We’re launching The Winning Cultures Podcast, and this premiere episode goes inside Stormy Kromer, one of Michigan’s most recognizable brands, built in a town of 5,000 people at the far western edge of the Upper Peninsula.
Gina Thorsen is CEO of Stormy Kromer and grew up in the business her grandfather started in his basement. She’s our first guest, joining me for a candid conversation about what it takes to build a culture that holds up across generations, and why pride shows up in the smallest details of the work.
A Hat Born by Accident
The Stormy Kromer cap wasn’t originally Gina’s family’s product. It was created by a railroad engineer named George “Stormy” Kromer, whose wife added an earband to an old baseball cap so it would stay on his head in the wind. Gina’s father picked up the brand in 2001 almost as an afterthought, a way to fill slow season between the company’s other sewing work. It became the company’s identity instead.
Values That Actually Get Used
Stormy Kromer’s core values, proud and passionate, world-class quality, built on relationships, and respect, aren’t wall art. Employee performance reviews are partly built around them, and Gina asks employees on the spot to call out a co-worker who embodied one of them that quarter. When something goes wrong, the team traces it back to a value they missed and fixes it from there.
Nimble by Necessity
Most employees at Stormy Kromer are trained to do more than one job. On Pi Day, the company’s biggest sales day of the year, everyone in the building, office staff included, packs boxes and picks orders. That flexibility isn’t a program. It’s just how a small, in-person manufacturer keeps moving.
Listen, Watch, and Subscribe
You can listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or watch on YouTube. You can also find every episode on The Winning Cultures Podcast page. New episode every month. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next one.
