You put a product live, you think it's going to fly. It doesn't. You've got to react. The reverse happens. You put a product live, it's flying off the shelves, you can't keep it in stock, you have to react. So the reaction speed is the thing that's different. But I'm a naturally fast paced person so that just, that works for me and I enjoy it.

[A]

Amazing. Right now, for anyone who doesn't know gymshark, now, I know in the UK everyone will have heard gymshark, but people listening in the US and other parts of the world may not know about gymshark. Just give us a short summary because the story is amazing. I mean, in an ultra competitive category, Nike and Adidas and hugely powerful brands, you've taken on the giants and been rather successful.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it goes back to 2012. So our founder CEO Ben Francis, back in the day was he couldn't find the clothes that he wanted to wear for the gym and so he basically got himself a sewing machine. He learned how to make them and he started making those products for himself. So he was very much, it was born out of, he could see a gap in the market because he knew he didn't have what he needed. So he started just, yeah, diving in and doing it for himself and he literally built the business that we have today from a garage at home in Birmingham. We're still headquartered in Birmingham today and the brand now sells in 230 countries around the world. We've been hugely successful, successful largely in E commerce, DTC until much more recently. So, yeah, massively fast paced growth off the back of those very humble beginnings.

[A]

It's an incredible achievement. I got the, I mean, when I interviewed. No, I got the pleasure of coming around and having a look. It's an amazing place.

[B]

We've got a lovely place.

[A]

Obviously you've got an amazing gym. Right. I kind of expected that. But the space is amazing. We have podcast studios, all sorts of things going on. So anyone who's thinking about a job. Yeah, go check it out.

[B]

Definitely. And yeah, our gym is amazing. We've got the lifting club that's there for all of our staff to use. Yeah, best gym I've ever been in.

[A]

Yeah, pretty impressive. Now, I wanted to know what it's like working for Ben. Right. So he is, I think he is the UK's youngest billionaire, one of the most successful people in the country. Backed himself, being hugely successful and, you know, built an amazing brand. What's it like working for somebody like that?

[B]

Yeah, well, I think, I mean, the first thing to say is because people always ask me like, is he actually in the business? So he is, he is our CEO. He is in the business. He's literally in the office every single day. I think when you work for a founder, the energy that they bring is just different. Right. Because there's no work life balance that it's like work and life for him is all one thing. He lives and breathes the brand he's always on. His expectations are really high. He wants to do everything tomorrow. He's always buzzing with ideas and so I think there's just an energy that comes with working with a founder that is very different to working for, you know, a CEO of a business in another environment. He is great to work for. He and I click really well because I think at the core of it we've got, we've got really values. So, you know, we've had really similar upbringings, we've got the same hard work ethos. I think we're both very optimistic. We're focused on self development. So at the core of it, we've got a lot of those natural aligned values. Then how we work is so different and so it gels really well because we're really opposite the things he's amazing at. His superpowers are Literally the opposite of mine. When we come to a discussion, we often start from a very different place. And so, you know, the debates that we're able to have and you know, influence each other and educate each other on how we're thinking about things and it just works really, really well for us to find that middle ground in the middle.

[A]

You've articulated it really beautifully, actually. I love the way you said align on values and then differentiate on skills or competencies basically because that makes so much sense. Right? Because if you're not aligned on values, you're not pushing in the same direction to create friction. But equally, if you employ everyone to do what you can already do, there's no point doing that either. So I think that's really, really, really smart. I like that.

[B]

Exactly. And you know, he's there to build 100 year brand, right? He's, he's making decisions for the long term. So I think if you're going to work in a founder environment, you have to believe in the mission. So, you know, we know we're trying to make decisions to build 100 year brand and we're aligned on that, but the way that we think about getting there will be different and that's where there needs to be tension. And I think, I think the worst thing you can have around a founder is lots of yes people. And so I think the ability to, to bring an opinion to the table, have a debate is really important. And the brilliant thing about Ben is he's really open to that. So he wants to be challenged, he listens. And because he's so focused on self development, he's building his picture, he's learning, he's understanding and then he does, he will change his mind. You know, he does start from a strong viewpoint, as do I, honestly. We both probably start with really strong viewpoints, but he will, you know, listen to the people around him and round out his views and he does change his mind.

[A]

So it's a pleasure to. How do you deal when you have like literally what happens when you literally have completely opposite point of view on something? How do you kind of get through that?

[B]

I think it takes, you have to be quite a resilient person and have quite a lot of strength of character, I would say. So if we're in that place, I might just say, I've got a different view, let's discuss or unpopular opinion. I'm going to chuck it out there. And then we just get into the discussion. I think the other good thing that we have is there's a good Disagreeing, commit at the end. Right. Like we might think different things, but 99% of what we're dealing with are not right and wrong questions. It's a decision that we're making about a direction that we're going. And so sometimes I share my view. He doesn't agree, we disagree and then we commit and I move on. And I back that idea 100%.

[A]

I love your disagree and commit because often, often when teams fall apart because you disagree and you don't commit because you're like, well, I thought this, I thought that and it becomes this big issue between you. Whereas actually going right, we're calling it and we're doing this and I'm all in.

[B]

Exactly. And I think you can do that when you felt heard. Right. It's easier to commit when it's like, okay, I've been heard, but I get it. The rounded decision has gone in a different direction and that's cool. So then you have to get on board.

[A]

I love what you're saying about being a founder, the traits of being a founder, because you're right, they do think in much longer terms. And when you're thinking in terms of years and decades, you make entirely different decisions in terms of investing for the future, building a team out. You're not just chasing the next quarter's results, which I think is powerful. I read this amazing book called the Founder's Mentality and it kind of looked at founder led organizations between commercial corporate ones and it boiled it down to three things. It was frontline focus. In other words, what founders are great at is being with the customer every single day. Right. And it's amazing how like founders will often be, you know, in Ben's case, in the gym.

[B]

Right? He was the customer, right?

[A]

Exactly, yeah. He's in the gym, he's talking to these people all the time. The second one was a bias for action and that's what you see in founder organizations. I mean, I spent a very short period of time at Brewdog and about three months anyway. But I had James on the show actually last week, which is great. But the, I mean his question to me was always, how can it happen 10 times quicker? And it just the stretch of your thinking, that kind of sense of how do we do it faster and we're going to learn from it and we'll improve it and a corporate company will have an 18 month roadmap and small businesses will do that in 12 weeks, which makes exciting.

[B]

Ben definitely has the bias for action, I think as well. When you're Dealing with a founder, there's a risk appetite to do things wrong. So I think sometimes in a corporate environment, things can take ages because they've got to be perfect because failure is not an option. I always say, like one of Ben's superpowers is he's really happy for something not to work and so, you know, going a little bit faster and accepting that some things will work amazingly and will double down, some things won't and will stop. He's got that natural risk appetite and he, he bounces back from something going wrong faster than anything I've ever seen in my life. And that's something that I'm really trying to lean into and learn from.

[A]

That's really powerful to me. Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. Because we are. Yeah. Corporate life is really about risk mitigation, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Rather than risk opportunity.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And that's a different kind of mindset. I like the way you've just said that is how you bounce back from a failure. Says everything, doesn't it? Because you're going to learn from it, improve it, go again. Or are you going to use it? You're going to use it to kind of not do the right thing, which is the danger, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's really fascinating. Now we've got some breaking news, haven't we, on the show. You've just got a new role.

[B]

I do.

[A]

So tell us about the new role.

[B]

So I'm just transitioning out of Chief Digital Officer into Chief Commercial Officer. So essentially what the Chief Digital Officer role was was our end to end digital customer experience. So all of our off site paid marketing things like CRM and our loyalty program and how we manage our customer base and then all through our E commerce experience, essentially what the Commercial officer role does is rolls in our other channels of business alongside that. So after having many successful years as an E commerce only business, we're now venturing into Omnichannel. So we've got retail stores and we've also got some wholesale and franchise partnerships. Thinking about any way that a customer can interact with Gymshark product and purchase, whether that's through our website or through one of our physical environments, all of that now will be in one place. So we're able to really see things as the customer does.

[A]

And how do you keep yourself close to the customer as well? Because I mean, customer obsession is such an important part of the role, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah. And I think. Well, I mean, as a brand of Gymshark, we've Got so many people we can talk to at different times, right. So we can physically get people together. So through our community events. So we do big Lyft events, for example, where thousands of our community are there and you can, you can literally stand in the middle of your customer and be completely surrounded by them. You can see how they're behaving with each other, you can see what they're wearing, you can see what they're queuing for, what they're excited by. We've got an insiders program where our customers are very active in giving us feedback about different things that we put out to them. We'll have user trials on, on products that we were planning to launch. And so, yeah, we consume customer feedback from, from every direction. I also think a lot of us as a business just live and breathe it, right. So you know, we're all in the gym, people are lifting and so you understand it a little bit through the own lens of your fitness experience as well.

[A]

That's true. You're unusual in that you can be the customer at your place of work because you've got a whole big gym and you've got classes going on there as well. So you get to sort of like, you know, the feedback is instant, really, and it can be dangerous and you could just.

[B]

Yeah, it can be dangerous though because then you start to think, well, straw poll of one.

[A]

I know everyone thinks like me.

[B]

So it's really, it's important to make sure where you know, our customers, our muse, that we're listening to them all of the time as well.

[A]

Now one of the challenges I often find when talking to kind of CMOs and senior leaders like you is the difference between being a functional expert on a thing like I'm the direct to consumer expert, I manage digital through to leading an organization, a large team, you've got a couple hundred people probably under you kind of working for you. What are those kind of tips to how to be an effective leader in the C suite and lead others?

[B]

I mean, I think within the C suite, I think in a role like I've got, the important thing is peer relationships out the gate, right? Because if, if you've got a marketing budget and you haven't got a strong relationship with your cfo, then that's, that's not going to be a good recipe if you're in any kind of customer facing role and you haven't got that good relationship and engagement with your CTO so that you understand how all of the technology is working. So I think you've Got to be quite literate in all the different areas so that you can engage through peers. I think in terms of leading a team, I mean, I just try to keep communication channels high, as much repetition as possible of what the priorities are. We have our OKRs that we execute and so that filters down through the team. And I just try and stay as connected as I can on a personal level with people. It gets harder and harder because when people ask for time, my bias is to say, yes, let's have time. And obviously, as the team gets bigger, that gets harder. And so for me, it's about really making sure that my leadership and I are really aligned, so. So that I know that they can represent that with the teams as well.

[A]

Well, talking about peer relationships, of course, working with Noel, you know, your dynamic duo combination here, I mean, the reason to ask you about this is, I think in my experience and in most organization, the friction you get between the kind of sales and marketing function is probably the biggest fault line in most organizations. But, you know, one thinking long term, one thinking short term, you know, one valuing price, one valuing equity, you know, it's where a lot of tension can, can come out. So how do you and Noel work together for the benefit of the business?

[B]

It's an interesting one because on paper you've basically got two marketing professionals in the same executive team, which isn't how most people would draw out an org. Right. You wouldn't necessarily start there. It works amazingly well for us. So I think firstly, Noel and I have just got a great relationship. So I think just straight out the gate, we invested in our personal relationship and we built trust with each other. So there's huge respect there. There's a really nice Venn diagram as to how we work together. So his superpowers and his amazing skills are literally the opposite of mine. And so it's always really, really clear when he should lead on something or when I should lead on something. But we've got this lovely bit in the middle where I think we just both believe in. We both together are building the brand and we both together are selling the product. So we can't have one team who thinks they're building the brand, but that's agnostic of customers coming to buy product from us because then what are they really building? And, you know, I can't have a team who are just trying to sell leggings to anyone who wants to wear them. It has to be both of those two things connected. And, you know, we both believe in the brand that we're building for the long term. And so I think the areas where we overlap in the middle, we are aligned and we're able to have, because we've got good trust in our relationship, really good debates and challenge each other. He definitely makes me think differently about things and makes me better and hopefully he would say the reverse is true. So I think it works on that level. I also think for a business like gymshark, I think I like that we've done this right. We've created two roles sort of probably built around the people looking at two people and going, what are they really good at? And how do I maximize that potential in the business? Rather than, well, you know, this management consultant or chart says I shouldn't have two marketing people in one team. So we are doing it a little bit differently. But also because customer and community is so much at the heart of our business, to have two people at the table who ultimately think customer first is just powerful, it just, it heightens the, the sort of weight of the customer's voice in the room when we're making key strategic decisions. And I think, you know, you know, Noel would say he's, he's valued that being the case where he might have felt like a lone voice historically. He knows that. But I'll be there to support on some of those more customer focused conversations that we get into as an exec team.

[A]

It's often the case actually, if organizations would go one way or the other, most of them, I think, default more to sales and commercial experienced people in the C suite rather than marketing. Marketing can often be kind of within the commercial function, can't it? Rather than having a voice. So to have two marketers in the C suite I think is amazing. I mean, personally, I'm very biased. I've done three roles in my career that have been commercial, sales, sales roles, and I've done really well in all of them. And I've really, really, really enjoyed it. You know, because I think for me, what I've been able to do is I've been able to bring consumer insight into the conversation, which has been super powerful.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The second thing is I'm thinking long term as well. So if customer says to me, you know what would work in this category is if we had this product, a normal commercial person would just bat that away. And I go, harker saw that for you. And if I did do that, would you list it in all your stores? You know, that kind of thing. So thinking about that and also understanding how to bring brand value to the Customer. So, you know, most, most commercial people just think about the deal, think about how many sales are going to go through that week. But you can leverage the power of the brand. You know, the power of the brand so you know what you're dealing with, with customers in a way that I think a pure commercial person would just be maximizing the short term over the long term.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. And we know, you know, when we have big brand moments or when a product, like, really resonates with our consumer, the commercials just follow. Right. So the sales job, if you will, is so much easier when the brand and the product is firing on all cylinders. And, you know, we talk about it as, you know, the product is the, you know, all ships rise when our community loves the product. And so that's at the heart of our business. And then we just need to make it through the channels of business as easy as we can for it to reach the right customers. And then it will just, it will fly so that, you know, the sales job is a lot harder when the brand isn't there. And so the two have to work together. And so I think we both recognize that across the C suite, everybody recognizes it. So we're not, you know, having to convince anybody that that's the case and that's when we win.

[A]

Great marketing makes sales easy, doesn't it?

[B]

So easy.

[A]

Yeah, I know the. I launched like Mountain Dew years and years ago in the UK and it was just such an incredible success that literally we had to allocate certain quantities to each customers because we couldn't fulfill everything. And it's just like the easiest thing ever. If you get, if you get all the brand bits right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Then you get customers asking you for things rather than sort of negotiating on the price.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

I guess, like when you launch a new range.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How much of this can we have? You know, can we have it first?

[B]

Yeah. And that's the nice debate. You know, when we're like, oh my gosh, we need to chase more of this product, we know this is going to sell out way faster than we thought. You know, those are the nice challenges then to have as a team, to be, to be, to be responding to.

[A]

All right, all right. Sorry to interrupt this conversation. I promise you it's for a good cause. So I've just put a rather large deposit down on a very big venue in central London called the Outernet that can hold 400 people. It's an amazing venue. Now we're going to be doing the very first uncensored cmo, the Calling. Now, what is the calling? The calling is your opportunity to join us live and be inspired by the world's best founders, the most inspirational CMOs and the best thought leaders. This is one day that will completely transform your career. I promise it will be well worth it. I'm so excited to be doing this. And if you want to find out more details, please go to the Show Notes and check it out. And I really look forward to seeing you there. It's on the 21st of April. Do not miss it. Now back to the show. Now, one of the, I think, challenges any successful startup has is how do you sustain that growth, Right? And I noticed your last full financial year, you cleared 600 million for the first time, so congratulations on that. And you know, the brand's been around 12, 13, 14 years years now, isn't it? So it's not the new brand on the block.

[B]

No.

[A]

So what's the secret to sustainable growth?

[B]

Yeah, well, I think, you know, we've the bulk of that time has been E commerce, direct to consumer, very much a global brand. So customers can buy Gymshark, as I say, in over 230 countries around the world. So hugely successful from a digital availability perspective, if you think about it that way, the next stage of our growth really is about expanding into physical availability. You know, our brand is firing on all cylinders. People know what it is that we're there to do now. We just need to get in front of more people and make gymshark more accessible. And so very much the next phase of growth is all about omnichannel and how we bridge that gap into physical availability. You know, there's still people who, when they're trying a new brand, particularly apparel, you know, they want to see it, touch it, feel it. And so there's only so much you can do through digital experiences to help them understand the product. And so when you put it in the software store, I mean, the first time I walked around our Regent street store and saw the product, I mean, even I'd been responsible for E commerce for a little while by that point. I was like, I don't think I've even seen this product on our website. Like, when you see it in the store, it just brings it to life in such an amazing way. So the next phase of growth for us is really all about that physical availability.

[A]

And I think people forget that the shop window effect, because the shop is not just to buy, the shop is there to basically sell the brand as well and get people that will come back. Now, we also talk about your T shirt, of course, and anyone who's not watching this is listening. You've got a New York T shirt because you've just launched your first flagship store in not just New York, but in Bond Street.

[B]

Bond Street.

[A]

If anyone doesn't know New York has a Bond street like we do as well, which is very premium real estate.

[B]

Yep, yep. It's an amazing building. Yeah. So we went live with that store middle of December. So we've traded it all over the Christmas period and into New Year. The launches was phenomenal. So I was there for launch weekend. We, we were closing up the shop on the Friday evening. The staff had just, just got everything ready for the launch on the Saturday and literally as they were locking the door, the first people started queuing. So, you know, fully overnight in New York, which was sub zero temperatures at that point in time, people were setting out their camp chairs, sitting by the front door because they wanted to be the first ones through the doors. Those particular customers had also flown in from another part of the US that they had traveled to make sure they were there. We arrived on the morning of the launch and the queues were literally looping around the block, thousands of people queuing to be the first ones through the door. So I think for a retail store opening to get that kind of reaction from the community just shows that our customer is ready to experience Gymshark more in real life. The following day after the launch, I went into some of the retail stores in and around the Gymshark store. They obviously didn't know that I was from Gymshark and the staff were commenting on had I seen the gymshark queues the day before? Because it blew their mind. They hadn't seen a reaction for any brand of that scale. So we were really proud of the launch. The store's done amazingly well in terms of trade over that period. We got over a million dollars within the first 18 days, which is a pretty phenomenal milestone to hit. And it's got also lovely community spaces within it. So just like we do in our Regent street store, where we bring the community in, we're going to be able to do all of that in the Bond street store for our US consumer. So it's very much for us, especially stake in the ground for the US and, you know, the beginnings of big growth, ambitions to expand our IRL footprint out there.

[A]

I mean, the only thing I've seen close to what you describe is probably supreme. I mean, when I go to New York, I usually stay in Bowery and opposite the hotel I stay in, there's a supreme store and it's shut most of the time. And then every now and then it opens and they restrict them on people that can go in and massive queues, whatever the weather, all around the corner sort of thing. It just feels like it's quite. Very impressive.

[B]

Yeah, it's an exciting reaction and, you know, some of it is product that they know there's going to be product exclusives there. Some of it is the athlete partnerships that we have as a business and they're keen to come and meet their. Their heroes in that environment. And so, yeah, all different reasons why they feel passionate about being there, but to be able to have that level of community reaction is. Is pretty special.

[A]

That's amazing. Some good news for you, actually, because before this, I ran all your latest campaigns through the system on database just to go, how's it all going? And the outdoor campaign, you've just done 4.7 stars out of 5 stars on the System One database.

[B]

So well done.

[A]

And also outdoors, quite hard to get right, actually, because, you know, it's static. You know, you've got a couple of seconds to grab people's attention and communicate the message. And I thought your campaign was both kind of funny and obvious and memorable as gymshark.

[B]

Yeah. And the message is so simple, right? We do, Jim. It's a very simple message. Some of the visuals were really, really powerful. We love that message. I think it's also been a really amazing rallying cry inside the business just to be able to be like, no, we know why we're here. We do gym. We talked earlier about Noel. He finishes every presentation with, we are gymshark. We do, Jim. And it's just. It is that just reminder of why we're here, what we do, and so that we've always got that reminder of the core of our business.

[A]

I love the simplicity and focus of your organization because you. You might think that just focusing on gym. He says just focusing on gyms narrows it down, but in a weird way, it kind of like opens up. I was listening to the CEO of Nvidia and he said, for a long, long, long time before they got into AI, they were obsessed about only being the best gaming chip. We just want to be the best chip that can make gaming experience brilliant. Right. It turned out accidentally by doing that, they became the best AI, because by solving a gaming problem, they created an AI solution. And I think, and again, sometimes not stretching yourself, being really super clear about who you're for, what you're for and how you're going to do it I think is quite liberating. And that's in its purest sense, that strap line is exactly, exactly.

[B]

And you know, you need to be amazing at your core to have permission to do anything else. So if we're not making the best apparel to wear in the gym, why would anybody trust us for anything else anyway? Right. So we have to do that. That's the non negotiable that we have to deliver for our consumer to have permission to even engage with them about anything else.

[A]

Now, talking about you and Nell as well, something else you remind me of. I had Thomas Barter on the show and he came up with this lovely Rebel Matrix. Right. Which is really stuck to me actually from the conversation I had with him that basically is really simple, like ideas at one side, execution on the other side. And he said most marketers tend to fall somewhere in the ideas or execution. Right. Because some people are. I'm more on the ideas and my team will vouch for this one. But you know, I'm always thinking about the ideas and what we could do. But ideas are worth nothing unless you can execute. And of course the Rebel CMO or the rebel marketer, as he was describing it, is the one in the top, right. That can figure out both the idea and execution. Any advice on how to get those two things working together given how well you and Nell kind of seem to

[B]

have got this crack? Yeah, I mean he is definitely the ideas man. So he settles on that side of the camp. Definitely. I would say I'm an executor. It's an interesting one because I would have always said I'm. I'm not a very big creative ideas thinker, but I am very good at creative problem solving. So when I've got the idea there, like how to navigate getting that out and making it happen, definitely my sweet spot. I think you need both kinds of people ultimately. Right. And you need an organization where there's respect for both of those things and there's the right interaction and handoff points between the two. And yeah, the, the trust that someone's gonna take it and run with it and go and make it happen. But I think ultimately you need both. I think finding somebody who's excellent at both of those things I think is hard. I think that's a real unicorn kind of individual. And so creating an environment where people are able to co create and bring those two things together, I think is important.

[A]

Your problem solving point is really spot on actually because I think one of the skills I've developed is to work out how to apply creative to the commercial context of the organization. And this is something a lot of people miss, is you have to work out what does the organization need, what does it value, and what is it capable of doing. Right? Because you can come up with a great new gymshark idea, but if it isn't aligned to how the business operates and what people feel passionate about and where their skills are, it's not going to work. So translating an idea to actually this is an idea that we could execute in the organization and also working back platform, almost saying, what are we uniquely in a position to do?

[B]

Exactly. Because there's loads of things you could do, but not necessarily lots of things you should do. And I like to think that's where I can add a lot of value, because I think there's so many things we as gymshark can do, but being able to really be strict about prioritizing and thinking. But that's. That's the thing that's going to move the needle. Or this is the commercial problem that we're trying to solve. And that's a good answer. And connecting those two things together. Otherwise we're just doing cool stuff, right? Which is also fun. But it's nice to do cool stuff that you can immediately see. The next day. You'd be like, okay, we can now see this in the performance of the business. That is super rewarding.

[A]

I totally agree. It's funny, actually. You reminded me. So we're just about to launch the first uncensored CMO live event, and we took a massive brave pill. It was a bit like you guys opening, not on the same level, but opening on Bond street in New York. It was like, are we actually going to do this? How much does it cost to put this on? But we're kind of thinking, well, what are we uniquely positioned to do as a podcast team, right? And we thought, well, we have a big audience of marketers, mostly senior marketers, which is amazing. So we have the. We have the audience, we have access, the best talent in the world through our people that come on the show and the network that we've got. So we can get the talent, we can get the audience. If we can put on the event, theoretically, it'll all happen, you know, so thinking back to what you're uniquely positioned to do, definitely.

[B]

And sometimes you do just have to go for it, right? So now that you've booked it, you'll figure it out.

[A]

This is the thing I realize sometimes you have to Commit. It's a bit like, actually, it's a bit like fitness, isn't it? I find you kind of have to say to somebody, I'm going to meet you there and we're going to go for a ride. And then, and then you can't get out of it. Whereas if you don't do that, you can wiggle out of it when the demons sort of start nagging you.

[B]

And, you know, there's a lot of that that's happened for gymshark. If I think back to when the Regent street store was initially an idea, the team were actually tasked with finding a pop up, a 12 month pop up space. And then Ben just challenged them to be like, no, no, we're gonna go straight for a flagship. And we were like, do we know how to run a flagship? And it's like, well, we'll figure it out now that we've signed a leash. Right? So he enjoys that sometimes, that forcing mechanism to make sure we get there.

[A]

That, I think is a uni unique trait of a founder, actually, is the belief in yourself is so great that you will take the leap without knowing all the answers and you'll back yourself to discover the answers as you go. Whereas I found it's taken me a long time to get to that point. I want to know all the answers first and make the safe bet. And I think that's a real difference. Founders have got that almost unshakable belief that they're going to win eventually.

[B]

Exactly. And it's that gut feel, isn't it? So it's hard for him to articulate that, but when his gut is telling him this is the thing to do, then he backs it. And then, you know, look at the success that Regent street has been. So he was completely correct.

[A]

Well done. Yeah, exactly. So looking at your gymshark experience, your new role, what you've achieved, if you could pick one thing, if there's one thing that people listening could take out of what, you know, your journey to here and what you've done.

[B]

One of the things I think about my journey that can be a little bit different is when I've moved between businesses, I've taken sideways moves into businesses to give myself a really good grounding to learn quickly and move upwards within that business, business. And so I would say, yeah, don't, don't chase the promotions, right? Don't seek to be promoted maybe a little bit before you're ready. Just, just take those experiences, like take the sideways step, say yes to the new thing and see what evolves from there. And in my experience, it. It all comes good over time.

[A]

Titles overrated. Experience is underrated.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Always go for experience over the title. And I think, particularly when you're young, you just think, I must get the senior Brand Manager title. I must be VP of. Of Global Marketing or whatever. And actually, it's the experience that will make you successful, not the title.

[B]

I agree completely.

[A]

Great. Awesome. Top advice, Carly. Thank you so much.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

So I hope you enjoy that episode of Uncensored CMO as much as I enjoyed making it. Now, by the way, I've got a new newsletter, so if you'd like to get my thoughts on the One Thing that I take out from each episode every week, then do subscribe to the One Thing newsletter. I'd really appreciate it. Also, I have another podcast just launched, Uncensored Renegades, with the fabulous Corey Marchisoto. She is one of the world's best CMOs. She's an absolute rock star. Every week we pick one topic, spend 20 minutes trying to fix it. So check out that it's in your feed. Uncensored Renegades. And finally, I want to give a huge thank you to my sponsor, System One. They generously provide so much support for this podcast, it would not happen without them. So big thanks and lots of love to System One. I'll see you next time.