Yahoo Finance From lawyer to professional sneakerhead: 'There’s much more to this industry than just flipping your favorite pair of sneakers'
Kenneth Anand gave up a comfortable living as a law firm partner lifelong to follow his passion for sneakers on his own terms. Anand has since co-founded fashion licensing company 380 Group and is the co-author of “Sneaker Law,” a new book that teaches designers, collectors, law students, and other entrepreneurs everything they “need to know about the sneaker business.”
Anand joined Yahoo Finance to discuss his book, changing careers, and how other sneakerheads can turn their passion into a profession.
“The biggest lesson I think you should take away from ‘Sneaker Law’ is that there’s much more to this industry than just flipping your favorite pair of sneakers. That seems to be the consumer interest right now, but if you want a career in sneakers, there are many more facets of it that are available and open too, should you wish to learn about it: design, manufacturing.”
The 15-year legal veteran did not jump into the sneaker game blind. He tells Yahoo Finance that he went back to get his MBA at the online Quantic School of Business and Technology to make the transition to the sneaker life.
Anand says that he has also learned from some of the best in the sneaker business, most notably Kanye West, the head of the Adidas Yeezy brand — who is currently lobbying for a position on Adidas’s (ADDYY) corporate board. Anand served as general counsel and head of business development for Kanye West’s Yeezy brand.
“I think he’s onto something. We need to see more diversity across the board in all corporations. And I think that it takes people like Mr. West to push for that change. Unless we have it at the highest level, we won’t see it. And I think he’s struggling with it as well and his capacity,” he said.
“It should show us what an uphill battle we have to climb, but I’m here for it. I think that we’ve seen, just in the past several months, the dialogue that’s happening around corporate governance and diversity has been overdue.”
Reggie Wade is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ReggieWade.
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