Michael Budman

For someone who was born and bred in Michigan, Michael Budman truly understands the Canadian psyche. In 1973, he and partner Don Green founded Roots and opened their store on Toronto’s Yonge Street. Although the business started off with one shoe, the company has since grown into an internationally recognized contemporary lifestyle brand with over 200 stored and thousands of employees worldwide, two state-of-the-art factories in Canada, and numerous licensees.

Budman’s love affair with the Canadian wilderness began in the 1950’s when he started attending Camp Tamakwa in Algonquin Park (where he first met Don Green). As the CBC series Life & Times recently noted, Roots is the story “…of two adventurous baby boomers who packaged their romantic vision of Canada and sold it to the world.”

Starting with the Poorboy Cap at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, and under Budman’s guidance, Roots has achieved worldwide recognition for outfitting Olympic athletes. This year, at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, Roots was the Official Outfitter of the Canadian and U.S. Teams and provided the British team with official parade wear for the opening ceremonies.