I would define leadership as being comfortable in your own skin and doing what you think is right. What are your principles? How do you live by them every single day?
Doug Lynch Tweet
Doug Lynch is the co-founder of SportsShare, a company that teaches parents and coaches about various sports.
With SportsShare, Doug teaches clients how to play sports as well as the soft skills, like mental health, anti-bullying, injury prevention, which are the basic skills you need to excel at any sport.
Clients can also learn from Doug and SportsShare through their online platform. The company is aggregating content from all over the world, from world class teachers.
Aside from SportsShare, Doug is also the co-founder of Zenkai Sports, a sports-apparel company. The company produces sportswear from eco-friendly materials and through sustainable methods.
Doug Lynch and Zenkai Sports have also licensed a technology called Filium® globally. The tech allows for water repellency, which is an important safety feature in the summer heat. It not only helps our bodies stay cool but it can actually keep us safe from overheating as well!
Beyond being a business leader, Doug is also an elite and experienced hockey coach in Canada. He played professional hockey since he was just 16 years old which took him from North America to Europe where he played for eight more years before finally settling back home with his family in the Great White North!
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Let’s learn a little about you and really get to experience what makes us tick – starting at our beginnings. Where did your story begin?
Doug Lynch: My story began in Vancouver, BC, Canada, that’s where I grew up. I ended up leaving home at 16 to pursue playing professional ice hockey that took me all over the world a little bit in the NHL in the minors, North America and then eight years in Europe
I retired five years ago, started getting into coaching and teaching ice hockey. It’s because it’s what I love and that just set me on a path and to start building and creating companies around sports, education, and kids. So from there, I moved from Portland, Oregon, and started a training company there that moved into running. The association from the hockey department created the long term athlete development model about how to structure practices for children at a specific age and appropriate skill sets as they get older, which also increases. That journey took me to Shenzhen, China, where I started an ice hockey program from scratch. And from there, I started bringing professional coaches over from North America to Mainland China and Hong Kong to help educate more and more associations that led into me leading the first-ever NHL coaching Symposium and the NHL hired me for two years to run a Grassroots hockey program across Asia from there. My company was in Hong Kong and China, which was acquired by a publicly traded company out of Canada and I became a co-founder of the new company. This company basically again aggregates Sports education for kids. On my trip from China to Portland, I started an apparel company. And I think, now, looking back, I’ve been retired for five years, and I’ve set up seven companies in four countries, and that’s been a lot, but I’ve loved every second of it along the way.
Currently, I’m co-founder of a company called SportsShare, which is an aggregate education company that teaches parents, coaches and children about whatever specific sport. You want to learn along with the soft skills, the mental health, anti-bullying injury prevention, all of the skills that are required for any single sport. Do you want to learn currently? We’re online and we’re aggregating content from world class teachers from all over the world. You have to be verified and invited onto the platform. Still, parents know that it’s age-appropriate for their children and the coaches are verified as professionals in their field. The second project is an apparel company called Zenkai Sports. It’s completely counter to this, you know. It’s a paradigm shift of every apparel out there. Currently on the market it’s cotton-based. Eco-friendly and sustainable, but at the same time, we’ve licensed a technology called Filium® globally. That allows for water repellency, which is really important, because it actually keeps our bodies cooler when we perform whatever exercise. It’s the reason we sweat. Sweat needs to stay in our skin. The idea of moisture wicking is actually completely outdated and it’s not backed by science. Because if the sweat pulls off your skin into your shirt, you have to actually work harder to produce more sweat. So if you are trying to exert yourself to get a goal, or you train in professional athletics, your body then overheats quicker, and you lose energy because you’re trying to produce more sweat. So we’ve launched now in North America as of last year. And we’re looking to expand now through Russia, China, and then all through Europe. So those are projects I’m currently involved in, and I’m also teaching minor hockey here in Canada.
Was there somebody in your life that inspired you to take that specific journey with your business?
Doug Lynch: My parents are my biggest inspiration. They’ve helped me my entire life, and supported me with whatever I wanted to do. My love was ice, hockey and sports. So I played every sport growing up. I ended up going professional in ice hockey, but they spent thousands of hours driving me to the ranks, aside from waking up early and the money. The time that they put into my career makes me always grateful for everything they’ve done for me. My parents are entrepreneurs, and they’ve been running their own businesses for 35-40 plus years. So I think deep down, I always knew that that was something that called to me, I ended up playing professional Athletics for about 15 years and then after I retired I knew that my second career after playing ice hockey would probably be doing business for myself. They’ve been instrumental since I was very young at teaching me the work ethic and those soft skills that are required.
To be successful, no matter what business you’re doing, you should always be on time, treat people with respect, and gain the ability to work as a team. You should always be accountable. These are all things they taught me along the way.
What are the most common mistakes you see entrepreneurs make and what would you suggest they do?
Doug Lynch: I think being an entrepreneur is signing up for a lifetime of mistakes. You’re always trying to make the best decision. You can decide with only a certain amount of the information, and a lot of it happens when you’re first getting up and going and you’re the only one or maybe your partner that has to do everything. So you kind of have to be a jack of all trades and master of none at the beginning. I think that’s why it’s so rewarding when things work out for you. I think another big mistake is entrepreneurs think success takes a lot quicker than it does and even the so-called overnight successes have been years in the making. They involved developing a product, or developing a network or a customer database. And I think people think things happen way sooner than you think if you’re working for yourself. You’re not working 9-5.
So I think a lot of people forget that if they’re not the ones doing it that no one else is going to get it done. And that’s sometimes really draining on you, knowing that you can make more phone calls, so you can work longer hours. There’s not like there’s a quitting time, so to speak. So I think that actually filters into your work life balance a little bit more, and you can kind of get that workaholic tendency. So, those are some of the common mistakes that I’ve seen. I know that I’ve experienced this personally and I think there’s a lot more out there, but those are some quick ones that have kind of popped into my head.
Has the pandemic and transitioning into mostly online shopping affected your company positively or negatively?
Doug Lynch: The pandemic has definitely hurt us and hurt the industries that I’m in. Both of the companies I’m currently in, SportsShare and Zenkai Sports, are both online, which you’d think would be a benefit given everything going on during these times. However, they’re all sports-related. Sports, schools, and universities closing down have affected our business. We may be online, but it’s been very difficult since there are no sports being played. So we walk that fine line of being e-commerce companies and needing the physical locations being open, with the kids, and adults, and coaches. Everybody that’s part of that ecosystem must be able to gather in large groups so they can perform and compete.
In your opinion, what makes your company stand out from the competition?
Doug Lynch: My companies stand out from the competition because we’re actually saying the exact opposite of all apparel companies right now on the market. One of the things I keep asking myself is, “Why does the planet have to suffer for eco friendly performance?”
The majority of clothing and apparel companies depend on a hundred percent synthetic materials, which are used synthetics taken from oil, the largest polluter on the planet.
So it’s kind of counterintuitive when people want to be outdoorsy and support the environment and be healthy, but all their clothes come from oil. For our company, we want to be eco-friendly and sustainable, so we use cotton. When you throw cotton into landfills, it degrades. On the other hand, synthetics take hundreds and hundreds of years to biodegrade.
We understand that we need less waste, and we want to prevent global warming and all that. So we promote cotton, which is eco-friendly and sustainable. On top of that, we are not following moisture wicking, and we’re not making dry-fit clothes because it’s the opposite of what evolution intended. Our bodies were designed to retain sweat in our skin.
With moisture wicking, you’re pulling water off skin. This is actually counterintuitive to the idea of thermal regulation going on in our body to keep us cool while we’re exercising or performing athletic activities. So those are the two main reasons. No one else is doing this. No one else is doing this with cotton.
No one else is keeping your body cool and repelling the sweat. On top of that, we consider the anti-odor aspect. There’s lots of companies that make anti-odor apparel; ours just happens to be better for the environment because it is natural and organic.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
Doug Lynch: I think the three character traits that make me successful as an entrepreneur is, first, being a self-starter, being self-motivated. No one’s there holding you accountable. A lot of times, when you’re starting a business by yourself, you’re the only one holding yourself accountable.
Whether it’s waking up really early, not getting a lot of sleep, finishing work for the day and then making phone calls at night, you’re right. The ideas of Saturday and Sunday don’t really matter.
I know for me, that’s an example. You don’t really have days off. The second thing for me is organizational skills. You have to be very organized. You can’t let things slip through the cracks.
Once again, the buck stops with you, so you have to follow through. A lot of the times people forget to follow through because they are unorganized or they don’t have a system. I know I need to remember things constantly, make lists, and constantly refine those lists. Those are some examples on the organizational side.
I think the third thing is your grit or competitiveness, which are different words you can kind of substitute. That probably comes from my professional ice hockey background. You have to rise up to the occasion when the going gets tough and the pressure goes up. You have to get it done.
So, you’re presenting, and raising funds. You’ve got deadlines to meet. Things get tough. There’s some really tough days where you’re told no, especially during the fundraising thing or when you’re trying to pitch your ideas.
You need that great determination during the next time someone says no to you. Pick yourself up and go right back into that next meeting.
Being a CEO of the company, do you think that your personal brand reflects your company’s values?
Doug Lynch: Yes, I think when you start a company, your personal brand becomes the company’s brand. They’re kind of intertwined as your company grows.
It’s a lot bigger and it might somewhat shift and change, but I know that with my brand Zenkai Sports that it came about because I want to help with the global warming problem. I love the oceans. I love the environment.
I know it’s such a massive undertaking and I’m just one person. But what can I do to be a little bit better? It’s like eliminating single-use plastics, all those kinds of things.
I’ve been a vegetarian for 7-8 years. These are all things I live with in my day-to-day life, which is why Zenkai Sports is eco-friendly. We use cotton materials, which need less laundering because you don’t need to wash the clothes. There’s no smell and there’s no bacteria. All of our work goes into helping the planet and becoming a more sustainable society and lowering our carbon footprint.
So, for me, that’s very, very important, not just in my personal life but also in creating the Zenkai brand. Zenkai is derived from the word “Kaizen,” which means getting better every single day and improving continuously.
And that’s the same way I feel about myself everyday. I want to get a little bit better, help the environment, and be a better person in the community. And I think that it’s very, very intrinsic and goes back and forth with my personal side and the business side.
How would you define “leadership”?
Doug Lynch: I would define leadership as being comfortable in your own skin and doing what you think is right. What are your principles? How do you live by them every single day?
People can see that. If people choose to follow that, or if they choose to listen, that’s their choice. But I’m not someone whose leadership style tells people what to do or make them think the way I do.
I think people like that stifle creativity. There are probably ways you can do things better, and I’m just not smart enough to see them.
So, for me, being a leader is doing what you think is right, sticking by your principles, and being consistent with that. If you have a leader like that, you have someone you can trust and get behind.
You can be sure that they’re stable, and that they can make costly decisions because of their principles.
If you as a follower can resonate with those principles, then that’s what I think leadership is. If you make a decision to go a certain way but people don’t want to follow you, then maybe they’re not supposed to be there. Your morals, ethics or the way you see the world don’t align.
For the long path, you might not want those people following you. I think it’s just being true to yourself, being strong in your convictions, having a good set of principles, and being stable.
What advice would you give to our younger readers that want to become entrepreneurs?
Doug Lynch: Being an entrepreneur is probably one of the greatest jobs in the world, but it’s very hard and it’s not for everybody. So, my advice is really be honest and truthful with yourself.
Some people are kind of made to be employees. They punch a clock, work 9 to 5, have some structure and stability with paychecks, summer holidays, vacations, and the ability to plan out their life. There’s none of that for entrepreneurs, especially in the early days.
It’s frantic, with all the long hours. You’re constantly connected on your phone or through email. You’re always talking to continental clients and customers about whatever you’re selling.
I think people sometimes glorify being an entrepreneur and they don’t recognize the blood, sweat, and tears, the grit and the heart that really goes into it. It’s not for the faint of heart.
It’s scary. Some days are brutal and you get rejected, or you’re told no. You’re always trying to raise funds or you’re trying to build something from scratch. Or you’re trying to take an idea that’s never been brought to the market and change people’s perception of things.
And I think people get the sexy stuff from TV and Instagram feeds and all that. But the daily grind of being an entrepreneur is something that you have to be very dedicated and passionate to do.
It takes a lot longer than you think it’s going to take and that gets disheartening.
My advice for young entrepreneurs is that if you are passionate about something you want to do, and you recognize that the work-life balance might be out of whack sometimes, you need to remember that you’re building something.
You’re putting your name on it, and you own it. There’s something really cool about that.
What’s your favorite “business” quote and how has it affected your business decisions?
Doug Lynch: I actually have two favorite quotes that I think about when costing and buying.
The first is, “If you’re going to be wrong, be wrong quick.” This has something to do with hiring employees or making decisions. The longer you take the longer you drag things out, especially when you know it’s the wrong thing.
It can be really detrimental for relationships and making decisions. So, if you make a wrong decision, do it quickly. Don’t drag it out if you want a lot more time to rectify them or backpedal or find a different solution.
So, if you’re going to be wrong, be wrong quick. Just get into it headfirst.
And then the second one is about relationship capital. “Never spend it, only invest it.” People and relationships are everything in business, which means your word, your integrity, your honesty, and your moral compass. All of that matters, and all of that is what everybody will align with.
People will align with people who have the same similar moral compass and views. When you find people like that, you never want to abuse that relationship. You never want to spend your relationship capital. You want to keep investing. You want to keep helping them in their business.
Even if there’s no monetary gain, you want to keep building and building those relationships and networks, because that’s what really matters in business. Everyone’s heard these things.
It’s about who you know and all that is correct. Invest in your personal relationships. Invest in your personal capital. It might not come to fruition in a day, in a week, or a month. It could be five years, but that doesn’t matter. Keep reinvesting in your relationship capital.
ValiantCEO would like to thank Doug for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Doug or his company, you can do it through Linkedin , Instagram, Facebook
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