Who was she?
Alimah Fagbenro
December 13, 2023
Shannon Wilson’s Life
Who is Shannon Wilson? Wilson is a fashion designer and businesswoman based in Canada. She’s known for her prior work in Lululemon, but she was the founder of Kit and Ace with her son and husband. Her work ethic allowed her to accumulate a net worth of $1.6 million.
Kit and Ace were founded to sell machine-safe cashmere applications and accessories. The first store was opened in 2014 in Vancouver, with more retail stores opening in 2015 in the US, UK, and Australia. They even incorporated some cafes into their London and Toronto locations, suggesting that the business was flourishing. In 2017, the company chose to close its international stores and prioritize e-commerce, with Hold It All Inc. owning the business until August 2018. Hold It All Inc. is a shared holding company for Chip and Shannon Wilson that highlights their business interests. The Wilsons sought different passions that fall under categories like clothing, real estate, and passive investments. Unfortunately, Kit and Ace sold ownership to George Tsogas, who revised the original mission plan entirely.
Wilson quickly went from founder to creative designer for the company. However, this was expected due to the various factors leading the company into failure. Small companies struggle in the athletic department as the competition is high. The company took out huge sums of debt to expand the business—around $300 million. Kit and Ace were created with the support of Lululemon, but the athleisure category wasn’t as prominent when they were starting, so it struggled to flourish the same with Kit and Ace. Shannon, Chip, and JJ Wilson all had different ideas for the future of Kit and Ace, and this led to the overall end of their ownership.
Shannon and J.J. Wilson, along with Ashley Andre and Moe Samieian Jr., had then begun to create Ride Cycle Club. It’s a 55-minute body workout that challenges the body and mind in multiple classes. These courses move with the music and low lighting to motivate you to improve your physique while remaining relaxed. They also include various complementary services, like shoe and towel services. Ride Cycle Club is still flourishing today.
Shannon Wilson’s husband, Chip Wilson, was the prior CEO of Lululemon Athletica. It could be argued that she was shadowed by her husband's successes, as Chip Wilson is named the 574th richest person in the world. He accumulated a net worth of 7 billion USD; it would make sense for people to use him as a role model, and that’s not an exception for their son. JJ Wilson, the previous co-founder of Kit and Ace, mentioned in an article how he was thankful for his father introducing him to the business world, with others crediting Chip for taking charge and overcoming the company’s struggles.
Shannon Wilson has had outstanding accomplishments in the business world throughout her life, but she doesn’t have much credibility for them. Businesswomen are constantly struggling with overshadowing, and it’s so evident in the media. Just look at the different number of articles covering Shannon and Chip Wilson individually for Kit and Ace. Women are typically only credited in circumstances where the credit is solo, which is unfortunate since 65% of businesses fail from founder conflicts, so it’s safer to have another partner.
The lack of awareness of her success cost her an opportunity to grow her brand. Women deserve more acknowledgment for their achievements because other women like Shannon Wilson also deserve name recognition.
