{"id":7778,"date":"2023-05-17T07:26:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T05:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heroes-world.de\/ewald-haimerl\/"},"modified":"2023-05-23T14:20:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T12:20:04","slug":"ewald-haimerl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heroes-world.de\/en\/blog\/2023\/05\/17\/ewald-haimerl\/","title":{"rendered":"Ewald Haimerl: What success is built on"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ewald Haimerl shaped HAIX. When he joined the company in 1987, the family-run business had 15 employees and manufactured shoes for other brands.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

The Beginnings<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s one story that Ewald Haimerl loved to tell: Germany\u2019s victory over the Netherlands in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. It had dramatic consequences for HAIX, as an important Dutch business partner promptly canceled all orders it had placed with the German shoemaker. Haimerl was 12 at the time. He originally planned to be a police officer and passed the entrance test for the Bavarian police force in his early twenties. But his older brother, who had been expected to take over the business, chose a different career path. Their father turned to his younger son. In the late 1980s, Ewald Haimerl became the manager of the family business.<\/p>\n

The Decision<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t an easy decision,\u201d Ewald once admitted in an interview. The first few years were a struggle. In the early 1990s, he faced the same problem his father had encountered 20 years before: A large customer suddenly canceled all orders. The young manager struggled to pay his 15 employees during that time.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

The Idea<\/h3>\n

Ewald Haimerl had always been attracted to \u201cflashing lights and everything that goes nee-naw.\u201d As the deputy commander of his town\u2019s volunteer fire brigade, he and his colleagues regularly found themselves in the signature yellow rubber boots of the time. A terrible fate for a shoemaker. And a gap in the market that would change everything for Haimerl: He set out to develop a leather firefighter boot with a waterproof membrane and ample protection for the feet. Everyone who knew him agrees: \u201cWhenever he got an idea in his head, he dedicated himself to it completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skill and Creativity<\/h3>\n

There was a new specialist for functional shoes in Mainburg. Their products were good. The news spread like wildfire, not least thanks to Haimerl\u2019s remarkable sales skills and unconventional marketing. He was comfortable in the limelight and soon became the public face of the company. And his methods certainly drew attention: When nobody seemed all that interested in him during a business dinner in the United States, he promptly climbed onto the set table in his firefighter boots. Suddenly, everyone listened to what the \u201ccrazy German\u201d had to say. Was he really crazy? \u201cWe\u2019re different to the others. Maybe we\u2019re a bit crazy, too\u2014in a good way,\u201d he commented at the time.<\/p>\n

Under Ewald Haimerl\u2019s management, the company developed functional boots for the rescue services, police, and military. Soon, HAIX expanded to footwear for laborers, foresters, farmers and general outdoor and leisure purposes, such as hiking. Suddenly, HAIX was a brand expanding to new target markets at a dizzying pace.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Authenticity and Charisma<\/h3>\n

Ewald Haimerl was a down-to-earth man who always remained faithful to his home and his way of life. He never hesitated to sit down with his colleagues at the fire station for a casual chat. His charismatic personality made him friends all over the world. When I worked on a report for him in Chicago once, the captain of the Chicago North Fire Station came up to me, asking, \u201cHow is my friend Ewald doing?\u201d In Washington D.C., the fire chief personally invited him on a tour of the city on the fireboat. There are countless such anecdotes. And Ewald\u2019s little collection of vintage patrol cars allowed him to be surrounded by flashing lights even at home.<\/p>\n

The Maker<\/h3>\n

Ewald Haimerl always listened when someone had something to say. He made every effort to understand others\u2019 ideas and applied his own knowledge and instincts to formulate concrete goals. \u201cAn idea alone is not worth much,\u201d he used to say. \u201cYou need to make it happen!\u201d His involvement in firefighting sport inspired him to develop the most lightweight firefighter boot ever made. When a photographer mentioned that the black leather boots made the \u201cHAIX\u201d<\/a> label difficult to spot, he promptly came up with a yellow label design, which he then turned into important functional features. Today\u2019s iconic HAIX brand identity is the result of this thought process. Once he was convinced of an idea, he made it happen, come hell or high water. This remarkable determination resulted in the innovative fascia technology for safety boots, novel fastening techniques, and indestructible laces \u2013 to name just a few of his many inventions. And his decisions almost always paid off.<\/p>\n

The Foundation<\/h3>\n

Within a mere three decades, he turned a small, family-run shoemaking business from Mainburg into a global player. By the time Ewald Haimerl tragically lost his life in 2019, the company\u2019s original team of 15 employees had turned into nearly 1,500 people. Albeit far too short, his whole live Ewald Haimerl said: \u201cI never visited University, but I studied throughout my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ewald Haimerl shaped HAIX. When he joined in 1987, the family business had 15 employees and manufactured shoes on behalf of other brands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":7762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[195],"class_list":["post-7778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-work","tag-lesen-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEwald Haimerl: What success is built on - HEROES WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ewald Haimerl shaped HAIX. 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