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What’s more, Williams delivered one of the most compelling conversations of the four-day event, which was held from Sept. 21-24. The entrepreneur had a one-on-one conversation with Jae Tips, a self-taught designer who created one of this year’s best collaborations, a reimagined Saucony Grid Azura 2000. <\/p>\n
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With this year’s event now complete, Williams revealed to FN the lessons he learned from the 2023 Black Footwear Forum and offered a look at the future of Claima. <\/p>\n
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What moment resonated with you the most from the forum this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The entire experience itself. This was my first time seeing Pensole Lewis College and it was breathtaking. To see [school founder] D\u2019Wayne [Edwards’] vision grow from the operation in Portland to 460,000 square feet in Detroit is just incredible. On top of that, being around so many Black footwear professionals was like being home. No code switching, just the ability to be 100 percent authentic. The future of the industry is very bright.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What did you learn from the weekend that you can apply to both the Claima podcast and the creative agency side?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “[The best quote was:] ‘If brands aren\u2019t authentic, they aren\u2019t going to survive,’ from [Jordan Brand chairman] Larry Miller. Hearing from Larry and some of his insights from building Jordan Brand was a huge help. It\u2019s easy to take whatever opportunity that comes your way, but all opportunities do not authentically line up with your brand. It was reassuring to me to maintain our values and continue down the focused path that we\u2019re on.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What gave you the confidence to launch your own company after being inside the major corporate system?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “After being at three different brands, I knew how those systems worked. After being at Saucony, I understood how to run a business from end to end. I understood how to put systems and processes into place and I understood how to manage people. All of the signs in 2020 told me it was time to be on us. We had clients in place, I had a safety net of cash, and if it all failed, then I figured the experience gained would allow me to find a job.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is the greatest lesson you\u2019ve learned since stepping out on your own?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Having a clear vision of your purpose and sticking to it has been critical to our success. If you don\u2019t have a purpose, it\u2019s hard to imagine how you\u2019ll be able to gain traction and become successful. I say this because, if clients or consumers are clear on what you offer, they\u2019ll go to whoever presents that information more clearly. Also, folks want to support people they can trust and believe, something bigger than just money. So having a purpose solves all of those things.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do you ever miss working for a major footwear brand?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I miss the people. I\u2019ve made friends that will last me a lifetime while working at different brands. But I\u2019m very excited about my day to day now and what we\u2019re building through Claima.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking ahead, how will Claima evolve? <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We want to reach more Black and brown creatives. [We’ll have] different shows, whether web based, streaming or TV \u2014 and experiential concepts that can take place in different markets. Also, unique product collaborations like we\u2019re doing with Saucony.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “After being at Saucony, I understood how to run a business from end to end. I understood how to put systems and processes into place and I understood how to manage people,” Bimma Williams told FN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326576910,"featured_media":1203527271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"authors":[],"contributors":[],"styled_by":[],"_image_credit":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","pmc_selected_wwd_video_media":"","pmc_top_video_source":"","pmc_top_video_duration":"","wwd_top_video_source":"","wwd_top_video_duration":"","pmc_selected_featured_media":"","pmc_selected_video_media":"","pmc_selected_variety_video_media":"","variety_top_video_source":"","variety_top_video_duration":"","pmc_featured_media_has_alt_text":true,"_pmc_featured_animated_media_id":0,"_pmc_featured_video_override_data":"","_pmc_featured_video_override_url":"","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{},"pmc_list_item_description":"","primary_category":"","primary_vertical":"","_mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"","pmc-gallery":[],"categories":179,"subcategories":378251816,"mt_seo_title":"Claima's Bimma Williams on Lessons Learned From Larry Miller & Saucony","mt_seo_description":"Claima's Bimma Williams reveals to FN what Larry Miller said at the Black Footwear Forum that resonated with him, lessons learned at Saucony and more.","mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"off","_pmc_canonical_override":"","instant_articles_should_submit_post":false,"_sailthru_selected_alerts":[],"_sailthru_send_override":false,"_sailthru_alert_subject":"","_sailthru_breaking_news_meta_data":[],"experimental_features_inline_styles":"","linked_video_id":"","pmc_hubs_hide_header":false,"override_post_title":"","override_post_excerpt":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-25T18:44:55Z","apple_news_api_id":"e8be4605-2766-482a-8890-e2968df2b970","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-25T18:44:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A6L5GBSdmSCqIkOKWjfK5cA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"[]","_pmc_automated_related_links":{"settings":{"module_name":"Related","hide_box":0},"data":[{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true},{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true},{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true}]},"overlay_text_placement":[],"overlay_text_one":[],"overlay_text_two":[],"kicker_meta_block_field":[],"_pmc_kicker":[],"pmc_multiple_products_title":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[179,378251816],"tags":[378248786,378250000,378251350,378252028,378240287,378249266,378252022,378240403],"post_format":[],"_post-options":[],"pmc_ads_suppression":[],"editorial":[],"ep_custom_result":[],"coauthors":[326576910],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Claima’s Bimma Williams on Larry Miller’s Words of Wisdom and What Saucony Taught Him About Running a Business","url":"http:\/\/footwearnews.com\/business\/business-news\/claima-bimma-williams-interview-black-footwear-forum-1203527525\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/footwearnews.com\/business\/business-news\/claima-bimma-williams-interview-black-footwear-forum-1203527525\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bimma-williams-claima.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bimma-williams-claima.jpg"},"articleSection":"Business News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Peter Verry"}],"creator":["Peter Verry"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Footwear News","logo":"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/cropped-fn_favicon2.png"},"keywords":["bimma williams","black footwear forum","claima","jae tips","jordan brand","larry miller","pensole lewis college of business & design","saucony","business","business news"],"dateCreated":"2023-09-25T18:44:38Z","datePublished":"2023-09-25T18:44:38Z","dateModified":"2023-09-25T18:44:39Z","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{}},"rendered":"![\"Bimma](\"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bimma-williams-jae-tips-black-footwear-forum.jpg\")
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