John O'Donnell, Founder, Johnnie-O – Up to Par: An iconic golf clothing brand blends 'east coast prep' with 'west coast cool'
Update: 2025-09-17
Description
When John O'Donnell founded Johnnie-O in 2005, his goal was to create a brand that combined East Coast prep with West Coast surf culture. 20 years later, you'll find their surfer logo in golf pro-shops and menswear stores across the country.
Today, John joins us to share his incredible journey from being a walk-on on the UCLA golf team to founding one of America's most iconic golf brands.
We get into the origins of Johnnie-O, discuss the source of their customer loyalty, and talk about their impressive growth over the last two decades.
Highlights:
- The opportunity John saw in 2005 (2:05 )
- John's midwest roots (4:46 )
- UCLA Golf team (5:50 )
- Johnnie-O's differentiation (6:45 )
- The origins of Johnnie-O (8:17 )
- Distribution (9:28 )
- Inflection point for the brand (10:28 )
- Marketing evolution (11:37 )
- Scale of growth (13:57 )
- Breaking into women's wear (16:30 )
- Avenues for growth (17:35 )
- Tariffs (18:30 )
- Outlook for Johnnie-O (20:27 )
- Competitive Landscape (22:15 )
- Lessons learned (23:13 )
Links:
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co.
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