by Larry Eder
Brooks is sending a huge message that they can survive and prosper after Supply Chain nightmares, seamlessly change leadership at the top, and continue to build the Brooks brand.
Jim Weber joined Brooks in 1999 and was named CEO in 2001. He has led the brand for 23 years, growing it from $100 million to $1.5 billion in sales. Now, he is stepping down, as Dan Sheridan is moving to CEO. Matt Dodge, who managed the Europe/Middle East and Asia business, is moving to COO.
Dan Sheridan also began at Brooks 1999 as a tech rep and rose to COO in 2019. As of April 26, 2024, Dan Sheridan will be the new CEO, as announced by Brooks yesterday. As Footwear News noted, “The End of an Era.” However, Brooks is showing that it can build on two-plus decades of growth with new leadership that is keenly aware of the unique needs of his brand.
Jim Weber came to Brooks, a banker and running geek. Jim loved running. One of the first things Jim did was to end a relationship with Brooks’s largest client, about 11 percent of the business. The thing was, Jim is a business report whisperer; he reads financial reports like some people read the sports page, and he can find coverage ( or B.S., as we say in most places) quite easily. Jim Weber is a Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch version) with the mysteries of subterfuge found in some financial pages.
The problem was that the client was outside of where Brooks needed to be and where Jim Weber knew that Brooks had its happy spot. When Weber first took over, the Brooks brand was in crisis and near bankruptcy. It had had one crisis after another; Weber took it from the maelstrom of failure to the pinnacle of success.
Then, there is the Minnesota thing. People from the Midwest are some of North America’s most excellent and eccentric. Never underestimate a Midwesterner. They may be goofy, but they get up two hours before you do to figure things out, enjoy that cup of coffee, and maybe even get in their run. Contemplation and action are part of Jim Weber’s mantra.
Jim Weber also thrived on the challenges of his job. His approach to building Brooks and his attention to even the nerdiest of details gave Brooks the distinction in the business of not being too big to know that Brooks needed the retailers more than the retailers required Brooks. For two-plus decades, customer service and sales at Brooks treated retailers as what they are, conduits to the runner and the top of the pyramid of the running culture. Other brands talk about it, but Brooks, under Jim Weber, lived it every day.
A case in point was the Business breakfasts Brooks held in Salt Lake City during the trade show days there. Held at 7 a.m., the breakfast was a chance to meet with Brooks’s leadership for the business press and see where Brooks planned to go in the coming year. I was there for the decade that they held those events. No other brand had so much transparency. It was as if Brooks knew that the media could be helpful in telling their story. Such a novel idea.
In our conversations, Jim Weber has always given credit where credit is due. He has a tremendous team. It is part of the brand’s secret sauce.
Part of that secret sauce is Dan Sheridan.
Dan began as a tech rep at Brooks Running, so he knows the business from the bottom up. This gives him an incredible appreciation of the brand’s human capital. The company’s yin and yang, with Weber’s top-down approach and Sheridan’s bottom-up approach, complemented each other.
Dan Sheridan has both anecdotal and technical knowledge of the business. By anecdotal, I mean dealing with crises and learning from them while in them. A running business has crises each day, and one does not know what to manage when one gets up in the morning, no matter the time zone.
That knowledge was used during the supply chain crisis, which most brands will not even discuss. Brooks took it head-on, and they emerged more robust. Dan also can stay focused on who he is with and who he is talking with, something many executives could learn.
Dan Sheridan will take over on April 26, 2024, as Jim Weber considers the next chapter in his life. Both men love their jobs and enjoy their time at Brooks.
The brand is continuing to grow and innovate. Brooks also realizes that its challenges are half the battle.
An incident happened at the Running Event last December. First, Brooks fetes its retailers with parties and fun events. I was sitting in the Brooks booth, watching Dan Sheridan handle meetings with retailers, both happy and irate, with thoughtfulness. Other Brooks staff interviewed Josh Kerr, Nia Atkins, and Des Linden. The booth was well attended, with people wanting to purchase Brooks. Truth is, if you are in performance running, you need Brooks. However, Brooks does not treat brands with the arrogance of some brands; they treat you as the only retailer in the world. Remember the mantra, One shoe pair sold at a time. Repeat often.
And now, to Matt Dodge.
Matt Dodge will be the new COO. He has been with the brand since 2013 and has held various titles. In 2013, Matt was Associate General Counsel, VP, General Counsel, VP/Human Resources, and finally, Managing Director of Brooks International. Matt has managed Brooks’s Europe/Middle East /Asia business out of Amsterdam for the past five years. This writer has enjoyed discussions with Matt as Brooks’s business outside the U.S. grew by leaps and bounds.
We wish Jim Weber a well-earned retirement and thank him for his support.
We wish Dan Sheridan the best as he takes on the CEO role. Dan Sheridan has come up through the ranks, and those lessons and experiences will help him meet his new challenges.
We wish Matt Dodge great success in his new job. Moving from Amsterdam to Seattle will be a bit of a culture shock, but it will be great coffee at the very least!
The message that Brooks is giving to the running business is that we are strong, and our new leadership shares your challenges and knows that Brooks needs your support. What could have been a challenge, finding new leadership, has become an example of Brooks’s resilience and planning.
Brooks noted that they would be announcing a new Manager of Europe/Asia/Middle East in a short time.
