(upbeat music) – Hi, I'm AJ Hess, I'm a staff editor at Fast Company. We're in LA for Candace
Parker's interview. Check it out. (upbeat music) After winning NCAA championships, WNBA Championships, and
Olympic Gold Medals, Candace Parker recently
announced her retirement And she shared exclusively with
Fast Company her next move. – I'm excited to be named the president Of Adidas Women's Basketball And to be a part of a brand for 16 years, Almost 17 years. I wore the shoe for four
years in college at Tennessee. I wore two years in high school. The brand and I have grown together And I think we've done some amazing things And I'm excited about
what the future holds On this side of things. – Do you know what your day-to-day Responsibilities are gonna be like? Do you have your office picked out? What's it gonna be like
being in this role? – This is the major thing
that I said to Adidas was, You know, I don't wanna be a face. I wanna be a part of this Because I'm so passionate about it. It's so important to
me to make this global. Like I'm not talking
about just in the states. I want to make this a global
thing and I think we can. (bright music) – Being a black woman, Being a member of the LGBTQ community,
Being an athlete, I think for a long time
the women's sports industry Kind of underappreciated
those consumer segments And we're just now seeing that
if you make products for them That it's good business. Can you just talk to me about, you know, What you've seen in your own
investments in women's sports And how they've paid off. Why you think women's sports
is a strong investment? – It's kind of funny
because people come to me And they're like, man, could
you imagine the women's game? And it's like, we've
been telling you this. So not only are we not investing in this And not doing what we, you know, Could have been ahead of
the game, but you're losing Because you weren't
doing it to begin with. I think that there's power
in like these type of moments That are like we've
told you for this long. But I think it's also super important that When those people sit in these positions To be able to open up doors And not just in the seats we're in And decision making
seats and powerful seats. How we see our athletes, right? Like what if it's from a
different point of view? So the people behind the camera, They've gotta be diverse as well. People that are making the products Have to be diverse as well. And so I think it's
super important to see, Yes, this is the women's sports part, But it's all across the board. – What are your biggest goals And hopes at Adidas now
That you put your a
hundred percent in here? – I'm me all the time, a
hundred percent of the time. And that means talking shit. That means, I don't know, Expressing my feelings, Saying no and it being a full sentence. I don't have to explain myself, But it also comes from me realizing like, I wanna open up all these doors, But I want them to be authentic In the way that we open 'em. We're gonna keep the momentum And this isn't gonna just
be a moment, you know, This is gonna be momentum towards
what we know we can build. I hope that if I didn't inspire the next, I inspired the next,
that inspires the next. So I think it's about listening as well And I hope to do that very well Because I think the next
generation can tell us a lot. (bright music)
