Kerry Michaels: Lessons Learned from Building Bill Murray's Golf Brand
Kerry Killoren Michaels is the CEO of William Murray Golf. Kerry built WMG during her time with The Chive, pioneering what was originally one licensed product into a full lifestyle brand. Today, WMG offers numerous individually curated pieces inspired by Bill and the Murray brother\u2019s life and family. \n\nBefore starting WMG, Kerry spent time working with brands like Waterworks and Oakley where she learned the full scope of operating premium product businesses. Her more recent success with WMG earned her the title of Women 2 Watch in 2022 from the Women President\u2019s Organization.\n\nThis Episode\u2019s Heavy-hitter\u2019s:\n\nWilliam Murray Golf was actually built within The Chive, and then as it grew, it transitioned out and into its own company. Kerry saw the vision for a full lifestyle apparel and sports brand that they could disrupt the stuffy world of Golf with William Murray leading the charge.\n\nAt first, though, it wasn\u2019t clear that Bill would be on board. After his lawyer shot down the idea of expanding into a full line from the one logo The Chive had licensed from Bill, Kerry was able to pitch Bill\u2019s brother at a Golf tournament.\n\nBill actually named one of the first drops they did, which was a Cubs-jersey-styled polo. He called it \u201cThis Is The Year\u201d and luckily, the year was 2016, and just weeks later they won the World Series.\n\nOne point of pressure for Kerry and the team is the expectation of Bill\u2019s involvement in the brand. Although he is extremely involved and has literally been known to answer customer emails, they take embodying his voice and spirit in everything they do very seriously.\n\nSpoiler alert! Kerry\u2019s favorite Bill Murray movies are Ghostbusters, Stripes, and Meatballs.\n\nCheck out Willam Murray Golf @ https://www.williammurraygolf.com/\n\nIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review:\xa0 \xa0https://ratethispodcast.com/thepozcast\n\n#thePOZcast is brought to you by our friends at\xa0Interseller\xa0\u2013 the prospecting + outreach platform of recruiters and sellers. Whether you\u2019re doubling down on business development or recruiting talent, Interseller does all the heavy lifting of finding contact data, automating the email and follow-up process, and syncs all that rich data into 20+ CRMs and ATSs. Reach out and get going in a 2-week *free* trial today and let them know you heard about them from Adam on #thePOZcast.\n\nCheck out a free demo today!\xa0https://bit.ly/2Fbm/BZ\n\nThanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta\xa0@NHPTalent and Twitter\xa0@AdamJPosner.eth\xa0\n\nFor more, please visit www.thePOZcast.com