At 19, while most of her UNLV classmates were figuring out their next move, Whitney Bansin launched a styling company that would end up working on TV shows to movies. That evolved into running all the creative direction at Zappos, where she got an inside look at how fashion and commerce intersect.
Instead of heading to fashion school like she originally planned, Whitney kept building businesses. Her background in dance and years of celebrity styling gave her a fresh perspective on what was missing in the sports world. Now as CEO of The Wild Collective, she's creating the kind of premium sports apparel she always wanted to see.
In this episode, Whitney shares her approach to building brands, leading teams, and spotting opportunities that others miss. It's a conversation about seeing possibilities in unexpected places and having the confidence to pursue them.
Read on for five highlights from our conversation and be sure to watch the full interview right here:
"The Vegas Golden Knights came to Vegas. It was a very big deal to have an NHL team here and the city just really embraced this team and everybody was going to games... All of my friends were going to games and I was like, well, what are we wearing to these games? Like what does one wear to a hockey game? And I was immediately taken back that these were kind of the options. Like this is it?"
Las Vegas getting its first pro sports team exposed a massive hole in the market. Whitney wasn't doing focus groups or poring over market data. She was just trying to find something decent to wear to a game, and the options were depressingly basic. What started as a frustration with women's options quickly revealed an even bigger truth: everyone was settling for mediocre gear. Guys were showing up in plain beanies because the official merch didn't match their everyday style. The Wild Collective's answer? Premium pieces that average $100 each - way above typical merch prices. When customers feel the quality in stadium stores, they get hooked.
"My main focus has always been and it always will be being five steps ahead of everyone else because we are in an industry where there's a lot of copycats. I'll do a silhouette and then six months later I see another brand doing it, trying to mimic it, trying to copy it... But I always look at every season as a completely fresh landscape in design. And I always make sure we do is differently done than what we've done previous."
This strategy of constant reinvention created an unexpected snowball effect. The Wild Collective's unique designs attract organic attention from major celebrities - no paid endorsements needed. On any random Tuesday, Whitney might get a text about T.I. wearing one of their sweaters on horseback or another celebrity spotted in their latest piece. The teams themselves have become some of their biggest champions, eagerly sharing photos when players wear the gear. This organic growth has turned their pieces into must-haves. At her daughter's soccer game, Whitney met a fan who had built an entire closet collection of Wild Collective gear. That kind of brand loyalty only happens when you're creating something truly new each season, not recycling old designs with new team logos.
"What we do with these retail accounts is we build out these curated collections that are specific to that retailer and that consumer. So what I'm selling into PacSun, that's designed exclusively for PacSun and their consumer base. So I'm not going to turn around and go sell that to someone else."
Free People's shoppers want something completely different from stadium fans, so why give them the same stuff? The Wild Collective designs exclusive collections for each store's vibe - what works at PacSun probably wouldn't fly at Anthropologie. This moved sports fashion into entirely new territory. Before The Wild Collective, you'd never find team gear in these fashion-forward stores. Now these retailers handle their own marketing while Whitney's team keeps their direct-to-consumer channel pure Wild Collective. It means more work, creating different designs for different stores. But it also means reaching fans who'd never shop at a stadium store, bringing sports style to places it's never been before.
"Even in sports, like the Vikings are trending right now because they're winning. But the minute they stop winning, people aren't buying products as much... You do have certain teams that will always sell. Like Green Bay Packers have a phenomenal fan base. They will buy Green Bay Packers, rain or shine, win or lose. But not every team is like that."
Forget setting your marketing budget quarters in advance. In sports fashion, success on the field drives success in sales. The Wild Collective puts ads up, watches the performance, and adjusts daily. Team winning streak? Boost that budget. Losing skid? Pull back fast. Fall season is their Super Bowl for marketing, with video content driving the strongest engagement. But the D2C landscape today looks nothing like it did even a few years ago. Ad costs keep climbing, competition for keywords is fierce, and overhead doesn't wait for winning streaks - warehouse costs, royalty fees, and fulfillment all eat into margins. When you're spending marketing dollars based on touchdowns and free throws, every penny needs a game plan.
"I think the biggest thing that I'm trying to maintain is being solution-based... showing your team, showing your employees and the partners you work with that you are solution driven. If something happens, you're getting five steps ahead of it, figuring out how to fix it, how to handle it, how fast can we do it, what are our options."
When there's an issue with a retailer or team, Whitney keeps her staff in the room. They don't just hear about the solution later - they watch her work through problems in real time. How does she handle tough client conversations? What options does she consider? It's leadership through action, not just words. The approach pays off beyond just solving today's problems. Team members develop skills they'll use throughout their careers, whether they stay at Wild Collective forever or move on to new challenges. This reputation for real-world problem-solving has turned the company into a talent magnet. People from across the country reach out daily on LinkedIn, drawn to a culture where creative solutions matter more than endless meetings.