This feature is part of the Voices of the Now & Next series—a collaboration between VaynerSpeakers and the New York Stock Exchange, highlighting influential leaders shaping markets, culture, and business today.
Ty Haney, Founder, Outdoor Voices, TYB, Joggy
When Ty Haney launched Outdoor Voices in 2014, the activewear market was dominated by two extremes: hardcore performance gear for serious athletes and basic gym clothes for everyone else. The message was clear: you're either training for the Olympics or you're not trying at all.
Haney saw the absurdity in this binary. Most people weren't running marathons or deadlifting twice their body weight. They were walking their dogs, playing pickup basketball, doing yoga in their living rooms, or just wanting to feel good in clothes that moved with them.
Growing up in Boulder, Colorado, Haney's perspective was shaped by a culture where hiking, biking, and being outdoors weren't extreme pursuits; they were just part of daily life. Recreation wasn't something you had to earn through punishment; it was woven into the fabric of living well. That spirit became her north star.
She didn't just create another activewear brand. She created a new category entirely: clothes for "Doing Things."
"Doing Things" sounds almost ridiculously simple. But that simplicity was revolutionary.
The fitness industry had spent decades making people feel inadequate. Every brand promoted some version of "no pain, no gain" or "crush your goals." The underlying message: if you're not suffering, you're not succeeding.
Haney flipped the script. Movement didn't have to be punishment. Exercise didn't have to be extreme. You could just do things. Walk around the block. Stretch on your balcony. Walk your dog. All of it counted. All of it was worth celebrating.
This wasn't just brand positioning; it was cultural repositioning. She took the shame out of casual movement and made it aspirational.
Most fashion brands build communities around their products. Haney built products around her community.
But she understood something most founders miss about the word "community"; it gets thrown around constantly, but rarely executed well. For Haney, it wasn't just about bringing people in. As she describes it, she was creating "a recipe for obsession," giving people a reason to stick around, not just show up once.
In the early days of direct-to-consumer, brands spent heavily on acquiring customers but struggled with long-term loyalty. Haney reframed the entire concept: "Community is really just a more inspiring way to say loyalty. The idea is the same, but the energy is different; it's fun, it's human, it's about shared passion."
Before Outdoor Voices had signature pieces, it had signature experiences. Group runs that felt more like social gatherings. Workout classes that prioritized fun over intensity. Events that brought people together not to compete, but to connect.
The brand became less about what you wore and more about how you moved through the world. The clothes were almost secondary; beautiful, functional, but not the main attraction. The main attraction was belonging to something that made movement feel joyful rather than judgmental.
This community-first approach created something unprecedented: activewear with actual culture attached to it, not just celebrity endorsements or fitness influencer partnerships.
When Outdoor Voices opened physical stores, they didn't look like traditional retail spaces. They looked like living rooms where people would want to hang out.
No aggressive sales associates pushing you toward higher-priced items. No mirrors designed to make you feel inadequate about your current wardrobe. No pressure to buy anything at all.
Instead: comfortable seating areas, local community boards, spaces designed for actual human interaction. The stores felt like clubhouses for people who wanted to move more and stress less about it.
This retail philosophy extended to everything. The website felt more like a lifestyle magazine than an e-commerce platform. The packaging arrived like gifts from a friend who really understood you.
Haney's influence extended far beyond activewear. She helped normalize the idea that wellness didn't have to be extreme, expensive, or exclusive.
The "Doing Things" philosophy influenced how an entire generation thought about movement, self-care, and personal achievement. It gave people permission to be casual about fitness without being lazy about health.
Other brands noticed. The activewear industry slowly shifted away from intimidating performance messaging toward more inclusive, approachable positioning. The cultural conversation around fitness became less about punishment and more about pleasure.
The most fascinating thing about Haney's success with Outdoor Voices wasn't just what she built; it was how she thought about building it.
She understood something that most founders miss: the most powerful brands don't just sell products, they sell permission. Permission to be different. Permission to opt out of toxic cultural norms. Permission to define success on your own terms.
Outdoor Voices gave people permission to care about movement without becoming obsessed with performance. To invest in quality activewear without becoming gym addicts. To be part of a fitness community without subscribing to fitness culture.
This permission-based approach to brand building created something more valuable than customer loyalty; it created cultural influence.
Ty Haney proved that the most successful brands often emerge from rejecting the dominant assumptions of their industries.
While everyone else was making activewear more technical, she made it more human. While others were making fitness more intense, she made it more accessible. While competitors were building brands around achievement, she built a brand around enjoyment.
The lesson extends far beyond fashion: the biggest opportunities often exist in humanizing industries that have become too focused on optimization and not focused enough on actual human experience.
Haney didn't just build a successful activewear brand. She demonstrated that business success and cultural kindness aren't mutually exclusive, and that sometimes, being radically gentle is the most disruptive thing you can do.
On returning to Outdoor Voices:
Zach Nadler: How have the last few months been since coming back to Outdoor Voices?
Ty Haney: Honestly, it's been overwhelming in the best way. The response has been really emotional. People are deeply connected to OV—it's been amazing to see how happy everyone is to see it come back to life.
On building real community:
Zach Nadler: That word "community" gets thrown around a lot now. How do you think about actually creating one versus just talking about it?
Ty Haney: I think of it as creating a recipe for obsession. It's not just about bringing people in—it's about giving them a reason to stick around. "Community" is really just a more inspiring way to say loyalty. The idea is the same, but the energy is different—it's fun, it's human, it's about shared passion.
On the future of wellness:
Zach Nadler: If you could redesign how we think about wellness, work, and technology, what would that look like?
Ty Haney: I still come back to a phrase we used early on: Free fitness from performance. It's about bringing joy and fun back to movement—doing it for the feeling, not the metrics. That idea still feels fresh because not many people have truly taken up that lane. So that's where we're heading: inspiring movement through joy, not pressure.
