BRING HUMAN DIRECTION TO THE CORPORATE WORLD- ANGEL MARTINEZ

CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER DECKERS BRANDS BOARD DIRECTOR FOR KORN FERRY INTERNATIONAL

WHEN THREE-YEAR-OLD Ángel Martinez came to the South Bronx with his grandmother's sister in 1958, this move was to be a temporary and devoted to his education. He was supposed to fly to Havana each summer but after the Castro takeover in 1959 and Ángel would not see his parents or siblings for 34 years. But what he did see was that as a Cuban, he has benefited from that culture's exhortation about education and, like most immigrants, valued the U.S. offering endless opportunity. "You get prepared, decide what you want to do, and you go out and do it, and work your butt off to do it." His life path would take in at the age of 13 to California where he later attended the University of California at Davis. He ran track and cross country, earning All-American status. After he graduated he made up his mind to have a running shoe store and would manage one of the first in the U.S. for Runners World. Then came a 21-year career with Reebok where he also headed the Rockport division. In 2003, he started and ran a brand called Keen Footwear, a toe protection sandal, for two years.

After retiring as Reebok's chief of marketing and settling in Santa Barbara, California, Martinez was recruited by nearby Deckers Outdoor Corporation, and became CEO of the footwear company known for UGG, HOKA ONE, Teva and other brands. "I have managed to sell a lot of shoes and built some great brands," said Martinez who retired again in 2016 and spent a year as board chairman. A big part of his success is recognition that footwear is different from other consumer products. "It is very personal, it is function based as well as cosmetic as well as psychological," Martinez said. “Women are the biggest market and are interested in style, color trend, and even the season.” Watching his wife doing aerobics, Martinez noticed the women were barefoot or wearing bulky, ugly running shoes, although the rest of their outfits were coordinated. Reebok would produce an aerobic shoe which combine a running shoe, with a dancewear-like slipper that made the foot look smaller and came in fashion colors, Martinez said. While at Deckers, he was asked to join boards but did not want to do more than one because of the demands of his job. That one is Tupperware and he remained on its board for 20 years. Martinez also was recruited and appointed in 2017 a director for Korn Ferry, which he describes as "the top company in world for advice and consulting across a whole variety of human resource requirements." This year, Martinez became an independent director for Genesco, another retailer of footwear and accessories.

This governance role, Martinez said, "is exactly right up my alley – I love organization building and I love brand building."

With Korn Ferry, Martinez is impressed by the company's CEO Gary Burnison. He has a vision for a brand and knows how to bring clarity to what a brand is, he said. "You have to have strong brand, you have to stand for something you have to bring added value so that people trust what your brand represents, willing to invest in it and see it as something they must have," he said. A second part of that, Martinez said, is people. "Every company consists of people, and people want to perform, want to to be successful, to be proud of where they work and what they do," he said. The job of a CEO and a board, Martinez said, is "to keep creating pathways through which people could be more and more successful."

He explained, "I did not intend to build Deckers into a $2 billion company, however, I intended for everyone in the company to succeed because they were passionate for what we were doing together." Martinez also stresses inclusion. "The reason is that as a company you want to bring in as many perspectives as you possibly can in order to achieve your business goals," he said. "I think companies now see that…that is reality and they are bringing folks on the board who can help that inclusive approach to business, which is permanent, we are not going back," he said. Martinez, who insists that people pronounce his name Ángel, said Latinos who are in business at any level of success need to understand, Martinez said, that they have a right to be on boards and to have an opportunity to make a difference. "Don't sell yourself short and learn what it takes to be a contributing board member. Bring something to the party so that actually we can get this corporate world changed in the direction that is more human." He finishes.