Stance CEO hosts Sports MBA Class of 2023 for Tour of Company HQ

by Joshua Himbury (SMBA ’23)

SDSU Sports MBA class of 2023 ventured north to San Clemente to visit the Stance World Headquarters

On Wednesday November 16th, the SDSU Sports MBA class of 2023 ventured north to San Clemente to visit the Stance World Headquarters. The cohort was lucky enough to be toured around the office by an SDSU alumnus, Stance Co-Founder and CEO John Wilson, who was generous enough to share his knowledge and experience over his 13 years of building Stance. Prior to founding Stance, Wilson worked in the apparel space with stints at both Reef and Oakley. Stance is not only an exceptional apparel company, but it is heavily involved in the sports space with athlete, team, and league partnerships across the USA.

The headquarters was set up well to promote efficient and meaningful collaboration and creativity in the apparel space. In addition to office space, the facility also includes an NBA-size basketball court, full gym training facility and physiotherapy consultation room, as well as a large multi-purpose room and outdoor area. This physical space reflects Stance’s core values and commitment to wellness and positive culture in the workplace and beyond, something that they strive to ensure their customer feels when they purchase a product from Stance. 

Amongst the key lessons from the day included Stance’s commitment to excellent people with core characteristics that make the company a place at which they love to work. On top of this, there is a commitment to exceptional talent that ensures that their product continues to be synonymous not only with socks, but beyond socks with their company’s expansion into other apparel. We were also able to hear about Stance’s core values and how they align with the goals of the ‘punks and poets’ program, and further discuss these in depth with John Wilson, noting that his favorite value has always been and will continue to be “gratitude.” 

SMBA Class of ‘23 candidate Liam Shaw said after the visit, “We were all very appreciative of John letting us into a day in the life of a Stance employee. Hearing his story and the story of the company along with the HQ was inspiring and motivational.”

The Stance World Headquarters visit is one of a number of site visits that the SMBA Class of ‘23 has been able to participate in. The availability of numerous world-class businesses in Southern California provides the cohort with great opportunities to see and apply what we learn in the classroom in the business world.