Menu
People and Pop Culture

What I Like: John MacKay, KT Tape CEO

PROFESSIONAL

What I like …

MacKay doesn’t just sell kinesiology tape — he shows up at events to tape athletes.
Photos: COURTESY OF KT TAPE

An insight: “Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.”

An influential person in my career: Leadership and productivity author Stephen R. Covey.

An out-of-the-box idea: Create a website where people can freely share ideas and anyone can access them and create around them.

A timeless idea: You can’t possibly know everything. Hire enough smart people

around you and, collectively, you can know almost everything.

A sports facility: AT&T Stadium.

A sports event: NCAA Final Four.

A strategy: Success only lasts so long. You have to always be looking for the next best thing. Successful companies continue to create even when business is booming.

John MacKay
Co-founder and CEO
KT Tape

Where I’m from: Alpine, Utah
Where I Went to School: B.S. in accounting, Arizona State University
My First Job: Janitor
A hire: Hiring a CFO to bring financial discipline to a business.

A brand: Nike.

A trend: Mobility.

An innovation: Active lifestyle innovations that help treat injuries while allowing people to remain active.

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

A pro league or team business initiative: KT Tape’s partnership with U.S. Soccer.

A story that bears watching: The Koh Panyee floating football (soccer) field built by young fans living on a little island in the south of Thailand. They challenged naysayers and became a great inspiration for new generations to the island. Dream big. Think outside the box.

An idea or invention I wish I had thought of: Siri.

A fantasy job: Running sports camps for underprivileged children.


What I like about …

My job: Encouraging growth and development and then seeing people succeed.

Sports: Competition, sportsmanship. I love how it builds character.

Sports business: You get to work with people who enjoy doing what they do each day.

Sports media: Helps bring human drama to the front lines of the story.

Sports technology: I love how you can watch any sport — any time.

Competing: Competition brings out the best in everyone.

The future of sports business: Sports provides us with the largest platform to connect with clients. This platform will continue to grow and its influence expand.


What I would like to …

See more of in sports: Better sportsmanship.

See less of in sports: Rancor.

Eliminate: Commercial breaks.


What I don’t like …

In general: Missing goals, objectives, deadlines, expectations.

Pet peeve: People who make indefensible statements.

In sports: Poor sportsmanship.
 


PERSONAL

What I like …

People: People who are accountable.

About myself: I love working in the trenches right beside the employees at KT Tape. I often go to events to tape people, and I’m right there on the ground kneeling and taping.

Players: Tom Brady.

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

Teams: BYU football.

City: Vancouver, British Columbia.

Possession: My boat.

Memento: Basketball signed by the 2002-03 Utah Jazz basketball team, which was the last year John Stockton and Karl Malone played together.

Time of year: Summer for golf, tennis and boating.


Music: Country.

Authors: John Grisham.

Magazines: Car and Driver.

Apps: TD Ameritrade, ESPN.

Chores: Cleaning out the garage.

Hobbies: Home improvement.

Trips: Scuba diving and going to the beach.


Movies: “White House Down.”

TV: “Shark Tank,” home improvement shows.

Artist: Ansel Adams.

Food: Beef.

Dessert: Crème brûlée.

Drink: Root beer.

Scent: The smell of cows.

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
Vacation spots: The Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Cars: Dodge Ram truck.

Aftershave: Gillette.

Singer: Kenny Chesney.

Quote: “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else,” Albert Einstein.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: May 3, 2024

Seismic change coming for NCAA? Churchill Downs rolls out major premium build out and Jeff Pash, a key advisor to Roger Goodell, steps down

Learfield's Cory Moss, MASN/ESPN's Ben McDonald, and Canelo

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with Learfield's Cory Moss as he talks about his company’s collaboration on EA Sports College Football. Later in the show, we hear from MASN/ESPN baseball analyst Ben McDonald on how he sees the college and professional baseball scene shaking out. SBJ’s Adam Stern shares his thoughts on the upcoming Canelo-Mungia bout on Prime Video and DAZN.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/02/16/People-and-Pop-Culture/What-I-Like.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/02/16/People-and-Pop-Culture/What-I-Like.aspx

CLOSE