Fran Millar: Former CEO of Team Sky/Team Ineos cycling team and now CEO of fashion brand Belstaff; sister of disgraced British cyclist David Millar.
What this episode covers
Fran Millar opens by recounting how her brother David Millar, a prodigiously talented British cyclist, was drawn into the EPO-era doping culture, was arrested, and was publicly shamed, an experience that shaped her whole life and career. She discusses the concept of being a 'difficult woman' in male-dominated industries, the value of radical honesty over malignant empathy, and the lessons of mentors David Brailsford and psychiatrist Steve Peters. She explains her decision to leave a 20-year cycling career to become CEO of struggling fashion brand Belstaff during the pandemic, and her view that a job is never your identity. She candidly addresses why she chose not to have a partner or children, finding fulfilment in her work and her tight tribe of friends. She closes by reflecting on a brain-scan health scare that crystallised her belief that she would change nothing about how she lives.
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
The Chimp Paradox
Steve Peters
“steve peters who a lot of you will know from the book he authored the paradox which redefines from a psychiatrist's point of view how our mind works”— Steven Bartlett
Lean In
Sheryl Sandberg
“i remember reading um cheryl sandberg's book about lean in and it was like when young women will come into a meet room and they won't sit at the table”— guest
Radical Candor
Kim Scott
“okay so have you read a book called radical camber it's up there on my bookshelf somewhere but i've not read it yet”— guest
Peloton
Peloton
“we were talking about having a peloton and you know i kind of feel if i'm going to go all in on my fitness and my health and get lean”— guest
Big reveals from this episode
- David Millar turned pro in 1998, the year of the Festina scandal, at the dawn of the undetectable EPO era when doping was endemic.
- Coffidis owner Francois Migraine looked their mother in the eyes and promised to look after David, then later effectively called him out to investigators.
- Fran ran her own cycling agency representing her brother and had to stop after his arrest and imprisonment damaged her professional standing.
- Jim Ratcliffe phoned to ask her to become Belstaff CEO; she was enrolled within two weeks, on 1 October, in the middle of Covid.
- Fran says she deliberately chose not to have kids or a partner, finding total fulfilment in her work.
- She was engaged to be married for seven years but realised on moving into their house that she did not want a conventional life.
- A brain surgeon found unexplained patches on her brain scan after a cycling crash; the cause is still unknown and the scare reshaped her outlook.
Worth remembering
- Fran argues a 24-year-old athlete's choices are heavily shaped by the team and people around him, citing the Milgram-style shock-button obedience study.
- Team Sky started racing in 2010 'embarrassingly rubbish' despite the big bus and money, then reset everything under Brailsford.
- The team pledged to win the Tour de France with a clean British rider within five years; Bradley Wiggins won in 2012, Chris Froome in 2013.
- Fran's role was 'Head of Winning Behaviours', codifying culture across five areas: self, team, communication, continuous improvement and one she forgot.
- She names silently disagreeing after a decision then undermining it as one of the worst 'losing behaviours', spreading like a virus.
- Fran started her first business at 18 and quit it at 21, dropping out of university after a single lecture.
- She cites Brene Brown's idea of 'foreboding joy' and the example of worrying through the whole journey to her first Oprah appearance.
- Belstaff is 96 years old, heritage Fran wants to leverage for an experiential retail strategy.