Co-founder shares how Burton has stayed relevant for 50 years

Donna Carpenter thought many times over the past 50 years that Burton Snowboards might not survive anymore, from building a business in a virtually non-existent market to losing money during the financing crisis.

Instead, the snowboard and apparel company founded by Carpenter’s late husband, Jake Burton Carpenter, is poised to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027. Now that Carpenter has stepped down as interim CEO, a role he had held since June after serving as CEO from 2016 to 2020, the business stands out as the market leader in the $4.35 billion global industry the Burlington, Vermont-based brand helped create.

Few family-owned consumer brands survive this long. Much less maintain cultural relevance along the way. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly half of new businesses in the United States are less than five years old. When Burton was first released, some in the winter sports community looked down on snowboarding. Carpenter said that despite Burton becoming a staple in resort and Olympic history around the world, that stigma left a mark of rebellion on the brand that continues to live on today.

The company’s long history of profitability has allowed Burton to stay private and family-owned, avoiding outside investors as it grows, said Mr. Carpenter, 63. “And we are riders,” she says, using the term to refer to the company’s customers and snowboarders more generally. “I ride as much as possible, listening to the riders and staying connected. I think they are the ones who will decide where this sport goes.”

It also helps that companies maintain their own internal compass. You have to understand what your brand stands for and stick to it. That’s because chasing relevancy is a surefire way to lose your brand, Carpenter says. He declined to provide annual revenue information. This is a lesson that is sure to resonate with current and future leaders.

Here, Carpenter talks about why chasing cultural relevance is a surefire way to lose cultural relevance, how to deal with “aha” moments as a leader, and the qualities he looks for in the next generation of leaders.

CNBC Make It: As it celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, Burton remains a market leader. How do brands stay relevant now and in the future?

Donna Carpenter: First of all, it’s very important not to try to be culturally relevant, right? As soon as you do that, you’re no longer relevant.

Our role as a brand is to create opportunities for what we call ‘collisions’. It’s a collision between riders and designers, between sport and art and culture, between mountain style and urban street style.

Riders are truly cultural creators. Part of my mission is to keep reminding people that every decision should be focused on whether it’s going to be better for the rider. Is this what riders need or want? We create opportunities for these to collide, but we also make sure there is enough diversity and difference of opinion and voice out there to maintain cultural relevance.

CNBC Make It: Is there a secret to building a brand that lasts 50 years with cultural relevance?

Carpenter: I think it’s knowing what to keep, what to save, and everything else to change. We call them “obvious truths” – the values ​​you have and the things you stand for. These will not change, but everything else must change. These values, their core DNA, are that the rider is at the center of everything we do.

It’s also how we measure success. We’ve been funding our growth through our own profitability, so obviously profitability is important to us, and we don’t have long-term debt, so that was important to us. There was no need to hire a partner.

However, just as important is brand power. It has Jake’s name on it. We want to keep our brand strong, and we also want to keep our culture and community strong.

CNBC Make It: What’s the biggest change you’ve had to make so far?

Carpenter: I define my career as those “ah-ha” moments where you need to course-correct.

Inclusion is one of our biggest values, and I think that’s probably because we were initially excluded from mountains, trade shows, and ski shops. So we became a really strong community and identified ourselves as really inclusive.

But we weren’t trying hard enough. (Currently) our leadership (female) is about 50%. In 2002, 10% of our leaders were women, which was probably very typical for male-dominated action sports. But we’ve been very intentional and thoughtful about bringing more women into leadership roles. We have started taking (expanding) maternity and childcare leave. Childcare subsidies are available.

Policies that make a company better for women make it a better company for everyone. We will all benefit. And I truly believe that who’s sitting around the table making decisions about women’s products and women’s marketing has a huge impact on whether we can truly reach the women’s market.

CNBC Make It: What about sustainability?

Carpenter: Another “ah-ha-” moment. In 2011, there was a very conscious decision to reduce the margins on our products in order to use as much Bluesign material as possible. (Bluesign is the global production standard for environmentally sustainable textiles. According to the company, 90% of Burton’s product materials are Bluesign approved.)

Decisions must be made that affect profitability. But if you do it long enough, what you’re doing will create consumer loyalty and trust in your brand and what you’re doing. Today’s consumers want to see behind the curtain.

We work like we ride. You fall. you wake up you learn. That’s how you progress as a snowboarder, and that’s how you progress as a company. You admit your mistake. “Hey, we messed up here. We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to do better next time, and we’re going to live up to those values.”

CNBC Make It: Did you and your husband originally imagine that Burton would be around for 50 years, let alone become a global brand?

Carpenter: No. But they were always bigger than us. We’ve stewarded this sport…to share the joy, love, and freedom that comes from snowboarding with the world. (We didn’t even think about it): “Oh, my plan is to sell this in 10 years and get rich.”

If anyone were to ask Jake what he is most proud of, he would say that he persevered through difficult times. And there were some really difficult times. There was a time when I wasn’t sure if the company would be successful.

CNBC Make It: When?

Carpenter: I’ll tell you something important. It was 1989. I was the Chief Financial Officer. I negotiated an incredible bank deal – no collateral (a short-term loan to fund a 6-month production period). All we had to do was show profit and grow, and we were doing that. As part of the terms of the loan, you have to keep (the balance sheet) clean for 30 days, so I kept it clean for 45 days. I feel good.

At the time, it was in the midst of the savings and loan crisis. Our bank came to us in the middle of the loan term and said, “Sorry, but because of this crisis, we are reviewing all loans. We have nothing to do with you.

I was eight months pregnant with my first child, and I had to walk around to 50 of my employees and say, “Do you know the paycheck you received? You can’t cash it in. We’ll let you know when we can cash it in.” And no one left.

I always say that was the moment I realized we were family. Because when things are going well, it’s so easy to talk about being a family. People say to me, “How do you create a family-like culture?” I say, “You put them through hell. You get to the other side, and you’re family.”

CNBC Make It: What made you want to bring on a new CEO, Denny Bruce, and what were the most important traits or skills you were looking for when searching for a CEO?

Carpenter: Honestly, I think the role of a good leader (to me) is to know when someone else can operate better than you.

Denny had a truly unusual combination. He has been a sponsored Burton rider since childhood, and his first job after college was as a Burton sales representative. He also has experience growing iconic brands. Many of them were founder-led brands (like Dickies and Gozney).

By truly understanding that consumers want to buy what they like about a brand in the first place, he is able to scale his company without losing heart and soul. We didn’t know if we would find the combination of people who had the ability to grow and scale the company, who had operational rigor, who led teams, who were embedded in the culture. I’m very happy.

CNBC Make It: What qualities do you most value in a leader? Do you have any unique tricks for finding them when promoting internally?

Carpenter: One of our biggest values ​​is humility. That’s why I love Denny, he’s such a humble guy. Leadership shouldn’t be about you. It should be about the people you lead and how you can improve their lives and lead this company. Humility, empathy, and a commitment to what has made Burton Burton.

I don’t know if there’s really a trick (to identify promising leaders). I think you can tell a lot about someone’s ego when you talk about their accomplishments. It would be great if someone told me about their accomplishments. But I’d rather hear about what mistakes you made and how you learned from them.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.