Hurdle with Emily Abbate

In this episode of Hurdle, Emily sits down with Erika Gabrielli, the Vice President of Global Marketing at HOKA. Erika shares the story of HOKA’s meteoric rise from a niche ultra-running brand to a $2 billion global powerhouse. She delves into the importance of brand authenticity, the power of listening to the community, and why "maximalism" in footwear is about more than just aesthetics—it's about performance and comfort.

Erika also opens up about her professional journey, offering tactical advice for those looking to break into the sports industry, the importance of trusting your intuition, and how she balances the demands of a high-profile executive role with being a mother.

IN THIS EPISODE

• The Evolution of "Maximalism": Erika traces HOKA's journey from being "counter-culture" in a minimalist era to leading the industry with its focus on solving the problem of running downhills faster.
• Scaling with Soul: How the brand reached its $2 billion revenue milestone while maintaining core values like curiosity and inclusivity.
• Marketing via Experience: Why Erika believes experiential marketing is the most powerful tool for building emotional connections and lasting memories with consumers.
• Co-Creation over Control: Shifting the marketing narrative from "talking at people" to "world-building" alongside the running community.
• Career "Harmony": Erika's perspective on rejecting the myth of work-life balance in favor of finding a daily "harmony" that allows for both professional leadership and motherhood.

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

On Marketing & Community

• "It’s not about controlling the narrative ... it’s much more about embracing that idea of co-creation. It’s a shift from talking at people to being in a space where we’re doing more world-building."
• "In terms of greatest brand building, it comes from an experience because it evokes a memory ... that memory evokes emotion, and that’s what always is going to bring people back to a brand."
• "The work is never done. We can talk about ourselves all day long, but if it's not directly drawn to that consumer insight and how we're solving problems for them, it's not going to pass the bar."

On Leadership & Intuition

• "The paranoid survive. You're always looking around corners to where there's opportunity but also where there's risk. Part of that to me is also tied to trusting your intuition."
• "It's not always the loudest voice in the room, it's not always the most senior voice in the room that is sharing the right paths or the right ideas."
• "The only person that's truly going to bet on you is you. Have the inner confidence to know that. You won't know until you try, and sometimes you won't know until you fail and you try again."

On Life "Harmony"

• "I stopped looking for balance a few years ago. I think it's unrealistic. I switched my language into finding harmony. Harmony is about the acknowledgment that I’m not going to be perfect at all the roles I have to play, and that’s okay."

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Hoka Cielo X1 3.0

SOCIAL
Erika on LinkedIn
@emilyabbate
@iheartwomenssports

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ASK ME A QUESTION: Email hello@hurdle.us to with your questions! Emily answers them every Friday on the show. 

Listen to Hurdle with Emily Abbate on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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