Chip Wilson > Quotes

“When I die, I want to die like my grandmother who died
peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“I have made many life decisions that were strictly survival-driven, but never wealth-driven. In selling to private equity, I was motivated by a desire to develop an idea, a concept, a philosophy that was solid in its foundation into a global phenomenon to elevate the world.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“In the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”
—Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some
Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants: Story of lululemon by the Founder, Chip Wilson

“I started to understand that just a logo was much more powerful a branding statement than a name alone.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“(and cleaned out the joint Westbeach account),”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“The runner’s high is a sensation that occurs after thirty-five minutes of a sustained, high-rate heartbeat. The brain releases hormones which take the athlete into an energized mental and physical space. The sensation usually lasts for about four hours. The amazing thing about an athlete’s high is the person’s past disappears and is irrelevant.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“I found the only time I had to shut down—to become mindful of nothing more than the present moment—was whenever I was peeing.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“Each day I walked into the office and asked myself, “If I had to compete against lululemon, what would I do?” This allowed me to cannibalize what was working today for what would be best for the future.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“Our branding emanated from my experience in the surf, skate, and snowboard industry where brands were created by being anti-establishment. This created a “tribe” who then created a social movement that others wanted to emulate (this is not really different from the luxury company whose advertised tribe is jet-setting models whose lives are unattainable by 99 percent of their customers). These are the subtleties of how word-of-mouth branding works, as described in the book The Tipping Point41. Christine’s reaction to this”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“Atlas Shrugged also brought into focus the many inefficiencies of the unionized labour system. I had a union job on the pipeline—which was exactly why I had so much time to read. But there were times in Alaska when I saw a simple task being performed by three people because the union required one guy to drive a machine, a different guy to flip a switch, and a third guy to make sure the machine didn’t run out of gas.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“I’d go into the bathroom, pee, close my eyes, and try to find a mental black dot. Then I’d float through that black dot for almost sixty seconds and be in nothing. I’d come out of the bathroom thinking how perfect I felt.”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants

“Who are you guys?! I just made a shitload of money off you!”
― Chip Wilson, Little Black Stretchy Pants