Living a Longer, Healthier, and More Fun Life with Chip Wilson

Patient Empowerment Program: A Rare Disease Podcast

Chip Wilson, the creator of Lululemon and SOLVE FSHD, stands as a pioneer, business innovator, philanthropist, and a person affected by a rare disease. His passion for fitness led him to build a successful career in designing athletic wear, but a diagnosis of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD), a degenerative muscle condition, altered his active lifestyle.

On This Episode We Discuss:

• 0:46 Working on the Alaska Oil Pipeline as a 17-year-old
• 4:30 Saving money young and becoming an entrepreneur
• 7:05 Following trends and founding Lululemon
• 8:36 Chip’s initial dream and vision for Lululemon
• 11:45 Combining Italian design ethics with quality western fabrics for an amazing Lulu product
• 14:20 The feeling of leaving the Lululemon Board of Directors
• 17:00 The takeaways from Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 and Something Happened
• 24:15 Reading the top 100 biographies and admiring those with integrity
• 33:44 Using the culture of an organization and leadership as a strategic advantage
• 38:18 Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD)
• 40:05 Chip on losing muscle when exercise and movement is so necessary for his way of life
• 44:27 Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with FSHD
• 46:58 Chip’s advice to those suffering from rare diseases and their caregivers
• 49:24 What progress that has been made to find a treatment for FSHD
• 52:35 Why Chip and SOLVE FSHD donated to help fund the funded the laboratory at n-Lorem