Coffee, yoga, Muhammad Ali – just your average Friday morning at the Store Support Centre (SSC). Er, excuse me? Which of the above just don’t seem to fit? Yes, you read it right. Muhammad Ali stopped by this morning for a visit at the SSC.
We held an outdoor yoga class outside our office to welcome Muhammad Ali with sun salutations and warrior poses.
In town promoting a new documentary called Facing Ali, the Greatest himself graced us with his powerful presence at 10:30 am this morning. Through a personal connection with our founder Chip, Muhammad and his wife Lonnie were generous enough to join the SSC, Distribution Centre, Guest Education Centre, and store lululemons for an impromptu visit.
Allison, our elite athlete coordinator (and the author of this post!) relaxing at the SSC while we wait for Muhammad to arrive.
Well, on the grand scale, we believe that receiving confirmation Wednesday afternoon is impromptu. In this short period of time, the company pulled together as a team. In 48 hours we created the ceremony space, had a member of each department and each store honored with a photo op, and even had a Game Over hoodie made for Ali that read “The Greatest” on the back. As I sit here three hours later, I struggle to put the experience in words and the tears keep creeping back up.
We are a company that believes in the greatness of our people, and to have such an amazing person come share an hour with us truly elevated us all to a new level of greatness. The only point of sadness was the inability to have every employee with us in person.
Today was a day full of greatness.
Among many memorable moments, a true highlight for us all was when one of our leaders, Jenna Hills, placed her new son Ryder in Ali’s lap for a photo. Muhammad smiled at the future lululemon-leader and there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.
