- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to the CEO of Warren Buffett’s favorite sports shoe brand, Brooks Running.
- The big story: Tariff deadline tomorrow.
- The markets: Mostly up except for China.
- Analyst notes from Wedbush on Apple’s AI strategy, Apollo Management on stablecoins, and Parthenon-EY on GDP.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. One of the toughest challenges for any company is making a niche brand feel new and cool. That’s especially tough in a market where costs are rising and consumers are spoiled for choice. And yet Brooks Running has been on a tear, with the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary reporting it had 15% annual revenue growth in the first quarter.
In the latest episode of Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast, CEO Dan Sheridan talks about turning a favorite among hardcore runners into a broader lifestyle brand. It helps that health and wellness have become a priority for consumers at a younger age, when brand preferences have yet to be set.
“Gen Z right now is engaging and running earlier than any other generation in the history of fitness,” he says, noting that many started at the age of 11. “If you put one foot in front of the other, you’re our customer.”
Nike, HOKA and plenty of other brands are chasing those feet, too. One reason Brooks can claim to have No. 1 market share in U.S. adult performance running footwear across national and specialty retail channels is its track record of focusing on performance. That’s a hard-won reputation for a 111-year-old company that once manufactured shoes for a broad range of sports, went bankrupt, overextended, reinvented itself and became part of the Berkshire family in 2006 after getting acquired by Fruit of the Loom. Buffett made it a standalone unit in 2012.
Now, Sheridan is trying to expand into new markets while catering to his core customer and contending with tariffs. “We’re so fortunate. We’re owned by who I would call the GOAT of capitalism,” he says, recalling the Oracle of Omaha’s message when he came to Brooks headquarters in 2014: “He said, ‘Berkshire focuses on the long term, and your jobs are simply this, to make sure the brand is stronger at the end of the year than it was at the beginning.’”
Sheridan also learned the importance of “organizations avoiding the ABCs: arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency” from the late Charlie Munger.
As for his own workout routine, Sheridan is more of a yoga aficionado than a hardcore runner—but he puts those Brooks shoes to use. “I joke that I think I was genetically engineered to plow a field and sit on a bar stool, but I love running. It’s a part of my life.”(Here’s a transcript of the episode. You can also listen to our conversation on Apple or Spotify.)
