When Anne Broholm took over as CEO of golf headwear, apparel and accessory company Ahead USA in 2012, she became one of the highest-level women executives in a traditionally male-dominated industry. But she was sensitive to that distinction at the time, she says. Broholm didn’t want to be known as just “the female golf CEO,” she wanted to be a great CEO.
In the almost decade-and-a-half she has been at the helm of Ahead, she’s helped establish the company as an industry leader. And she’s accepted her role as a role model.
“I’ve become much more cognizant of what that means and what my responsibility is,” Broholm said. “If I can use this to inspire others to achieve something they didn’t think they could do or be a CEO in an industry that doesn’t really have many to look like them, then that’s great too.”
With a heavy emphasis on customization and choice, Ahead products are in more than 5,000 green-grass and resort shops worldwide. The company is heavily involved in golf events and is affiliated with some of the biggest organizations in golf, such as the USGA and PGA Tour, as well as tournaments and management companies. This year, Ahead was the Open Championship’s official headwear licensee.
Ahead USA CEO Anne Broholm and senior creative director Mark Kliethermes.
And while the New Bedford, Massachusetts, company was founded in 1995, much of the credit for its growth goes to Broholm and her team.
“Anne has always been a big player in the golf space,” said Mark Kliethermes, Ahead’s senior creative director. “There is no one she doesn’t know. She’s great at maintaining and growing these relationships and bringing new talent to the team. And I think she’s got her mind focused on how golf is changing.”
Broholm’s love of apparel began with her mother, who taught her the fundamentals of sewing when she was 5 years old.
“I remember admiring the things she made and the designs,” Broholm said. “She had quite the artistic flair herself.”
“The golf industry is really connected and really cohesive. It’s small in a way. It’s relationship-based and people are generally pleased to be doing what they’re doing because they’re around the game they love.” – Anne Broholm
Broholm’s mother would take typing paper and draw designs on it. While the 5-year-old Broholm wasn’t allowed to use a needle, she traced the lines to learn the motions. From there, Broholm honed her craft.
“When I was young I was entering the apparel that I’d made into the state fair,” she said.
So why not try and make a career out of it? After she received a B.S. in fashion merchandising from Colorado State, she spent five years working in fashion and apparel in New York City, one of the fashion capitals of the world.
But Colorado was calling.
“That’s my home,” Broholm said. “That’s where I grew up. I decided I’d have to abandon the fashion industry because there isn’t really apparel in Colorado.”
A couple months later, she found golf “by accident” and joined Imperial Headwear as vice president of sales and marketing. While it was different from her previous work in that she was now helping produce products for a sport, she quickly adapted and fell in love with the industry.
“The golf industry is really connected and really cohesive,” Broholm said. “It’s small in a way. It’s relationship-based and people are generally pleased to be doing what they’re doing because they’re around the game they love. So there’s this whole other element that the game brings into the industry that was really rewarding for me. That’s why I fell in love with the golf industry.”
In 2005, she left Imperial Headwear to run the golf division of apparel maker Cutter & Buck.
“That gave me a wonderful opportunity to A, stay in the golf business, but B, get back into apparel,” Broholm said.
In 2007, Cutter & Buck became the first North American acquisition of Sweden-based New Wave Group AB. Four years later, Ahead became its second North American acquisition and Broholm was asked to be CEO of the company because of her headwear experience and knowledge of the industry.
Although Ahead had been in business for more than a decade, Broholm says it was still in its entrepreneurial stage, which made the opportunity attractive to her.
“There was a newness to it,” Broholm said. “There were challenges and opportunities that came with that. There was customization involved with it of not only headwear but apparel and accessories.”
Leading a company comes with new responsibilities. Broholm says it’s most important to be flexible and willing to listen.
“You’re in a position where there are a lot of opinions about what you should do and you’re never going to align with all of them,” she said. “Ultimately, any decision made and the consequences are going to stop with you.”
Broholm says her first responsibility is to the company: to the board, the employees and the customers. But there’s also a responsibility to the local New Bedford community, especially because Ahead is one of the largest employers in the area and Broholm says most of the company’s 250 employees live in the area.
“You also have a responsibility to the community in which your employees live and work and ensuring you’re a good corporate citizen within the community,” Broholm said.
Broholm says she also feels an obligation to the industry that has given her so much.
“No matter what industry you’re in, if it gave you the opportunity to have a career path, you owe it to the others coming behind you to have that same opportunity,” Broholm said.
In recent years, Ahead has made inroads into tennis, motorsports, dog shows and more.
Broholm serves on the Annika Foundation’s board, the National Golf Foundation’s board and the board of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which is the largest business association in the state.
In recent years, Ahead has expanded beyond golf. Broholm has placed a big emphasis on this since becoming CEO.
“There’s a need for that in the resort market,” Broholm said. “There’s a need for that in the collegiate market. There’s other markets where we take the same skill set, products, pricing, programs, people, service, talent, delivery, all the stuff we do so well day in and day out in the golf industry in other industries.”
In recent years, Ahead has made inroads into tennis, motorsports, dog shows and more.
Broholm says the golf business has grown tremendously as well. The popularity of the game increased during COVID-19, which in many ways was good for business. However, it also presented challenges.
“I will say that the game has exploded,” she said. “And the number of golfers has exploded. And the number of businesses in golf has exploded. So we are actually facing a much more competitive landscape than we were five to six years ago in terms of other competitors coming in and wanting a slice of that pie. So we can’t just sit back.”
When asked about what she’s most proud of over the course of her time at Ahead, Broholm said it’s her team and the company’s ability to innovate while remaining reliable.
Many companies want to get their apparel into Pinehurst or Bandon Dunes, for example.
One of the ways Ahead sets itself apart is through its vast customization options.
“We do pride ourselves on not just being able to have domestic decoration, but we offer about 30 unique decoration options out of this facility,” Kliethermes said. “And we stock hundreds of unique styles, patterns and colors here so it really does make it the best answer to addressing a quick-to-market industry.”
When asked about what she’s most proud of over the course of her time at Ahead, Broholm said it’s her team and the company’s ability to innovate while remaining reliable.
“I’m proud of how we’ve been able to continue to innovate but not at the expense of compromising service or other tangible deliverables that customers rely on,” Broholm said.