New Balance CEO Joe Preston on How the ‘Dad Shoe’ Became a Fashion Statement

New Balance: "Worn by supermodels in London and dads in Ohio."

Feb 28, 2024

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Search “New Balance” in Google, and these are the articles that pop up, surprisingly found in publications like Harper’s Bazaar, Teen Vogue, and ELLE Magazine.

During my research, I asked a trendy 27-year-old what she thought about the brand, and she said, “The New Balance shoes were once laughed at as a joke for the dads and now, people are setting alarms for the drops and the latest versions are sold out before we know it.”

So how did a brand notoriously known for its uncool “dad shoe” become a fashion craze largely popular with young women?

New Balance CEO Joe Preston credits the company’s commitment to working with athletes, entertainers, and fashion powerhouses to attract a new type of customer.

“If you had asked me 15 years ago, we would’ve probably been a little defensive,” he says about New Balance’s “dad shoe” reputation. “Today, we have brand ambassadors from music and entertainment. We have fashion brands that want to align with us and work with us. And we've created some of the the best collabs in the industry over the last few years. So we embrace it.”

In recent days, celebrities like Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes, Sofia Richie, Mandy Moore, and Adele have been spotted wearing the sneakers. “We’re a brand with heritage, and we don't want to run away from that,” Preston says. “And at the same time, the stuff we're producing today is fashionable, it's high performance, and it's coveted by so many around the globe.”

Preston, a New Balance lifer who was named CEO in December 2018, has been hyper-focused on cutting-edge innovation and making the brand relevant to a younger demographic. He’s expanded the brand into new sports, invested in the growth of its online business, and opened an innovative multi-sport research lab called “The Track” in Boston.

And his bets are paying off. New Balance ended 2023 with annual sales of $6.5 billion, and Preston has set an audacious goal of becoming a $10 billion business within a few years.

In this conversation, Preston discusses his journey to CEO, how he has helped to evolve the “dad shoe,” and why the $10 billion revenue goal is so significant.

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This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

(Below is an excerpt, but I encourage you to listen and watch to the full interview below.)

🎧 LISTEN.

🎬 WATCH.

You were named CEO at the end of 2018 and had to weather the global COVID pandemic. That’s quite the lesson in crisis leadership. How did you navigate that period of uncertainty?

PRESTON: We came into 2019, and our business was just not strong, our profitability was low, and we really spent the year trying to pivot to leaning into the consumer. We had done all this research on the target consumer — 18 to 34 years old — and we just quieted the noise in the organization on who the muse was and who we were targeting.

The second thing we did was to redirect capital toward our tech stack specifically for our online business. We signed Kawhi Leonard in 2019, and he wins the NBA championship. Great. Our website shuts down the next day from the traffic. It could not handle it. So we were in the midst of this investment, thankfully. That happened in April, and by ‘Back to School’ and certainly by the holidays, our site speed was stronger. We could handle any of the volume that was coming.

That was 2019. So I had a year under my belt when COVID hit in in February of 2020. But you know, nothing can prepare you for it. I do think the fact that I ran our international business, [I knew] communication was obviously important. We started meeting on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 in March of 2020 with our regional leaders from all around the globe, our essential function leaders, marketing, product, HR, legal, finance, and [direct-to-consumer]. We still have that meeting today, and I fundamentally believe that really helped us become a global company.

So we dialed in on the consumer, we had our tech stack ready when all our stores closed, and then just as important, we had our team aligned. So we were able to accomplish so much during that time period, and I think it's a big reason that we have come out of COVID maybe stronger than anyone in our industry.

New Balance has a reputation for being “a dad shoe.” Is that something you embrace or is that a brand storyline you’d like to re-write?

If you had asked me that 15 years ago, we would’ve probably been a little defensive. Today, we have brand ambassadors from music and entertainment. We have fashion brands that want to align with us and work with us. And we've created some of the the best collabs in the industry over the last few years. So we embrace it.

I mean, we began running ads on our 990 [model], which was the industry's first $100-running shoe that said: “Worn by dads in Ohio, and by supermodels in [London].” We ran that ad, and it was just a great expression of the way we feel about it.

First of all, I think it’s funny, and I think it's great. We're a brand with heritage, and we don't want to run away from that. And at the same time, the stuff we're producing today is fashionable, it's high-performance, and it's coveted by so many around the globe.

Paul Graham came up with this idea of a maker's schedule versus a manager's schedule. When you're operating on a manager's schedule, your calendar is littered with meetings. Makers, on the other hand, devote long chunks of time to work on creative problems. What do you do in that period of time reserved for deep thinking?

For deep thinking, I'm probably better off not sitting behind this desk. I find it far better when you when you get away.

I'm a big believer in recovery.

I think there's a point of diminishing returns if you continue to just grind it, grind it, grind it. And at some point, you got to make sure that you are being purposeful about your recovery.

And to me, those are three simple elements — purposeful about your sleep, purposeful about your nutrition, and purposeful about your exercise.

I am purposeful about those things, and [I am also] true to my purpose on why I am actually doing all this and why I want to do it. For me, it’s about trying to help people be their personal best here and to make sure that I am healthy for my family.

That's why I want to make sure I have that recovery. It also helps me to be more more present, more engaged, more patient. And when I have those things, I’m more creative, and I can connect the dots easier.