“If I could pass anything onto listeners of the Patient Empowerment Program, it’s that nobody or nothing can take away your ability to think and choose who you are going to be each and every moment of the day.” – Chip Wilson

Chip Wilson, the creator of Lululemon and SOLVE FSHD, stands as a pioneer, business innovator, philanthropist, and a person affected by a rare disease. His passion for fitness led him to build a successful career in designing athletic wear, but a diagnosis of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD), a degenerative muscle condition, altered his active lifestyle.

• 0:46 Working on the Alaska Oil Pipeline as a 17-year-old
• 4:30 Saving money young and becoming an entrepreneur
• 7:05 Following trends and founding Lululemon
• 8:36 Chip’s initial dream and vision for Lululemon
• 11:45 Combining Italian design ethics with quality western fabrics for an amazing Lulu product 
• 14:20 The feeling of leaving the Lululemon Board of Directors 
• 17:00 The takeaways from Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 and Something Happened 
• 24:15 Reading the top 100 biographies and admiring those with integrity  
• 33:44 Using the culture of an organization and leadership as a strategic advantage 
• 38:18 Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) 
• 40:05 Chip on losing muscle when exercise and movement is so necessary for his way of life 
• 44:27 Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with FSHD 
• 46:58 Chip’s advice to those suffering from rare diseases and their caregivers 
• 49:24 What progress that has been made to find a treatment for FSHD 
• 52:35 Why Chip and SOLVE FSHD donated to help fund the funded the laboratory at n-Lorem 

Read Chip Wilson’s bio at chipwilson.com

SOLVE FSHD is a venture philanthropic organization founded on the generous commitment of $100M USD from the Wilson family. We are part of a larger global FSHD community that has brought us to a place and time where cures for FSHD are possible. As a mission-driven organization, our unique approach is to be a catalyst, making strategic investments through partners in leading academic, biotech and biopharmaceutical organizations.

We will work with our partners and advisors in the life sciences community to develop a pipeline of new therapies and a cure by 2027. Once we have a SOLVE for FSHD we will continue to support the ongoing needs of this global community.

We cannot do
this alone

We hope that you join us on this journey to discover, develop and provide individualized antisense medicines for free for life for nano-rare patients. The ultimate personalized medicine approach – for free, for life.