Getting to Know the Industry: Mallory Burda, POC Sports

MALLORY BURDA

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Mallory Burda, better known as 'Mal Burd' got her start through a classic, time-tested mix of hard work, grit, and determination. Starting out in a ski and snow shop, Mal went door knocking for the next step as college was wrapping up. Now, at a young age, she's a sports marketing vet, having held jobs with Specialized, Smith Optics and most recently POC Sports. More importantly, though, Mal loves the industry, loves what she does and of course, loves riding bikes!

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Who Is Mallory Burda?
Mallory Burda aka Mal Burd. I was most recently the Senior Promotions Manager for Cycling at SMITH Optics for three years and recently moved on to be the North American Marketing Director for POC Sports.

Where are you from and where do you live now?
I am from Santa Cruz, California and now live in Park City, Utah.

What was your career pathway to your current job?
Long story. The not so long... I grew up in Santa Cruz, CA, where I worked in a ski and snowboard shop for almost nine years. Starting as a sales associate I became a manager and buyer over the years. It was tough making my schedule work while going to the University of California, Santa Cruz, but I was determined to graduate debt free so, made things work. After nearly 9 years at the ski shop, I knew I loved the outdoor industry and fortunately had a list of amazing companies all within a 45min drive. I was a month out of walking away with my Bachelor's degree in Business Economics Management and I began filling out as many applications as I could, regardless of whether I was qualified or not for the job, just hoping I would catch some recruiters eye.

Specialized Bicycles was where one of those applications was filled out, they were hiring at the time for a Women's Brand Manager. I knew I wasn't ready for the role nor did I have any business being in that position, but I figured 'why not?'. Well, I never heard back from Specialized at first. Before finishing up my final classes, I asked my marketing professor for a letter of recommendation. I re-applied for that job at Specialized, this time with that letter attached and a plea for an hour of someone’s time. I finally heard back.

I went in for the interview at Specialized and ended up having 4 happen in one day. They asked me to meet with a dozen or more people to discuss 4 different positions, one of those being a Marketing Coordinator position. I went in, sat through hours of questions with people filtering in and out. There were times I had no idea which roles I was answering questions for, but I just went with it.

After a couple of weeks, I didn't hear anything and figured it was a “no”. I started looking into further education to support my goals. I was sitting in a councilor’s office at the San Francisco Art Academy when I got a call back from Specialized. I listened as the recruiter told me I didn't get any of the positions. My heart sank. That begged the question of why even the call? She then carried on and asked if I would be interested in a temp position, the catch? I had to start the next day. It was a six-week contract and there was no guarantee of a permanent position. I had 3 weeks left of college, finals to take, a full-time job at the ski shop, and my parents had just paid for a 2 week trip to Hawaii for graduating. With the blessing from my professors, my boss, and fighting for an hour with Hawaiian airlines to postpone the ticket, I took a leap, and I officially joined the bicycle industry.



Did you ever get to finish your degree?
Yeah, I passed with flying colors, it was great (stay in school kids!). I took finals, graduated and walked with my classmates, had a bad hangover the next day, and had a (temp) job to go to the following Monday.

It was a quick six weeks at Specialized after that, then another ten weeks, and then at some point, we all stopped counting and it turned into a month to month, which sounds scary (around the 28th of every month) but things were going really well! I took initiative, even when there was nothing to be done. I found things to keep me busy when I finished projects, I wanted to prove to the team there I was a valuable person they needed to keep around and could be resourceful.
As the marketing team still hadn’t found their “Marketing Coordinator” they decided to give me a challenge that would basically determine if I was able to fill the role. I was asked to put together a US East Coast dealer launch for the urban bike line, Globe.

After a few weeks of planning, the launch was ready. I arranged a five-stop tour on the east coast involving all of their best dealers. I took off for 2.5 weeks, when I got back to Morgan Hill there was an offer letter waiting on my desk. I officially became their Marketing Coordinator and I finally rescheduled my trip to Hawaii!

As the department expanded, I moved into a Sports Marketing role taking on sponsorship, and events for North America. After 4.5 years, hundreds of travel days, and managing dozens of athletes and teams, I picked up a call from Smith and was offered a really great career step forward.

What were your main responsibilities when you went to Smith?
Well, in marketing you end up wearing a lot of hats, some fancier than others. Boiled down, I was in charge of generating consumer demand for the Smith brand within the cycling category.

When you started at your last job at Smith, did you start out in the Senior Promotions Manager role?
Yeah, I was hired at Smith a little over three years ago when they were starting to make a really big push into the cycling industry and were expanding the product offering to cycling helmets. They wanted someone to come in and to be able to hit the ground running from start to finish, grab the keys and drive! It was a super exciting time for the brand and the last three years were a lot of hard work with a lot of great success and fun.


What does a typical day in the life of Mal Burd look like?
Much like you would expect from anyone with an 8–5. I have about a 10-minute commute into work, preferably by bike if the roads are not covered in ice. I jump on my computer and usually let the caffeine sink in as I check the usual sites for industry news. Pinkbike is first, of course, haha. Usually by 8:30 am the meetings start up and I jump on the phone with the team in Sweden, or partners around the globe. I am usually focused on events or priorities dating out 4–18 months. By January hopefully events like Sea Otter are planned and you start working on Crankworx or you are building out ad campaigns and working with athletes on content ideas and planning. It will be new to start focusing on the snow world as well and how it blends together over the season.

The team in Park City is a small group, so it's fun to have interaction with each department. Really, POC is a tight group globally so we all have a lot of say and input on developments and projects in the pipeline. One of my favorite things is working with the product teams on product development. Being a rider myself and working so closely with the athletes who represent the brand—I think it is really important. Some of the best ideas that end up on shelves can come from anyone involved with the company.

Once the work day is done, I usually am either out on my bike, or heading to the gym to do Crossfit. I’m pretty sure that if I don’t stay active I start to go crazy, and nobody likes a crazy burd. Haha.


How do you find managing the day to day with the long term planning? Is that a juggling act?
There really is a time and a place for everything and depending on the person and how your thought process works you find your best practices. Those best practices may also change year to year as well, so juggling is an understatement half the time.

For me, I try and get what I like to call “foundation” marketing planned and finalized by the end of January each year (if talking bike). You hopefully know your budgets for the year, you can get your athlete contracts done, event contracts done, ad plans figured out—that all falls in that bucket. That usually sets you up with a good idea of how the season will flow and sets some priorities to focus on and deliver. Replace those tasks with race schedules, entry fees, travel plans, and sponsor obligations… that’s the life of a pro athlete. We all manage it the same, just with different outcomes. From there it’s just plug-and-play on the daily things like athlete orders, and planning fun things at events.

In my perfect world, I like to try and start loosely planning for the next season as early as June. You don't necessarily know what exactly will happen or what athletes you have but, you can start making educated guesses and, well, you have to start somewhere.

So did you ever think you would get into the bike industry or sports marketing?
Thinking back to middle school I guess there was a pretty telling moment. I think I would even consider it my first “real” job as well. I was in middle school, 6th grade, and started getting into after-school team sports like volleyball, surfing, and swimming. Before I knew it, I didn’t have to dress out for P.E. and had a key to the school's gymnasium to help open and close things up for afterschool sports. I was getting paid to keep score at basketball games, traveled to other schools to keep score and basically had an automatic A in P.E. haha. It's crazy to think that was the start of it but, it kind of stuck with me from there.

It also helped to be in a place like Santa Cruz where there's biking, surfing, and skiing not far. I fell in love with cycling on my own and with a little help from some ex-boyfriends. I was riding a mountain bike my dad gave me for Christmas back and forth along the coast. I eventually clued in and realized there was such things as road bikes and quickly converted over. I never raced, though, just loved riding back and forth along the coast. Heck, I didn’t even know the TDF existed, I was in my own world of cycling. After a few years of that, I started to date a guy who was into mountain biking; downhill mountain biking. I honestly had no idea there were mountain bikes you could pedal uphill. I learned to bomb down the trails in Santa Cruz and push my bike back up. I went to Crankworx Whistler before I knew what Crankworx even was.

Never racing, definitely made me feel like I was at a disadvantage when I first started at Specialized, it being such a strong race brand. I knew you could either sink or swim in that environment, and I was determined to swim even if that meant being dropped on the famous lunch ride every day. I really had to prove myself and work hard from the start. I quickly learned after a little bit, racing or not, I was working for a business. I learned how important relationships were, the importance of being trustworthy, and how far having great communication could take you. Understanding that, I knew I would be able to survive and thrive in the industry and I still believe that.


Would you call yourself a mountain biker or a sports enthusiast?
Well, I’m from Santa Cruz, then moved to Sun Valley ID, then to Oregon/Pacific North West, and now Park City UT… are you picking up a theme? I have been extremely fortunate to have had amazing jobs in each of these locations to support my mountain biking addiction.

You've seen a lot of athlete pitches for sponsorship. What would be your one biggest pieces of advice to an athlete applying for sponsorship for any brand?
Be really well educated on what you bring to the table. It's a two-way street and you have to look at yourself not just as an athlete but as a marketing device to create demand for somebody's product. Understand the business goals for the season and what is seen as demand creation for that brand. Understand the social media importance, advocacy support, important events and achievable results, and most importantly what makes you unique as a rider for their brand. You could never win a race but have all the sponsorship in the world if you know how to brand yourself and put yourself out there as a great ambassador for a brand. You do not have to be a walking commercial, but you do have to own your shit.

I would say that it is also wise to look at the brands that make the most sense for you and your brand. Start small, set achievable goals for both you and the sponsor and chip away at those goals. It’s not always greener on the other side. It is great to shoot high, but you may find that you could have a bigger impact for a smaller brand than you could for a big one. A smaller brand may have better opportunities for marketing projects and if you are more available for those then you could find yourself in the next ad campaign. Every sponsorship manager runs a different program, which is why there is never an easy way to answer these questions. Be respectful, be grateful, and be professional is all else I would add.


You travel quite a lot for your role. How many days a year are you on the road?
Last year I was on the road 168ish days from what I can count. Almost half the year. The years go by really fast when you travel that much. It starts to weigh in towards the end of the season when Worlds or tradeshows come around. It can be an emotional and physical struggle. My mom joined Facebook so she knew where I was in the world. It can be really hard to maintain relationships, I really want a dog but know I don’t have the time, I had a fish Charlie for a bit, but he got really depressed when I left so I gave him to a kid down the street.

I do love it, though. I have a huge family around the world that welcomes me with open arms and rose wine. I wouldn’t give that up for anything. That support is what keeps me going and always willing and wanting to do more.

Is there anything else you want to add about sports marketing and management that you think people should understand? Is there something you'd say to someone who wants to get into the field?
You have to own your shit. I got my start in the industry because I rolled up my sleeves and I wasn't afraid to go and do whatever needed to get done. Never be above it, and always be inclusive. Join the industry not just because you love riding bikes, but because you want to see more people enjoy the things you love most about bikes.

We are all part of this team called the bike industry. Athletes, dealers, consumers, if we want the industry to thrive we need more people to enjoy it. We need more access for people to enjoy it, and we need to support companies doing things to protect it and help it thrive.

wasting precious time. For snacks; soda water and sour patch kids, (laughs) that's my go to. Maybe Pringles if you need a little carbo load. Also a solid music playlist is key.

Where are you happiest?
Happiest definitely on home trails. I love Santa Cruz trails. Really any trail I have ridden a good amount is always tons of fun. Knowing the trail like the back of your hand, being able to go as fast as you can knowing every turn coming. Such a fun feeling.

What bikes are you riding right now?
I feel very fortunate and spoiled right now. I have a Santa Cruz Bronson as my “bigger bike”, A Specialized Rhyme 6Fattie that I have both 27.5+ wheels and 29er wheels for. I also have an Evil Following (29). I have a couple cross bikes, a road bike, also an e-bike for commuting on. I have a full range right now!

I'd say I've been spending the most time on the Specialized Rhyme currently. It's been a really fun new experience on plus sized tires. I've been dialing that in, playing around and seeing what's fun. I've been trying 2.8 tires to 2.6 to 3.0's especially in the later months when the trails get blown out or turn to mud.


Who or what inspires you?
I'm really inspired by the hard working athletes out there right now. It's not easy to be a professional athlete in the sport especially as the industry is changing and sponsors are requesting more and more. It's not just about results, it's a full program. You have to be personable, you have to be on your social media game, have the results, be a great ambassador, and much more. It's great to see the rise of these kinds of all encompassing, all in one athletes. I really respect how hard many of them are working to make it all happen for themselves.

What does the future hold for Mal Burd?
Well, I really want a French bulldog… but I think I need to not travel so much for that to happen. Until then, I am looking forward to getting things in motion with the POC team, many trips to Sweden, much more playing bikes with friends, and of course many more adventures around the world!

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MENTIONS: @Specialized / @SmithOptics

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