Lots of valuable lessons were shared at this week’s Black Footwear Forum in Detroit. Several of them came from Brandis Russell, the vice president and general manager of Converse North America.
The exec — whose career at Nike Inc. dates back to 2004 — spoke on stage with her former colleague, Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, president of PLC Detroit, the only design-focused historically Black college and university (HBCU) in the country. During their discussion, titled “Black Genius Talk” powered by Converse, Russell offered several words of wisdom help inform emerging talent and industry veterans alike, with a few specific to women.
Below are five lessons that Russell shared, edited for clarity.
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No One Has All the Answers
“The best work comes out of the collective genius, and you have to have the intersection of multiple disciplines, experiences — life experiences, work experiences — to unlock that. As young creatives, no one person has all of the answers on either side. Being willing to open up your creative process to allow others to influence you, finding places to work through compromise, which isn’t always letting go of something, it can also be letting in something else. Compromise is always in that deficit versus the reciprocation. As young people are cultivating their creativity, know that part of great ideas comes from the combination of like, arrogant youthfulness that’s always challenging why not, but seasoned with a little bit of decades of experience. It’s a very powerful combination. The old heads need to recognize that as well. If you’ve been doing this for a while, you can’t be on the side of that’s always how you’ve done it. You need to also embrace some of the youthful arrogance that might disrupt design, that might disrupt retail, that might disrupt patterns that you’ve had.”
Do Not Put Periods on Any Idea
“The other really important thing for those of us who are trying to create space for young creators is to not put a period on any idea. I’ve learned to try to lead less with statements and lead more with curiosity. When you put a period on an idea, you’re not leaving space for the creativity to flow, and I think sometimes that’s where young people feel challenged by people who’ve been in business for a while, been in industry and a while, because you just put period on my idea. Those of us who have done this for a while, keep young people engaged. Let’s try not to put periods on their ideas. I always believe there’s either a comma or a dot dot dot. Now you bring in youthful arrogance of why not, seasoned experience of here’s how you could do it, and within that create space for there to not be fear or constraint in people’s confidence.”
Women, Do Not Play Small
“Ladies, part of navigating this is not playing small. We all get told about the glass ceiling, but it’s glass, so you shouldn’t see anything that’s confining you. When you play small, you’re letting perceptions of others shrink your space. My village taught me to play big. You might not have a familial village, but you’ve got friends and you have to pick up people in a network or build a network that builds you up. Learn not to feel like as females you’re confined in that space.”
Femininity Is a Superpower
“A lot of typical archetypes of leaders have alpha masculine energy. For women, our superpower is the femininity of which we exude. We are mothers, we are daughters, we are sisters, and by nature, we’re nurturers. Leadership is not anything more than the study of human behavior. We have the ability to cut masculine energy that can create that suffocating space because of all the natural traits that we have. Ego and fear, low vibration. Affirmation, care are high vibration.”
Leadership Is a Study of Human Behavior
“Understand that leadership is a study of human behavior. Don’t be the ones that are bringing low vibrations and frequency into a space. You can’t influence through that. You can’t match ego with ego. You can’t match fear with ego. If you check the temperature that you’re bringing, the weather that you’re bringing, you can find that you can break down and demystify a lot of the corporate culture norms that I think people think are more tricky than they are, if you just understand each one of us is human.”
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.
