why i left lululemon: kate weiler
About six years ago, runner and Ironman athlete Kate Weiler was wallowing in Philadelphia in an IT career that just wasn’t lighting her up. Then her brother introduced her to lululemon. Today she’s an accomplished goal-crusher who’s spreading the message about sports nutrition through a new book, and tapping trees to produce maple water for her new company, Drink Maple. We caught up with her to get the goods.
Let’s cut straight to the question on everyone’s mind: is maple water the new coconut water?
It’s similar to coconut water in that multiple companies came to market at the same time (with hydration beverages), which has only helped to build awareness in the category. My business partner, Jeff Rose, and I were doing an Ironman in Mt Tremblant (Quebec) and stumbled across maple water. We were blown away that we were flying coconut water across the world when we had a source right here.
What does it taste like?
I figured it’d be high in sugar, sticky, overly sweet, but in reality it’s a subtle maple flavour, really hydrating.
So maple water delivers similarly to coconut water?
It is similar in that it is a natural single ingredient plant based hydration drink. Mineral and polyphenol profiles differ between maple water and coconut water, but it’s similar in the sense of it being naturally very hydrating.
My understanding is that extracting the sap doesn’t at all harm the tree.
That’s correct, and there’s plenty of sap out there. You can’t tap a tree until it’s 40 years old, and when we do we take about 10 per cent of the sap. It’s a method that’s been used for hundreds of years—the same process as tapping for sap to make maple syrup.
What do you do with the sap once it’s tapped?
Nothing. It’s naturally loaded with electrolytes, antioxidants, polyphenols so we don’t add anything to it. People have been drinking it from trees for hundreds of years. We’re just bottling it to make it available.
Does maple water go off?
Drink Maple has an 18-month shelf life. We do a pasteurization to kill off yeast and pollen, or it would go bad in seven days, but it’s a quick one that shows the antioxidants etc. are kept intact. There is sugar but it’s a very low sugar, about 4 grams per 8.45oz container. For 12oz it’ll be 7 grams.
Tell us more about your background in nutrition.
I got a Masters in nutrition when I was working at lululemon in Boston, and I started a private sports nutrition practice. I’m very passionate about sports nutrition and I felt there wasn’t an in-between cookbook that was going to bring together some really cool, progressive nutrition ideas with conventional ones—especially in the endurance world. So I set a goal to publish a sports nutrition cookbook. It’s called Real Fit Kitchen. I wrote it with Tara Mardigan who was the Red Sox’ nutritionist for more than 10 years.
Is goal-crushing second nature for you?
It is now! What drew me to lululemon was the culture of goal setting. It was one of those things where I always tried to tell people I never thought I would be there that long, but the culture, the team, the goal-setting and being surrounded by intelligent, ambitious people kept me there for five years. Our store had the lowest turnover rate in the company at the time. We thought that was a really good thing, but then one of our managers was like, “Or wait, is looking bad because people aren’t going out and pursuing their goals?” (laughs)
How easy—or not—was it to launch Drink Maple?
When Jeff and I started doing this we discovered there were two other American companies coming to market with maple water. We came to market on stores shelves in May 2014, and just under two months after that that we both left our jobs—I left lululemon. We went all in. It’s been a crazy exciting ride and adventure since then. Now we’re going into our second year product, second year sap season, expanding stores and expanding regions.
Where else in your life do you set goals?
I set a lot of goals, especially with my racing and Ironman times. I qualified for Kona (Ironman World Championships), which was great, but having the book being published is really exciting for me.
What goal-setting skills have you taken with you from lululemon into your new business?
Be realistic about time; and stick to specific, measurable, attainable goals to make sure what you’re doing isn’t fluff and you’re holding yourself accountable. I love the term 50-50: you’re hitting all your goals they’re not big enough, not scary enough and you’re selling yourself short. If you’re not hitting any of them then you’re going too big. If you need to, re-evaluate so you can change things. You’re holding yourself accountable in making sure that you’re not just going through the daily motions of life and stuck in a cycle. I really look at the end goal, what I want to accomplish, and then break it up in to chunks. Whether you’re running an Ironman or a business you need to be able to see the big picture, then you’re able to focus on what needs to be done day to day.
Can you recommend a book to keep other new and would-be business owners inspired?
I’m reading What Great Brands Do right now.
Any last words?
Drink Maple—maple water—is bringing us back to one-ingredient product. So much of our culture is focused on health and wellness and the philosophy is that a drink that’s created in a tree is better than one that’s created in a lab. I think consumers are really drawn to that.
Kate MacLennan is a writer, fast-talker (literally) and our global blog editor. It’s her stance that life is profoundly better spent outside—especially when there’s a board beneath her feet. Join her for the ride on Twitter and Instagram.
