Vance comments on Sanuk departure

John Vance, the former COO of Sanuk, worked at the brand for eight years, starting when the company generated about $4.5 million in annual revenue.

In 2010, Sanuk reached $48 million, according to new owners Deckers Outdoor Corporation, which took control of the company in July.

John was let go late last week and replaced by Jake Brandman, the new President of the Sanuk brand. Jake comes from Teva, which is also owned by Deckers.

I asked John for a comment about his time at Sanuk, and what’s next for him.

John Vance: “The last eight years at Sanuk have been amazing. It’s been one of most rewarding experiences of my life. I feel I have gained friendships that will last me the rest of my life. I view everyone at Sanuk like family. Yeah, occasionally we would have family disputes and spats but at the end of the day we were still family and we were all rowing in the same direction. I think that was one of the things that made Sanuk the great brand that it is.

“I’m extremely proud of being able to play a role in the growth of the company as well as the way we ended up staffing the company. I’m also very proud of my support of those people and now since I’ve left, their support of me with all the emails and well wishes I’ve been getting.

“I’ve learned a ton. I’ve been very fortunate in my career having worked for some of the best people in the industry. My years at Quiksilver were great, my years at Sanuk were great. I wish both Deckers and Jake (New Sanuk President Jake Brandman) all the best going forward. I am absolutely 100 percent confident that they are going to achieve absolute greatness in next four or five years for sure.”

“What I’m looking for now is a really good strong relationship with any new boss, owner, person I would be working with.

“I have a strong business foundation of successes, lots of energy and ideas and am looking forward to helping build another brand or taking an existing brand to a higher level.”