Reconnecting on Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, Triathlons, Brand Authenticity, and More:

Kyle is an executive specializing in crafting outstanding experiences for global brands. A former magazine editor, he also spent a bunch of his career with a focus on the fashion, outdoor, and sports industries through the e-commerce and digital lens for brands such as Nike, Dr. Martens, KEEN, Lululemon, PowerBar, Ariat, Chrome Industries, Nuun, and others. Kyle’s unique blend of design, branding, and digital best practices lends itself to creating and leading some of the foremost brands.

Quote: "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened." — Billy Graham

A bold, charismatic speaker, with a penchant for hitting brand’s sweet spots, he brings his experience to any size group or audience on the topics relating to online or digital business growth, e-commerce trends and tactics, A/B testing, branding, positioning, and design.

Kyle is currently focusing on digital trends online, the future state of retail in a post-pandemic world, the complexity of global brand expansion, and branding post-pandemic.

 

Today’s Guest & Resource Links:

• Web: thebrandleader.com
• Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleduford/
• Instagram: @thebrandleader, @yeahthatkyle

 

Watch us on YouTube:

• https://youtu.be/fxRHI5XpxfU

 

Timestamped Show Notes:

00:30 - Introduction 11:00 - I used to ride my mom's Bianchi. For years, I would steal it, she would know it. It was a little bit bigger than me, so I kind of grew into it. We actually moved to Burnsville way up through 309. We're just a little bit outside the Parkland School District, but I refuse to go to Northwestern High School is a different district. So I would ride my bike almost every day to train for wrestling from Burnsville down the back way through down to the old Parkland High School, which is Orefield, and it was just a fantastic ride. 21:30 - I wanted to write for Outside, Men's Health, and Men's Journal which are the ones we talked about. Yeah, they just wouldn't have me. They're like, hey, nice job, kid. Here's a lollipop go read our magazine somewhere else. I was like, well I think I'm a good writer. I think I can handle this and they wouldn't even give me the time of day. So I did my first Triathlon in the fall of 1999. I did the Catalina Island Triathlon off the coast of Los Angeles. I had lost 100 and change pounds to do my first race. I was miserablfe. I was unhappy. So I gained all this weight, a long story, but I ended up losing it all. Because I was training for triathlons. I didn't know I was just running and my knees couldn't sustain me because I was too heavy. So I started biking like I used to, and then, long story short, I'm cycling and swimming and running and someone said you should do a triathlon. I said, okay and I signed up for one in November of 1999. 30:00 - I think clydesdale calss was never closer, I think it was 200 lbs. But regardless, you're talking about whether they were fantastic triathletes or not, they were still athletes, and they're still out there doing it. I don't care how big you are, or if you're like, quote, in shape or out of shape. You have significantly different needs at that size. I mean, just the square inches of pound pressure you put on your feet as you run is just substantial