Brooks’ Mission: Making Running the World’s Most Inclusive Sport
Brooks CMO Melanie Allen talks about the brand’s Pride initiative, how running brings people together, and her strategies for keeping herself and her team on track.
At Brooks, celebrating Pride began as a homegrown initiative of a group of passionate employees (it included creating fun swag like stickers), taking root at the company’s Seattle headquarters before being nurtured into something more formal.
This year, the brand launched the Run Proud campaign to promote inclusion and community through running. Brooks is working with International Front Runners — the global network of LGBTQ+ running clubs — to support the growth of Front Runners clubs. Brooks also launched the Run Proud capsule of apparel and accessories, which features a rainbow on two pairs of running legs on tanks, tees, caps, and — our favorites — socks. Over the next two years, Brooks will offer donations to Front Runners clubs beginning in the U.S. and Canada to help grow their runner base and advance inclusion in the running community. “It’s really about creating community around the run,” says Brooks CMO Melanie Allen, “and also bringing awareness within the sport to make sure we’re really inclusive of all who run.”
Run Proud is just one of the initiatives aimed at including everyone in the sport. In her CMO role, Allen has overseen the brand’s involvement with many groups that inspire all who run. Examples of these include the Special Olympics USA Games; Black Girls RUN!, launched in an effort to address the obesity epidemic in the African-American community and to encourage new and veteran runners alike; Brave Like Gabe, honoring Gabe Grunewald, a U.S. champion runner who recently died at 32 of a rare cancer; and Marathons with Meaning, a group of “rider-athletes” who assist disabled children complete marathons.
Managing all of Brooks’ priorities requires long workdays, coffee-shop sessions, and many one-pagers (read on for more on that).
A reluctant early start
I am not a morning person at all. I am an absolute night owl. So if I could work from noon to ten at night or midnight, I’d be a much happier and more productive person. My morning reality is I jump right in the shower to wake up at 6, 6:15. When I go for a morning run, wake-up time is more like 5:30.
The commute
I have a 20- to 30-minute commute in the morning, so I usually listen to an audiobook or podcast. I listen to a Blinkist, an audio CliffsNotes version of books. You can basically get through a whole book in 20 minutes, and it’s all summarized, so you’ve got the key points.
Meetings galore
Usually I arrive at the office at 7:30 to 8, and meetings start from the minute I walk in. I would say it’s a pretty meeting-heavy culture, as we work very collaboratively. The meetings consist of project reviews, working sessions, creative reviews, or one-on-one meetings with team members. I try to block out a couple hours — not consecutively — to grab food or keep up on email.
An admirable work routine
One of my direct reports is really, really disciplined, and he has a routine that I definitely value and wish I had. He gets up early in the morning and knocks out emails and his to-do list. He gets a couple hours of work in before he ever walks in the office door, which I think really clears his head and sets the tone for the day. From the time he walks in here at 8 to 8:30 after taking his boys to school, he’s ready to tackle everything.
Return to the collegiate coffee shop
If I’m working on a project or prepping for a strategy session, I will always go to a coffee shop. I think the noise and energy around gets me to stay focused. It’s how I studied all through college.
The art of the one-pager
I’m a big fan of one-pagers — getting the plan on a single page — instead of creating a multi-page PowerPoint deck. This discipline forces us to make clear choices and simplify the strategic plan. It’s something that you can remember, and if somebody asks, “Hey, what are you doing around X, Y, and Z?” you’ve got your elevator pitch on a single page. A one-pager also allows us to quickly make a decision if we’re spending time on the right activities. You can easily have what I call “scope creep “— all of a sudden, we’re working on something that’s doesn’t fit the strategy. So typically, we have one-pagers all over, so that they’re visible reminders to stay focused.
Hitting my groove
I usually get into my groove at the very end of the day, so I leave pretty late, around 6:30–7 p.m. This approach allows me to get through the to-dos that I collected throughout the day and avoid traffic on the way home. I try not to work once I get home; I’m not one to hop back on email unless I get a text that there’s something urgent, which doesn’t happen often. And I pretty much try to keep my weekends off limits as well to spend time with my family.
Magenta is a publication of Huge.
