Abbie Wombach holds the FIFA record for the most international goals among men and women soccer players. She’s also a two time Olympic Gold Medalist
Question: Since you retired you’ve been doing cool things
Answer: I’ve been pretty busy. I traveled around the world talking to FIFA and CEO’s I want to change the world. There’s a need to positively impact your environment. Get equal opportunity for everyone. Let’s focus on more than a niche. Everyone deserves a shot to be treated equally
Question: You are an inspiration to millions worldwide. The key is the inequality to the gap in pay. That includes in soccer. This gap and how people think about it.
Answer: 10-15 years ago the conversation would have been different with the recent comments of ??. Hr resigned today but that wouldn’t have happened It means
Question: You won the world cup and made $2M for the team. Germany won last year and came back with $35M.
Answer: Look at the data. We had more viewership than any other event so it needs to be resolved.
Question: You have such a great brand as the womens team.
Answer: It gives me chills to see that happen. It’s great to see men, especially professional players to give that respect. It’s been a long time that it’s been earned. We work to gain respect.
Question: You went to the Whitehouse and what did he call you
Answer: uh, he called me the greatest of all time
Question: you were the youngest of 7 kids. Was eating with a huge family ever a problem
Answer: Yeah, I eat too quickly because I had to compete for the food. You can see why I was able to build the body I was able to build. Be proud of your body women. Having a huge family was really impactful. Coming from somewhere is important. Those are the things that propel you. they are the dynamite in your shoes. Use your past as a positive to push you forward.
Question: Adobe Summit, the theme is about experience. Your life is one experience after another. You’ve had this amazing career which culminated in what most would make you the greatest women’s soccer player of all time. What’ stands out.
Answer: loaded question. It was winning the medals but more importantly it was the locker room after. There’s nothing better than that. Then comes seeing your family after that. The process is more important than the outcome. I like to stay in the present and enjoy the process. Let the outcome happen by the hard work you put into the process. Yes, my next role in life will be bigger than my first.
Question: roll a video of a girl inspired by Abbie. (the interviewer’s video of his two year old) Do you stop and think about the reach you now have?
Answer: No, not really. My source of what I do is internal. The whole goal is to have a purpose internally. My authenticity is my saving grace in life. Love me or hate me I don’t really care.
Question: I had a conversation with your friend Julie Fowdy. She’s so enthusiastic. She’s taking herself and bringing herself down just a notch.
Answer: It takes a plan and putting the talk into action. There are massive issues that have to be tackled. Someone has to stand up and do the work. I’m ready for it.
Question: would you ever go into broadcasting?
Answer: Yes, I just signed a deal with ESPN. It should be fun. I’m kind of in a year of saying yes. I have to figure out what I like and don’t like.
Question: Working out isn’t a priority. What sport?
Answer: Golf. It’s a competition with yourself.
End: do something with a soccer ball. Lots of headers.
Cirque Du Soleil, Alma Derrick VP
Question: you did something a lot of kids dream of. You ran away to the circus
Answer; The circus finds you. I was hooked a kids. Cirque is now 30 years old. We are undergoing a new transformation. We are now owned by TPG. It’s a chance to ask all the questions. From a business side, everything is back on the table. Our brand is incredible on the stage. But beyond that we are challenged.
Question: Let’s talk about experience. Your product is experience. How do you think about experience?
Answer: Our product doesn’t translate to any other media. It’s just not the same on TV. I think we are in the right place with that. We are challenged in selling the concept of the show itself. The most radical thing we can do is to be more intimate.
Question: you are exposing the inside or the inner workings.
Answer: Exactly. They want to know more about our performers and behind the scenes. it’s about turning the volume down and telling stories in a way that’s really different for us.
Question: Consumer expectations continue to rise. But you are here to promote that with the next show. Does that work against you?
Answer: Not on stage. Once we get people into the stage. But we certainly are expected to not do anything that’s normal. Some things we do in marketing are not spectacular though.
Question: you do have an incredible brand. Recently you’ve started to stretch the brand.
Answer: one of the things with intimacy. How do you break the show into it’s component parts. We have set designers, dancers, set designers etc. Cirque shops are the first step. The first was around dance. The idea came from one of our dancers in Beetles Loved. She brought a lot of insights to the table. There are 75 dance studios. There’s space for us to do these master classes for a half-day. It’s a different way to experience it.
Question: let’s talk about teams. How does Cirque thing about themes
Answer: One of the most interesting things I learned at Cirque. In the traditional circus. The trapeze artists are all one family. They would build the set and strap everyone in. What Cirque did is to bring technology and rigor. The rigor is now an engineer. Trust is more than just the family now.
Question: You take corporate teams in Spark session to learn about this team work.
Answer: We created Spark sessions to come out of your everyday existence and learn about this in a new context.
Question: What’s the next thing on your mind
Answer: It’s the high and the low. On any given day we have about 20,000 tickets to market. We also have to think about how to make this a more intimate experience.
George Clooney
Actor, Producer, and Humanitarian. Interviewed by Anne Lewness, CMO Adobe
Question: You grew up in KY. You did TV. Became a film star. At this point in your career, what do you want to do.
Answer: Most of your career you were just taking a job. I almost destroyed the Batman Franchise. But it was cool at that point. When you are lucky enough to get choices then you want to do things you would like to see. I try to do the ones that wouldn’t get made unless you were there.
Question: So many movies and types. There was a quote, “It was a total waste of money”
Answer: I may not have said that but I will say it was a bad film and I did bad in it. I’ve been in some pretty crappy movies that did quite well.
Question: You’ve won Oscars, are famous. How do you measure success
Answer: Success is a weird thing and it’s all subjective. You just need to keep working and not try to measure your own success. My thought is that whatever I’m doing next is the thing I’m most interested in. It’s not helpful to go into your award room. I’ll judge success in my 80’s.
Question:You once said, “I think anyone who’s famous is moron if they are on twitter”
Answer: Yep, I said that! Let me give you context around that. I do think that if you are well known there is only a downside to it. I can get in a lot of trouble on twitter. Speed can kill you in these kinds of situations. I’m certainly capable of stupid things.
Question: If your aren’t in social media, how do you connect with fans and get feedback.
Answer: I’d rather meet people in person. There are too much electronics. There’s a time for electronics but think about it.
Question: The reviewers of movies today are the viewers
Answer: Yes that’s true. Although small movies need a professional reviewer. You can’t “steal the weekend” anymore with good trailers and no reviewers.
Question: Technology has changed film making and distribution. Adobe has a part in that. How do you feel when you see someone watching your movies on a tablet or phone?
Answer: What’s happening in our industry is interesting. TV for a long time had it’s limitation. Now TV, Netflix, etc has put up the quality. It’s better than some of the films you see. It’s miraculous. It’s great for our industry in general. It opens up so many avenues in the entertainment industry. There’s 5X more work because of that.
Question: it’s the democratization of film making.
Answer: Remember that as we get older, we’ve seen pretty much every story ever made. The new book is filtered to the same story we’ve seen so much. But now you can make a movie from a young person on an iphone. It’s opening up storytelling again.
Question: New topic. You have a bit of reputation as a prankster. Tell us.
Answer: There are a couple people who are favorite targets. I do horrible things to Richard ?? Brad Pitt is fun. He’s mean when he comes back. When doing Ocean’s. He’d gotten a prius. I got a bumper that said “F” cops. There’s no way he’s not getting arrested. I got stationary made up with Brad’s name. I then sent letters to actors from Brad. Hilarity ensued.
Question: Do you think you are getting better with age?
Answer; No, I’m getting older. Most everything is worse with age. I suppose the only thing is the idea that you are infinitely more comfortable with things. You are more patient. You have a much better sense of humor about yourself.
Question: At Adobe we believe it’s important to give back. Silicon Valley hasn’t been as good about that. You said once that Hollywood reacts rather than leads when it comes to the important things.
Answer: I believe it but it was out of context. That said, we look to leaders. I grew up in a time where you were expected to participate in the conversation. In the US, by and large they are charitable. It’s hard to do the same outside the US. It’s a generous country. I feel that our position has to be what can I do more. it’s smaller groups that take responsibility and make change.
There is a good reason that all business enterprise organizations, not only
big organizations demand to have a continuity of business program in place in case of a catastrophe.