Keds President Commitment to Empower Women

to get into the kid's handbook handbook for women. Will get into that in just a moment. She joins us in our Bloomberg Interactive Broker Studio. Nice to have you here, Welcome, thank you so welcome back. I should say thank you so much for stopping here. Um, we want to get into, um this handbook that you guys have, But I do want to ask you because the headlines about the virus

seemed to be kind of NonStop here. So as someone who is you know, running a company, how are you guys thinking about this and what impact has it had on you? Yeah, it's you know, every day it's new, there's new information rolling in. We are part of a larger enterprise Wolverine worldwide. So we have a pretty robust network of brands and therefore we have a really large global sourcing arm who who's helping us navigate these times. I would say, right now, we don't have any delays

on product one of those tactical things. Um, I'm sure that we eventually will, as you have overseas suppliers, We have overseas suppliers overseas manufacturing. So right now all things are moving ahead as normal. But we're all waiting, you know, all of us in the industry for or industry and of course other consumer products industries are waiting to see, you know, how this unfolds. We also have retail in some of the countries that have been hardest hit, and

that will also take some time to manifest itself. But we're really just trying to do the best that we can. We have great e commerce businesses, which is a great you know alternative at this time pick up an e commerce as a result, not necessarily as a result of this situation. Yet, UM, we've had, you know, growing e commerce business for quite some time, so it'll be hard

to sort of pull apart. What the what the natural contributor is, but so far it's a wait and see along with all of our you know peers in the business absolutely well. And you know, obviously we're seeing you know, people's scale back travel. We just heard from Charlie about uh south by Southwest. So meanwhile, business is going on in many ways. I mean, here we are doing our show, we're visiting with you and and lots of other folks. And it is International Women's Day on Sunday. We're gonna

be talking more about that on Monday as well. But tell us about the Kid's Handbook for women because it is coming at a really interesting time in the broader economy, uh and and sort of the broader movement. I think we talked a little bit about that last time we caught up with you. Yes, So the handbook is actually a manifestation of some work that we've been doing over the last year. Our brand is a hundred and four years old, which is an amazing opportunity, and it has

really rich history in creating footwear for women. We made some of the very first sneakers for women a hundred and four years ago, and in fact, in the nineteen twenties we published a handbook for girls. It was called at the time, and it was a very small handbook that was full of a lot of content that was groundbreaking for the day and really inspired the women of that era to go and tell our stories and do the things that you know they wanted to do, live

their dreams, live their best life. And so as a part of that, we're relaunching it to our modern day consumer. One of our biggest challenges in the businesses. Everyone knows us great brand recognition, but they're looking to understand what our voices in the in this contemporary So what is

the voice that you're putting out there? So the voices the umbrella is made for women, whatever that means, and that came directly from our consumer in all of the conversations that we've been having with her her she was really clear to say, there's no one definition of a woman in today's environment, and so if you want to emotionally connect with me, you can't put me in one little box or one little corner. And so made for Women, whatever that means, as a headline, allows us to bring

in all kinds of storytelling. So the handbook this time around, in this era is called the Handbook for Women. So We're going to grow it up a little bit and it's a platform for us to allow women in our network, women who love our brand, women who have a story to tell, to come and actually tell that in the goal will be you know, inclusivity, more diverse cities. We really feel like the more stories we tell, the more we can demonstrate that that thesis that there is no

one definition. And are you finding as I think we are, that women and men for that matter, are looking for a little bit more from their brands, to connect a little bit more and and knowing that it reflects a certain thing about them when they put on a shoe and walking the talk as a company without question. I mean, I think today's consumer tells us that, you know, I

wouldn't call it skepticism. I would say they're more curious and they want emotional connection means that you have to resonate with something that is important to them in their life. And so for men and for women as you as you point out, you know, it's not just about consumerism for the sake of that. It's consumerism and purchasing a product because it's meaningful and money to know sort of like where it's made and how it's which is something.

I mean, you've been in the shoe business for some time, you understand that as well as anyone or how many women are on your board or or or or involved in like senior management. What I do wonder too, is Jillian and speaking to what Jason is getting at, because we talk about this a lot with our you know, our own kids care about this in a big way.

We both have teenagers. But I do wonder how provocative and how much the brand, which has been around for so long iconic, but is willing to push it, whether it's on me too or gender identity, Like, how willing are you to push it? So we're very willing and very open. And I think the great thing about this handbook is it's allowing us to step into this space in a really meaningful way, but not jump into it, if that makes sense. So a brand that's kind of

pivoting and telling those stories. We're starting off this first handbook under the theme of power um and what does that meant to you? So all the women who are telling stories in the handbook are telling stories about what power means to them. I told my own story, which has to do with becoming an American citizen and exercising my right to vote only five years ago for the

first time. That was powerful to me. And so you'll see throughout this handbook, you know, everything from producers to photographers to writers who are telling you what it means to them personally interesting. So what does it go from here? I mean what you know, we've talked. I think we talked about this last time, that we are at this moment, you know, I mean, we are not to take it down too far, and I should be like, you know,

we're a week out from Harvey Weinstein getting convicted. We're at this moment where, at least at times, setting aside some of the recent drama around coronavirus, it does seem like we're more engaged on a lot of these issues. Is that going to continue or we just sort of having a moment that that may pass. How how much do you worry about this being fleeting? I guess I

don't worry about it being fleeting. I think it's here and we are all a part of it, and we welcome change, and and I think it's not a moment. It's a moment of change in that and I think we will continue to develop I have a young daughter. I want her to see that opportunity. But I also have a young son, and I don't want him to grow up thinking that there is a you know, a different point of view for his sister than him. And

I think this is where we're going, all right. Great to catch up you, Julling meet president of Kids based up in Boston. Here with us in New York City today