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Sarah Robb O'Hagan | |
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| Alma mater | University of Auckland (BCom) |
| Occupations | Business executive, author |
| Notable work | Extreme You (2017) |
Sarah Robb O'Hagan is a New Zealand-born business executive and author known for leadership roles in the sports and fitness industries. [1]
Robb O'Hagan was born in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand to a professional rugby player father and a language teacher mother. [1] She received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland in 1993. [2]
Robb O'Hagan began her career in various marketing roles at Air New Zealand (1993–1998), then joined Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Entertainment as a director of marketing (1998–2000) and Atari as a vice president of marketing (2000–2002). [2] She was fired twice, first at Virgin and then at Atari, during a period that she described as "epic failure." [1] Robb O'Hagan remarked publicly that she "fully deserved" to be fired from both companies for being "so arrogant [and] so cocky," but later described that her experience laid the groundwork for later success. [3] After Atari, she joined Nike as a director of marketing and then general manager (2002–2008). [1]
In 2008, Robb O'Hagan joined PepsiCo as chief marketing officer of Gatorade and was subsequently promoted to president of Gatorade in 2010. [1] She joined during a period of declining sales and is credited with transforming the business by positioning Gatorade as performance enhancement for high-level athletes rather than a mass-market sports drink. [4] That strategy included expanding the product line with gels and protein drinks and shifting marketing spend from traditional TV advertising, which made up 90% of Gatorade's marketing budget, and focusing on sponsorships of pro sports players. [4] Asked about the shift, Robb O'Hagan said "why on earth would you spend money on Super Bowl ads when players are drinking our products during the entire game?" [4] [1] Gatorade's 2009 "What is G?" campaign, part of a new marketing strategy that simplified the Gatorade label to "G," featured athletes like Michael Jordan, Billie Jean King, and Muhammad Ali. [5] It was critiqued by media as a misfire amid a 17.5% sales slump and led to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi conceding that she doesn't expect strong growth from the product in the U.S. ever again. [6] However, by 2011, sales exceeded $3 billion, a 9% increase from a year earlier. The brand's repositioning earned Robb O'Hagan recognition as one of Fast Company's 2012 "Most Creative People in Business." [4]
In August 2012, she was appointed the first President of Equinox. [7] Robb O'Hagan narrowed Equinox's targeting towards people who are avid athletes and focused on building aspirationalism and exclusivity surrounding the brand. [1] [8] She also oversaw the company's international expansion to London and Toronto in late 2012. [7] [9]
Robb O'Hagan served as CEO of Flywheel Sports, a boutique studio cycling business, from 2017 to 2018. [10] She led a push to launch an in-home bike competitor to Peloton. [10] In September 2020, two years after Robb O'Hagan left the company, competitive pressure from Peloton and a pandemic-related slowdown of boutique fitness led to Flywheel filing for bankruptcy and permanently closing its remaining studios. [11]
Robb O'Hagan became the CEO of Exos, a company known for training elite athletes and providing corporate health and wellness offerings, in January 2020. [12] During 2024 interviews, Robb O'Hagan publicly advocated for changes in workplace structure, in particular supporting the shift to a four-day workweek and building structured periods of recovery into company cultures. [13] [14] She cited a six-month internal experiment run with Adam Grant and other researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School testing meeting-heavy Tuesdays and Thursdays, quiet work days on Mondays and Wednesdays, and "You Do You Fridays," where surveyed employees reported a 27% increase in spending their time effectively at work. [13] [14]
Robb O'Hagan has served on the board of JetBlue Airways since 2018. [15] She served on the board of Strava between 2016–2022. [16]
Robb O'Hagan lives in New York City with her husband, Liam, and three children. [2] [1]
Robb O'Hagan is the author of Extreme You: Step Up, Stand Out, Kick Ass, Repeat (HarperBusiness, 2017), a self-help book where she featured stories of successful "Extremers" like Condoleezza Rice and Bode Miller to argue that embracing failure is what unlocks true potential. [17] [18]
Fast Company: "Most Creative People in Business" (2012). [4] Forbes: "Most Powerful Women in Sports" (2009; 2015). [5] [19]
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