Shaun White on Business Life After Olympic Gold

0:00Tonight on NBC, Jimmy Fallon and Bozma St John host the highly anticipated new competition show. I hired 10 creatives from all walks of life. They will be battling it out to see who can impress the world's biggest brands. This is a huge opportunity. This is the battle for the next big idea. This is not play play. We're spending millions of dollars. I'm so excited to embark on this adventure with all of you. Make the best idea win! On Brand with Jimmy Fallon. Series premiere tonight on NBC. Good morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today we have a very special guest, three-time Olympic gold medalist, Sean White.

0:40We'll be talking to Sean about his new apparel brand launching on Shopify, what a gold medal actually tastes like, and some new trick ideas I had for him. It's Tuesday, December 26th. Let's ride.

0:56This is definitely one of the most surreal episodes we've released, and one that I think you'll really enjoy because Sean White is one of those people who excels at everything he touches. I, and I'm sure a lot of people at home, have such a distinct memory of watching the Olympics and wondering, all right, what is it that makes this guy so much better than everyone? And legitimately, the first jump he did made me do a double take. The dude could fly. But what I love about Sean is that he is still getting after it to this day. He's replaced the half pipe with this new business of his that you will hear about on the show.

1:27The man never stops doing flips. I cannot wait to get into it. But first, a quick word from our sponsor, Yahoo Finance. We have our first gold medalist on the show today, so it's only fitting that it's sponsored by Yahoo Finance. Okay, how are those two things related? Well, speaking of gold, Yahoo Finance is also the number one finance platform on the internet trusted by over 150 million visitors globally each month. That might be the first time Sean White has ever been compared to Yahoo Finance, but I'll allow it. Head to finance.yahoo.com today to see what the Hack Toby is talking about, or download the Yahoo Finance mobile app to get it directly on your phone.

2:06Raise the rudders. Raise the sails. Raise the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger. Wait, is that an enterprise sails solution? Reach sails professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more. Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend$250 on your first campaign and get a free$250 credit for the next one. Get started today at linkedin.com slash campaign. Terms and conditions apply. Now to our interview with Sean White. Sean, thanks so much for hopping on the pod. It's great to have you. Yeah, thanks for having me.

2:45You're entering a new chapter of your life as a business owner, but also as the ideal customer of your new product, Whitespace. How has that influenced kind of the development of white space? I imagine you're very hands-on and kind of the development of a lot of the products that you're selling. Yeah, well, that's the best part. You know, honestly, I've been sponsored by so many brands since I was a kid. And, you know, not only was it a great learning curve, but like you notice along the way that when you join these companies, they already have this mold that's built. They already have like, this is our logo.

3:22This is our slogan. These are the colors we use. This is the message. This is everything. And it's my job to best kind of like support and promote what they're doing, but try to be myself as well, you know, so fit that mold, but then try to be me in the, in the middle of it. So I don't kind of alienate or, or have fans of mine think, oh, he's changed because he's now with this sponsor or something like that, you know? So it's gotta be like authentic to me, but when you start your own company, I mean, you're really creating that mold. Like, oh, this is, this is what we're about. This is what the the meaning um behind the brand is this is what we're going for and um and that that kind of sends you down these different roads and paths and so for me it's been really fun to you know figure out what that mold is and then like you know get the feedback from the customers and different things and and just kind of build from there it's like this this amazing sort of competitive thing that's not uh my traditional uh way of competing you know but just like trying to make things better every time um but yeah that's the fun part i'm obviously i feel very qualified to you know go test the products build the best boards the best you know outerwear make these things so user-friendly um and then um my brother uh who we you know worked with you know we worked together for years and years with different brands um came together to do this this this company so it's been really fun working with him and he's always been like this incredibly creative um personality growing up and and so i'm i'm more the the the hands-on you know working on it and developing all this stuff and then he's more of the you know helping me kind of um get the fashion element and the kind of message and the uh you know the pantone book with the colors I mean, everything we sit there and go through everything.

5:16So, um, so that's what you get, you know, when you, when you, you know, end up buying the products, it's, it's exactly what I'm using, which is pretty fun. I don't think there's many companies that do that. You know, I don't know if you get the same car, the race drivers using, uh, you know what I mean? Or whatever, maybe tennis rackets, maybe you get the same racket, but I don't, you know, it's a rarity to go, you know, get the same thing that someone's using. You are no doubt the most qualified person in the space to make something like this. What about the, I don't want to say less fun, but more of the business-y side of things?

5:48How has it been kind of, you know, setting up the trademarks, migrating over to Shopify? I know you recently did that. The more in the weed stuff, has that been something that you've picked up on really quickly or has that been more of a learning curve for you? Well, it's both. I mean, I definitely, I have help in that department. I have a good friend of mine who, it's so funny. We became friends when we were probably eight years old. His mom worked a check-in counter of the snowboard contest I used to go to. And my mom was checking me in and she's like, oh, my son's got red hair too. You guys should hang out.

6:22Classic mom move. Yeah, classic. You know, I went down, obviously, my road of athletics and sports and stuff. And he had the different sort of, you know, finances and business development path. And so we kind of came together in a really fun way. And so he's been helping me in that department, guiding me. But, you know, yeah, trademarks are always difficult. You never know where and who's using what and the rules are different in different countries. So you have to kind of, you know, either play nice with somebody or if it's too similar to, you know, it's really difficult to do that. But I would say switching to Shopify was probably one of the easier decisions, you know, for us.

7:08You know, they have some of the biggest businesses in the world using their platform. And, you know, we want to be competitive. We want to be doing what, you know, solid solidified companies that know exactly what they're doing, have been doing it for so long, are continuing to do. And it's just funny, I think, that Shopify started as a snowboarding company. I don't know if you know that. Yeah, we're going to bring that up. Yeah, people listening know that. But the creator of Shopify was like, man, I really want to sell these snowboards. And there was no real great way to do that. And so he created the software or the platform of Shopify and then went, wait a minute, maybe this thing's not so much a snowboard brand, but maybe there's something in this platform that I've built, which is pretty awesome.

7:57So, you know, we've talked to the team over there and they've been really supportive. And we've done some collaborations with the brand White Space. And so, yeah, it's been really fun to like have full circle on that, come back to making snowboards again with those guys. So you famously signed a sponsorship deal with Burton when you were just seven years old. How did that experience inform the way you're thinking about signing young athletes now that you're on the other side as the sponsor? Oh, it's a trip. It's so weird. I will. I would say more just that, like, you know, it's individual sports snowboarding.

8:32And it was always very focused on, like, my goals and my next step and what, you know, competitions and my tricks and my training and me, me, me. and um and now to kind of put that side of life you know on the back burner and be able to you know sponsor young up-and-coming writers um it's amazing i'm checking in on the instagram like oh they got the 360 down like i'm like such a proud dad like it's been awesome and it feels so good to see the products out in you know the the wild i guess you could say um you know changing the way people ride. And that's, that's kind of the goal. And so when I can support like a young up and coming rider, it's really fun for me on many levels.

9:19Obviously it's great for the business to have the product out in the market and getting the feedback from real riders that are out there. Cause I can't ride the youth boards, obviously, but you know, getting that feedback and, and supporting their careers. Cause when I was sponsored at seven, I mean, it wasn't that I was the best rider out there. I just happened to kind of right place, right time. they didn't make kids boards and they sent me one like, hey, you know, test this out. Let us know what you think. Maybe you should enter some competitions. And that really like, you know, springboard my career.

9:50And obviously snowboarding is a pretty expensive sport. So, you know, family of five, you know, we'd load up in the van, having a free board and maybe some travel money was that meant the world to us. Do you think these 12 year olds are hesitant or a little intimidated to give you feedback on your product? um I don't think so I mean it's it's cool it's like I'm like I want to hear it give me give me the scoop I mean it's fun and um you know there's just that common I think um respect among athletes any any athlete in general but I think it's more um a fun thing that I can now like go meet up and ride with these athletes or like you know support their career from afar you know some some some way.

10:34But yeah, it's, it's definitely given new meaning to my new sort of, you know, my new life's goals. It's so bizarre. Obviously this, this, this string of competitive snowboarding is like been the common, you know, thing that's, that's carried me through life for a long, long time. And so now that that's kind of set aside, this new thing's developing, it's really fun to see. And speaking of you as the proud dad, you recently are involved in a youth camp up in Oregon. We'd love to hear more about what you're up to there. Yeah, man, I'm so excited about this. We closed a deal recently with an amazing group of investors and a guy named David Blitzer, who's just incredible.

11:22But we're investing in the youth camp space. You know, we want the next generation to have the best facilities, the best experience, the best products. And it really aligns with what I want to do with white space and what I think snowboarding needs right now and skateboarding in these sports. So I'm thrilled. The camp is up in Oregon. It's where I used to go as a kid. I mean, if you watch, I have a documentary that came out on Max and there's a clip in there where my dad's talking about this camp that we would go to when I was a little kid. And he's like, man, he would just snowboard all day. He would skateboard all afternoon and he'd just fall asleep in my arms.

12:09He's like, I think it was the best time in his life, you know, and it really was. It was this thing. I just loved being there. And so to have that full circle come back and be a part of this camp that's up there is just so amazing. And it gives me like this excitement to go there personally. So we can give you more information about it if you have some young ones that want to come up and ride the new facility. And with me, it's going to be incredible. But yeah, that's one big step in the right direction for, I think, myself and where the brand's heading. So speaking of kind of that younger generation, you didn't really grow up in kind of the social media age or the TikTok age and some of the Internet hype that 1000 % would have gone your way probably didn't go your way because it just wasn't around.

12:59Are you almost grateful for that in a sense or do you ever think, damn, it would have made life so much easier if there was a bunch of kids with iPhones filming everything you did kind of as you were starting out in your career? um i don't know i mean what happened happened so it's it's it's hard to think any differently but um i don't know i loved this thing you know when i was growing up they had these vhs tapes that would come out there were these snowboarding videos and everybody would wait and they this coveted tape that you know this this movie that would come out and people just waited and then watch them religiously um and try to find the songs that are playing during the parts and this favorite athlete.

13:40And if you were toward the end of the movie, that meant, you know, you had a, you know, bigger part or you had, you know, the more important writers, I guess you could say, were toward the end, the closers of the video. And it was this coveted thing. So I definitely think that having social media destroyed that a bit just because now you're posting the clips, you know, real time. But I think it's fun to be able to be involved with, you know, people that you're interested in friends family you know or celebrity types anybody that you're like god i want to know what they're up to and you get these quick updates of what's going on so it definitely changed it in a way i wouldn't say for better or worse it's just it is what it is but um but i i remember when social media was happening and um it was a really bizarre thing because i was just like i don't understand it like i just thought it was like another type of youtube where you're supposed to just post like crash videos or like ridiculous things you saw so for the first few years that I was on social media that's all I posted was just like videos of dogs falling off whatever it was you know what I mean like really lame stuff because I didn't get it and then I finally went oh okay I understand it's a it's a platform that you can kind of like keep people updated on on current events all these things and anyways but yeah I missed the mark a bit I think when that all came through um but um but nowadays yeah it's like it's just like uh i'd say for me it's like a double-edged sword like i really love it when i want to get a message out there but i'm definitely not um you know um you kind of have to tailor what you're putting out do you know what i mean you kind of you can't you can't just blast stuff and then some stuff that i do is just super boring and they're like just post what you've been up to and i'm like dude i've been like gardening and i feel like straight i come home and i'm like oh well i feel like the hedges need trimming that the hedges need to be you know people farming and gardening is some of the most popular tiktok content out there so i wouldn't uh write it all i have to ask you about some of the stuff you put out on social media because what i recently came across one of your videos and it was literally just you eating while watching someone doing an extreme extreme sport i think they were snowboarding over desert dunes and you have a few of these videos that go insanely viral and it's literally just you sitting eating something and watching how did that come about because there's some of your most viral videos yeah so i think what happened was my my social media you know i'm a i guess a manager i don't know he's just like my friend that helps me shoot while we're out and he's like you gotta get on tiktok this new thing tiktok i was like oh okay and and And he's like, just duet this video.

16:31And I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, it'll just split screen. You'll do the video. Just talk about what's happening. And it was basically a guy that was hiking in the back country in Colorado and came upon the area where I built my like private half pipe. And anyway, so I'm like, all right, well, I don't have time. Like I was eating cereal. I was like eating my breakfast. I was like, can I just, I'm just going to eat in the video. this thing like took off of just me just eating like, and then, and then he kept doing it during breakfast or lunch or whatever. And so now I just like eating these videos and now people are like, Oh, what's he, what's he eating?

17:12Oh, that looks pretty good. That's goals. I dig though. No, that seems pretty easy. I wish I could do that. Yeah. I probably have to win a few gold medals first. So we're approaching the new year as we talk. And a lot of our listeners are probably thinking about their New Year's resolutions. And from what I've read, you have this unique goal setting process. We'd love to hear about that and how you set goals. Oh, yeah. So, I mean, for me, I've always found that, you know, goal setting is incredible. It's something that just like, you know, if you're running, it's hard if you have no finish line.

17:51You got to get somewhere. And I feel like putting something out there in the distance really helps me, you know, kind of make the most out of my year and my focus and everything. And obviously, like a big one normally, like, for example, a season would be like, OK, I want to win the Olympics. That's a huge goal. That's a huge thing to take on. But then I would have all these little goals along the way that either had, you know, kind of something to do with the bigger goal. um you know when i was younger it was all about like winning cars because i was about to get my license and they were offering cars can you believe it they're offering cars at these competitions so i'm probably like 14 or 15 i'm like i i gotta win these cars and so my whole season became about trying to enter any competition that was involved with like a that had like a car sponsor.

18:44But so trying to win the cars, you know, it's a fun sort of thing. And that was kind of in line with, you know, like, obviously winning that event would then put me in a better position to do well at the Olympics. So it's all kind of like these little things to get to the bigger goal. But I think the thing about it is, is that you really have to know what you want out the gate because I think a lot of people tend to tell themselves something different than what they really feel inside and that's a hard one so take your time before you set that goal and really go like this is this is what I want and is this something that's disguised as something else or is this truly what you want because along the road you're going to get challenged like things will happen you know and and things won't go your way and and that sort of like inner, um, you know, promise you've made yourself of this is what we're doing can get, you know, tested by people around you by, you know, circumstances.

19:45And if you really know what you want, then it's easy to kind of like push that aside and keep going. Um, but yeah, so it's, it's been something that's like served me really well over the years. Um, but yeah, it's definitely, um, not, it's easier said than done. Yeah. I think oftentimes most people struggle with what they should be striving for, what type of goal they should be set than actually achieving that goal. And so for you, you know, professional snowboarder, it was relatively easy to figure out what you wanted to achieve. But I think for the vast majority of us, we're like, well, I'm supposed to set goals now.

20:18I can, I can set a very ambitious goal, but I kind of have no idea what I want to achieve because I'm just living a regular life. So yeah, but it doesn't, it doesn't have to be like a bummer I mean everybody I'm like this is you know like I hear people all the time like I gotta do this and I'm like dude listen to what you're saying like it can be fun like it can like even going to the gym can be fun if you make a bet with a friend or something on the line like any you're buying coffee today if this happens like I would do those kind of jokes and bets all the time to just keep it fun because if you're having fun doing something that's like a serious thing or whatever, like that's, it just helps it so much more.

20:59It's just like, you know, even if you have a simple bet with your buddy, when you're watching the game, it makes the game so much more enjoyable to, you know, to be there watching. So I, I, I tell people to kind of like have fun, like find a, find a way to make something that's usually not enjoyable, really fun. And then you're off to the races. I actually do want to ask you about some of the success you've had. So there's this famous study from the 1992 Olympics, which found bronze medalists were actually happier with their hardware than silver medalists were. And you have obviously won a lot of gold medals, but you've also won a few bronze and silver in the X games and various things.

21:37Does that track with your experience? Were you ever happier with a bronze medal than with a silver medal being the first loser? I kind of get that honestly, just because something about second place is really hard to swallow sometimes just because you're like god i was i was so close i just i could have done this or i should have that should have done whatever you know it kind of like eats away at you and and you know especially like in a judged event like snowboarding you know it's like they didn't like my grabs what was it my pants were too tight was it the style like what was it that that didn't push me over the edge um and so you know at least in third you're kind of like I hit it you know and and and potentially people could be like he was robbed he was he was robbed of that that glory he should have gotten silver at least uh I don't know I think that's just the thought process behind it But I would say that it's a difficult thing to actually win as well, because what's left after you win is just this sort of like, well, I did it.

22:48What now? Where at least in silver or bronze, you can be like, all right, next year, next time. Like this is what's going to happen. You have a fire burning. You have a purpose and a passion and and you've tasted it. but it was, it wasn't what you wanted. Now you gotta, you go back where if you win, you're just like, okay, I did it. I'd love to guess we do it again. No, I know. Trust me. It's a, it's an incredible feeling, but it's also like you said in the question, it's kind of this fleeting sort of, um, well, what's next sort of feeling. Um, and then the expectation comes because you're the champion.

23:26It's like, okay, well, you're expected to win, deliver. It's like a comedian walking out like all right make me laugh let's go you know it's hard um but yeah i guess i that that would be my only i don't know two cents on on that that sort of question repeat repeating as a champion is so hard to do you know in any sport just to have that drive and that discipline to go out there again a year after you conquer the world and you're like all right well how do i how how do I get the motivation to do that again? So people like Djokovic and you and other, other athletes that are perennial winners is just pretty impressive.

24:02I do actually want to know what, what does a gold medal taste like? You know how you always bite it after the end of an Olympics. Does it taste metallic? Sweet, sweet honey. Sweet, sweet victory is what it tastes like. More with Sean White after this break. Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real and so is the relief from ebglyss after an initial dosing phase about four in ten people taking ebglyss achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks and most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing ebglyss librikizumab lbkz a 250 milligram per two milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies.

24:58EPCLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EPCLIS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EPCLIS. Before starting EPCLIS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Searching for real relief? Ask your doctor about EPCLIS and visit ePCLIS.lily.com or call 1-800-LILY-RX or 1-800-545-5979. I'm Christian McCaffrey, pro running back. and Abercrombie is an official fashion partner of the NFL. I'm not kidding when I say NFL by Abercrombie broke the internet last year, and I think this season's lineup is even cooler.

25:34And so does my wife, who keeps stealing all my hoodies. Stay fit for the season and Abercrombie's newest arrivals. Shop NFL by Abercrombie in the app, online, and in store.

25:52half pipe walls were 11.5 feet tall when the event debuted in nagano and now if i'm correct they're 22 feet tall so they've almost doubled how high is a half pipe wall going to get i mean i i could see it getting a little bit bigger i just think with the speed that we're taking now and the tricks we're doing, I mean, it's bumped up to triples. If we're ever going to see a quad or something like that, I think the walls might need to get a little bit bigger or at least the half pipes need to get steeper. Um, you know, because when you do your, you do your air, you know, the half pipe wall is kind of falling away from you as the mountain drops.

26:31So not only are you going up in the air, but the mountains falling away from you. Um, And I know a lot of folks out there might think like, okay, bigger means more airtime and more speed and that equals danger. But I kind of see it in the opposite, not the opposite complete way. Definitely those are factors that can be more dangerous or add a level of danger to the sport. But I always explain it like if you had an airplane and you're trying to land it on a small runway, it's pretty intimidating. The room for error, the margin for error is very small. And so when you have a bigger half pipe wall, picture it being a bigger runway to land on.

27:17Yes, you're going higher, you're going faster, all these things, but you have more time in the air and more runway to land on, which is really nice. I mean, I remember hitting the half pipe walls and just missing the wall completely and just landing on the bottom, blowing my, well, luckily I was a kid. So I just explode and then just get back up and keep going, go get all my stuff as my goggles flew everywhere. But that's how I look at it nowadays. And like I, you know, we talked about camps and things like that earlier. We're, you know, we're building these facilities that have airbags and foam pits and this technology that helps people try tricks in a safe environment, you know, which is, I think, a really awesome tool to get somebody.

28:03It's like, I mean, we talked about airplanes. It's the flight simulator before you fly the actual plane. It's something that can get you acquainted with what's happening before you actually do it in the real setting where there are consequences. so um you know it's it's crazy to see but yeah i don't know i i bet i could see them getting a little bit bigger but i'll definitely be in the booth going like wow those hat pipes got big not out there i won't be up there stressing like oh my god so you're probably best known for the double mctwist 1260 which is three and a half twists and two flips which is just mind-boggling to wrap my head around.

28:43So to kind of wrap up the show, I want to run some new trick ideas by you. So you just tell me what you think about these. These are trick names, okay? So this one is called the New York Times Crossword 720. It's a trick that's supposed to be three spins, but two thirds of the way through, you kind of just give up on it. And you just get a coffee or something? Yeah, exactly. Midway through, you're like, you know what? forget about it i think i'm done with that that is the nerdiest look at any i could could definitely uh at this point in my career yes yes halfway through just like uh let someone else do it i actually do want to ask you though how do you end up naming your tricks do you kind of develop the trick and then you're like all right we got to name this or is it something where you start naming it and then you start trying to pull it off at the same time how does the naming work yeah i think there's like a technical name so double mick twist mick mick twist is is a mick twist is a skateboarding trick named after a guy named mike mcgill the mick and mixed twist and so that happened and then when we started snowboarding it was similar to skateboarding and a lot of the skateboarders were snowboarding so they just kind of like stole the trick names from skateboarding so um we're like oh it's a mick twist but it's a double so it's the same trick two times over and then this the numbers are just degrees of rotation so you know 180s half a circle 360 547 20 900 1080 um um it's not as sexy when you break it down like that it's way more fun to be like the double mctwit wow can i order that at mcdonald's um i know but they're all broken down like that and then you could give it a nickname like everybody i was calling that one the tomahawk or something and so people are like oh the tomahawk you know it's like You can give it a little name if you invent it.

30:37Yeah, I heard a rumor that you wanted to call it the Tomahawk because you had a giant Tomahawk steak, kind of like the night before you did. Is that a true story? Literally, yeah. That's awesome. Love that. I was like, do you want the Tomahawk steak? I was like, yeah. My coach was joking. He's like, it was the Tomahawk you ate. I was like, it must have been all that meat. I was like, okay. I love it. But yeah, I know like Tony Hawk named a trick after he's like, none of these, you know, no, I think he was naming tricks, but none of them were sticking. And he was like, I need somebody like incredibly famous.

31:11So it just catches on. So he named a trick the Madonna after Madonna. And it just was like, oh, and now the Madonna, the front side of Madonna. It just took. The state wasn't as famous as Madonna is the issue, guys. I think if you named a trick after Donald Trump, snowboarding popularity would go nuts. The Dua Lipa, I was thinking. The Donald Trump 220, 2260. I don't know. I was wondering how high can you count up in 180 degree intervals? Oh, God. I mean, pretty high. Who is it? He just did a 1260, I want to say. Or no, 18. What was it? What did he do? I'll post about it later. But yeah, there's an Italian snowboard that just set the record for biggest spin.