This week, I’m sitting down with Seema Simmons, the General Manager of Running for North America at Nike. Seema’s path to the this role, 25 years in at Nike, has been anything but straight. She shares her journey from playing team sports and loving group fitness to pivoting away from an engineering major in college, and ultimately finding her dream role in Oregon.
In this inspiring and candid conversation, Seema discusses how her background in team sports shaped her unique leadership style, the lessons she learned from trusting her instincts (even when it was scary), and how she juggles a demanding career while prioritizing her role as a mother. Plus, she opens up about the challenge of being a quiet leader in a loud room, the power of embracing vulnerability, and Nike's commitment to making running more inclusive for women.
IN THIS EPISODE
- The unexpected journey from studying engineering to becoming a GM at Nike, and the hard conversation with her parents that led to a major pivot.
- The handwritten note from her mom that gave her the courage to trust her own intuition and pursue a different path.
- How her background in team sports shaped her leadership style, emphasizing hard work, teamwork, and knowing your role.
- Moving from a finance role into product development and the lesson of empowering your team by letting go of the need to be the "expert" in the room.
- Finding balance between a busy career and motherhood, and the "loud" message of women sacrificing family for work.
- The importance of being an authentic, quiet leader in a corporate environment and balancing that with stepping into your power.
- Nike’s approach to making running more inclusive and less intimidating, especially for women, and thinking "big" with audacious goals.
- Why passion and building a strong family-like culture is key to a long career in the sports industry.
QUOTABLE MOMENTS
Self-Worth and Authenticity
"We have to remind ourselves that we're worthy, we're good, we don't have to keep proving ourselves."
"I think it's about combining your authentic self with understanding how you need to show up in those environments."
"I want people to remember is, 'Wow, she made an amazing point.' I want the words that I share to have that impact versus 'she talked the whole time.'"
Career, Strategy, and Trusting Your Path
"Trust your gut and go with it, and then have fun with that journey, honestly."
"You get out what you put in, and you learn that really quickly in sports."
"The job of a leader is really empowering your team... and driving the strategy [versus] being in the weeds and the details."
"I think the job of a leader is really empowering your team... and driving the strategy [versus] being in the weeds and the details."
Family and Balance
"At the end of the day, my priority is to be a mom."
"I think that just kind of hopefully will be something that they take away with them, [that] they know that my girls actually recognize that as they were growing up."
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8 min