Angela Ahrendts - Former CEO of Burberry

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Angela Ahrendts - Former CEO of Burberry

[Sal] Well I just wanted to introduce everyone to Angela Ahrendts.

Just as a little bit of background on how all of this happened.

You all know I was just in England two weeks ago and as part of that you came to the talk at the London School of Economics and then the next day we met at Heathrow Airport.

[Angela] Yup.

[Sal] I had my $6 Old Navy shirt feeling very insecure the entire time. (Angela laughs)

Both Esther and I were there and you inspired us.

When you said you're going to be in this area we're like well we would love you to do the same thing with the team just talk about what you're doing etcetera, etcetera.

If you could talk a little bit about just how you ...

I mean fashion, the world of fashion is this world, I mean it's not obvious to most people how does someone get in to it and especially get to the level that you've gotten.

How did you start and what kind of, at least at the early stages allowed you to get here?

[Angela] I mean honestly it's not a dissimilar story to yours, right?

My thing is you ...

I think the greatest thing that anybody can do when they're young is discover their passion and what they love.

I know it sounds really, really terrible but I love stuff and I love to shop and I love fashion magazines and I love to sow and create.

It was the only industry I had to get in to but I went to university and signed up for all these design classes and realized I really wasn't that creative.

I had a really strong opinion on what everybody else was doing.

I had a professor say that we call you a merchant.

I'm like "Okay" and so then I signed up for a lot of merchandising and marketing courses.

My university degree is in merchandising and marketing.

In the world of what we do I always say I'm the monkey in the middle.

We have Christopher Bailey who's the Chief Creative Officer and he is so creative and so brilliant and his whole creative team does all those videos but then, so that's on my right and on my left we have the chief financial officer, we have our chief operating officer, we have a number of our teams that have just arrived as well.

You have this balance so I will say I'm a 50, 50.

I am half left brain analytical, I am half right brain creative and that was actually one of the reasons that I wanted to chat with Sal.

Because I said someday as you guys start to take over the world, you're going to have to also start to introduce some right brain curriculum and the Burberry Foundation would be honored to help you start creating some of those things when you're already down the road [unintelligible].

[Sal] Yeah, and no we're already starting a little bit and we could talk more about that.

No, absolutely and I think ...

I mean say you're not creative, I mean that I think you're really underselling your …

[Angela] Yeah, the design creative.

[Sal] You obviously had a very strong aesthetic, you had a sense for what connective …

[Angela] Yeah, again I'm absolutely a merchant and I will tell you the reason Christopher and I created the foundation is this, because we are both creative thinkers.

[Sal] Right.

[Angela] We feel very strongly that the curriculum specifically in America has become so left brain, so much of the arts and things have been cut out.

It is I think for where the world's going we need creative thinkers.

We need and so many times they're getting lost out of the system, so we created the Burberry Foundation.

We give 1% of our profits into the Burberry Foundation and what we do is, we try and pick up the youth that is starting to fall out of the system because they think they're dumb because they don't.

Hopefully we can help turn them on to you guys to help them.

If they're still just not left brain but they're incredibly creative thinking.

We bring as many of them as we can.

We show them a whole another world that companies like us need and that's been our calling.

[Sal] Yeah, I know it's incredible.

I mean you yourself you said, “Okay I'll be a merchant”.

A professor tells you this and you just go to New York and then you're not even 30 and you're the president of Donna Karan?

(Angela laughs) Is that right?

[Angela] Yeah.

[Sal] How does that happen? Is that normal?

Are there a lot of 20 something's running a major fashion houses in the world?

[Angela] Probably not and I will tell you I'm really guilty because I'm not great talking about myself, I'm just not because I'm only as good always as the great teams that are around me and no different than you guys.

Yes, I think what happens always is when you discover who you are and you discover your passion and then it's not work at your life and so you just get in to that zone.

I was so fortunate that met the right people, things fell into place, absolutely worked my butt off because I was single, alone in New York and why not.

It's all I did was, but I found my zone, I found …

[Sal] Was there a moment where …

I just find if a member of my family says "Hey, I'm going to go to New York and I'm going to go work in fashion," like "Okay, I'll see if I can help support you at some point or …"

Just the left brain, the left brain side of me.

I mean how did you break in and then obviously left such a big mark with people that by the time you weren't even 30 you're a president of a major fashion organization?

[Angela] It's funny, I don't think of any different than a great athlete or a musician or a …

I think that what happens is this is all what I've ever done.

I've always just stayed in my lane and then you become ...

Whether you're a footballer or whether you're ...

I didn't jump around, this is all that I've done and I have always been so passionate about it.

I think when you direct your energy and you become so passionate and you unite people, right?

You lead people all around believing in something and then things just fall into place.

I know that, and when I say things, the revenue, the profit, right?

I never went in saying, "I'm going to do this".

I went in saying, "What if we did this?"

I've always been a dreamer.

My father used to always say, "Take off your rose-colored glasses" and I would always say "No".

Now I don't have to, I can keep dreaming but the important thing I've learned is though I have to get enough people, right?

I have to surround myself with enough people that can help execute that dream now and that's all that I've ever done.

I don't want to over simplify it but I found my zone, I absolutely love what I do, it is not work at all.

I have never once woke up in the morning said, "Oh God, I got to go to work".

It's not work, this is my life.

Everywhere that I've been because it's not work and the Monterey at Burberry or anywhere that I've been because the stronger companies get then the more they can do and the bigger influence they have.

At Burberry we've always said that we have the power to touch and transform lives through the power of our performance.

The bigger and the stronger we get, the more we can do and that's just always been ...

I'm from the heart of Midwest, real strong family faith up bringing and I have been raised to give.

That's how I was raised and so why wouldn't you apply that back in business and so it just ...

[Sal] I think you are underselling yourself a little bit.

[Angela] Thank you. I do want because the interesting about this and why we video them is I think just the Khan Academy user base, there's a lot of young people out there who would say "How do I do that?"

If you had advice for someone who's 16 years old or 20 years old and they find this world intriguing, what should they develop in themselves?

How should they think about the world and what should they do?

[Angela] Well, and I always say to the fashion industry is deceiving because everybody just thinks it's only this creative part where in a company like Burberry there are 18 different departments that comprise the company.

We need, we hire a lot of people from Silicon Valley.

We need great, we have 130 people just in the IT department in the company.

People don't realize that so we need extreme right and we need extreme left.

I think sometimes the fashion industry gets a short, it's the short stick sometimes when they think "It's just fashion, it's just ..."

In order to create and here's my thing I always say that what we're doing is we're creating a great brand and a great company and we happen to the in business of fashion.

We didn't set out to create a really great fashion, we set out to create a great brand.

I say that because there's a part of me that says that is your mission as well.

[Sal] I mean following on that but I do want to think about, well what in your mind is, what does a brand mean?

I've heard multiple definitions of a brand and how would you view Burberry's brand and how would you view our brand in the same, they're very similar. (Angela laughing)

Exploring a line of overcoats.

[Angela] To me a great brand and here's my thing, think of yourself and when you interact with products.

What coffee do you drink every morning or you might walk into Starbucks or you might walk in the ...

You might have Apple products, you might ...

How do you feel about and so you want to be a part of that brand because you're proud to be a part of that brand because that brand makes you feel a certain way.

You trust that brand and it's authentic and it doesn't ever let you down.

It exceeds your expectations so you want to engage with it, right?

Those are all of the attributes of a great brand, honesty, integrity, authenticity, quality but always doing what you …

To have a great engagement or what's the word ...

Great brand presence, there has to be a very trusting relationship with your constituency.

In that way we are absolutely because your users they have to trust what you're telling them.

I mean and if you're wrong … (laughs)

[Sal] Yes, happens every now and then. (Angela laughing)

[Angela] To me it's a part of what a great brand is and in Burberry's case and that's how we measure it.

[Sal] How do you think about these things?

You joined Burberry in 2006.

I guess in the previous five or 10 years Burberry had been rejuvenated.

If you could talk a little bit about that rejuvenation before you got there and then when you took over the job and what do you tell yourself?

How are you going to steer the ship?

[Angela] What I think happens and again we're 158 years old and you guys are ...

What you're building right now ...

No but so we had gone through a lot and so we got the whole management team together.

You're starting out that way but we got the team together and said, "What is our core?"

'"What is our core product proposition and what's our core purpose?"

We realized that 158, it's 150 years then but 158 years ago now, we were born from a coat.

We had our own weaving facility in the North of England, we had our own factory to produce all of those coats.

It's interesting we were driving innovation everywhere else but in our core product.

Whenever we talked about global warming and they gave me all the reasons why we couldn't do that.

It was like “No, no, no”, every great brand ...

What would Starbucks be without coffee?

I mean every great brand has to have a core and I think people get bored with that.

As you grow bigger and bigger what is your core products proposition and don't ever lose it.

Keep innovating that core because people get bored really easy.

Then also what is your core purpose and because I don't believe people just want to work, I think people all want deeper meaning in their lives.

It was hard for us, people don't just want to make stuff.

People want to make stuff that has meaning and has a purpose and so we created our core values which are to protect, explore, and inspire.

We didn't come up with those, we took those out of a book that Thomas Burberry wrote 158 years ago when he was 21 years old and he founded the company.

We always say his spirit lives on and it should because it was his company, it was his vision and he created that waterproof gabardine fabric to protect the military in the trenches that's why he created the trench coat, etcetera.

We said that is our core, that's what he founded the company on.

How do we make the trench coat the most cool, relevant, hip thing in the world?

That's what we are born from.

Nobody else can say that but us.

To revitalize and transform the company we simply went back to the basics.

We went back and revitalized our core and we took that category which was about 22% of the business, seven and a half, eight years ago today it's half of the business.

When you watch a runway show, nearly every item that goes down has some type of a trench coat or some type of.

The innovation that we've driven in that core and that has single-handedly ...

Harvard Business reviewed the great article on just that topic revitalizing the core.

[Sal] I mean how do you decide on that?

Is that just a gut instinct, I mean or do you ...

Is there some data that you look ...

We look at all the brands that have a core versus don't have a core.

On that and then as you move and continue to innovate and get new products, I'm sure everyday someone comes to you "Hey, we should have a line of whatever it might be", how do you decide?

How much of it is analytically driven and how much of it is gut or whatever else driven?

[Angela] It's a great question.

I'm going to answer it three ways.

One is we always say that we are a creative thinking company and everything we do is driven by intuition.

Then we can fuse ourselves with facts but we always lead with intuition.

Because we always say that we do value feeling over knowing because if we only focused on knowing, we'd never move forward because you can't prove something that hasn't been done before.

We are and that is a part of being a creative thinking culture.

I forgot my other two because I told you there were three and I …

[Sal] Well you say you confuse yourself with facts, I mean what does that mean?

Does that mean that you feel or collectively not just you, the whole organization feels like something is the right direction but what if someone says, "Hey, but look everyone who's gone in to this phase before has failed or there's 800 players already in that market that they got zero margin on what they're doing."

It's a commodity, do you ignore that?

Do you sometimes ignore that?

Do you say, “No, we still feel good about it" and you move ahead?

[Angela] Seven years ago, came up with all the hard, we call them hard strategies.

Those are all the ones that are very fact based.

When we talked about retail led growth brought in the consultant company told that, I said, "Tell me every key market in the world that has, where are peers have at least two stores and we have none."

Then tell me their productivity per square foot so we had a strategy, put all the hard metrics behind it and but the gut …

Our instincts were, and we were 75% wholesale when I started, today we are 75% retail, our own stores direct to consumer.

Our instincts said, we had to go direct to consumer, we had to control the brand, the environment, everything.

Again brought in the firm but we did that on every strategy and they would reaffirm etcetera.

Then I put them in front of the board.

Very first been in the company six months strategies are done, everything's outlined, we know exactly where we're going.

At the very end they told the board and we said that that point in time we would double the revenue and the profits in five years.

They, the guy, that I won't mention the company on video but the guy sense up at the end of the meeting and the board says, "Well how do you feel about this going through it?"

He says, "There's about a 5% probability that they will do this".

[Sal] Who's this guy?

[Angela] Well he works for a huge consulting firm and I'm not going to mention the firm.

[Sal] Okay, all right.

[Angela] We had them come in and for six months we had them work with us on validating these strategies.

[Sal] Right, and so the strategy was based through as a number strategy where you're looking at the retail density in different geographies and how productive those stores are.

That is what you used to decide where you're going to go?

[Angela] Yeah, again there's always both.

There's always the …

Well and that was the other part of the thing I just forgot so one was intuition but the other is balance.

[Sal] Right.

[Angela] Right? We talk a lot about the right and the left, a lot.

When we had five hard strategies and we had five soft strategies.

The foundation was a soft strategy, the culture was the soft, all of the [company] had been, free lunch, the benefits for all of these stuff, or all the soft strategies and we said that these will enable those.

Just focusing on these, we may not get the job done.

The consulting firm didn't work with us on the soft things, they only worked with us on the hard.

When they told the board there's only 5% probability, the board kind of like we're nuts but we actually achieved the plan a year early.

[Sal] They thought it was a 5% probability because they've advised on lot of the fact part.

[Angela] They thought we were being far too aggressive.

[Sal] On the aggressive, when you said you're going to double your revenues, you said?

[Angela] And profit in five years.

[Sal] And profit in five years, that was the part that they were giving you.

[Angela] Absolutely.

[Sal] They said, "I'm sure you'll grow etcetera, etcetera." But to really …

The soft things are just stuff that felt right?

[Angela] The soft things were that we knew, I knew that we would be as good as our people.

That we had to build a team, we had to unite and connect this culture and they had to believe in the dream, right?

This is leadership and they had to lead everybody.

We were 3,200 people then and some of them, we had people then with the 30 years, 40 years right?

How do you get everybody united around a new vision, a new dream?

The thing is this they have to believe, every single person has to believe you can do this.

That's the positive energy that comes around something when you are breaking new ground or trying to do something transformative like you are.

If they don't believe, and I told them upfront after that six months I said, "If you do not believe that we're going to do this, then maybe you should go now."

Because we knew we wanted to do something really big and transformative.

We used our instincts, we confused our self to the facts and then we build a very balanced strategy, hard and soft, very balance teams.

We need creative's but we need operational excellence and the strategies were built that way.

I always say in every single store we have, we need left brain and we need right.

In every country, in every region because I don't think you'll build a great brand that resonates and touches people without both.

You need the engagement but you need the reach and they're very different.

[Sal] The projection of doubling and there's no precedent for this?

I mean that's why it was, that's probably why …

[Angela] Well the precedent was, they had done it before.

[Sal] I see.

[Angela] The probability of a company doing it twice was what really took the odds down.

[Sal] Right, I mean through that process were there moments where you yourself were like "Gee, I don't know if this is going to happen."

I've got …

[Angela] Never. Never.

[Sal] That's why I am too, I never doubt.

[Angela] Never.

[Sal] I'm always doubting.

[Angela] You are not.

[Sal] Not really.

[Angela] No, you're not.

No, I think he's a bigger dreamer than I am.

[Sal] Maybe, we can compete.

[Angela] Yeah but you have to because you are on, you are disrupting a sector that is so overdue to be disrupted, it is so overdue.

The next generation is in your hands and they need you to do this, the country needs you to do what you're doing.

You got to do it and you got to keep going and you got to get your reach out there, you are engaging.

I mean the fact that 30,000 teachers are using your content in schools.

I don't know, it's unbelievable.

Get it to 100, get it to 200, I mean just don't stop.

[Sal] Can you Skype in to our company updates, it would be very … (people laughing) Let's do this.

[Angela] That's how I feel.

[Sal] Yeah.

[Angela] I mean that is how I feel and if you, and it's not going to be easy but don't stop.

[Sal] Yeah. Well that by itself is really powerful advice if you'd ...

I mean what would you tell us as we go, I mean you're 158 years old, we're 158 weeks old.

(people laughing) How do we …

Any advice for …

I mean beyond that just kind of alter focus, believe, power through.

[Angela] Definitely focus and we still do the same thing today.

We always say that every year we only do three new things.

That's it, because they take ...

We call them big brand moments whether it was launching burberry.com.

I mean it took us a year to unite thousands of people around the world.

We said that we had to do this and we had one chance to change 150 years of perception.

We knew that and this year they'll be pretty close to 100 million people that go into burberry.com and you guys we're up to, a lot but for a luxury brand that's a lot.

[Sal] Well that's pretty good.

[Angela] It's a lot and not all buying but engaging and spreading what the brand's about, etcetera.

Three things a year and we still hold on to that no matter how big we are.

[Sal] That's not individual products, that is new initiatives like burberry.com.

[Angela] Exactly three big brand things that we unite 10,000 people around the world to do.

[Sal] Right, and what's next in the queue?

What are the three things you are doing now?

[Angela] It's probably no surprise that we are aggressively working on our ...

Continuing to work on our digital platform and specifically when it comes to mobile.

I mean the whole world is becoming mobile and it's crazy all the metrics of the consumers that are engaging and that's probably a challenge to you guys too.

Because that is where you'll get your kid, that is where, on the mobile device.

Not just a phone but any mobile device, I mean the whole world ...

It's just so heavy investment, lot of focus going there, so digital mobile etcetera.

We always have operational or internal initiatives as well.

We do as we get big, areas get sloppy so we still have to drive a lot of efficiencies out of the business.

We call it commercial procurement we're building, we build tons of stores a year so we've hired some additional expertise to make sure we're doing that in the most efficient way in.

I mean right now if you ask any of our executives around the world, they know those are the three things that we're focused on this year.

If we do those right, we will put up the results that we budgeted, etcetera.

[Sal] Wow and you're all growing fast.

I mean for a large company, you all grew 24, 25% last year?

[Angela] Yeah.

[Sal] That's fairly dramatic.

[Angela] We just put up this year's results.

We just did our trading update a couple weeks ago and our retail business was up 13% on a really, really big base and …

[Sal] That's not what global retail is doing today?

[Angela] No, no, our largest competitor put up a 3% retail business and they're the biggest in the sector.

Now we're absolutely continuing to out perform but I will tell you because it's the people.

Because there are 10,000 people around the world that are so passionate about this company and so passionate about our performance and creating again a great brand, a really great company but they also know that every time we open a flagship store ...

Because again it's shallow luxury retail, right?

That always bothered Christopher and I because it's not where we came from, right?

We love what we're doing and that's what we've been focus on, a great company.

Every time we open a flagship store, we partner with a local institution.

In Chicago we partnered with [Hype] and we gifted them a million dollars.

We created a program to help the youth in the Chicago area with our programs Burberry Beyond, etcetera.

We've done it in New York, we've done it in Beijing, we're getting ready to do it in Shanghai.

Anytime we open up this huge luxury store which could come across a little, elitist if you will, we always make sure that the company also, like in New York we said we're lighting up Manhattan with a store.

Well we're also going to light up people's lives when we gave the million dollars to the Robin Hood Foundation and put our program in place for the chartered schools, etcetera.

That's a big part of the balance and that's a part of being a great company.

[Sal] When you look at the organization, you must be looking at people "Oh, look at him, look at her."

'"She's got some potential, he's got some potential."

'"Hey, that could be the next CEO."

What are you looking at?

What are the traits that you're seeing in those people that are really striking you as someone who might be able to one day step into your shoes?

[Angela] It's a great question.

We look at it honestly in all levels of the company and I would even say probably less my shoes, right?

Because that would mostly be a lot of my [direct report], etcetera so I would tell you at every level of the company and we hire for it as well.

It sounds terrible but we culturally compatible.

We always say we don't want tissue rejection because it's tough to bring people into your culture.

[Sal] Tissue rejection like skin grafting or ...

[Angela] Yeah.

[Sal] Yes, yes.

[Angela] We just don't want that.

People go to such rigor before we bring them into the company.

We always said, "Are they culturally compatible?"

'"Do we trust them?"

Do we like them obviously but do we trust them?

Do we believe them?

Do they believe in our mission, in what we're doing?

Because we can't afford to make a mistake.

I would tell you with anybody going to the next level, there is transparency, trust, our core values, all those soft things we talked about.

When they reach a certain level it's a given their smart.

It's a given they have high IQ but we need high EQ.

I always say that everybody in the company needs a little right and left brain, right?

Two extremes because then they don't feel.

We always say that we can teach people anything but we can't teach them to care, we can't teach them to feel and when you're in a human business and you're communicating like we're communicating, they have to be authentic.

We have a leadership council which is the next generation talent.

We spend hours just helping them understand who they are.

Who are they, right?

Because then only if they really know who they are, can they build very balance teams around them and it's a real self-reflective phase that they go through but they will become better leaders having peace and confidence with who they are and to thy self be true.

That is a part of our talent plan.

I always say no different than me.

I tell investors you would be so surprised at every decision I don't make everyday. (Sal laughs)

But you can't.

I have to try trust the people we brought in and I have to give them very simple clear messages.

The three things we're going to do this year and all the metrics behind it and uniting everyone but it is trust, intuition, great communication, authenticity, people have to feel them or they will never rise as a leader in the company.

[Sal] Right. I mean is it something that you think you can ...

I mean you talk about personality fit and cultural fit, do you trust them, but is there some way that you can screen for that?

For that balance of the whole brain.

I read the whole book now.

[Angela] Fascinating.

[Sal] Very good book.

[Angela] Did you really read it?

[Sal] I did, I read it on plane, it's a long flight.

[Angela] I gave him a copy of Daniel Pink's book.

It's called the Whole Mind, why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World?

[Sal] One thing that I pointed out to you because one thing that I did react to that book.

It's funny because in that book it says, "Oh, we don't need programmers anymore, we need inventors."

I said, "What's a programmer? It's an inventor."

It is a fundamentally a right-brained activity.

I actually most strong ...

When people say, "Khan Academy stem ..."

I was like stem is, it should be a right-brained activity.

I mean in my mind the learning to factor a polynomial or to do the basics of algorithm, that's like a painter learning how to paint.

The real expression is when you actually create something so I actually think we're more similar.

[Angela] I think so too but I think that's what you've unlocked.

I think that's your unique brand positioning.

[Sal] Right, the creative …

[Angela] You're taking what most people would take as a traditional left-brain and you're adding fun to it, you're adding energy to it.

You're making it, you're combining, you're making it more of a right, left brain exercise not just an analytical exercise.

[Sal] Yeah, no and how are we doing on time now?

[Voiceover] I think we only have, like three more minutes.

[Sal] Okay, three more minutes.

I will ask you again because it was so inspiring in the Dopamine, just start, we're talking about Dopamine earlier and you got us all very excited.

[Angela] (laughs) I won't ask.

[Sal] Yeah, we were talking about, well and other things.

I mean, just parting words, advice for the team here and people look good greater Khan Academy community.

Thoughts on just what we should be doing and how we should approach life.

[Angela] Yeah, you are …

It's funny because I had the honor right before the Olympics.

Mr. Bill Gates was in London and had a wonderful luncheon.

We'd met a couple of different times and I had the honor of sitting next to him at the luncheon table.

He was talking about all of his different philanthropic efforts etcetera and to the who's who of the UK if you will.

He had mentioned the Khan Academy and I was so excited, why ...

At the very end he simply said, "Is there anything else?"

I said, "Well what are you plans for the Khan Academy?”

He looked at me like how did I know about this and nobody in the room knew about it and these are huge big executives running Glaxo and every big company in the UK.

He then went on to share with them what you were doing and why that he felt strongly and his foundation was investing, etcetera.

Then the luncheon broke and then he looked at me and he goes, "What would you do?"

I said, "You created the greatest brand in the world, Microsoft."

'"You were so laser and you had such a vision.”

I said, "It is absolutely no different with the Khan Academy."

'"I believe you have the ability to create one of the greatest brands and one of the greatest companies in the world."

I told him, I said, "When you did it, there was a need and you filled that need."

There is a tremendous need and you are filling that need and it's in a different way but you're using and you're leveraging the technology that exist today, as he did.

He then sent a follow up note afterwards saying, "Could we continue the conversation, I found it fascinating, etcetera."

I shared this with you because at this young age that you are, to have someone of his vision and his caliber believe in you, you know you're on the right track.

I just think that I am absolutely nothing in comparison to the people that are watching you, the people that are following you, the lives that you're impacting.

You're impacting teachers lives, you're impacting the next generation.

You are actually impacting people who didn't finish their education.

Who are going on and learning now.

You will create a phenomenal brand, you will create an amazing company and you are in the mist of disrupting a sector that is so desperately in need of being fixed.

You're doing it in such a modern way, leveraging everything that exist today and my counsel to you is just don't stop and don't slow down.

Stay focused, keep the right pace but do truly understand that what you're doing has far greater meaning than anything you've ever done in your lives before.

Not just that America need you to do this, the world needs you to do this.

Education is the biggest issue that inhibiting future economies all over the world.

I am so honored to be here to chat with you and just I am so thankful for what you're doing, I really am.

[Sal] Well I feel like going back to work now. (people laughing)

No, thank you so much.

I mean this was, I mean for me personally when we met in Heathrow with my $6 shirt on, that by itself was a really powerful.

'"I mean Esther was there too and we were like "She’s amazing!”

Esther is the number search resultant Olympic attitude on Google. (people laughing)

She has authority here but we were transfixed and blown away by meeting you then and this I think I could speak for everyone where this was incredibly inspiring and motivating for all of us so thank you so much.

[Angela] No, you are more than welcome.

Keep up the great work. (clapping)

번역 0%

Angela Ahrendts - Former CEO of Burberry발음듣기

[Sal] Well I just wanted to introduce everyone to Angela Ahrendts.발음듣기

Just as a little bit of background on how all of this happened.발음듣기

You all know I was just in England two weeks ago and as part of that you came to the talk at the London School of Economics and then the next day we met at Heathrow Airport.발음듣기

[Angela] Yup.발음듣기

[Sal] I had my $6 Old Navy shirt feeling very insecure the entire time. (Angela laughs)발음듣기

Both Esther and I were there and you inspired us.발음듣기

When you said you're going to be in this area we're like well we would love you to do the same thing with the team just talk about what you're doing etcetera, etcetera.발음듣기

If you could talk a little bit about just how you ...발음듣기

I mean fashion, the world of fashion is this world, I mean it's not obvious to most people how does someone get in to it and especially get to the level that you've gotten.발음듣기

How did you start and what kind of, at least at the early stages allowed you to get here?발음듣기

[Angela] I mean honestly it's not a dissimilar story to yours, right?발음듣기

My thing is you ...발음듣기

I think the greatest thing that anybody can do when they're young is discover their passion and what they love.발음듣기

I know it sounds really, really terrible but I love stuff and I love to shop and I love fashion magazines and I love to sow and create.발음듣기

It was the only industry I had to get in to but I went to university and signed up for all these design classes and realized I really wasn't that creative.발음듣기

I had a really strong opinion on what everybody else was doing.발음듣기

I had a professor say that we call you a merchant.발음듣기

I'm like "Okay" and so then I signed up for a lot of merchandising and marketing courses.발음듣기

My university degree is in merchandising and marketing.발음듣기

In the world of what we do I always say I'm the monkey in the middle.발음듣기

We have Christopher Bailey who's the Chief Creative Officer and he is so creative and so brilliant and his whole creative team does all those videos but then, so that's on my right and on my left we have the chief financial officer, we have our chief operating officer, we have a number of our teams that have just arrived as well.발음듣기

You have this balance so I will say I'm a 50, 50.발음듣기

I am half left brain analytical, I am half right brain creative and that was actually one of the reasons that I wanted to chat with Sal.발음듣기

Because I said someday as you guys start to take over the world, you're going to have to also start to introduce some right brain curriculum and the Burberry Foundation would be honored to help you start creating some of those things when you're already down the road [unintelligible].발음듣기

[Sal] Yeah, and no we're already starting a little bit and we could talk more about that.발음듣기

No, absolutely and I think ...발음듣기

I mean say you're not creative, I mean that I think you're really underselling your …발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah, the design creative.발음듣기

[Sal] You obviously had a very strong aesthetic, you had a sense for what connective …발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah, again I'm absolutely a merchant and I will tell you the reason Christopher and I created the foundation is this, because we are both creative thinkers.발음듣기

[Sal] Right.발음듣기

[Angela] We feel very strongly that the curriculum specifically in America has become so left brain, so much of the arts and things have been cut out.발음듣기

It is I think for where the world's going we need creative thinkers.발음듣기

We need and so many times they're getting lost out of the system, so we created the Burberry Foundation.발음듣기

We give 1% of our profits into the Burberry Foundation and what we do is, we try and pick up the youth that is starting to fall out of the system because they think they're dumb because they don't.발음듣기

Hopefully we can help turn them on to you guys to help them.발음듣기

If they're still just not left brain but they're incredibly creative thinking.발음듣기

We bring as many of them as we can.발음듣기

We show them a whole another world that companies like us need and that's been our calling.발음듣기

[Sal] Yeah, I know it's incredible.발음듣기

I mean you yourself you said, “Okay I'll be a merchant”.발음듣기

A professor tells you this and you just go to New York and then you're not even 30 and you're the president of Donna Karan?발음듣기

(Angela laughs) Is that right?발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah.발음듣기

[Sal] How does that happen? Is that normal?발음듣기

Are there a lot of 20 something's running a major fashion houses in the world?발음듣기

[Angela] Probably not and I will tell you I'm really guilty because I'm not great talking about myself, I'm just not because I'm only as good always as the great teams that are around me and no different than you guys.발음듣기

Yes, I think what happens always is when you discover who you are and you discover your passion and then it's not work at your life and so you just get in to that zone.발음듣기

I was so fortunate that met the right people, things fell into place, absolutely worked my butt off because I was single, alone in New York and why not.발음듣기

It's all I did was, but I found my zone, I found …발음듣기

[Sal] Was there a moment where …발음듣기

I just find if a member of my family says "Hey, I'm going to go to New York and I'm going to go work in fashion," like "Okay, I'll see if I can help support you at some point or …"발음듣기

Just the left brain, the left brain side of me.발음듣기

I mean how did you break in and then obviously left such a big mark with people that by the time you weren't even 30 you're a president of a major fashion organization?발음듣기

[Angela] It's funny, I don't think of any different than a great athlete or a musician or a …발음듣기

I think that what happens is this is all what I've ever done.발음듣기

I've always just stayed in my lane and then you become ...발음듣기

Whether you're a footballer or whether you're ...발음듣기

I didn't jump around, this is all that I've done and I have always been so passionate about it.발음듣기

I think when you direct your energy and you become so passionate and you unite people, right?발음듣기

You lead people all around believing in something and then things just fall into place.발음듣기

I know that, and when I say things, the revenue, the profit, right?발음듣기

I never went in saying, "I'm going to do this".발음듣기

I went in saying, "What if we did this?"발음듣기

I've always been a dreamer.발음듣기

My father used to always say, "Take off your rose-colored glasses" and I would always say "No".발음듣기

Now I don't have to, I can keep dreaming but the important thing I've learned is though I have to get enough people, right?발음듣기

I have to surround myself with enough people that can help execute that dream now and that's all that I've ever done.발음듣기

I don't want to over simplify it but I found my zone, I absolutely love what I do, it is not work at all.발음듣기

I have never once woke up in the morning said, "Oh God, I got to go to work".발음듣기

It's not work, this is my life.발음듣기

Everywhere that I've been because it's not work and the Monterey at Burberry or anywhere that I've been because the stronger companies get then the more they can do and the bigger influence they have.발음듣기

At Burberry we've always said that we have the power to touch and transform lives through the power of our performance.발음듣기

The bigger and the stronger we get, the more we can do and that's just always been ...발음듣기

I'm from the heart of Midwest, real strong family faith up bringing and I have been raised to give.발음듣기

That's how I was raised and so why wouldn't you apply that back in business and so it just ...발음듣기

[Sal] I think you are underselling yourself a little bit.발음듣기

[Angela] Thank you. I do want because the interesting about this and why we video them is I think just the Khan Academy user base, there's a lot of young people out there who would say "How do I do that?"발음듣기

If you had advice for someone who's 16 years old or 20 years old and they find this world intriguing, what should they develop in themselves?발음듣기

How should they think about the world and what should they do?발음듣기

[Angela] Well, and I always say to the fashion industry is deceiving because everybody just thinks it's only this creative part where in a company like Burberry there are 18 different departments that comprise the company.발음듣기

We need, we hire a lot of people from Silicon Valley.발음듣기

We need great, we have 130 people just in the IT department in the company.발음듣기

People don't realize that so we need extreme right and we need extreme left.발음듣기

I think sometimes the fashion industry gets a short, it's the short stick sometimes when they think "It's just fashion, it's just ..."발음듣기

In order to create and here's my thing I always say that what we're doing is we're creating a great brand and a great company and we happen to the in business of fashion.발음듣기

We didn't set out to create a really great fashion, we set out to create a great brand.발음듣기

I say that because there's a part of me that says that is your mission as well.발음듣기

[Sal] I mean following on that but I do want to think about, well what in your mind is, what does a brand mean?발음듣기

I've heard multiple definitions of a brand and how would you view Burberry's brand and how would you view our brand in the same, they're very similar. (Angela laughing)발음듣기

Exploring a line of overcoats.발음듣기

[Angela] To me a great brand and here's my thing, think of yourself and when you interact with products.발음듣기

What coffee do you drink every morning or you might walk into Starbucks or you might walk in the ...발음듣기

You might have Apple products, you might ...발음듣기

How do you feel about and so you want to be a part of that brand because you're proud to be a part of that brand because that brand makes you feel a certain way.발음듣기

You trust that brand and it's authentic and it doesn't ever let you down.발음듣기

It exceeds your expectations so you want to engage with it, right?발음듣기

Those are all of the attributes of a great brand, honesty, integrity, authenticity, quality but always doing what you …발음듣기

To have a great engagement or what's the word ...발음듣기

Great brand presence, there has to be a very trusting relationship with your constituency.발음듣기

In that way we are absolutely because your users they have to trust what you're telling them.발음듣기

I mean and if you're wrong … (laughs)발음듣기

[Sal] Yes, happens every now and then. (Angela laughing)발음듣기

[Angela] To me it's a part of what a great brand is and in Burberry's case and that's how we measure it.발음듣기

[Sal] How do you think about these things?발음듣기

You joined Burberry in 2006.발음듣기

I guess in the previous five or 10 years Burberry had been rejuvenated.발음듣기

If you could talk a little bit about that rejuvenation before you got there and then when you took over the job and what do you tell yourself?발음듣기

How are you going to steer the ship?발음듣기

[Angela] What I think happens and again we're 158 years old and you guys are ...발음듣기

What you're building right now ...발음듣기

No but so we had gone through a lot and so we got the whole management team together.발음듣기

You're starting out that way but we got the team together and said, "What is our core?"발음듣기

'"What is our core product proposition and what's our core purpose?"발음듣기

We realized that 158, it's 150 years then but 158 years ago now, we were born from a coat.발음듣기

We had our own weaving facility in the North of England, we had our own factory to produce all of those coats.발음듣기

It's interesting we were driving innovation everywhere else but in our core product.발음듣기

Whenever we talked about global warming and they gave me all the reasons why we couldn't do that.발음듣기

It was like “No, no, no”, every great brand ...발음듣기

What would Starbucks be without coffee?발음듣기

I mean every great brand has to have a core and I think people get bored with that.발음듣기

As you grow bigger and bigger what is your core products proposition and don't ever lose it.발음듣기

Keep innovating that core because people get bored really easy.발음듣기

Then also what is your core purpose and because I don't believe people just want to work, I think people all want deeper meaning in their lives.발음듣기

It was hard for us, people don't just want to make stuff.발음듣기

People want to make stuff that has meaning and has a purpose and so we created our core values which are to protect, explore, and inspire.발음듣기

We didn't come up with those, we took those out of a book that Thomas Burberry wrote 158 years ago when he was 21 years old and he founded the company.발음듣기

We always say his spirit lives on and it should because it was his company, it was his vision and he created that waterproof gabardine fabric to protect the military in the trenches that's why he created the trench coat, etcetera.발음듣기

We said that is our core, that's what he founded the company on.발음듣기

How do we make the trench coat the most cool, relevant, hip thing in the world?발음듣기

That's what we are born from.발음듣기

Nobody else can say that but us.발음듣기

To revitalize and transform the company we simply went back to the basics.발음듣기

We went back and revitalized our core and we took that category which was about 22% of the business, seven and a half, eight years ago today it's half of the business.발음듣기

When you watch a runway show, nearly every item that goes down has some type of a trench coat or some type of.발음듣기

The innovation that we've driven in that core and that has single-handedly ...발음듣기

Harvard Business reviewed the great article on just that topic revitalizing the core.발음듣기

[Sal] I mean how do you decide on that?발음듣기

Is that just a gut instinct, I mean or do you ...발음듣기

Is there some data that you look ...발음듣기

We look at all the brands that have a core versus don't have a core.발음듣기

On that and then as you move and continue to innovate and get new products, I'm sure everyday someone comes to you "Hey, we should have a line of whatever it might be", how do you decide?발음듣기

How much of it is analytically driven and how much of it is gut or whatever else driven?발음듣기

[Angela] It's a great question.발음듣기

I'm going to answer it three ways.발음듣기

One is we always say that we are a creative thinking company and everything we do is driven by intuition.발음듣기

Then we can fuse ourselves with facts but we always lead with intuition.발음듣기

Because we always say that we do value feeling over knowing because if we only focused on knowing, we'd never move forward because you can't prove something that hasn't been done before.발음듣기

We are and that is a part of being a creative thinking culture.발음듣기

I forgot my other two because I told you there were three and I …발음듣기

[Sal] Well you say you confuse yourself with facts, I mean what does that mean?발음듣기

Does that mean that you feel or collectively not just you, the whole organization feels like something is the right direction but what if someone says, "Hey, but look everyone who's gone in to this phase before has failed or there's 800 players already in that market that they got zero margin on what they're doing."발음듣기

It's a commodity, do you ignore that?발음듣기

Do you sometimes ignore that?발음듣기

Do you say, “No, we still feel good about it" and you move ahead?발음듣기

[Angela] Seven years ago, came up with all the hard, we call them hard strategies.발음듣기

Those are all the ones that are very fact based.발음듣기

When we talked about retail led growth brought in the consultant company told that, I said, "Tell me every key market in the world that has, where are peers have at least two stores and we have none."발음듣기

Then tell me their productivity per square foot so we had a strategy, put all the hard metrics behind it and but the gut …발음듣기

Our instincts were, and we were 75% wholesale when I started, today we are 75% retail, our own stores direct to consumer.발음듣기

Our instincts said, we had to go direct to consumer, we had to control the brand, the environment, everything.발음듣기

Again brought in the firm but we did that on every strategy and they would reaffirm etcetera.발음듣기

Then I put them in front of the board.발음듣기

Very first been in the company six months strategies are done, everything's outlined, we know exactly where we're going.발음듣기

At the very end they told the board and we said that that point in time we would double the revenue and the profits in five years.발음듣기

They, the guy, that I won't mention the company on video but the guy sense up at the end of the meeting and the board says, "Well how do you feel about this going through it?"발음듣기

He says, "There's about a 5% probability that they will do this".발음듣기

[Sal] Who's this guy?발음듣기

[Angela] Well he works for a huge consulting firm and I'm not going to mention the firm.발음듣기

[Sal] Okay, all right.발음듣기

[Angela] We had them come in and for six months we had them work with us on validating these strategies.발음듣기

[Sal] Right, and so the strategy was based through as a number strategy where you're looking at the retail density in different geographies and how productive those stores are.발음듣기

That is what you used to decide where you're going to go?발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah, again there's always both.발음듣기

There's always the …발음듣기

Well and that was the other part of the thing I just forgot so one was intuition but the other is balance.발음듣기

[Sal] Right.발음듣기

[Angela] Right? We talk a lot about the right and the left, a lot.발음듣기

When we had five hard strategies and we had five soft strategies.발음듣기

The foundation was a soft strategy, the culture was the soft, all of the [company] had been, free lunch, the benefits for all of these stuff, or all the soft strategies and we said that these will enable those.발음듣기

Just focusing on these, we may not get the job done.발음듣기

The consulting firm didn't work with us on the soft things, they only worked with us on the hard.발음듣기

When they told the board there's only 5% probability, the board kind of like we're nuts but we actually achieved the plan a year early.발음듣기

[Sal] They thought it was a 5% probability because they've advised on lot of the fact part.발음듣기

[Angela] They thought we were being far too aggressive.발음듣기

[Sal] On the aggressive, when you said you're going to double your revenues, you said?발음듣기

[Angela] And profit in five years.발음듣기

[Sal] And profit in five years, that was the part that they were giving you.발음듣기

[Angela] Absolutely.발음듣기

[Sal] They said, "I'm sure you'll grow etcetera, etcetera." But to really …발음듣기

The soft things are just stuff that felt right?발음듣기

[Angela] The soft things were that we knew, I knew that we would be as good as our people.발음듣기

That we had to build a team, we had to unite and connect this culture and they had to believe in the dream, right?발음듣기

This is leadership and they had to lead everybody.발음듣기

We were 3,200 people then and some of them, we had people then with the 30 years, 40 years right?발음듣기

How do you get everybody united around a new vision, a new dream?발음듣기

The thing is this they have to believe, every single person has to believe you can do this.발음듣기

That's the positive energy that comes around something when you are breaking new ground or trying to do something transformative like you are.발음듣기

If they don't believe, and I told them upfront after that six months I said, "If you do not believe that we're going to do this, then maybe you should go now."발음듣기

Because we knew we wanted to do something really big and transformative.발음듣기

We used our instincts, we confused our self to the facts and then we build a very balanced strategy, hard and soft, very balance teams.발음듣기

We need creative's but we need operational excellence and the strategies were built that way.발음듣기

I always say in every single store we have, we need left brain and we need right.발음듣기

In every country, in every region because I don't think you'll build a great brand that resonates and touches people without both.발음듣기

You need the engagement but you need the reach and they're very different.발음듣기

[Sal] The projection of doubling and there's no precedent for this?발음듣기

I mean that's why it was, that's probably why …발음듣기

[Angela] Well the precedent was, they had done it before.발음듣기

[Sal] I see.발음듣기

[Angela] The probability of a company doing it twice was what really took the odds down.발음듣기

[Sal] Right, I mean through that process were there moments where you yourself were like "Gee, I don't know if this is going to happen."발음듣기

I've got …발음듣기

[Angela] Never. Never.발음듣기

[Sal] That's why I am too, I never doubt.발음듣기

[Angela] Never.발음듣기

[Sal] I'm always doubting.발음듣기

[Angela] You are not.발음듣기

[Sal] Not really.발음듣기

[Angela] No, you're not.발음듣기

No, I think he's a bigger dreamer than I am.발음듣기

[Sal] Maybe, we can compete.발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah but you have to because you are on, you are disrupting a sector that is so overdue to be disrupted, it is so overdue.발음듣기

The next generation is in your hands and they need you to do this, the country needs you to do what you're doing.발음듣기

You got to do it and you got to keep going and you got to get your reach out there, you are engaging.발음듣기

I mean the fact that 30,000 teachers are using your content in schools.발음듣기

I don't know, it's unbelievable.발음듣기

Get it to 100, get it to 200, I mean just don't stop.발음듣기

[Sal] Can you Skype in to our company updates, it would be very … (people laughing) Let's do this.발음듣기

[Angela] That's how I feel.발음듣기

[Sal] Yeah.발음듣기

[Angela] I mean that is how I feel and if you, and it's not going to be easy but don't stop.발음듣기

[Sal] Yeah. Well that by itself is really powerful advice if you'd ...발음듣기

I mean what would you tell us as we go, I mean you're 158 years old, we're 158 weeks old.발음듣기

(people laughing) How do we …발음듣기

Any advice for …발음듣기

I mean beyond that just kind of alter focus, believe, power through.발음듣기

[Angela] Definitely focus and we still do the same thing today.발음듣기

We always say that every year we only do three new things.발음듣기

That's it, because they take ...발음듣기

We call them big brand moments whether it was launching burberry.com.발음듣기

I mean it took us a year to unite thousands of people around the world.발음듣기

We said that we had to do this and we had one chance to change 150 years of perception.발음듣기

We knew that and this year they'll be pretty close to 100 million people that go into burberry.com and you guys we're up to, a lot but for a luxury brand that's a lot.발음듣기

[Sal] Well that's pretty good.발음듣기

[Angela] It's a lot and not all buying but engaging and spreading what the brand's about, etcetera.발음듣기

Three things a year and we still hold on to that no matter how big we are.발음듣기

[Sal] That's not individual products, that is new initiatives like burberry.com.발음듣기

[Angela] Exactly three big brand things that we unite 10,000 people around the world to do.발음듣기

[Sal] Right, and what's next in the queue?발음듣기

What are the three things you are doing now?발음듣기

[Angela] It's probably no surprise that we are aggressively working on our ...발음듣기

Continuing to work on our digital platform and specifically when it comes to mobile.발음듣기

I mean the whole world is becoming mobile and it's crazy all the metrics of the consumers that are engaging and that's probably a challenge to you guys too.발음듣기

Because that is where you'll get your kid, that is where, on the mobile device.발음듣기

Not just a phone but any mobile device, I mean the whole world ...발음듣기

It's just so heavy investment, lot of focus going there, so digital mobile etcetera.발음듣기

We always have operational or internal initiatives as well.발음듣기

We do as we get big, areas get sloppy so we still have to drive a lot of efficiencies out of the business.발음듣기

We call it commercial procurement we're building, we build tons of stores a year so we've hired some additional expertise to make sure we're doing that in the most efficient way in.발음듣기

I mean right now if you ask any of our executives around the world, they know those are the three things that we're focused on this year.발음듣기

If we do those right, we will put up the results that we budgeted, etcetera.발음듣기

[Sal] Wow and you're all growing fast.발음듣기

I mean for a large company, you all grew 24, 25% last year?발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah.발음듣기

[Sal] That's fairly dramatic.발음듣기

[Angela] We just put up this year's results.발음듣기

We just did our trading update a couple weeks ago and our retail business was up 13% on a really, really big base and …발음듣기

[Sal] That's not what global retail is doing today?발음듣기

[Angela] No, no, our largest competitor put up a 3% retail business and they're the biggest in the sector.발음듣기

Now we're absolutely continuing to out perform but I will tell you because it's the people.발음듣기

Because there are 10,000 people around the world that are so passionate about this company and so passionate about our performance and creating again a great brand, a really great company but they also know that every time we open a flagship store ...발음듣기

Because again it's shallow luxury retail, right?발음듣기

That always bothered Christopher and I because it's not where we came from, right?발음듣기

We love what we're doing and that's what we've been focus on, a great company.발음듣기

Every time we open a flagship store, we partner with a local institution.발음듣기

In Chicago we partnered with [Hype] and we gifted them a million dollars.발음듣기

We created a program to help the youth in the Chicago area with our programs Burberry Beyond, etcetera.발음듣기

We've done it in New York, we've done it in Beijing, we're getting ready to do it in Shanghai.발음듣기

Anytime we open up this huge luxury store which could come across a little, elitist if you will, we always make sure that the company also, like in New York we said we're lighting up Manhattan with a store.발음듣기

Well we're also going to light up people's lives when we gave the million dollars to the Robin Hood Foundation and put our program in place for the chartered schools, etcetera.발음듣기

That's a big part of the balance and that's a part of being a great company.발음듣기

[Sal] When you look at the organization, you must be looking at people "Oh, look at him, look at her."발음듣기

'"She's got some potential, he's got some potential."발음듣기

'"Hey, that could be the next CEO."발음듣기

What are you looking at?발음듣기

What are the traits that you're seeing in those people that are really striking you as someone who might be able to one day step into your shoes?발음듣기

[Angela] It's a great question.발음듣기

We look at it honestly in all levels of the company and I would even say probably less my shoes, right?발음듣기

Because that would mostly be a lot of my [direct report], etcetera so I would tell you at every level of the company and we hire for it as well.발음듣기

It sounds terrible but we culturally compatible.발음듣기

We always say we don't want tissue rejection because it's tough to bring people into your culture.발음듣기

[Sal] Tissue rejection like skin grafting or ...발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah.발음듣기

[Sal] Yes, yes.발음듣기

[Angela] We just don't want that.발음듣기

People go to such rigor before we bring them into the company.발음듣기

We always said, "Are they culturally compatible?"발음듣기

'"Do we trust them?"발음듣기

Do we like them obviously but do we trust them?발음듣기

Do we believe them?발음듣기

Do they believe in our mission, in what we're doing?발음듣기

Because we can't afford to make a mistake.발음듣기

I would tell you with anybody going to the next level, there is transparency, trust, our core values, all those soft things we talked about.발음듣기

When they reach a certain level it's a given their smart.발음듣기

It's a given they have high IQ but we need high EQ.발음듣기

I always say that everybody in the company needs a little right and left brain, right?발음듣기

Two extremes because then they don't feel.발음듣기

We always say that we can teach people anything but we can't teach them to care, we can't teach them to feel and when you're in a human business and you're communicating like we're communicating, they have to be authentic.발음듣기

We have a leadership council which is the next generation talent.발음듣기

We spend hours just helping them understand who they are.발음듣기

Who are they, right?발음듣기

Because then only if they really know who they are, can they build very balance teams around them and it's a real self-reflective phase that they go through but they will become better leaders having peace and confidence with who they are and to thy self be true.발음듣기

That is a part of our talent plan.발음듣기

I always say no different than me.발음듣기

I tell investors you would be so surprised at every decision I don't make everyday. (Sal laughs)발음듣기

But you can't.발음듣기

I have to try trust the people we brought in and I have to give them very simple clear messages.발음듣기

The three things we're going to do this year and all the metrics behind it and uniting everyone but it is trust, intuition, great communication, authenticity, people have to feel them or they will never rise as a leader in the company.발음듣기

[Sal] Right. I mean is it something that you think you can ...발음듣기

I mean you talk about personality fit and cultural fit, do you trust them, but is there some way that you can screen for that?발음듣기

For that balance of the whole brain.발음듣기

I read the whole book now.발음듣기

[Angela] Fascinating.발음듣기

[Sal] Very good book.발음듣기

[Angela] Did you really read it?발음듣기

[Sal] I did, I read it on plane, it's a long flight.발음듣기

[Angela] I gave him a copy of Daniel Pink's book.발음듣기

It's called the Whole Mind, why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World?발음듣기

[Sal] One thing that I pointed out to you because one thing that I did react to that book.발음듣기

It's funny because in that book it says, "Oh, we don't need programmers anymore, we need inventors."발음듣기

I said, "What's a programmer? It's an inventor."발음듣기

It is a fundamentally a right-brained activity.발음듣기

I actually most strong ...발음듣기

When people say, "Khan Academy stem ..."발음듣기

I was like stem is, it should be a right-brained activity.발음듣기

I mean in my mind the learning to factor a polynomial or to do the basics of algorithm, that's like a painter learning how to paint.발음듣기

The real expression is when you actually create something so I actually think we're more similar.발음듣기

[Angela] I think so too but I think that's what you've unlocked.발음듣기

I think that's your unique brand positioning.발음듣기

[Sal] Right, the creative …발음듣기

[Angela] You're taking what most people would take as a traditional left-brain and you're adding fun to it, you're adding energy to it.발음듣기

You're making it, you're combining, you're making it more of a right, left brain exercise not just an analytical exercise.발음듣기

[Sal] Yeah, no and how are we doing on time now?발음듣기

[Voiceover] I think we only have, like three more minutes.발음듣기

[Sal] Okay, three more minutes.발음듣기

I will ask you again because it was so inspiring in the Dopamine, just start, we're talking about Dopamine earlier and you got us all very excited.발음듣기

[Angela] (laughs) I won't ask.발음듣기

[Sal] Yeah, we were talking about, well and other things.발음듣기

I mean, just parting words, advice for the team here and people look good greater Khan Academy community.발음듣기

Thoughts on just what we should be doing and how we should approach life.발음듣기

[Angela] Yeah, you are …발음듣기

It's funny because I had the honor right before the Olympics.발음듣기

Mr. Bill Gates was in London and had a wonderful luncheon.발음듣기

We'd met a couple of different times and I had the honor of sitting next to him at the luncheon table.발음듣기

He was talking about all of his different philanthropic efforts etcetera and to the who's who of the UK if you will.발음듣기

He had mentioned the Khan Academy and I was so excited, why ...발음듣기

At the very end he simply said, "Is there anything else?"발음듣기

I said, "Well what are you plans for the Khan Academy?”발음듣기

He looked at me like how did I know about this and nobody in the room knew about it and these are huge big executives running Glaxo and every big company in the UK.발음듣기

He then went on to share with them what you were doing and why that he felt strongly and his foundation was investing, etcetera.발음듣기

Then the luncheon broke and then he looked at me and he goes, "What would you do?"발음듣기

I said, "You created the greatest brand in the world, Microsoft."발음듣기

'"You were so laser and you had such a vision.”발음듣기

I said, "It is absolutely no different with the Khan Academy."발음듣기

'"I believe you have the ability to create one of the greatest brands and one of the greatest companies in the world."발음듣기

I told him, I said, "When you did it, there was a need and you filled that need."발음듣기

There is a tremendous need and you are filling that need and it's in a different way but you're using and you're leveraging the technology that exist today, as he did.발음듣기

He then sent a follow up note afterwards saying, "Could we continue the conversation, I found it fascinating, etcetera."발음듣기

I shared this with you because at this young age that you are, to have someone of his vision and his caliber believe in you, you know you're on the right track.발음듣기

I just think that I am absolutely nothing in comparison to the people that are watching you, the people that are following you, the lives that you're impacting.발음듣기

You're impacting teachers lives, you're impacting the next generation.발음듣기

You are actually impacting people who didn't finish their education.발음듣기

Who are going on and learning now.발음듣기

You will create a phenomenal brand, you will create an amazing company and you are in the mist of disrupting a sector that is so desperately in need of being fixed.발음듣기

You're doing it in such a modern way, leveraging everything that exist today and my counsel to you is just don't stop and don't slow down.발음듣기

Stay focused, keep the right pace but do truly understand that what you're doing has far greater meaning than anything you've ever done in your lives before.발음듣기

Not just that America need you to do this, the world needs you to do this.발음듣기

Education is the biggest issue that inhibiting future economies all over the world.발음듣기

I am so honored to be here to chat with you and just I am so thankful for what you're doing, I really am.발음듣기

[Sal] Well I feel like going back to work now. (people laughing)발음듣기

No, thank you so much.발음듣기

I mean this was, I mean for me personally when we met in Heathrow with my $6 shirt on, that by itself was a really powerful.발음듣기

'"I mean Esther was there too and we were like "She’s amazing!”발음듣기

Esther is the number search resultant Olympic attitude on Google. (people laughing)발음듣기

She has authority here but we were transfixed and blown away by meeting you then and this I think I could speak for everyone where this was incredibly inspiring and motivating for all of us so thank you so much.발음듣기

[Angela] No, you are more than welcome.발음듣기

Keep up the great work. (clapping)발음듣기

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