Intro/Outro (00:04): It takes a bit of a blend of art and science to get baking just right and having extra eyes, ears, and hands can make a big difference along the way. That's where Ab Maori, north America comes into play. We are the team behind industrial and artisan bakers that help optimize success. We'll discuss more on this episode of the Oven Light. So let's get going. Flip the switch.

Rick (00:32): Alright, welcome back everybody. It's time to flip the switch. The switch is now on. It's time for another great episode of the Oven Light. Alright, so today we've got a great guest and let me tell you a little bit about this gentlemen before we jump in. So if you hydrate during the day and maybe utilize a really significant sturdy container for your coffee or your water, maybe your Gatorade, whatever it is, and you use it at home, work on the run, this is your guy. If you love comfortable shoes and maybe have an on the go, a kind of lifestyle, this is the dude for you. And that's no crock. This gentleman has served in the retail fashion world and footwear is the chief marketing officer for the iconic shoe brand Crocs. I think everybody knows that brand most recently served as the president of the durable and sustainable food and beverage gear supply company, Stanley, based up in the northwest in Seattle, and spent about four years there. Now he's the president of this iconic lifestyle brand. Hey dude, you'll know him from those iconic shoes that are taking over the country at this point. So hey dude, let's welcome Terrence Riley to the program. Welcome to the Oven Light. Hey

Terence Riley (01:40): Dude, thanks for having me on, Rick. I appreciate it.

Rick (01:43): Yeah, we're excited to have you here and we're going to talk footwear here in a second, but I have to ask you right away, right, I mean Stanley took over the storm of the US and growing from 75 million in revenue in 20 19, 10 times that a few years later. I mean, how did it happen? I mean, what an architect to be at the helm during exciting days like that.

Terence Riley (02:04): Oh, thanks. Yeah, what an incredible experience it was for me and so many of my amazing colleagues, and that's what it's all about, right, is the team, the people who helped create the magic to connect with consumers, customers, and culture. And that was the best part of what was an incredible experience where I've said before we turned Stanley into a proprietary epi like Q-tip or Bandaid or Xerox people just said, got to bring my Stanley. That was an incredible thing and the best part was seeing the pride that my colleagues had saying they worked for Stanley Rick. When I first joined, I would tell people that I worked for Stanley and they would say, I don't know the tools. And no, I had to explain no a bottle company. And well, as the years went on, thanks to my incredible colleagues and they got the same experience when they said, where do you work? And you said, Stanley at the bottle, the Quencher, that must be awesome. And it was almost like you were a member of the Beatles or One Direction or in Saint Backstreet Boys, you name it. So really incredible thing. And so to get to experience that myself, but more importantly to see all of my colleagues experience that is really, it's not something you get often in life and that's a really special thing

Rick (03:27): I have to ask you as a marketer, with a brand like Stanley and another brand like Stanley out there, obviously there could be some confusion. Did you guys ever partner up on anything or do any special runs for them just to bridge the tide?

Terence Riley (03:40): No, we did not. They have an incredible brand and we were looking to build our own. It was funny. Occasionally we would see things, boy, I love your quencher and I love your hammers. Well, neither, very funny coincidence, but that's not us or tape measures or other great products that other Stanley makes and creates.

Rick (04:00): So tell me about, and it's funny, I just got an email today about a new Stanley que out there, new design, new colors and all that, but how do you take a company that's 110 plus years and you kind of reinvented in a new way, but you also kind of stayed true to the roots from William Stanley Jr. Way back when?

Terence Riley (04:20): Yeah, that's a great point. And again, thanks to all of my colleagues. We took 110 year old brand from the outdoors to outside to everywhere. And that was really the shift. It was more of a migration. We didn't do it Suddenly, I think, what was that episode of Friends, right? When they're taking the couch up the stairs and what do they keep saying? Piot, right? Pivot. Pivot. So we pivoted and we took a brand that was male, green and hot and transformed into female colorful and cold without alienating our base. And the popularity of the brand just made more people flock to it. And those that already loved this, already loved this because it was fundamentally its great product. And so that was really the trick of it all and thanks to an incredible team, that's what we did.

Rick (05:12): I think that's a great way to put it because there've been some other examples in the last few years of how you could alienate your core and lose a big part of your base. We've seen it in the beer industry and other things, but alright, so let's lighten the mood a little bit here and then we're going to talk footwear, we're going to talk shoes, but we call 'em hot pan questions, they're just kind of fun questions, kind of light in the mood a little bit. Alright, so here you are. Picture yourself, Terrence, wherever you may be enjoying some coffee or juice in a Stanley Quench or maybe over or looking the beach somewhere or in the Boston Harbor, you got your hey dudes on. What kind of breakfast item are you enjoying with that beverage?

Terence Riley (05:48): Okay, well I definitely have my Hey dudes on, that's for sure. I have a really crisp pair of white wallies that I have on white Wallies. I'm from New Jersey Rick. So the breakfast sandwich is an art form where I'm from, and so it will always be a breakfast sandwich and it's a specific breakfast sandwich. It is Taylor ham and egg on an everything bagel all day every day if I can. Problem is Taylor Ham is hard to find outside of New Jersey. And funny little bit of New Jersey based trivia is, it's the same product, but if you go south of Trenton, people call it pork roll. If you're north of Trenton, it's Taylor Ham. It's the same thing, but them fighting words depending on where you're from in New Jersey. So Taylor, ham and egg on and everything is my breakfast sandwich of choice, Rick.

Rick (06:43): Well, we had a great gentleman who started diner collectibles several years ago, big in sports memorabilia and he was on our podcast a few months ago and he touted as being the early creator of the Everything Bagel, true story New York guy, born and bred back in the seventies. And he said as a kid he was shilling milk and bread and bagels and he came up with the idea. So you might want to check that out.

Terence Riley (07:10): He made a great observation that why don't they charge more for everything? Bagels

Rick (07:17): Not a bad idea. Right? Alright, so alright. I know you say you're not a big self-avowed baker, but I'm sure you can hold your own, you make a few things. You mentioned a couple prominent baking mixed names, but do you have a cool memory growing up and maybe it involves a couple of those brands, whether it's a grandmother or your mom or dad or uncle or whatever it is. Do you have some cool memories out there at all on baking? Yes.

Terence Riley (07:43): I guess I mentioned to you my two best friends in the kitchen or Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. But listen, my last name is Riley and I have really fond memories. Occasionally it wasn't often, but occasionally my father would make Irish soda bread and I remember him enjoying that with real satisfaction. It always had raisins in it and he would slather it with butter around the breakfast table. It was rare. And I'm saying once every couple of years he would just decide to make Irish soda bread, maybe going back to his youth and his parents, my grandparents coming from Ireland. And so Irish soda bread is really the fundamental baking memory that I have is I'm not the best baker as I rely on those two special friends in the baking aisle at my local grocery store to help me out.

Rick (08:35): Well still, I mean, it is a great thing and I've never heard the raisins added to an Irish soda bread, so I'm kind of intrigued, but there's nothing like fresh butter on fresh bread. It is just good.

Terence Riley (08:46): Yeah, absolutely. So that's really, and as I think about it, I don't think about that too often baking, nobody ever asks me baking questions for you, Rick. I'm glad you me, it brought back some more memories that I didn't even remember that I had. I'll have to call my dad and ask him about what that was all about. I haven't thought about it in a

Rick (09:02): While. Hey, if you have the recipe, we're happy to share it too. You know what I mean, post show, because we would do that and we'll give your dad some props. That would be pretty cool. So hey, so we're talking about ingredients a little bit and in baking they're ultimately important. There's only a handful that really make it work, but what are the ingredients for you? Now we're going to get a little heavier on your personal business success. You've been with some unbelievable companies, some unbelievable brands, and you've moved and you ebbed and flowed, but you, you've found your niche and you've found your calling. So what were those ingredients that kind of got you to be the CEO of a really core brand right now?

Terence Riley (09:38): Yeah, good question. I think one, I'm just myself, I don't know that I could be anybody else. And that's a lesson for everyone. Just be yourself. That's gotten me plenty far in life just being myself. But you also, as I said before, you do have to be ready for your audition. And oftentimes you don't know your audition is happening, and that means you have to always be prepared. I'm always prepared. Very few things catch me by surprise is sometimes good and sometimes bad. I'm thinking of all of the possible options and going through the decision logic if this, then that. But I'm always prepared and I've been fortunate to be prepared for the moment that I didn't know was happening as it was happening. And that's produced a few really incredible career opportunities for me because somebody saw what I did or met me and it was the moment, but I was ready for the moment even though I didn't know it was happening. So be prepared for your audition would be a lesson that I would have for anyone listening in any part of life really. And that's fundamental in most things in your life, not just your career. So just be ready and be ready for your audition.

Rick (10:44): Well, the Olympics are going on, and boy, there's some lessons that kind of fit in there too, right? There's always a moment and you've got to be ready for that moment, whether it's you or not. And I'm not sure if you watch the US men's gymnastics team, right? They finished with the bronze and here's a guy that's sitting the whole time he comes in, he does the pommel horse. He knew it was going to be his moment, but he made it his moment and rocked it. And it's going to lead into my next question about social media. So I mean, have you been watching a little bit and seeing these kind of auditions as they really happen for these athletes?

Terence Riley (11:15): I have not seen any of the Olympics this year at all. Just been too busy traveling and other things that I have not seen a moment of the games in Paris, unfortunately.

Rick (11:24): So I'm kind of leading into this social media world, and I can see from you, you definitely are a believer in an influencer marketing, having a social media presence, other kind of mediums. Why does that work for you? And especially with your consumer now with, Hey dude, I'm sure it works really well, right?

Terence Riley (11:42): Oh, of course. I mean, it's really just as simple as that's where the consumer is in our case at hey dude. But really lots of brands or maybe every brand to some extent, we're all on social media. And so that's, you reach people and tell your story and try to connect with consumers, customers, and culture because culture is largely online and it's just no different than back in the eighties when I was starting out my career in nineties, you were doing newspaper and out of home and radio and other things to reach consumers. Well, they're not doing those things like they used to. They're on their phones, on their tablets or desktops and they're connecting with brands and each other that way. And so that's been a very effective way for the last decade of my career to reach new consumers. And it's worked pretty well. And even personally, that's one of the moments that I've had as the president of Stanley went viral around the world just by being responsive on social media, in this case, TikTok and led to over a hundred million views around the world where I was recognized in airports for a few weeks until my 15 minutes expired rather quickly.

Rick (12:50): That's pretty mind blowing though, isn't it? And you're like, yeah, that's me, and how do you know me? I'm sure that's a little bit of an eyeopener, like, wow, we've got a tiger by the tail.

Terence Riley (13:00): Yeah, for sure. It's an amazing thing. It's scary too when you're not prepared for that and weren't really expecting it. It's a really marketer's dream. You don't know what's going to connect. You're going to have success if you do the things right, but you have no conception of what happens when it really hits. And a cute story, I was in an airport in Phoenix, I was at Sky Harbor on the monorail going to the terminal, and this young girl was looking at her phone and then she showed her phone to her mother and then pointed at me standing across from her on the tram and pointed at her phone, that's the guy. And so I saw this happening in real time. I was just a few feet away from her, and I said, do you recognize me? And she goes, I said, from TikTok, she goes, I really love that you gave that car to that lady, and I love Stanley and my quinche, and it was a fun little moment for me. So it's amazing the power and the peril of going viral and social media.

Rick (14:07): So let's stay on this kind of branding front a little bit. So I spent a couple years of my Anheuser-Busch days on a brand called Landshark, right? Of course, the outdoor lifestyle beach and all that, which is actually owned in Jimmy Buffett, that that was his product through Margaritaville. So tell me about this. You've got a little bit of a co-branded effort and it seems like it's a match made in heaven.

Terence Riley (14:29): Oh, it sure is. Yeah. The Margaritaville has been a huge success for Hey, dude, and it's just a natural part of our brand and a wonderful partnership with Margaritaville as, Hey dudes are incredibly comfortable. You can take them anywhere and especially in the summertime, you're taking them to the beach, the shore, the boardwalk, the barbecue, and you'll probably have Jimmy Buffett playing in the background. And so Margaritaville and Hey, dude, collaboration was just a must do. And the team here at, Hey, dude, just killed it. The execution of it, the product itself, of course it starts with that, but even how we reached consumers and all of the great ways that we brought Margaritaville and hey dude together was really quite fantastic. And the sales are backing that up, so we're really, really pleased and can't wait to do more.

Rick (15:19): Well, I got to tell you, and this is for the listeners out there, and he doesn't even know this, Terra doesn't even know this. I just bought my first pair online earlier this week. They're shipping, I'll have 'em when I get home, and they're black with a white shoelace, Cody, the Cody version. So I'm very excited to be sporting those next week. But you certainly have created a lot of believers. So let's stay on the footwear front a little bit. So love the brand name Crocs as a Florida Gator graduate, of course, you got to give a little Gator Cho, a little crock chomp. So was that a little bit of a dress rehearsal then what you're doing here? Because that was obviously in the footwear and a different, maybe a different format, but a lot of the same feelings for one shoe buyer to the next, right?

Terence Riley (16:05): Sure. Footwear is an incredible category. Everybody needs shoes. So similar but different. You're looking to make a connection to consumers, customers, and culture. And there's lots of ways to do that. And you want to do that in the best way for your brand. All brands are different. In the Crocs case, when I was the chief marketing officer a few years back before Stanley Crocs did not have an awareness problem. Everybody knows Crocs. What Crocs had was a relevance opportunity, and that's what I inherited as the CMO for Crocs. And again, with an incredible team. We took a brand that was derided on social media. I remember the meme itself. It was a photo of Crocs, and it said, those holes are where your dignity leaked out.

Rick (16:54): Whoa, that's harsh,

Terence Riley (16:57): That's harsh, harsh, kind of funny, but it's kind of harsh and it hurts when you're the CMO of that brand. And so I had that hanging on my wall for a long time, and thanks to the incredible team that I worked with, we went from a meme to a dream, and now Heidi Cooley, their CMO, took it to mainstream. So pretty incredible 10 year run for that brand with me as the CMO and then Heidi Cooley as the CMO. It's an extraordinary rotten for an extraordinary brand that again, it also begins with incredible product. And so we connected with consumers, customers, and culture, with collaborations, with incredible styles, colors, amazing events to bring the brand to life and into youth culture. And that's where youth culture drives culture and began to spread and evangelize Crocs around the world. And then a very similar thing occurred with Stanley, and now 90 days into my leadership position here at, Hey dude, we're about to do the same for this magnificent brand called Hey dude.

Rick (18:07): Fantastic. Well, when it comes to footwear, you've got to find what people need. And I tell you what we need right now is a little more detail on this guy called Terrance Riley, who's the CEO of Hey, dude is with us today on the oven light. So let's talk a little bit about maybe one of your passions outside of the office. I know you're a sports guy, I know you like baseball, you like going to Fenway Park, right? You're back in Beantown. So tell us, there's a story out there about some home run at Fenway Park that maybe you could shed some light on for us.

Terence Riley (18:40): Oh wow. Wow. That's a great story. This is one of my favorite stories. It's a really cool bookend story. I became a Red Sox fan on October 2nd, 1978. I was 11 years old. I moved around a lot as a kid. And October 2nd, 1978 was a Monday. The Monday afternoon. In fact, there was a one game playoff between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Now, back in the day, Rick, you didn't have,

Rick (19:07): Is there a guy named Bucky Den in there somewhere too?

Terence Riley (19:09): Well, you forgot his middle name.

Rick (19:10): I know. I'm not saying that here,

Terence Riley (19:14): But it begins with an F. And so that day I became a Red Sox fan. I was an agnostic because I had moved a lot and there was no cable television. You saw the local teams if you were lucky. And so this was a Monday afternoon, I believe it was on a, B, C. And you rushed home from school that Monday, October 2nd, 1978. And of course, that is the game where Bucky Dent hit a home run that he had no business hitting, but he did. And that's what's so great about baseball. And sadly, the Yankees beat the Red Sox and went on to the World Series, which they eventually won against the Dodgers in 78. But that was the day that I really saw Fenway Park on TV for the first time. It's like, what are those buildings out there? That's a city out there? What is this?

Terence Riley (19:59): What's that wall in left field? And these uniforms and Karl Rimsky just a name. That was fun to say to on October 2nd, 1978, Rick, I became a Red Sox fan living in New Jersey. And so I had a rough go of it for quite a few years. But here's the fun part of this story. In the bookend, on October 2nd, 1990 9, 21 years to the day, I actually had the incredible opportunity to take batting practice at Fenway, and I got 15 pitches. That's all you got. It was for charity. And I dig into the box, first pitch, popped it up, second pitch ground to second, third pitch. I smack it pretty good. I said, that could hit the wall, and if I hit the wall, I would raise a thousand dollars for the Jimmy Fund. Well, it went over the wall and dropped into the net. This is the year before the monster seats were created.

Terence Riley (20:53): And I had just hit a home run at Fenway Park 21 years to the day, and almost exactly in the same spot that Bucky Dent hit his on that Monday afternoon. So an amazingly credible life moment. And to add to it, Ken Coleman, who was the longtime radio voice of the Boston Red Sox, happened to be doing the announcing that day. And so I have an old VCR tape that my father was holding. You can see me hit one out and you can hear Ken Coleman call my home Run at Fenway Park 21 years to the day that I became a Sox fan. Pretty cool.

Rick (21:32): We have a saying in our family meant to be. Boy. I mean, that's a remarkable story. And I guess I have to ask you, were you a ball player? Did you play growing up? Because how did you smoke one out of Fenway Park, which is just an iconic ballpark?

Terence Riley (21:48): Yeah, I played all the time. I played baseball, played every sport imaginable on the streets of Ridgewood, New Jersey, but never at any varsity or collegiate level. But me and my buddies were out with a Nerf football or free hockey or baseball all the time, stickball. So I was well versed in how to be an athlete. I just never made it to any significant achievements at the high school or collegiate level.

Rick (22:17): Well, that's pretty darn good. I think you got a good feather in your cap, and there should be a baseball card floating around to that. That's pretty

Terence Riley (22:22): Cool. Yeah, it's incredible. I have another really cool baseball story also, if we got another second or two. Yeah,

Rick (22:29): Let's

Terence Riley (22:29): Do it. That has a St. Louis connection. So I lived in St. Louis for many years when I worked for Famous Footwear part of Calis or Brown Shoe over in Clayton, Missouri. And I had the good fortune to attend game six of the 2011 World Series between the Redbirds and the Texas Rangers and for baseball fans out there, or certainly Cardinal fans. You'll know that game six of the 2011 World Series is one of the greatest games ever played. And I'm neither a Cardinals fan nor a Rangers fan, but it was an amazing event to be at. And as we all probably know, the Cardinals won it because of David Freeze, who is from St. Louis, I believe he was out in Wildwood, grew up there and went to Lafayette High School where both of my daughters attended Lafayette High School or one of them.

Terence Riley (23:22): Anyway, my other would've if we didn't move. And so we're there when David Free is the hometown hero, and literally our hometown, not just St. Louis, but Wildwood is the hero. And that's 2011. In 2013 or 14 I think it is, I am in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil boarding an airplane to come home to the United States. And I'm literally online my aircraft, and I see these three guys walking in my direction and I recognize one of them is David Freeze in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And he literally walks right in front of me and I tap him on the shoulder and he startled, as you would be when a stranger taps you on the shoulder in an airport, he's wearing his big headphones and he takes them off. And I say, I was at game six. What? I said, I was at game six. He's like, get out of here. I said, and my daughters went to Lafayette High School. He's like, what boys? Get over here. And I have an incredible photo of me and David Freeze in Rio de Janeiro airport a few years after he put the Cardinals on his back and won the World Series for his hometown team. How cool is that?

Rick (24:34): That is pretty cool. He went on to play with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which was my team, and I mean a great consummate professional. And you're right, that's an iconic moment in St. Louis Sports. So let me bring it back to St. Louis A. Little bit. So you spent a lot of time in the Gateway City. I know you even know our marketing manager. I got to give some props to Trisha McNamara. You guys worked together for a bit. Do you miss the Midwest a little bit? You've kind of been up in the Northwest and now you're up in the Northeast. You spent time in the middle part of the country. You miss gooey butter cake and Emo's Pizza.

Terence Riley (25:07): Oh, the Square Beyond Compare. I remember those ads. That's so funny. That triggers a wonderful memory. Oh gosh. I miss a lot about St. Louis. First and foremost, forest Park. Forest Park is a civic jewel. I love Forest Park more than most places, and I've been around the world and Forest Park has a really special place in my heart, from the muni to the zoo, just running around it when I was in my marathon training days, really incredible spot. I missed the drive east on 40 when you first see the arch every time, every day, when you first see the arch, when you're headed east on Highway 40, always like, ah, man, there she is. Right? It's like seeing Mount Rainier in the Pacific Northwest or the Prudential building here in Boston, things like that, that just have a connection. Or the Sitko sign here along Charles River. When you see these things, they momentarily just for a little second, take your breath away. Like, oh, there they are. I missed a sweet potato fries at Pappy's. That's a toasted Rav. Of course, sharing a toasted Rav with my daughter, Gus's pretzels, Ted Drews, it goes on and on. But yeah, St. Louis was a very special place for the four or five years that we lived out in West County and had incredible experience working for Will Smith at Famous Footwear and Brown Shoe.

Rick (26:25): Well, hey, you're always welcome back in St. Louis. We will roll out the red carpet and take you to some of those iconic hot spots. Alright, so we're going to get close to wrapping up here, but hey, we're well on our way towards 2025 now. So what are your expectations looking at the year ahead? Any insights or anything that you've got your eye on or kind of crystal ball, what are you thinking for maybe the year ahead?

Terence Riley (26:49): Well, I'm focused on putting a lot of, Hey dudes on a lot of feet. We got two

Rick (26:53): Of them here.

Terence Riley (26:55): Well, thank you for your business. You're about to have incredibly comfortable end to your summer and certainly into the early fall as hey dudes are really, once you put 'em on there, like potato chips, right? Once you have one, you can't stop. So I'll be anxious to see how many hey dude pairs you end up with after you enjoy this first pair. So that's really what I'm focused on, is building a brand and leading a team and giving the team the gift of time and space to figure things out and the trust to figure things out as we build the brand into what I hope will be one of the leading casual footwear brands in the world.

Rick (27:35): That's outstanding. So, hey, one last question. So you kind of come up through the marketing world. Do you have any mottoes that you live by or is there a CEO or somebody that you read books or maybe listen to some talks and things like that, or influencers that give you some inspiration?

Terence Riley (27:58): As for sayings, my kind of modus operandi is urgency. I say often drive it like you stole it or don't let the ice cream melt, which is really just a call for urgency, especially in today's fast-paced environment where life is lived in 140 characters or less. You have to be fast and you have to be decisive and do things fast. Don't let the ice cream melt. And so that is what I think I bring as a leader within reason. Not everybody has the same motor, and you have to be respectful of that, but people have to move fast, act fast. If you're going to connect with consumers, customers, and culture,

Rick (28:42): I love that one. Don't let the ice cream melt or frozen custard in this case, but

Terence Riley (28:46): Exactly right.

Rick (28:48): Hey, Terrence, we've enjoyed having you on the program, and if you're okay with, we encourage our listeners to kind of send in questions after the fact. So if you do have a question for Terrence Riley from, Hey dude, send it to the oven light@abmaori.com. We may even send you some swags, some spatulas or pizza cutters, things like that from maybe Maori. We might even stick in there, something from, Hey dude, I'll work with Terrance on that. But hey, best question wins, so send us something. But hey, for now, Terrance, thanks for joining us. Thanks for joining the oven light. The switches off the oven, light is off, and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Take it easy.

Intro/Outro (29:26): We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Oven Light. Until next time, when we discuss more about the wonderful world of baking technology trends and more, the switch is officially off. Goodbye for now. See you next time.