When you have the opportunity to ask some of the most interesting people in the world about their lives, sometimes the most fascinating answers come from the simplest questions. The Thrive Questionnaire is an ongoing series that gives an intimate look inside the lives of some of the world’s most successful people.
Thrive Global: What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed?
Kevin Plank: Check my sleep in UA Record, check texts and email, then go work out (most days).
TG: What gives you energy?
KP: It comes from everywhere. Energy and passion are everything. The mission of Under Armour inspires me. Today, we are the third-largest athletic brand in the world, but we want to be the BEST! The competition is fierce, but we are growing and still have a lot of runway. I am inspired by the fight but especially the TEAM we have. Our consumers, our athletes, our community of Baltimore, the 15,000+ UA Teammates, and all of our extended support and partners — it certainly takes a village. We just want to WIN.
TG: How do you deal with email?
KP: I am not excellent at it. Faster response is a good New Year’s resolution for me, but I actually love getting mail. I went to military school, so checking (physical letter) mail was one of the highlights of my day, but the contents seem the same: a little junk, a lot of biz/work, and a few that just make me smile.
TG: You unexpectedly find 15 minutes in your day, what do you do with it?
KP: Do email. 🙂 I sit outside of my office on the porch that stares over the Baltimore Harbor and think.
TG: Share a quote that gives you strength when times are tough.
KP: Teddy Roosevelt. “The Man in the Arena”: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Originally published at medium.com