Joe Foster was born into the family shoe business along with his brother Jeff.  Joe's grandfather was the founder of J.W. Foster and Sons and the pioneer of the spiked running shoe, and also developed the trainer (sneaker).

 Upon returning from National Service, they decided that they wanted to do something different. In 1958 they set up their own sports shoes business, which was rebranded to Reebok 18 months later. 

Like many businesses in their early years, they had their fair share of twists and turns. Succeeding in America was always the dream, but it took years to crack that market. Once they did, they did it in style. Their big break came when Jane Fonda started to wear their shoes in her Aerobics classes. They refocussed their efforts on developing a female brand, and Reebok grew, very quickly.

They turned Reebok into a $ Billion business overtaking the like of Adidas and Nike along the way to become the number one sports brand in the USA. 

In 2020 Joe published his autobiography, Shoemaker. As you will hear, Joe is looking forward to seeing Reebok make something of a comeback under new ownership later this year. He will be out promoting his book and supporting Reebok in America in a few months’ time.

Joe shares many insights about his journey:

• Being persistent.
• Knowing your market and customers, 
• Seizing opportunity by taking action.

In today’s world of digital first, it was fascinating to hear Joe’s story in a world that was anything but digital first at the time. One relied on letters, phone calls and lots of travelling!

Resources:

Joe Foster website: https://www.reebokthefounder.com/. 

Joe Foster on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-foster-a38a4b10b/. 

Joe Foster on Twitter: @Reebokfounder 

Joe Foster’s Book “Shoemaker”: https://www.jwfosterheritage.com/shop-online. 

Acorn Children’s Hospice Business club: https://www.acorns.org.uk/acorns-business-club/.