>> ... Next Generation ...
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:ast Dance Company Man
An interview with Robb Lippitt.
R
VIVIAN HENOCH I SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
obb Lippitt, 44, the self-effacing CEO of Revolution Dancewear, likes to
introduce himself as "a stocky, middle-aged Jewish man with a hole on top of
his head where there used to be hair."
Standing in his favorite spot in his kitchen, checking email on his laptop,
Lippitt would seem to be the epitome of a family man at home anywhere he sets his mind
to work. From his quiet, easy demeanor, one would never guess just how much enterprise
he's got on his plate.
The fact that his company recently has gone global, growing by leaps and bounds out of
offices in Niles, Ill., and England, would be enough to keep Lippitt in perpetual motion. He
is, in fact, involved in two businesses — as co-founder of Scrapbuck.com , he admits that
being involved in two companies "catering almost entirely to women is a source of endless
amusement (and presumed secret jealousy) to his friends."
Whatever the notion of "full time" means to Lippitt, his portfolio of community projects
and charitable activities reads like a CV. Among NEXTGen Detroiters,
he is considered a "rock star" and is currently an officer of the Detroit
Federation. On the national level, he serves as co-chair for Jewish
Federation of North America's (JFNA) National Young Leadership
Cabinet, extending his six-year term a year to do so.
When not on the road between his "day jobs," or flying around the
world on behalf of the Jewish community, Lippitt is an avid tennis player,
a great cook, a long-abiding fan of The Princess Bride and author of a
children's book, The Tomatonator, soon to be published. He and his wife,
Debbie, live in Bloomfield Hills and have two daughters, Molly, 15, and
Eryn, 13, both of whom, according to Lippitt, are "thankfully smarter
than he is and far better looking."
Here, he answers some questions about his life.
On College And First Career Moves
Q: What kind of work did you do in college?
On Giving Back
Q: Is there a Federation connection to your success in business?
Lippitt: Yes, when I think back on the Federation version of the story, there's really
nothing that I've done in my life that isn't somehow connected to my family and Jewish
community. People talk about volunteers giving back, but the truth is that I've gotten so
much more from my involvement in Federation than I could ever give back in time or money.
I met Scott Harris, my Revolution Dancewear partner, through a Federation program. I
commute to Chicago every week, and I live in a condo that I rent from my friend Hannan Lis
(a Detroiter and prominent Jewish leader). My business peer group that
came together through Federation is still very active in the community
So many relationships that I have, as well as the opportunities to work
and the places I've gotten to see — are derived from Federation.
On Work-Life Balance
Q: How do you juggle your leadership roles in your professional and
community work?
Robb Lippitt, 44, biz wiz and
career volunteer
Lippitt: I was involved with selling computer equipment and computer networks. This
was a time when 386 computers ran entire networks and a PC was just a PC. But in the
process, I learned a lot about technology and computers and also some things about
running a business.
In law school, I worked as a law clerk (much more than I actually went to class!). While
practicing law for eight years in Birmingham — specializing in in business litigation — I
met a lot of people who were business owners and entrepreneurs, including Josh Linkner,
who became a client and a friend. Josh had founded ePrize. Fortunately for me, he took a
chance on me, and I joined him fairly soon after as the chief operating officer. We grew that
business together, along with the hard work of many others.
Q: How did you make the connection with Revolution Dancewear?
Lippitt: While I was helping build ePrize, I joined the Jewish Entrepreneurs Network —
a Federation outreach program that brought different entrepreneurs and business people
together for a shared peer experience.
One of the people in my group was the founder of Revolution Dancewear — Scott Harris.
We became friends, advisers to one another's businesses, and when I left ePrize, I started
getting involved in consulting work for Revolution. I assisted Scott as he sold the business
to private equity investors in 2010, ended up with a seat on the board, and, ultimately, they
asked me to come in to run the business.
I've been at Revolution since 2011, and I love the business. We've grown to more than
100 employees, made two acquisitions, and last year we sold many hundreds of thousands
of tights, leotards, costumes and dance shoes to dance studios. It's a fun business that
makes people happy.
On Personal Strengths And Connections
Q: What would you say are your greatest strengths?
Lippitt: What I've been able to learn to do well is to help businesses grow. Whether
that's in Federation life or business life, I think that one of my skill sets is creating things and
building them, seeing a vision and being able to make that vision reality.
34 July 18 • 2013
I believe my role in life — and something I can do well — is binding communities
together. Whether you define a community as people in an office environment, a charitable
organization or our Detroit community — the dynamic is still the same — engaging people
and creating relationships for accomplishing a shared purpose and vision.
Lippitt: I view my life as interconnected in every way and don't make
strong distinctions between my professional time and my philanthropic
time.
The added benefit of the community work is making a difference
in people's lives. While it's true in business that you impact lives, in
philanthropy — giving back to the community — you are doing it for
people who often have no ability to do it for themselves.
On Leadership Development
Q: Can you tell us about the Young Leadership Cabinet?
Lippitt: "Cabinet" is about 300 community leaders from across North America working
through a six-year leadership development program, focused on campaign leadership and
philanthropic development.
As part of Cabinet, we do "study missions" every year, traveling to different countries. I've
now been on five such missions: first to Sarajevo and Budapest, next to Morocco, a mission
which I co-led; Argentina and Chile the following year; Greece the year after that; and most
recently, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm.
I've been to Israel twice and also was honored to participate in the Ethiopian Mission
with the Sherman Leadership Program here in Detroit — an extraordinary experience in
2011.
Tying this back to NEXTGen Detroit in particular: The message we're trying to deliver on
a national scale is that there's not a "one-size-fits-all" model for engaging the community.
Federation is different for everybody.
As Jewish leaders, we are most effective when we listen first and understand what
naturally motivates people, where their interests lie, what excites them on their own. There
are so many ways that we can take what people are already excited about and connect that
to their Judaism and, ultimately, to giving back to the community.
The things that I've learned in Cabinet have informed the things that I have worked on
here in Detroit.
Jewish Detroit is the cream of the crop, esteemed as a model of transformation and
togetherness, and that's something that's very exciting to see.
There's no place like Detroit because Detroiters have an extreme shared sense of identity.
In this community — Jewish or not Jewish — when you say you are from Detroit, there's a
deep resonance for what that means. It's a shared experience, with a longing to invent and
build a better place, too.
That's what brings a community together.
❑
Vivian Henoch writes for myjewishdetroit.org, where a longer version of this interview first
appeared.