Meet Lisa-Marie Rosskothen, ESG Global Expert, Sports Group

Sport Group’s ESG champion talks sport, sustainability and scaling mountains.

Austrian-born Lisa-Marie Rosskothen has sport in her DNA. Daughter of a professional sportsman she inherited both a passion and talent for sport that was nurtured through school and a surprise twist in her university degree. Her love of the outdoors led her to sustainability and a desire to protect the natural world. In Sport Group, she found a company where her two passions collided. Nine months into her role as a Global ESG expert, we caught up with her to find out more about the road that led her to Sport Group, how she is helping to drive the Group’s sustainability agenda and the benefits that brings.

How important was sport to you growing up?

I grew up in a very sporty family and I went to a unique school in Salzburg from age 7-18, where sport is considered one of the main subjects. So I inherited a passion for sport and was given the opportunity to play every sport you can imagine there; from track & field, swimming, boxing, dancing, ball sports, gymnastics, cardio and strength, karate, free running, trampolining, capoeira and more. In my private life, I mainly focused on mountain activities such as skiing and hiking but also horse jumping and aero wheel gymnastics. It’s fair to say that sport is in my blood.

Tell us about your education. Was it all sport?

As well as doing seven hours of sport a week at school, I gained a strong education in coaching, sport science and nutrition. At 18, I went to the University of Innsbruck to study Economics and Law so for a while, I followed a different path to my sporty past. But it didn’t last long!

One day I was sitting in the library and over the top of my law books I spotted a flyer for the university’s Economics, Sport and Health Tourism degree. I realised immediately that this was a much better fit for me and contacted the head of the university to ask if I could change courses. I basically begged him to let me switch right away and he agreed because he didn’t believe in standing in a young person’s way if she is so dedicated and passionate. This was the best decision I could have made because they offered a course that also introduced me to sustainable economy. Based on that, I wrote my bachelor thesis about Corporate Social Responsibility, which was my launchpad into this profession.

Where did your career take you after university?

My first role right after my bachelors was working as an intern for a sustainable clothes company in Munich in sales and marketing. I was planning on staying there until my masters started but then COVID hit, and I rushed back home before the borders closed, which meant I had to cut my internship short and change all my plans.

Back in Austria during COVID, I signed up to be a food deliverer on the bike because it was one of the only jobs that allowed you to go outside of your home. I loved the freedom of the empty roads. It gave me the space to think about what I should do next.

“Doing something good for a company that was dedicated to transforming sport and spaces whilst also doing something good for the planet was the career I had been looking for.”

How did you move into sustainability?

I had always been interested in nature, animals and the environment. My time in the outdoors, playing sports and keeping healthy had been such an important part of my life – I now wanted to do something to protect that in a professional capacity. The unexpected time off during COVID gave me the chance to expand my knowledge of my economical understanding of sustainability. Since I was not able to gain ESG experience in my internship anymore, I wanted to gain it elsewise. I signed up for two certified study courses in Sustainable Fashion from Copenhagen Business School and The Sustainable Development Goals from the University of Copenhagen.

After a few months, I enrolled in a master’s degree in Sustainable Marketing and Leadership at the Hochschule Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Munich. I did most of the 2-year course online due to COVID which was tough but I gained some great skills and experience. Alongside my degree, I also worked as a sustainable product manager and developer at Artdeco cosmetics GmbH, which gave me my first professional experience in sustainability. Balancing my work and studies was busy but I learned a lot about taking sustainability strategy and implementing it. This was a huge reality check for me. Doing the right thing isn’t as easy as you might think it is.

What attracted you to Sport Group?

As a passionate sports person, the name Sport Group immediately stood out to me and was my first hook. They were looking for an ESG manager and as I read through the job description, it was as if it had been written for me. It was everything I wanted to do. Sport and sustainability allows me to combine my two biggest passions. The role needed someone who could help to implement sustainability across the business which played to my experience and my values. Doing something good for a company that was dedicated to transforming sport and spaces whilst also doing something good for the planet was the career I had been looking for. It was easy to identify with both the amazing products we have on offer and with Sport Group’s vision of building a greener industry.

You’ve been in the role for 9 months now. How is it going?

Our annual ESG Rating through the independent body, Morningstar Sustainalytics, was my first challenge so I was straight in at the deep end. It was a very tough and stressful time for everyone, and I am very grateful for the help I received from all around the world. The results were a great success, and I am very proud of the achievement.

For the future, I’m invested in helping the Group to develop its sustainability management but have learnt from previous experience that moving from intention to implementation can be difficult. However, because of the access I have been given from so many employees and departments around the world, the expansion of the ESG team and the growing desire to put sustainability at the heart of the business, I am convinced that we will be able to achieve something great if we continue to work closely with each other.

What does your role involve?

My role is really varied.

ESG reporting and controlling makes up a big part of it. We have a lot of ESG KPIs and each company reports these to me monthly. We review these and share them at a Group level as well as working to make improvements.

The ESG Rating is another key focus. Six months of preparation goes into this; collecting documents, updating policies, uncovering the initiatives from around the Group but also developing the annual Sustainability Report. This year we started in February and received our new ESG Rating in August, so it’s quite a long period. The rest of my time is spent on general project and consulting activities and strategy planning which sets out how we will reach our ESG goals.

What benefits does sustainability bring to the business?

Not only is sustainability the right thing to do, but it brings more advantages for the business than you first think.

Sustainability is becoming more and more important for society in general, stakeholders and investors. Those companies who take positive action are the ones who will lead the market and thrive as they attract new customers and employees but also ensure a sustainable future both for their businesses and the world we operate within. Yes, there needs to be an investment in time, costs and energy, but the outcomes can deliver huge value. By applying the right methodologies against our ESG goals, we can find ways to not only use our resources in a more efficient way, but also reduce costs and increase our profit in the long run.

Do you still have time for sport?

My main sports now take me outdoors; rock climbing, surfing, mountain biking, high altitude hiking, ski touring and free-ride skiing, which is when you ski down on off-piste terrain. It includes deep powder snow and steep runs. Most of the time, you have to hike uphill in order to reach untouched places. There is no trail to follow so you can be creative in how you negotiate the mountain. The same goes with rock climbing but just in the opposite direction! You need strength, endurance, trust in your capabilities and often a lot of courage. Yet this freedom and adventure is exhilarating. I just love being high up in the mountains or in nature and these are things I will do everything I can to protect.