Kathy Varol – Former Head of Global Purpose Strategy at Adidas

Kathy is an expert at driving profit with purpose. She created the Global Purpose Strategy for adidas, a $22 billion company, encompassing everything adidas does to positively impact People and Planet.

Now Kathy helps her clients use purpose to stand out in a competitive environment, attract the best talent, gain consumer loyalty, and fully harness the innovative brain power of their employees.

She shares her deep knowledge and “how to” with clients, so they can skip the hard lessons and go straight to strategies that work.

Why Kathy?

Kathy has developed a repeatable 4-step process to become a purpose-led brand: The Brand Purpose Model.

She shares her deep knowledge and “how to” with clients, so they can skip the hard lessons and go straight to strategies that work.

Kathy is an expert at establishing a purpose that galvanizes the entire company in the same direction, developing strategic partnerships through aligned missions, and crafting purpose strategies that create the most valuable form of marketing (word of mouth).

She brings her wealth of expertise to move companies beyond outdated Corporate Social Responsibility approaches and into the new era of business-integrated conscious capitalism.

Her hands-on experience creating purposeful change includes crafting the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) strategy for adidas.

Kathy knows the unintentional barriers that get in the way of a thriving culture, as well as how to foster a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Kathy is a sought-after speaker, Purpose Strategy Expert, and CSR & ESG consultant who has given keynotes and facilitated workshops around the globe.

Keynote 1: Drive Profit With Purpose. Become Remarkable. Accelerate Growth.

How do you stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace? How do you attract top talent? How do you increase profitability?

You do something remarkable. Purpose makes brands remarkable.

As consumers, we’re putting our dollars toward companies with aligned values. 85% of millennials in the United States would switch brands for a good cause, and 50% of growth in consumer goods went to sustainability-marketed products between 2013 and 2018.

As employees, we’re looking for meaning in our careers, and the best talent is choosing to work for organizations that feed their hearts as well as their bank accounts. 92% of millennials believe that working for an environmentally and socially responsible company is important.

In the modern world, companies without a purpose beyond profit will be left behind. You can either be a pioneering force for good in your industry, or the disrupted.

Kathy built the global purpose strategy for adidas, a 22 billion dollar company, encompassing everything adidas does to positively impact people and planet. Through trial and error, Kathy has learned what works, and what doesn’t.

Through her work, a model emerged.

A way to successfully use purpose to drive profit.

In the Drive Profit with Purpose keynote, Kathy will reveal her 4-step Brand Purpose Model to engage your organization, inspire innovation, and win the hearts of your consumers.

You Will Learn:

• 7 common mistakes in creating a purpose-led organization
• Why a corporate social responsibility department won’t get you the impact – or the credit – you want
• How to get the best talent knocking on your door and have the most engaged employees
• Why doing good is the magic bullet to get the most powerful form of advertising (for free!)

This Keynote Is Perfect For Leaders And Companies:

• Competing in a crowded market
• Creating differentiation through marketing, ingredients, and/or process
• Struggling with a talent shortage, high turnover, and/or high employee disengagement
• Looking to accelerate growth and increase ROI (in a sustainable way)

Keynote 2: Unlock Exponential Results by Nurturing Purpose, People and Culture

Data clearly shows that businesses that nurture their purpose, people, and culture unlock exponential results: engaged employees, loyal consumers, increased innovation, and accelerated growth.

In this keynote, through captivating business stories, Kathy will share why shifting the focus from your output (revenue) to your inputs (purpose, people, and culture) will drive better results. Kathy will also share concrete strategies you use right away to nurture each of these business inputs.

You Will learn:

• The toxic beliefs that have infected workplace cultures (and how to shift them)
• How the world’s most loved companies use purpose to cultivate enviable consumer loyalty (and how you can too)
• The secret sauce to creating a world-class culture
• How to enable your employees to truly shine (and innovate!)
• The one force more powerful to your profitability than any business model

This Keynote Is Perfect For Leaders And Companies:

• Competing in an increasingly crowded market and struggling to stand out
• Experiencing high turnover, and/or high employee disengagement
• Struggling to foster collaboration across company silos and departments
• Running into groupthink and “yes men” cultural conformity

Keynote 3: Skyrocket Innovation By Harnessing The Superpower Of Diversity

Diversity is one of the most vital qualities for organizations that want to lead their industries.

Research shows that diversity can promote problem-solving and innovation. Culturally and ethnically diverse companies are more likely to outperform their competitors by 33%; highly diverse teams are 13 times more likely to have engaged employees; and companies with above-average diversity have 19% higher innovation revenues.

Unfortunately, most businesses unintentionally create barriers to collaboration and stifle the innovation potential they have waiting to be unleashed across their workforce. They incentivize groupthink, and constrain the power of diversity – the superpower of their workforce.

In this keynote, Kathy will reveal how business leaders can harness the superpower of their diverse workforce to skyrocket innovation.

You Will Learn:

• How adidas leveraged the entire North American team to innovate a turnaround for their running business
• The most common unintentional barriers to collaboration and creativity (and how you can remove them)
• Unconventional and innovative ways to get diversity in the room
• How to promote sharing of unique viewpoints and avoid groupthink
• Why the trickiest problems are often solved by outsiders to the field

This Keynote Is Perfect For Leaders And Companies:

• Struggling to foster collaboration across company silos and departments
• Running into groupthink and “yes men” cultural conformity
• Using the old playbook year after year, and no longer getting the same ROI
• Know they could do more to cultivate a culture where their talented and diverse employees can shine

Testimonials

“Amazing presentation!” – Mark Cranston, SKYGEN

“Kathy was fantastic!” – Conor O’Malley, AIHA

“Informative AND interesting keynote!” – Cassandra Zentner, actnano Inc.

“Kathy’s passion and strategic approach to Purpose connect the aspirational to the practical. She is engaging, energetic and makes you want to take action.” – Emmy Negrin, Head of Inclusion, Diversity & Purpose, Discord