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Kip Fulks, Co-founder
The Interview
Hungry & Humble Under Armour
Under Armour was the brainchild of Kevin Plank,
a ‘not-big-enough, not-fast-enough football player who wanted a little bit of an edge on the field’ (1). That underdog competitiveness went on to become a core part of the culture of the young Under Armour, one the leadership fought to nurture and retain as they grew.
Our interview is with Kip Fulks, who joined Plank’s nascent brand when it was still packing product in Plank’s grandmother’s house in Georgetown, and went on to run almost every part of the organisation during his 20 years at the company. Here, Fulks talks about the importance of that Feisty Underdog culture, and how living in the shadow of a better-resourced Goliath led Under Armour to hungrily find better ways to market
its products to athletes, consumers and manufacturers alike.
How did your involvement in Under Armour start?
My partner and I, Kevin Plank, the founder and CEO, went to school at University of Maryland together.
I started, in the early days, working out of his grandmother’s basement. I’ve done everything from pack boxes to run distribution centres. My work in the early years was focused on supply chain and
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Kip Fulks in an Under Armour store in New York.
142 Feisty Underdog