Listen free for 30 days
-
The Story of Lululemon: Little Black Stretchy Pants
- Narrated by: Chip Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £22.89
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Shoemaker
- Reebok and the Untold Story of a Lancashire Family Who Changed the World
- By: Joe Foster
- Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the late 19th century, the Foster family had been hand-making running shoes, supplying the likes of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams - later immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire - as well as providing boots to most Football League clubs. But a family feud between Foster's father and uncle about the direction of their business led to Joe and his brother, Jeff, setting up a new company, inspired by the success of Adidas and Puma; and so Reebok was born.
-
-
Great life story
- By Anonymous User on 06-11-20
-
Emotion by Design
- Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike
- By: Greg Hoffman
- Narrated by: Greg Hoffman
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emotion by Design reveals how leaders can harness the creative potential of any team, and so resonate with their audience like never before. Reflecting on his time working on Nike campaigns for Ronaldo and LeBron, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, Greg Hoffman reveals how any business can unlock its creativity: whether by seeking out the daydreamers (and taking them seriously), or recognising that visionary ideas come not only from ingenious individuals but from whole cultures of innovation or understanding how to turn a mere campaign into a global movement.
-
-
Interesting to join the dots
- By L. McCoy on 19-05-22
-
The House of Gucci
- A True Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed
- By: Sara Gay Forden
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Sara Gay Forden
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of March 27, 1995, four quick shots cracked through Milan’s elegant streets. Maurizio Gucci, heir to the fabulous fashion dynasty, had been ambushed, slain on the steps to his office by an unknown gunman. Two years later, Milan’s chief of police entered the sumptuous palazzo of Maurizio’s ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani - nicknamed “the Black Widow” by the press - and arrested her for the murder. Did Patrizia kill her ex-husband because his spending was wildly out of control? Or is it possible Patrizia didn’t do it at all?
-
-
Tedious recounting of an interesting family story
- By jonty59 on 01-12-21
-
Good to Great
- By: Jim Collins
- Narrated by: Jim Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a five-year research project, Jim Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this audiobook, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind. Good to Great achieves a rare distinction: a management book full of vital ideas that reads as well as a fast-paced novel.
-
-
Good to great is great.
- By Anonymous User on 21-02-21
-
Pour Your Heart into It
- How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
- By: Howard Schultz, Dori Jones Yang
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The success of Starbucks is one of the most remarkable business stories in decades. Since 1987, the coffee merchant has grown from a single retail store on Seattle's waterfront to a company with more than 1,000 stores nationwide and a new one opening somewhere every business day. According to Fortune magazine, Starbucks "has changed everything...from our tastes to our language to the face of Main Street."
-
-
The abridged version sucks
- By Clarke on 26-06-10
-
Invention
- A Life
- By: James Dyson
- Narrated by: James Dyson
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. His products - including vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and hair stylers, and fans and purifiers - are not only revolutionary technologies, but design classics.
-
-
Mad respect for this genius
- By ben grant on 25-01-22
-
Shoemaker
- Reebok and the Untold Story of a Lancashire Family Who Changed the World
- By: Joe Foster
- Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the late 19th century, the Foster family had been hand-making running shoes, supplying the likes of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams - later immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire - as well as providing boots to most Football League clubs. But a family feud between Foster's father and uncle about the direction of their business led to Joe and his brother, Jeff, setting up a new company, inspired by the success of Adidas and Puma; and so Reebok was born.
-
-
Great life story
- By Anonymous User on 06-11-20
-
Emotion by Design
- Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike
- By: Greg Hoffman
- Narrated by: Greg Hoffman
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emotion by Design reveals how leaders can harness the creative potential of any team, and so resonate with their audience like never before. Reflecting on his time working on Nike campaigns for Ronaldo and LeBron, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, Greg Hoffman reveals how any business can unlock its creativity: whether by seeking out the daydreamers (and taking them seriously), or recognising that visionary ideas come not only from ingenious individuals but from whole cultures of innovation or understanding how to turn a mere campaign into a global movement.
-
-
Interesting to join the dots
- By L. McCoy on 19-05-22
-
The House of Gucci
- A True Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed
- By: Sara Gay Forden
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Sara Gay Forden
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of March 27, 1995, four quick shots cracked through Milan’s elegant streets. Maurizio Gucci, heir to the fabulous fashion dynasty, had been ambushed, slain on the steps to his office by an unknown gunman. Two years later, Milan’s chief of police entered the sumptuous palazzo of Maurizio’s ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani - nicknamed “the Black Widow” by the press - and arrested her for the murder. Did Patrizia kill her ex-husband because his spending was wildly out of control? Or is it possible Patrizia didn’t do it at all?
-
-
Tedious recounting of an interesting family story
- By jonty59 on 01-12-21
-
Good to Great
- By: Jim Collins
- Narrated by: Jim Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a five-year research project, Jim Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this audiobook, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind. Good to Great achieves a rare distinction: a management book full of vital ideas that reads as well as a fast-paced novel.
-
-
Good to great is great.
- By Anonymous User on 21-02-21
-
Pour Your Heart into It
- How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
- By: Howard Schultz, Dori Jones Yang
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The success of Starbucks is one of the most remarkable business stories in decades. Since 1987, the coffee merchant has grown from a single retail store on Seattle's waterfront to a company with more than 1,000 stores nationwide and a new one opening somewhere every business day. According to Fortune magazine, Starbucks "has changed everything...from our tastes to our language to the face of Main Street."
-
-
The abridged version sucks
- By Clarke on 26-06-10
-
Invention
- A Life
- By: James Dyson
- Narrated by: James Dyson
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. His products - including vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and hair stylers, and fans and purifiers - are not only revolutionary technologies, but design classics.
-
-
Mad respect for this genius
- By ben grant on 25-01-22
-
The Psychology of Achievement
- Classic
- By: Brian Tracy
- Narrated by: Brian Tracy
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soar to new heights of success and achievement with The Psychology of Achievement. This remarkable program reveals strategies to elevate your income, put your career on the fast track, and accomplish more than you ever dreamed possible.
-
-
My Personal Training Mentor Brian Tracy since 1992
- By Anonymous User on 04-11-21
-
That Will Never Work
- By: Marc Randolph
- Narrated by: Marc Randolph
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once upon a time, brick-and-mortar video stores were king. Late fees were ubiquitous, video streaming unheard of, and widespread DVD adoption seemed about as imminent as flying cars. These were the widely accepted laws of the land in 1997, when Marc Randolph had an idea. It was a simple thought - leveraging the internet to rent movies - and was just one of many more proposals, like personalised baseball bats and a shampoo delivery service, that Randolph would pitch to his business partner, Reed Hastings, on their commute to work each morning.
-
-
Look behind the scenes
- By Blanka Volna on 25-09-20
-
Amp It Up
- Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity
- By: Frank Slootman
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning, Frank Slootman
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman is one of the tech world's most accomplished executives in enterprise growth, having led Snowflake to the largest software IPO ever after leading Data Domain and ServiceNow to exponential growth and the public market before that. In Amp It Up, he shares his leadership approach for the first time.
-
-
Ego driven story poorly told
- By Gearóid Healy on 19-05-22
-
Shoe Dog
- A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
- By: Phil Knight
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Phil Knight - introduction
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
-
-
Shite
- By Mosstin Powers on 27-05-20
-
Atlas Shrugged
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 62 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a scrap heap within an abandoned factory, the greatest invention in history lies dormant and unused. By what fatal error of judgment has its value gone unrecognized, its brilliant inventor punished rather than rewarded for his efforts? In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, one man sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike.
-
-
Atlas Shrugged with indifference
- By GWFarrow on 02-12-14
-
How I Built This
- The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World's Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs
- By: Guy Raz
- Narrated by: Guy Raz
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on the highly acclaimed NPR podcast, How I Built This with Guy Raz, his book offers priceless insights and inspiration from the world’s top entrepreneurs on how to start, launch and build a successful venture.
-
-
Excellent- I will re-listen time & again
- By Mandy on 29-11-20
-
Legacy
- By: James Kerr
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The All Blacks are the world's most successful sporting outfit, undefeated in over 75% of their international matches over the last 100 years. What is the secret of their success? And what can we - as individuals, companies and teams - learn from them? The All Blacks are the world's most successful sporting outfit, undefeated in over 75% of their international matches over the last 100 years.
-
-
Interesting book but.......
- By Mr on 26-06-15
-
The Cold Start Problem
- Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product
- By: Andrew Chen
- Narrated by: Andrew Chen
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hardest part of launching a product is getting started. When you have just an idea and a handful of customers, growth can feel impossible. This is the cold start problem. Andrew Chen has a solution. As a partner at the pre-eminent VC firm Andreesen Horowitz, he has invested in some of the world's fastest-growing companies. Along the way, he's become one of the most renowned bloggers in tech - hailed by Wired as a 'true Silicon Valley insider'.
-
-
Could have been a blog post
- By R. on 09-12-21
-
Build
- An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
- By: Tony Fadell
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and learned enough in over 30 years in Silicon Valley about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decision-making, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success to fill an encyclopaedia. So that's what this book is. An advice encyclopaedia. A mentor in a box. Build is full of personal stories, practical advice and fascinating insights into some of the most impactful products and people of the 20th century.
-
-
Great book
- By Debbiepmr on 21-05-22
-
Grinding It Out
- The Making of McDonald's
- By: Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few entrepreneurs can claim to have radically changed the way we live, and Ray Kroc is one of them. His revolutions in food-service automation, franchising, shared national training, and advertising have earned him a place beside the men and women who have founded not only businesses, but entire empires. But even more interesting than Ray Kroc the business man is Ray Kroc the man. Not your typical self-made tycoon, Kroc was 52 years old when he opened his first franchise.
-
-
How to get rich - a manual.
- By Lance Johnson on 14-04-19
-
Delivering Happiness
- A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
- By: Tony Hsieh
- Narrated by: Tony Hsieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this, his first audiobook, Tony Hsieh - the widely admired CEO of Zappos, the online shoe retailer -explains how he created a unique culture and commitment to service that aims to improve the lives of its employees, customers, vendors, and backers. Using anecdotes and stories from his own life experiences, and from other companies, Hsieh provides concrete ways that companies can achieve unprecedented success.
-
-
Dull and over simple
- By Craig Beck on 26-01-12
-
$100M Offers
- How to Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No
- By: Alex Hormozi
- Narrated by: Alexander Hormozi
- Length: 3 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The methods contained within this book are so simple, so instantaneous, and so effective, it’s as if they work by magic. If you implement even one tactic in this book, you’ll see the change in your prospects' demeanor. And you’ll know the $100M Offers method worked when you start hearing, “What do I need to do to move forward?” before you even ask for the sale.
-
-
Unbelievably good... The real deal
- By Amazon Customer on 24-10-21
Summary
The unauthorized story of Lululemon.
This is a book about ordinary people who took an opportunity to be creative, to be innovative, and to maximize their potential.
Chip Wilson’s part in this story comes from the learning of thousands of mistakes. He set the culture, business model, quality platform, and people development program and then got out of the way. Lululemon’s exponential growth, culture, and brand strength have few peers, and it is because of those employees who choose to be great.
This book is also about missed opportunity - five years of missed opportunity. Chip was playing to win while the directors of the company he founded were playing not to lose.
What listeners say about The Story of Lululemon: Little Black Stretchy Pants
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L.U.
- 06-04-20
Learned so much reading this
Loved this book. At par with the likes of Shoe Dog in my opinion, a top class autobiography. He is authentic, honest, doesn't hold back. Many golden nuggets and valuable advice for entrepreneurs. Also loved that he shares his list of favourite business books, allowing me to know what to listen to next.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Fred
- 16-07-20
Starts slowly. Stick with it.
I bought this because someone else compared it with Shoe Dog which is a brilliant book. As I started listening I was disappointed. It wasn't helped by the narration (Chip himself rather than a professional) and the clips of people narrating their own bits.
However, the book comes into its own in the second half. I am really pleased I stuck with it.
There is a lot to learn from this book and I have altered my thinking as a result.
I recomend you listen to it.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 11-05-22
Packed with learning for any business leader who dreams of changing the world
This is an amazing book we’ll told and we’ll read. I have learnt so much from it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Iliyan
- 04-01-22
Amazing story
Valuable lessons from building a billion dollar business. Thanks, Chip, diving into the details and share the story!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Troy
- 06-01-20
loved it!
very insightful, educational and inspiring!
I liked the personal touch about his life and how he found a work life balance
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jamie
- 22-04-19
Culture is everything
Thoroughly enjoy and rate this book. It’s definitely in my top ten business reads. Fantastic to learn about the journey from single product to going public as well as the challenges that come along with that. Chip’s unwavering dedication to his mission and people is admirable. I really recommend this book to anyone who not only wants to start a business, but change the world.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Braden
- 22-10-18
A unique perspective.
Very cool story that reminded me of Shoe Dog with more cultural lessons. Very cool that it was also narrated by Chip and his family!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Steven Calif
- 11-03-20
Entertaining but revisionist in places
I’ve listened to this twice, so I found the history, the journey and some of the lessons very interesting. In particular, the idea that it is truly possible to keep a unique vision and core values driving a large scale entity is unusual, as those things typically get lost or are not truly supported top to bottom.
On the 2nd listen I did not really like that the book had been revised with updates of Chip’s career .. it seemed like a “chip on the shoulder” move. I’d say it is certainly worth a listen if you are interested in the early history of the company, but as the book goes on, take it with a grain of salt. As Chip asks at one point “Am I the weird uncle in the room?” I think so. But that’s kind of what makes it more interesting. Can a weird uncle really run a multi billion$ entity. The lessons of why could not make it possible are good ones.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Noel Castellanos
- 26-09-19
Chip is an Excellent Product Man
So interesting-Chip made a great product using unorthodox marketing. This combination made a world wide positively recognized company. He blazed the way for people and product to grow in ways that were beneficial to both. Loved it!!! Financial and/or creative minds will enjoy this book.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 13-07-19
Score settling second rate business advice
I wanted Chipp's insights into Athleisure, I got Chipp's self serving opinions on corporate governance.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Chris
- 18-04-22
Chip’s Story, Not Lulemons
I’ve read a lot of business books and this one might have been my least favorite. There’s way too much complaining about other people for me. Chip is right and everyone else is wrong.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Baja Arizona SUP
- 15-10-21
Stretch your legs and learn about being in it for the long run
A founder makes it happen. A founder creates flow. A founder fuels the passion that is the force that employees and customers (both comprised largely of super girls in this case) both embrace. But to reach more people, more of the public, takes more money and, inevitably, going public. And that’s where the culture, the foundation of the company that got it to this point of unparalleled, market creating success, clashes not with the public, but with the fear of failure instilled by insulated and self-interested Titans of industry who sit on the board and know how to run a company, if not into the ground, into a loop of low-risk quarter mile laps that will make it too big to flourish while inflating the price of the shares and their own net worths. It’s probably not unique when the people at the helm think more of what they can take out of, rather than, put into a business. This book made me crazy. It’s a cautionary tale. And it is so great because the founder threw caution to the wind.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 14-08-21
Build your future now
when you have a life that seems to be viewed through different eyes then others around you, you seem to feel out of place from the norms of society. this book was so close to home with how Chip thinks and how different ideas stand out. what an amazing story but also a real tragic one as how much corruption is around us...people....money is the thing that everyone puts before so much. put others first and the good of the planet and you will make something great. I know I will try to.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Douglas Kennedy
- 19-07-21
Reinforces the value of culture (and watch out for corporate politics)
While Shoe Dog was about the scrappiness of 0 to 1, this story focuses more on the importance of culture and the risks of corporate politics / short term incentives / losing your True North.
It also reinforces my belief that HR/talent acquisition is still a very inefficient market - Lululemon was built by people with very little traditional “pedigrees” that were empowered in a great culture. I believe whoever figures out how to systematically find these diamonds in the rough will have a huge positive impact in society and business.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sherif Sakr
- 15-07-21
Thoroughly educational and entertaining
What a story! Invaluable historical perspective on modern yoga, business building, and philosophy. A quick and valuable experience to be cherished.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Brett
- 27-05-21
Amazing and Inspiring
loved Chips story. as an entrepreneur I felt inspired and motivated. all entrepreneurs need to read and listen to this book. mindset shift. tells the truth about how damaged out American corporate world can and is. kudos Chip.