The Retail Pilot · 2026-04-14 · 58 min
Most performance apparel brands tell you they're building a lifestyle. Nate Checketts actually means it. As CEO and co-founder of Rhone, he's built a company where mental fitness isn't marketing - it's the foundation. "We say internally that we are a wellness company that just happens to sell clothes," Checketts explains. But here's what makes that more than a tagline: in year two of launching women's apparel, Rhone did more revenue than it generated in its first eight years of men's business combined. In this episode of The Retail Pilot, Ken Pilot unpacks Rhone's unconventional journey - from defying the "wholesale is dead" narrative to launching a women's line that's reshaping the company's trajectory. They discuss why Warby Parker's advice to embrace wholesale early changed everything, how the 12 Pursuits mental fitness framework became both internal culture and external brand positioning, and why Checketts spent years resisting a women's launch before discovering his best customers were already 30% female.
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