It is my observation that the more someone talks about how busy they are, the less busy they are.
Of course, the real busy people are too busy to talk about being busy. They organize their energy toward priorities, have fun, get results, and head home to their families.
Which brings me to Emily Mueller-Lennox. She’s not the head of everything at Puma — just the cool stuff. (Namely the partnerships with Rihanna / Fenty and A$AP Rocky, among other things.)
Some of my favorite things about Emily:
She is decisive, kind, balanced, thoughtful, and clear. She knows what’s important and what isn’t. And if she says she’ll do something, she does it.
In other words, she’s rare. And an absolute pleasure to work with.
Here she is talking about ambition, love, control, energy, and success.
MA: What are some funny LA things to re-acclimate to after 13 years in Germany? And what do you miss?
EML: A very stereotypical response would be the fact that I need to drive everywhere, but it’s true! Actually overall, I realized that I became much more “German” while I was away than I realized. For example, I had to start speaking louder—people kept asking me to repeat myself! And also get used to the volume everywhere being generally a lot louder. It bothered me a lot for a few months; I think I’ve adjusted now.
Other things little and big… the date being written in the “wrong” order (I’m constantly confused), using AM and PM again instead of 24H clock, spelling things the American way instead of the British way, not being quite as direct when talking to people especially in the workplace, paying when you leave the doctor’s office, constantly reading ingredients, only drinking filtered water, that everything isn’t closed on Sundays…. I could go on.
I miss the simpleness sometimes — that traffic on the way to work was literally just a tractor in front of me. Sundays everything was closed except restaurants and museums, so it’s a day you are forced to slow down.
The “kaffee und kuchen” tradition—when we would get together with friends on a weekend afternoon it was usually at one of our houses or a small café and literally just drink coffee and eat cake while catching up.
How have you been able to design your professional and family lives in LA? (Commuting, school, 2 working parents, etc.)
My husband and I both have flexible hybrid work setups which helps a lot. We start our workdays at home usually with early calls back to Europe, then do family morning routine things, and finally head to the office if going in that day. I am one of those rarities who loves to be in the office around everyone else, so I go almost every day.
We love spending time with our daughter and as a family, so that stays a big priority, but we have a babysitter who picks up our daughter from school twice a week, giving us a lot of flexibility on the back end of the day. We wouldn’t be able to do it without that outside support or if we weren’t truly equal partners in family and home.
We both travel for work, but luckily not yet at the same time! Really, one of the things that helps it all to work out is that both my husband and I report back into European leadership. There is generally a lot more understanding and support of family, balance and rest, taking time when sick, and of course using your vacation days as real time off!
Incredibly we also found a public school for our daughter that has a Dual Language Immersion program in German, so she can continue to be educated in both of her languages—we are all so excited about her school year starting.
What are the things you oversee in your current role? And, how did a Merchandising internship grow into this?
My role can be a catch all for a lot of topics, but in a nutshell, I oversee that the investments that we are making in our Ambassadors from a brand perspective are materializing into product that aligns with our overall priorities and provides us with the expected ROI, and that all stakeholders are on the same page knowing what they need to know when they need to know it at all times. I usually compare myself with the hub of a wheel. Spinning the middle, and if the hub wasn’t there it would be a mess. :)
That merchandising internship grew little by little. I have always been ambitious and overestimated myself most of my career, so I haven’t been scared to jump into things that were probably a little beyond my current abilities. I also always raised my hand and asked for what I wanted when I saw my next opening. I asked for responsibility and challenge first, and worried about the rest later. Puma has been a great company for someone like me, because we are very focused on investing in internal talent, so we prefer to take a chance on someone internal.
A big myth in the professional world is that if someone is busy or shouldering a lot of responsibility, they are slow on email, hard to pin down, etc. But you're the opposite — you have a ton on your plate, AND you're a fast communicator. How did you develop this skill?
It’s funny, I’ve never had someone tell me that before. I’m strategic about my inbox — mentally I prioritize what comes in and use time zones to my advantage. Someone who needs my answer to keep their own work moving gets first response. Someone who I know is offline gets postponed until they are about to start working again. I want my response at the top of the inbox when their workday starts. Also, you guys are very to the point in your emails so they are very easy to answer—that also helps :)
Your first job was in the service (coffee) industry. Have you carried any of that with you?
My VERY first job was actually as a retail associate during holiday time at Gap Kids while I was in high school. I think about that job often. I think everyone should work retail and hospitality at least once in their lives because it generally makes you a better person! Haha.
That coffee job -- my parents had made me get a job to pay for a trip I wanted to take in the spring -- I was the only one of my friends who had to pay for it themselves, and I learned so tangibly that working hard for something makes that reward so much sweeter. I also learned that being excellent and caring about how well you do your task is the exception—I was shocked.
Those lessons all stuck with me. When there’s a big challenge in front of me, I just visualize how good it will feel when it’s conquered. And excellence has never stopped being the bar. It might even be my Achilles heel because I really struggle when “good enough” is where the bar is set by anyone around me.
Practically, working retail or service helped me to understand what happens at the end consumer. So much of the message that is thought up in the ivory tower of HQ is lost by the time it reaches the shop floor, so the product really has to sing on its own and speak personally to the individual who might buy it. I remember these glitter flare jeans that I used to sell to grandparents for their grandkids ALL DAY. Who knows what the product story was, but they were just perfect.
Can you think of a pivotal moment or learning, at any point in your trajectory, that shaped your professional existence?
Good question. I can think of a few:
Out of college I traveled instead of going straight into the workforce. That decision led to a few meandering years, without which I wouldn’t be in this spot today.
Going for that internship in Germany to be near my now husband. I never would have discovered this industry without that ulterior motive.
Becoming a parent put everything into perspective. I became extremely efficient, and my work became more of a reflection of me, vs. who I actually am.
When making hires over the years, have you ever had to “replace yourself” or hand off a responsibility that you didn’t want to let go of?
I’ve had to hand over responsibilities twice, and am preparing for a third time.
Once I went out for maternity leave for almost a year—I shared my responsibilities across my direct reports and line manager.
Then when I moved to this role last year, I had to hand off my work that I really loved to my line manager at the time because there was no replacement there in time. This experience was really interesting because it suddenly became clear that the unique mix of skills and experience that I had brought to the role over the years would be hard to replicate.
And now, I’m preparing to go out on parental leave again. The hardest part of doing this is to really document everything that I do and leave a roadmap for the next person. I’m structured, but so much of my work is ad hoc and based on my own experience—it’s almost an impossible task to comprehensively anticipate everything that will happen during a time out of office.
One of our favorite things about you is that you have a very clear sense of what you can directly control, vs. things you can just "positively influence" or "manage". The ability to toggle between these two things and stay sane seems to be key in a multi-billion dollar org. Is this a superpower?
It might be! I’ve spent a lot of time in my career banging my head against the wall trying to change or control things that were never going to change.
I think that the ability to toggle comes from a certain sense of detachment or lack of ego coupled with that drive for excellence, and a good sense of boundaries and priorities. I know the limit of my resources, and I spend them where they will be the most effective.
When ego isn’t part of the equation, you can pivot your time and emotional investment to the things you can control and work on those to make sure the outcome is the best possible within all the constraints.
What’s your advice for an up-and-comer who wants to build a big life in your industry?
Good enough is not good enough if it’s not your best. Always deliver your very best, even when it’s not expected, and even when it’s already better than those around you.
And ask for more. When you see your chance, raise your hand for the opportunity to do something bigger. Couple your ambition with patience and humility. Convey that you’re ready but not impatient and you know that time spent invested learning and expanding will fuel your trajectory in the long term.
There are SO many years in front of you; just be ready when the door opens.
What’s your advice for a senior executive who has become jaded?
The German saying is “the fish stinks from the head.”
Lack of energy, commitment, direction, or conviction is clear and infectious especially to everyone below you. If it’s time to move on or take a break, do it, for you and those around you. Fresh energy and inspiration is just as infectious as jaded energy.
