How FP Movement Builds Impact w/ Courtney Weis

0:00And what we're looking for today are both creators that are passionate about their individual sport or activity or multiple activities, but also ones that like to share that journey with the consumer. so that like to create content and not just content that's in front of a mirror showcasing their outfit but we're really looking for more dynamic content people that are really willing to be raw hey corny welcome to the show how are you thank you so much thank you for having me absolutely you know today we talk about a lot of things that we kind of covered in the past but this time I think we're gonna really go in detail about you know athletes right and what is going on when it comes to influencer market right that certain things are going to be very similar they're going to be you know maybe a bit different right from what usually the typical condescender right they do on a day-to-day but before we get started why don't you tell us a bit you know more about yourself I've used this thing called the map basically it's divided in three main sections first is the mission so basically what do you aim to achieve with your work that's some the number two is achievements so anything that you're really proud you know notable milestone either in your career or life or both if you will not say and also the last one is the purpose so why do you do what you do so our mission at fp movement is really to connect women we're female primarily female-led team and we only make uh clothing for female although there are some unisex products that everyone that everyone likes to wear so we can we can get you a pair of sweatpants if you'd like as well.

1:31But we're really connecting females at the intersection of function and fashion. So a lot of actor wear brands out there, we really aim to create performance-ready styles for females that also want to feel their best, look their best, and not compromise fashion while working out. And we really celebrate all forms of movement, which is really unique to the Epic Movement brand. We're not only celebrating studio, kind of your every day training workouts, but we really go deep in the run category, hike category, ski category, and racket sports and tennis. So we make products for all activities, but those are the four areas that we're really focusing on.

2:12And that has been really exciting and empowering for me and my team to kind of have those swim lanes, if you will. And then we're really able to go deep in those activities, attract talent, both athletes, but also influencers that are really passionate about those activities, partnerships, brands, etc. So that's really our mission. Fantastic. And what about achievements? Anything that you're proud of? I joined the brand primarily. I was originally hired in 2019 to oversee free people. So free people is the women's lifestyle brands that I'm sure we all know and love. So FP Movement was really a division of free people at that time, just as denim is, which is now We the Free, or Endless Summer, which is now the freest line.

2:54and FP Movement was a very small division and we really took that. My boss and I, who's the CMO, a few other partners internally, really saw an opportunity and FP Movement actually ahead of the pandemic, we had plans for its own marketing budget, its own talent in early 2020 to really spin its off on its own brand and it has really taken off. We had our first store opening in October of 2020 and now in the beginning of 2025, We have 56 standalone FP Movement stores, and it's grown, I mean, exponentially since that point. So I'm really just so happy that the consumer partners, everyone in our community is passionate about the brand and is on this ride with us to help us grow it.

3:40Because as a marketer, that's all you want, right? So I want more budget each year to do exciting activities to be able to grow and grow. So it's definitely been a lot of hard work, but a little bit of luck and fantastic product along the way. Congratulations, first of all. Love to hear that. And I also like to know that, again, in addition to the mission that you covered before, is there anything else you would like to share also on the purpose? So the reason behind what you do on the day to day. So we're a really big community driven brand. So you think my 56 stores, well, they just kind of scale the stores really quickly.

4:14we really scaled where we have a purposeful community. So here in Los Angeles, we have a run club that we do a minimum of once a month and we have upwards. We were doing it in two locations in Venice, Abbot Kinney, and then in Century City, we were having upwards of 100, 150 people join us each month. So we're now activating programming in 15 to 16 markets a month with about five events and classes. And we have, I mean, anywhere from 50 to hundreds of people joining these events. So I love that. I love that we can bring, I have so often heard, I've moved to a new city. I was a part of your run club or your mat class in Los Angeles.

4:55We actually have a partner at Refinery29 that just told me recently during the marathon in Miami, and I moved to Miami and I started the run club here and I've met some of my best friends in the city. So I think that that's really fun too, just like-minded females at a space and around a community that are just passionate about moving their body and can meet great friends and a great community through that. So that's really impactful and special to us. That's amazing. And we're going to dive in later during today's episode about going from offline to online and vice versa, right? Because I think there are more and more activations happening in the space of law to hear more about what you're doing specifically on that.

5:36But let's start getting into F &E Movement's influencer marketing strategy. And one of the things, one of the first steps, right? Even before maybe the critical, I mean, like after discussing the critical concepts and everything, one of the very important things is all the time to find the right fit for the company. And so I would like to understand a bit more. How do you find the right athletes to collaborate with, right? creators and also I would like to understand what is the like the typical right the profile that you're looking for when it comes to collaborations definitely it's been a journey so I've been on now my sixth year at free people in our free movement so it's been an evolution right you you always have to learn so I first want to say that to any kind of marketer and and creator so we're really looking what we've learned over the years and what we're looking for today are both creators that are passionate about their their individual sport or activity or you know multiple activities but also ones that like to share that journey with the consumer.

6:31So that like to create content and not just content that's in front of a mirror showcasing their outfit, but we're really looking for more dynamic content. People that are really willing to be raw with their content, especially in video recordings and might share, you know, the start of their day. Okay, I wake up at 6am to train before work and it's dark and I'm tired, but I do it anyway and really share those difficult moments, but then also the substantial wins. So that's what we're really looking for from creators, the ones that are just willing to share, willing to shoot content, willing to shoot video content.

7:07And then also, I think it's really important that creators actually love the brand and they're actually wearing it in their everyday life, aside from when you have sponsored content. So I love nothing more than when I see a creator place an order or I see them request certain items. We have really unique names. We work with our merchandising team and a few people internally that name their products. So we have leggings called You're a Peach. We have a fleece called Hit the Slopes. We have a tank called Happiness Run. So when creators really know the product and know what works in their body, because we have such a wide breadth of product, I just love that when people really kind of do their own deep dive on what works for them, their bodies, their training routines, and are willing to share that journey along the way.

7:54I think that's really that sweet sauce because just like consumers have creators have a lot of opportunities and brands they work with and we really want to find those that are authentic to the brand and passionate about the the fp movement mission and do you work with like you know uh different type of creators in terms of both size and sometimes maybe sub industries do you have any preference there are you still testing out things or did you find your sort of like you know 80 20 right couple creators there you like try to focus or double down when possible and just like trying to understand a bit more Or again, if there's any preference there or, you know, there are still brands that every month after years, they're still testing, right?

8:31The different type of creators. And so I would like to understand, have you found your sort of like no formula or is it still like testing phase? Because it's ever changing, right? So we found now our buckets, right? Who we like to work with are definitely athletes that are performing kind of in their everyday life. So this past campaign that we worked on, we cast Salone Stevens. We're on our third year of our ambassadorship with her. she's a professional tennis player. We cast Riley Arnold, who is on Dancing with the Stars. So she's in their everyday life that they're working towards their sport.

9:03So we definitely have those types of creators that show up in our campaign. So that's one kind of cheering bucket that we've categorized. And then in terms of content creators, we actually found a sweet spot with asking some talent to create content for us that maybe necessarily isn't showing up on their channels is just for paid social purposes. Just creator pricing has gotten expensive and maybe different creators don't want to flood their feed with just one brand, but we definitely want certain types of content and products to show up on our paid social. So we worked out that other bucket, talent that's just willing to create content for us that will show up on our channels.

9:40And then the third bucket, I would say, are converting creators. So creators that are working with us through LTK or ShopMy and that are just converting for us. And that's not every creator. So I don't expect our athletes to be converting for us, even though they might use affiliate links. That's really not their KPI and their purpose. So if that helps, we definitely have creators that we shoot content, our creative director and that team shoots the content for them with a professional photographer, art director. We have some content creators that are just sending us a plethora of content that we're kind of mining through, seeing what works best for us.

10:16And then other creators that are really, I would say they're really just like well-trained and a well-oiled machine to pump out those links and to get them up on their platforms who convert. And then, of course, then they post the content on their channels with those appropriate links. Is your brand ready to amplify its reach while the influencer marketing factory is here for you? We are a global influencer marketing agency helping brands ignite their growth. From influencer identification to campaign strategy, handling legalities and agreements to managing shipping and logistics, we got you all covered.

10:48We work with hundreds of brands across different verticals from Fortune 500 companies to direct-to-consumer brands. And we don't just stop there. With detailed ROI analysis, we help brands like yours measure success, transforming impressions into conversions. You can find us at theinfluencermarketingfactory.com or just searching the Influencer Marketing Factory on Google. So when it comes to affiliate creators, primarily people that really focus on conversions, in that case, how does it work? Can anyone be part of that? Is there a process? Because also in that case, there are brands that are approaching that in a different way.

11:25There are a few that say you can apply and then if selected, there are certain guidelines to go through. and we're going to help you, right? Even with resources, we're going to help you understand that we have to maximize conversions, how to make the best video out there. And there are others instead that are being more, you know, broader, right? The type of reach and be like, anyone, you know, that wants that can adjust. There is no application you can go through, like, you know, just taking the link in your dashboard, post whatever you want. And of course, you know, both of them can be, you know, with the pros and cons.

11:54One of the cons sometimes is about, you know, brand safety, right? Because if you don't really control it, you know, so what is your approach there? Do you have any preference when it comes to affiliate marketing? We definitely do because there are these platforms, right, that are able to synthesize the links and the payments back to us and also mine through all the data. So we are definitely our preferred partners are Like to Know It, Shop My, and Shop Style. So in terms of influencer platforms, there's a few other small ones that I'm sure Magic Links is one for YouTube that we work with. But kind of the lion's share of where we end up sending our commission payments are really those three.

12:32And I would say for creators, the platforms are actually really neat and really interesting. Of course, creators need to get signed up to the platform. But then once they're signed up to the platform, if they start linking to FP Movement directly into our program, there isn't a really big barrier to entry. So those three programs being ShopSale, ShopMai, and LTK that I mentioned, once you're signed into those programs, and they're very clear about the steps to getting signed up to those programs. I believe you have to have a public account on Instagram and on TikTok and just linking. And also the way Instagram's evolved, everyone is allowed to create a link in their Instagram story.

13:12So that barrier to entry has been lowered where it wasn't that case a few years ago. So actually these platforms, I would encourage creators, even those starting out to look into these platforms because they actually create the monetizable link for you and handle that tracking. And then on the back end, I mean, some are definitely more shop. My magic links and shop style are more transparent with information. I would say than LTK, although they are working on their analytics. But if a creator, say that you start linking to FP Movement, then basically what happens there, then we can see on our back end like, oh, you know, Alessandra converted 50 fleeces for us last week.

13:49And then we might reach out to you through the platform for a paid partnership. So we do have been paid partnerships within the platform that we really go through when we select some of our top converting creators. Or we'll give a new creator an opportunity because we're always interested in new customers. So customer acquisition and just growing our overall reach is really important to us as the brand as well. So I actually really think that that's a great way to get on brands radar is to start linking to them organically. And the advice I would have for creators there is to link to the brands directly.

14:23as opposed to a wholesaler, a third-party retailer. Of course, we love, of course, our partners, Nordstrom Dick's Sporting Goods, of course, encourage people to shop there as well. But for the brand's direct marketing program, we're only seeing the data and analytics on you if you link directly to FP movement. Amazing. It makes sense, right? Especially these days that you want to track everything, you want to see the ROI behind campaigns. You can also see what is amazing of Affiliated that as you said before, you can see the ones that are performing the best and you potentially can contact them and do something specific, right?

14:58And, you know, customized and tailored with maybe the top 20, right? So there are like opportunities there. So if on the one hand, right, we have affiliate creators that are usually tech savvy or at least, you know, they understand the idea of, you know, placing links and tracking things and everything, right? On the other hand, you have athletes that I'd say that in the past years, they definitely started understanding much more social media, Yes, but many times still they are fantastic, right? I mean, athletes, right? So they are great in what they do in sports. And that happens the same also sometimes with musicians and artists, right?

15:31But sometimes maybe they might need guidance. Are you seeing that? Are athletes like starting to by themselves, to try to improve their skills when it comes to social media, understanding marketing, you know, communicate, storytelling and everything? So do you think it's going to be more natural because it's part also of their job somehow these days to also do promotions? Or are you seeing still a sort of gap between their day-to-day job, right? And then when they have to do promotions, maybe they need still guidance or help or support when it comes to how to get a message out there. I think athletes are really, especially the ones that we are working with, are really natural storytellers and are becoming more and more savvy about how to tell that story on the platforms that brands are looking for.

16:14and I've seen now it's kind of 2025 that if they have that hasn't been so innate to them or they haven't fit it in their schedule either their team directly or their agency has really helped them with the tools behind that so their management group right because the the managers and the agents are the ones oftentimes procuring these deals for the athletes so I actually have found that in the past few years these agencies now offer services to the athletes either to help them with their content at the agency level or help their team or their assistant. And then, you know, Alessandra, over the years, we actually have not renewed with certain athletes that haven't been able to produce content for us.

16:57Because even if you're performing in the field, if you're not able to tell that story for the brand, then there isn't as much of a benefit. And athlete sponsorships are expensive. And we want to pay the athletes what they're worth. Of course. They're representing, they're wearing our product at the most important and pivotal times in their life and also relying on the product for performance. So we definitely like to pay the athlete, of course, what they're worth there, but also need that content back or the tag back. And then you find that you really do want to work with athletes that are interested in both and delivering for you as a brand and proud to be a part of the brand, but then also focusing on their craft.

17:37So I actually think the athletes have had to become more adept brand storytellers over the years really to remain, I don't want to say relevant, but kind of almost because unless you're on a sport that's on a team or an athlete in a sport that is televised, such as tennis, we work with quite a few tennis players because tennis is an individual sport where you're allowed to wear a brand's uniform, your sponsor's uniform. That's not the case in a team sport, right? You're the team uniform. So tennis is a fantastic partnership opportunity because both the players need the product. And there's also 100 % share of voice for you, televised opportunity with that player, right?

18:18So that's been a really nice and fruitful partnership for us. But aside from the sports like running is a perfect example, running isn't always televised. Definitely the national certain championships are. So runners actually have had to become their own storytellers and their own platforms to gain more notoriety. And I've definitely seen last year through the Olympic cycle, the runners that we partnered with throughout the year became more adept storytellers and content creators, which was just fantastic to see through their eyes. Because that's what the consumer wants to see. The Olympic trials, making it to the Olympics.

18:53What's the Olympic village look like? What is your hotel beforehand? And so I'm really excited to upcoming both the 2026 Olympics in your hometown and then 2028 Summer Games. Just all the storytelling around all the athletes participating. Yeah. And all the memes, right, around those moments, they became like global sensation, right? Because they were able to show you things that usually, again, if you're not really like an athlete, you don't see. I think that was fascinating, you know, and also entertaining. So entertaining. And I think that's the part that's just especially fun to watch, to be in the industry, but then also to watch as a consumer, right?

19:32How these athletes have their own individual personalities and can be firecrackers and can really be expressive. So that is definitely a lot of fun. And, you know, so to go back to what we were saying at the beginning, right? Activations. More and more brands, right, understood that, especially, right, if you're into sports, it's something that, yeah, you can see and watch certain things online. but as you said before the connection with other people finding friends through a common interest right that go running together or you know sports and everything right it's such an important thing and so can you tell me a bit more about first of all how do you come up with activations and anything that you've done in the in the you know in the in the past that worked well for you and and why do you think that was a success yeah so what we really have done since since 2020 and stayed consistent to the model.

20:23We host a run day, a hike day, a mat-based studio workout, and then a partnership with a local studio. So those four classes each month, we have not failed. Even when there's been kind of snow in New York, we hold a winter run club. So I would say consistency with programming. Now those aren't necessarily special events. Those have become our just consistent programming. And that's worked really well for us, just being consistent with that. So people recognize the first Saturday of each month, I'm going to go here. And if I'm traveling to Miami, let's say I can join that, that run club there. So that programming has really worked for us in terms of special events.

21:01You're right. So many brands are doing them right now. The production quality has to be really top tier because you're seeing the content on social and everyone's outdoing themselves. So we've actually had to scale back a little bit and been more intentional to put more money into those few activations. So for example, we had a ski activation this past year in Whistler in Canada. And Canada is a growing market for us and is increasingly of interest, especially in Vancouver, where there's a big hike and ski community. So we held a ski trip with four or five skiers, a lot that were friends already from Vancouver, and then they go up Whistler's about an hour and a half and ski there.

21:41And we had a fantastic photo shoot with them, content creation making. But then we also held a gifting suite and we invited about 40 to 50 creators up from Vancouver for the day. So typically on a trip, we call them escapes and we have a partnership with National Park Foundation, which is also really unique to us. We take a group of women typically into a national park for a hike escape or a ski escape and kind of adventure focused. But then you're only really interacting with about five or six individuals. So with this gifting suite of the add-on model, we were really able to meet, and that was our intention, to meet as many creators as we could and athletes in the Vancouver market.

22:20And that really allowed us to do so. So although we couldn't bring everyone skiing or maybe to a kind of dining experience, we were able to really have this gifting moment with them and able to interact with them. So I'd like to replicate that model again, but it's quite tricky to find a mount where there's a singing close adjacency. Park City is another good good idea there so we'll probably we'll probably do that ski in park city and invite we have a lot of a lot of craters that live in salt lake city so replicate that that model again amazing yeah but i mean i i know i also sometimes you know i have to organize events and i know that it's a lot of moving pieces right when you have like like people like in physical you know spaces and everything it's a lot of coordination between the park and everything so you know you start with a nice idea and then all the execution it takes time efforts right yeah it's a lot of effort so So, you know, kudos to you for organizing something like that because I know this is not easy.

23:12Well, we have a big team now, so I've really made that a point of focus over the years to hire a dedicated experiential marketing team and then support under them, coordinator level. So it wouldn't be possible without a dedicated team because, to your point, there's a lot of coordination and then also a lot of branded elements. because there's no point in doing an event unless your brand is going to show up anywhere, but also in a way that doesn't feel too in your face or kind of tacky, if you will. Someone that feels like it's still your branding's there and it's not overstated, but it's not understated.

23:45So definitely requires a certain expertise, a little bit different than the influencer marketing team. Absolutely. Is there anything else, Courtney, that we didn't discuss today? Something that you are either excited about the market, the industry, something they are like you know closely following these days or maybe something you are working on and that you can't wait just to you know to ship out there yeah so we just did launch our our stand not never still campaign which was a a refresh take of last year so that's in in market right now we spotlighted five athletes different types of athletes a boxer dancer tennis and a runner and a soccer player so that really was new for us to show so many different sports in in one campaign So that's freshly, freshly flighted campaign upcoming.

24:29I'm really looking forward to, to tennis season. So we're working with Sloane Stevens, our longtime ambassador, Danielle Collins, and we're also dressing Sophia Kennan. We worked there in the past and now working with her in official capacity again this year. So three different tennis players and they have just kicked off their season at the Australia Open. And now I'm actually going to see them in person in just about two weeks at the, at the Indian Wells tennis tournament. So that is just a fun time to watch that. And then we'll be, we'll have on the ground presents at the French Open for the first time in Paris and as well as at Wimbledon.

25:02And then something else I want to note with your, your now hometown in New York City, we are opening an eight week pop-up with Nordstrom starting March 6th to April 27th on 57th and Broadway. So we have a whole dedicated, I think Skims iconically initially launched this pop-up space a few years ago on 57th and Broadway. So we will be there, FP Movement, dedicated. It's a very large space, and we actually have a studio upstairs. We'll be hosting classes three days a week, a speaker series every Thursday. You'll see some of our ambassadors, some of our athletes in a panel series on Thursday evenings at 6 p.m.

25:40for all of March and April. So that's another great place for creators to come in to meet brand representatives and hear a little bit more about what we have going on. Amazing. Love to hear that. And, you know, best of luck with all the activations, especially, you know, again, I can see that people want to see other people. They want to do things together, you know. They want to go from, you know, offline, like from online to offline and then using all the content of the offline, you know, to go back to online. So thank you so much for, again, you know, sharing that with us today. Again, congratulations on having that.

26:12You built together with your team. And that is, again, just all that coming to life. Thank you so much for having us. It was really special to be on and talk a little bit more about our journey. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Courtney. This was the Influence Factor by the Influence and Marketing Factory. And I'll see you in the next episode.