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Blanca Gonzalez says it never gets old. Every time she enters a WSS store, the beloved shoe retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, she gets a little teary and is reminded why representation matters. For store managers and team members, seeing someone who looks like them leading the brand as senior vice president and general manager is both inspiring and motivating.
Gonzalez is a Dreamer; she and her sister were the first in her family to graduate college, ESL. She reflects the journeys of many within the WSS family, showing what’s possible when opportunity, hard work, and belief align. Gonzalez is a mirror of the employee base of WSS.
She also grew up shopping at WSS. She laughs when she calls herself “OG LA” to the bone, but you’re also talking about a woman who owns over three hundred pairs of Nike Cortez. She means what she says.
“I’ve shopped at WSS since I was a little girl,” Gonzalez says. “It was part of my neighborhood, and that connection has stayed with me. It’s why this role feels like full circle and so personal.”
Gonzalez’s résumé is heavy. She spent nearly two decades at Nike, ultimately serving as vice president and general manager for Los Angeles and the Western US. After a brief stint at Lululemon, she returned to Nike in a vice president–level product merchandising role before stepping into her current leadership position at WSS.
The executive’s run at Nike was elite. She spearheaded the now legendary 2005 collaboration with artist Mr. Cartoon, and the experience helped her see what advocating for a community could look like. Mr. Cartoon insisted that the shoe collaboration he worked on drop not only in sneaker specialty retailers but also at WSS, the store he grew up shopping at. Three thousand pairs sold out in minutes, in a time before social media, underscoring the cultural influence and buying power of Latino consumers.
At almost every stop, Gonzalez has been the “first” in some capacity—the first woman, the first Latina, or both in senior rooms that rarely reflected her background and experience. That reality taught her she brought a different perspective to leadership, and it instilled a responsibility to help organizations better reflect the communities and workforce that make up the United States today. That commitment is especially meaningful within an organization like WSS.
“I care deeply about creating opportunities for growth, whether that’s in our stores or at the executive level,” Gonzalez says. “I want people to see what they’re capable of and to believe they can build great careers in this industry. Most of all, I want them to know they’re supported and that someone is invested in their success.”
Today, Gonzalez oversees WSS operations across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas, supporting about two thousand employees and a footprint with deliberate roots in diverse and Latino neighborhoods. Her leadership is guided by a simple manta: “100 percent business, 100 percent people. This drives operation excellence while making sure teams and customers feel heard, supported, and understood. She’s also firmly committed to making sure that WSS is able to make a difference in the communities in which it operates.
Through WSS Cares, the company’s community impact initiative, she and her team have made incredible progress over the last few years. When devastating fires hit Los Angeles, the WSS Cares team was on the ground in just six hours, organizing donation logistics, using stores as hubs, partnering with the YMCA, and inviting customers to bring everything from water and clothes to basics like paper towels for donation.
More broadly, more than fifteen thousand toys are collected through large-scale holiday toy drives and distributed to thousands of families in cities like Bakersfield, Inglewood, and Riverside. Children were able to meet Santa, engage in raffles, and enjoy toys and snacks—all free of charge. Gonzalez says these events are not transactional; it’s just the right thing to do for a community that has served as a foundation for WSS’s business.
In September 2024, WSS celebrated its fortieth anniversary. Gonzalez is looking ahead to the next forty years. That future may best be exemplified by the recent remodel of its Inglewood, California, store that was designed with input from store teams and corporate staff to reimagine what a full-family, one-stop WSS can be without losing its core DNA.
“I want people to see what they’re capable of and to believe they can build great careers in this industry. Most of all, I want them to know they’re supported and that someone is invested in their success.”
Blanca Gonzalez
The store leans into bold facades, brand storytelling, and a warmer, more elevated environment while keeping WSS’s value-driven positioning intact. Since reopening, Gonzalez says, the community has embraced the space, with key customer metrics improving and a palpable sense of pride that this elevated retail experience is in their neighborhood.
Gonzalez is also very excited for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. When Gonzalez arrived at WSS, fútbol represented a small portion of the business. In a relatively short period of time, the category has seen meaningful growth, reaching milestones well ahead of the original long-term plan and reinforcing WSS’s commitment to the sport and its community.
WSS has already built seventy-two dedicated soccer shops, partnering with top brands to bring in the right product, and is gearing up for a World Cup year that Gonzalez expects will be the banner’s single largest investment and activation platform.
You will find the SVP on the move, visiting stores, rocking her signature Cortez or a pair of Samba OGs, but off the clock, Gonzalez has a more singular focus: her family. She says the perspective she gains from her children—her fifteen-year-old twin daughters and fourteen-year-old son with Down syndrome, keeps her grounded in all the most important ways.
Her son’s life has inspired the family to actively support programs and boards that advocate for inclusion, ability, and opportunity, and together, her children remind her to slow down, stay present, and focus on what matters most.
“My kids remind me to keep it real every single day,” Gonzalez says. “I learn from them constantly. I’m incredibly lucky to be their mom. They’re my guiding light.”
