“For me, my life’s work goal, is about helping other people to realize their potential – that happens to be my business day job – I help people realize their physical fitness and their physical potential.” ~ Sarah Robb O’Hagan, CEO of Flywheel Sports
Summary: Sarah Robb O’Hagan is a Co-Founder of Perky Sam Trust. Ms. O’Hagan has been the Chief Executive Officer of Flywheel Sports, Inc. since February 1, 2017. At Flywheel Sports, Ms. O’Hagan plans to transform the business into an omnichannel lifestyle brand through the enrichment of program content, enhanced services and the strengthening of its technology platform. She served as First President of Equinox Holdings, Inc. (alternative name Equinox Holdings LLC) since August 2012. She served as the Chief Marketing Officer of The Gatorade Company, Inc. since June 2008. She served as the President of Global Sports Nutrition Group at Pepsico, Inc. since May 2012 and served as its President of Gatorade. Ms. O’Hagan served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Sports Nutrition at Pepsico, Inc. since 2011. Her awards include: Award winner, “Top 40 Under 40,” Sports Business Journal (2009); the Sporting Goods Association (2010); and Crain’s Chicago Business (2010), Award winner, “Most Powerful Women in Sports,” Forbes Magazine (2009), Award winner, “Women to Watch,” Advertising Age (2010), Award winner, “Grand Prix, Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival – Gatorade REPLAY” (2010) and Award winner, “GRANDY, Earned Media, ANDY Awards – Gatorade REPLAY” (2010). Ms. O’Hagan holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and a Diploma in Direct Marketing from the New Zealand Direct Marketing Association.
Nationality: New Zealander
Company: Flywheel Sports
Q: What would you say is the riskiest thing that you’ve ever done professionally? on Forbes.com
A: The riskiest thing, for sure, I’d say was quitting my job a year ago with nothing in front of me except a book to write and dreams of creating a platform around that book. It’s funny because I look back at that time. When you get fired it gets done to you and you’re on the back foot and totally caught off guard, yet firing yourself is actually harder because it’s that scary standing on the side of the cliff, like am ‘I really going to do this?’ It felt very risky at the time because I really didn’t know what it was going to lead to and I didn’t even know necessarily what I wanted to do next.
I’m a parent of three kids, so I have mortgages and kids to put through college. As risky as it was, I knew that both early moments of my career where I had been thrown into this period of discomfort were those moments where I had grown the most. I knew that now was the time that I was ready to do that again –to push myself to the next level.
