Andy Polk’s Post

💥 Did you know: During the revolutionary war, shoes were being imported from France for Continental troops. There were massive supply chain issues (sound familiar), the sizes were too small and the 'pumps' were thin leather not suited for the winter at Valley Forge. Couldn't be returned by UPS...so Gen. Washington issued raw hides and offered a $10 reward to anyone in camp who could make a more durable shoe. Father of our country and of footwear LOL. Happy 4th! Here is a good read on this if interested: https://lnkd.in/eEi3FeVb

😳 Wow. I've never seen this at this level and rate. This is fast becoming an "every person for themselves" election. The chaos at the top of both tickets is pushing candidates down ticket to go alone. Campaigns generally are in lock step with their political leaders and parties because they get resources, share talking points and polls and such. 2024 is providing them no reason to stay joined to the hip. https://lnkd.in/eTtkPZAR

🔥 Agenda: https://lnkd.in/eME_f9sG The old ways aren't working. We must think differently and take advantage of new coming stealth innovations that will reduce costs and impacts.

https://lnkd.in/edEfWc5p 🚨sign up now before it’s sold out! The 1 event at August FFANY that brings everyone at market week together!

https://lnkd.in/ei4pJsU Maybe you're marketing sustainability all wrong. The consumer isn't lying if they say they want sustainable product. Are we presenting it correctly? Are we as an industry providing value around sustainability to move purchases or are we just dropping in 'recycled' or 'bio' and that's our marketing hook (really? and you're surprised it isn't moving the dial)? And then we give it up because we think the consumer is saying one thing and doing another? Of course they are - they don't see the value. So how do we change that to better connect? how can we nudge a buyer to see the value in more sustainable shoes? *this is what our summit is all about - rethinking and sharpening - buckle up.

https://lnkd.in/ei4pJsU Not another BS money grab summit on "goals." 🤢 Not self promotion green Ted Talks. Just honest hard discussions at why we are hitting roadblocks 🚧 and how we rethink what we are doing, and new innovations, to blown 💥 them up. Who better than Paul Foulkes-Arellano to kick start the day and challenge notions and 🤯!!!

Bet you didn't know...I spent a summer during college working in a steel mill. You do not know what hot is: humid south + 3,000 degree furnaces = motivation to finish college. **If this new start up can produce steel at 140 degrees, that alone is worth the innovation to help workers...in addition to the reduced carbon emission benefits. Things are moving very fast, and generally positive...better to read the news than watch it. https://lnkd.in/e-gqV8Bd

🎓Spent an hour yesterday talking with some great students from The University of Texas at Austin in DC. Thanks to the The Washington Campus for having me share on #leadership, #publicservice, #shoes (job opportunities! innovation!), #advocacy 3.0 (cause 2.0 is boring) and what dynamic #associations can do to help industry in DC and beyond. ABCA Joe F.!! 😁

**businesses/cities/leaders need to better understand the coming summer protests (there will be major protests see comments) to prepare in advance their comms, property, customer/worker relations strategy and response. A big lesson is that protests may start with 1 issue but multiple diverse issues emerge as ancillary groups join in. **so you need to form strategy that is agile enough to pivot when needed or cover multiple issues (mid east conflict, abortion, immigration, inflation and anti-racial social justice). This is based on research I read while considering what’s coming: 👉🏻”In addition to these anti-racist motivations, protesters reported numerous other reasons for participating. About a-third of those surveyed also reported being motivated by women’s rights (39%), LGBTQ rights (36%), or immigration rights (29%) to join the protests.