“As a woman, you have to start early and stay in those positions to rise up.” ~Christine Day
Christine Day of lululemon athletica speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, CA.
The yoga world has its eyes on lululemon and its CEO, Christine Day. Attend any yoga class, and you’re bound to see at least one lululemon label staring back at you—that’s because lululemon has established itself as a world leader when it comes to yoga and yoga-inspired apparel.
As CEO of lululemon, Christine Day is in charge of making sure that all of the company’s long-term strategies are created and executed, that the company continues to develop its core business, and that the company continues to be a global yoga apparel leader. Day has been with lululemon since 2008, ten years after its initial founding in 1998. And though it’s been a tough year for the company, lululemon is certainly still the top yoga apparel company around.
In June of 2013, it was announced that Day would be stepping down as CEO. “There is no difference in strategic vision for the company, we were and are aligned. My values include discretion. While I know everyone would like to know ‘the reason’ [I’m leaving] there are some things that should remain private because the truth is the good things outweighed the bad and by being respectful and grateful one can remember that.”
Day has stated that she plans to stay at Lululemon for another four to six months and then plans to take six additional months off before “looking for my next CEO adventure.”
Christine Day graduated with a B.A. in Administrative Management from Central Washington University and went on to attend and graduate from the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Before becoming CEO of lululemon, Day worked for coffee giant Starbucks for two decades. There, she gained valuable management and business growth experience, working her way up through the ranks to eventually become the President of the Asia Pacific Group of Starbucks Coffee International.
When Day started at Starbucks, it was still a small company. She worked as an office manager, and as the company exploded with growth, her responsibilities grew. Unfortunately for Day, becoming CEO of the incredibly successful coffee company wasn’t something that was likely to happen. She had aspirations of leading a company, and Starbucks couldn’t offer that. Plus, she says she enjoys the chaos of startups and the process of growth. That made her the perfect candidate for the top job at lululemon.
