Ian Widmer ’04 is President and CEO of Progression Brands Group (PBG), a global operating company of Capranea Apparel, Dahu Ski Boots, and Yniq Eyewear, among others. He owns the company with his wife and has a 10-person global team. PBG exclusively operates for brands where the Widmers have an ownership position.
“I didn’t know what the heck I was going to do after graduation,” Widmer says. “So, a couple friends and I said we’re going to ski for a year. I grew up in Southern Colorado, so it kind of made sense.”
Widmer moved to Vail and got in with a privately owned organization, which at the time was in partnership with Vail Resorts and had about 165 retail stores across the western U.S. He was exposed to incredible entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and great leadership, including executive leaders.
“If someone’s been able to get through Colorado College, you know, for the most part, they are able to handle anything that life throws at them.”
Ian Widmer ’04
One year turned into four and Widmer went from retail into the brand side of the business, eventually working with a group that bought Gramicci in order to revitalize it and bring it out of bankruptcy. “We did some incredible things that had a long lead impact on the brand,” he says.
“I got pretty lucky,” Widmer says. “In 2009, I got a phone call asking me if I wanted to go meet these guys with this small little brand called Canada Goose. It was a small, quirky little brand run by Dani Reiss whose grandfather started the company, and globally it was doing something like $15 million and the United States didn’t have a business.”
“Dani and my boss at the time [Paul Silvertown] looked at me and said, ‘Hey kid, you have one year to make it work because we’re pretty frustrated with the U.S. market. Make it work, and you can build a career.’” Widmer became the first U.S. employee and, as a 27-year-old, built a team who brought the U.S. division from $0 to $100 million. He then relocated to Switzerland in 2015, working to take Canada Goose public in early 2017. That same year, Widmer decided to bring his family back to the States and start up Progression Brands Group with another strong team.
“You find people you jive with in the corporate ecosystem: shared values, shared intensity level, full throttle all the time,” Widmer says. “And you stick with them.”
Widmer, an American History and Political Science double major, says, “All of that journey would have never happened if it wasn’t for the Block Plan. There was nothing that could be put in front of me, nothing more daunting, than trying to cram a semester’s work in three and a half weeks.”
Widmer says he is forever grateful for the culture, value, and community CC provided that helped him navigate challenging experiences, especially in business. “If someone’s been able to get through Colorado College, you know, for the most part, they are able to handle anything that life throws at them.”