Paul Van Doren - Authentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans

AUTHENTIC

Copyright 2021 by Paul Van Doren

Cover design by Nicole Caputo
Cover photo by Jason Ulep

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Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-64112-024-1

eBook ISBN: 978-1-64112-025-8

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I love the fact that whenever I share my Vans story, other people want to share their own storyand they always have one. At every event Ive been to over the past decade, someone has told me about their experience with Vans. A ton of folks remember buying Vans with their parents; others talk about coming to the store with their friends, kids, and even grandkids. I get a big kick out of it. To me, it's proof that Vans isnt just mine or about any other Van Doren's story. Theyre a shared experience.

But as much as I love telling my story, writing this book has challenged me. I will openly admit that the way I remember something wont necessarily be how someone else remembers it. People change, priorities change, and the way we see things changes. And because Vans isnt my story alone, I asked Steve and Cheryl and others to help tell it.

So many friends, family, and business partners contributed their time and attention to this project. I wouldnt have had a story to tell without the Van Doren family: my parents Bert and Rita, my siblings Johnny, Robert, Bernice, and Jimmy. My children Taffy, Paul, Stevie, Janie, Cheryl, and their mother, Dolly. My in-laws Dan and Louise MacLellan. My sons- and daughters-in-law Rick Blake, Mary Van Doren, Susan Van Doren, Larry Studt; and my grandchildren Jackie Blake, Jenny Battiest, Kristy Van Doren Batson, Debbie Hoffman, Shannon Jordan, Jimmy Harland Jr., and Philip Van Doren. And of course, my story isnt complete without the love of my life, Drena.

Then there are all those who became family along the way: my old friend Victor Murph Damiano, and partners Serge dElia, Jimmy Van Doren, and Gordon Lee. Thank you all for being part of the journey.

It takes a team to put a book across, and I want to give special thanks to the many Vans family members who helped both shape this story and bring it to the page. Sincere appreciation goes to Doug Palladini, the dynamic head of Vans Global Brands, for his support and contributions. Thanks also to past Vans Presidents Kevin Bailey and Stephen Murray. I was lucky to have help from Steve Weiss, Kia Wimmer, Michael Villec, Katie Bell, Libby Stockstill, Delbert Pickney, Simon dElia, Jared Abe, Graham Nash, Peter Derricks, Bob Provost, Jenna Lyter, and so many other dedicated Vans employees.

I thank photographer Alex Baret, artist Robert Vargas, and everyone else who provided their photographs.

Our loyal athletes also chimed in. Many thanks to Geoff Rowley, Gale Webb, Tony Alva, Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero, and Stacy Peralta.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Richard and Jack Joseph of Vertel Publishing for initiating this project and seeing it all the way through. Richard spent many hours helping me clarify and craft these stories.

Last but absolutely not least, I owe another debt of gratitude to the editorial and production team: Patricia Mulcahy and Amanda Murray gathered reams of material and fashioned it into a coherent narrative. Their professionalism and attention to detail came through at every stage of the process. Thanks also to Louise MacLellan, Nina Bruhns, and Ellie Davis for their early contributions, and to Christine Marra for getting us over the finish line.

So many others contributed to this projectI regret there isnt space here to acknowledge everyone who deserves my thanks.

I ve heard it said that opportunities dont happenwe create them. In that regard, I agree with Thomas Edison, who said, Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Ive certainly worked hard for my opportunities. And there was a time when I felt thankful to Bob Cohen for the opportunities he gave me, but the thing is, he didnt give them to me, not really. I proved myself time and time again, regardless of compensation or reward. I found solutions to problems that management didnt know existed. Everything that I accomplished at Randy's, I pulled off without management's support.

But it's also true that sometimes opportunities are presented to us, and they look a lot like luck. I was lucky to find a partner in Serge, tough as nails, who best exemplifies the truest sense of what I would call the spirit of opportunity. I will always consider it fate that he phoned the factory the afternoon I walked out, and fortune that he pressed the secretary to give him my phone number.

To me, the spirit of opportunity is half free fall and half safety net. I was given free rein to hire my own people, build my factory from the ground up, and run things as I saw fitwithout a pigeon or power struggle in sightand I also had an investor who shared my confidence that I could build a small sneaker factory in Southern California that was worthy of his $250,000 investment. That was a hell of an opportunity.

Still, whether an opportunity is made or given, at the end of the day you have to be in a position to make the most of it. Really, it's simply a set of exploitable circumstances that makes it possible to do anything, and no one does anything alone. Without a doubt, I had the support of my family. Without Dolly's support, I wouldnt have had a chance. Early in our marriage, she gave me more than enough latitude to embrace opportunities whenever they presented themselves. I never could have gotten Vans off the ground without the help of my children, my extended family, and my loyal friends. And it never would have thrived and grown into what it is today without first-class corporate partners. For anyone in business or starting a business, being supported by family and friendsyour community, whatever it looks likeis critical, now more than ever.

As I finish writing this manuscript, the world is crippled by a pandemic, and we are only at the beginning of the economic fallout that's come with it. No doubt the world is harder for entrepreneurs everywhere. But given the right circumstances, I have to believe it's still worth the effort and the risk.

Even in the most unusual circumstances, I believe that anything's possible. Case in point: the 2020 Kentucky Derby, run for the first time in August instead of May, without any spectators in the stands, was won by a horse namedof all thingsAuthentic. I take that as a good omen. And as trainer Bob Baffert praised jockey John Velazquez afterward to CNN, He rode the most incredible race, but he had the horse to do it with. Baffert and I would agree: having the right partner is everything.

I told you at the start that I was never really a gambler, but a guy who calculated the odds. So let me leave you with this parting thought: when you have good people with you, the odds are with you, too. And the longer I live, the more I see the truth of it.