Josh's Journey, Passion, and Charm City Plans
Josh shared his journey from initially viewing himself as a banker to an entrepreneur, driven by his passion and desire to inspire others. He encouraged young people to find their passions and to embrace various work experiences as opportunities for learning and self-discovery. Krista appreciated Josh's insights and highlighted the importance of failure in guiding personal growth. She then asked Josh about his plans and dreams for Charm City in five years, to which he responded that he prefers to focus on the present while also exhibiting future-oriented discipline.
5 Year Plan and Cultural Transition
5 Year Plan: Josh outlines the company's five-year plan, focusing on maintaining their unique culture as they transition from a family business to a larger operation. He emphasizes the importance of equipping leaders to uphold the culture while implementing necessary structure. Tangibly, the company is investing in remodeling stores to create more comfortable spaces that reflect their community-oriented values, with positive results already seen in customer and employee satisfaction.
Josh's Leadership Journey and Team Building Strategies
Krista asked Josh about his biggest learnings in leadership and his understanding of himself in this role. Josh shared his focus on authenticity, fairness, and empathy, and emphasized the importance of maintaining passion for the company's mission, even when performing less exciting tasks. He also highlighted the value of trusting his team, noting his ease in identifying and retaining talented individuals who share his passion for Charm City Iran. Finally, he stressed the importance of both change and stability in cultivating a strong team.
Specialty Industry Challenges and Opportunities
Krista and Josh discussed the challenges and opportunities in the running and walking specialty industry. Josh explained that the industry, which consists of around 1,000 brick and mortar stores across the US, has been struggling due to the shift towards online shopping and the perception that price is the most important factor. However, he noted that customers still value the in-store experience and want to shop at specialty retailers. He further emphasized the importance of having well-trained and motivated employees and offering a unique product selection. Krista shared her positive experience of being fitted for shoes at one of Josh's stores, highlighting the value of personal attention and expertise that the industry can offer.
Business Advice and Leadership Insights
Josh advised Krista that if she were to start a business again, she should raise more capital initially and be less risk-averse, particularly when it comes to investing in physical locations. Krista appreciated this advice and agreed that it's wise to delay launching until sufficient funding is secured. Josh also recommended the books of Walter Isaacson, especially his biographies of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, for insights into leadership and entrepreneurship. They both shared their admiration for history and its lessons for leadership, with Krista referencing Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on presidential leadership.
Attractive Workplace Focus and Expansion Plans
Josh and Krista discussed the company's focus on creating an attractive workplace, emphasizing the importance of benefits, community involvement, and motivating employees. Josh highlighted the company's website, CharmCityRun.com, as a resource for upcoming events and training programs.
My favorite phrase he used:
"Get in the Game"
Connect with Josh Levinson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-levinson-07a11b10b/
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From
The Top Floor Team
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Welcome to Top Floor, the podcast where we amplify discussions with CEOs and chief executives driving the future of small and medium-sized businesses, get ready to be inspired and formed and empowered as we delve into the unique minds and journeys of the executive leaders shaping tomorrow's businesses landscape. I am your host, Dr. Krista Crawford. In addition to being an adjunct business professor for two university MBA programs, I am a Vistage Chair. I coach leaders in peer advisory groups and in one-to-one executive sessions to make better decisions that lead to better businesses and better lives. My guest today is Josh Levinson, the CEO of Charm City Run. Their mission is to inspire and move the human spirit one soul at a time and that soul S-O-L-E. Join me on this ascent to the top floor. Josh, thank you so much for being with me today. Let's get started. I want to hear more about Charm City Run, you and how this came about. Oh, I am always happy to talk about Charm City Run, and thank you for having me, Krista. This is a about a 25-year journey. Like a lot of people, I graduated college not knowing what I wanted to do and got into the finance world and at first, I was a banker for two years in Charlotte, North Carolina, and that wasn't a great fit. And then I moved home and taught and coached at the Gilman School, as I'm sure you know, locally here, and that was a great experience. I loved working with kids. I loved working with other faculty. I love being in the classroom. I love being on the athletic fields. And it was really an idyllic existence, but there were some things sort of gnawing at me, and I thought I had one more thing to explore. So I went to business school at the University of Texas, and my girlfriend, now wife, came down to Austin with me. And we had an amazing two years, and Austin was, you know, just a wonderful place, a lot smaller than it is now, a little bit more undiscovered. But there was this feeling of opportunity in the air that, you know, sort of, I guess, you know, to exercise an old cliche, you know, sort of like the American dream. Like, when you were there, people just kind of thought they could do anything. And, you know, weird and wacky ideas, as long as you were passionate about them, you could bring them to reality. And, you know, that was sort of the environment we were in. And after I graduated business school, you know, the job number one was to stay in Austin. We loved being a young couple there. There was a lot of people moving there. So a lot of people reaching out to make friendships and make relationships. And we met a lot of young couples. And I did get a job at Dell Computer, which was great. You know, it's hard to imagine. But back then, that was one of the only opportunities to stay. You know, you could work for them, or 3M or the government. You know, so there really wasn't, there weren't that many sort of larger employers there at the time. I mean, the Dell experience was amazing. We were growing like a rocket ship. It seemed like everybody there was smarter than me. I'm sure a lot of people had that feeling. But it definitely made you sharp and it made you prepare. And at the end of the day, you know, I had an opportunity to go to a smaller company. It was a lead from a business school professor of mine. And I went there and that was a terrible experience. And when I talk to young people now or anybody looking for career advice, I mean, sometimes, you know, the terrible experiences can get you on your path better than the successful experiences. You know, it's hard to, it's hard to leave something that's going well. And it's hard to leave something that's going average and you're paying your bills and you're kind of happy. But it's pretty easy to leave something where you're miserable. You know, and I was miserable. And sure enough, you know, we had along the journey, we had run together. It was sort of a basis of our relationship. And Austin's a great running town. Not in the summer, but it's a great running town. We had fallen in love with our local running store, a store of name run texts. And we had done a marathon together. And the typical story, we had done everything wrong. You know, I was wearing compression shorts and lacrosse shorts and all this heavy clothing. And I didn't know how to eat properly during the run. I didn't know how much I was supposed to drink. And sure enough, Karen and I both sort of crashed and burned in that marathon. And we fell in love with the local running store who answered all those questions. And I ended up training for a couple of marathons with them. And there was something that I couldn't shake at run texts. It made me feel so good and it made me feel so happy to sort of be there. And I think there was a couple things going on. One is that whenever people come into a running store, they're looking to do something positive. You know, whether it's getting off the couch and starting to walk or whether it's training for a race, they're pushing themselves into sort of a better habit, a better lifestyle. So they're pretty optimistic. And also pretty vulnerable, pretty willing to let people talk to them about the journey and what they want to accomplish. And the other thing was that I noticed quickly was there are people from all walks of life in here. And it kind of works. You know, all different colors, all different socioeconomic backgrounds. But they had this one thing in common. So there was, it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere. And the third thing I would say I noticed was the owners kids were always in there. And they had all these young role models that were interacting with the kids while the kids were running around. And I thought, that's really cool. I mean, imagine your young kids interacting with college students, graduate students, young professionals who were energetic, loved to exercise, were advancing their careers, all these positive role models that weren't with their parents. And I thought that was cool. And I sort of tucked that away. And then Karen and I were back on a trip back east visiting family. And we were running on the NCR Trail, just a couple miles north of here. And I was talking about the job. And I was talking about how much I loved Rontex. And she said, Baltimore needs a Rontex. You should do that here. And I laughed because I never viewed myself as an entrepreneur and still don't really. But I couldn't shake the thought. And I, at the end of the day, I thought, you know, there's all these people doing all these neat and interesting things. You know, why not me? You know, what skills do I lack that I can't do this? You know, I went to business school. You know, I worked in banking. I love to lead. You know, I was captain of two sports in college. Like, I love motivating people. I love trying to inspire people. So I thought, why not me? And you know, at that point, we had a one-year-old who was born in Austin. And, you know, I thought, gosh, if this thing crashes and burns, you know, my pride would take a huge hit. You know, at that point, my friends were sort of advancing in their careers. But, you know, my wife's not going to starve. My kid's not going to starve. Why not me? And so, you know, that started a journey of going to work at Rontex for free, learning as much as I could, working in the big store, working in the smaller stores, taking notes, you know, and eventually moving back to my hometown and, you know, opening Charm City around 2002. That is such a great journey. And I love the fact that you bring up the power of failure. Failure often points us in a different direction or it teaches us what we need to do just to do better, stay in place, and I can do better. So I love that you brought up that power. If you could go back to your 18, now, let's make it 14-year-old self. Let's make it tougher. What would you tell Josh at 14 that you think Josh would need to know? You know, it's such a great question. You know, I want my kids or my 14-year-old self to be passionate about something. You know, what I wish for all young people is to find their passion in something that's positive. I don't, you know, being passionate about social media doesn't count, you know. But something they really feel passionate about, they grab, do whatever you can to find that. And work. Work. The older I get, the more I value work. And I've used this phrase before often, get in the game. Get in the game. So many college graduates, you know, don't take jobs because they're worried that may not be the career path that they want to be in. Or they don't take jobs because there's two things that they don't like to do that are encompassed in that job. Get in the game. It's unlikely that your job at 14 or 18 is going to be your job at 40. Every time you work, you learn something about yourself. You learn something about people and you learn something about your interests. You know, I had never worked retail before I opened a retail establishment. But my wife, you know, she was a server. And she she said, and, you know, and a lot of people say this today, every kid should wait tables or work retail. You know, you have to be embarrassed and frustrated and unsure of yourself and then persevere. You know, so find passion, work hard, and just collect experiences. Throw them all in the toolbox because they all count. Absolutely. And I think it helps you develop empathy. I worked retail. I was a car hop. I did all those things as a teenager. And when I'm dealing in a retail, I have such respect for what they're doing. I have such respect for people who are bringing me food because I know how hard it is and what's going on in the back. So I think that's wonderful advice. So any 14 year olds out there listening, listen to what Josh has to say, I can tell you're a planner. And I saw I'm curious, where do you see Charm City run in, let's say five years from now? What's your plan? What's your dream? You know, I actually try to live in the moment. And I'm very much of a, here's what I'm doing Monday. Here's what I'm doing Tuesday. Here's what I'm doing Wednesday. But I also try to exercise that discipline of have enough five year plan. And I don't know what our five year plan is exactly, but I can tell you within the next five years, there's one tangible thing and one intangible thing that we're really focused on. And the intangible thing is culture wins. Culture wins. And we have an amazing culture here. The people that I hired 15, 20 years ago are still here. And they live and breathe this stuff. And they believe in the power of running and they believe in the power of Charm City, Ron, everything we do for the community. But as you get bigger, you know, you get into employee manuals and things like that and structure, which is super important. But you can't lose your culture because of rules and the things that you have to do. You have to do those things to have a solid foundation. But you have to have, you have to maintain your culture. And at the same time, as my CMO often tells us, how do we grow from a large family business to a large business that was founded by a family? And so those are the things we have to struggle with over the next five years. You know, we're getting to a point where I don't know everybody and that hurts me, you know. But how do we make sure that all the leaders in the company have confidence and are equipped with all the tools that they need to push the culture forward and make sure that we can operate at a high level, even though we have eight stores and an events company in a training business. And then the tangible is brick and mortar store reinvestment. We remodeled and moved the Annapolis store this year. We remodeled and moved the Timonium store this year. Those were two massive projects. They're already paying dividends. Our customers are so much happier. Our employees are so much happier. They have space to work. You know, it doesn't feel like they're working in a closet with shoes falling down on them anymore. We have to create spaces for the customer where they want to be there and not just purchase goods. You know, it started as a community. We support our community. We provide community. We need spaces that reflect that. You know, we can't have these tiny old run shops where people love what we do. But quite frankly, you're like, let me get in that here as quickly as I can because there's just it's wild in here. You know, we have to create more comfortable space. So, you know, that's what's going to be going on in the other six stores as we move forward in the next five years. And that is a big investment, but you've already seen some pay off. So, it's an investment that's worthy as an employer. So, when you started this organization, you came with X level of experience. But now as an employer with quite a few employees, what's been your biggest learning in terms of leadership? What have you learned about yourself in terms of leadership? I mean, I think I always led from my core and really strove to be authentic and be true to myself. As well as being, you know, fair, compassionate and empathetic. And I think as we get larger, that the importance of that has only been reinforced. You know, I have to be an effective leader, you know, in terms of doing the things that maybe I'm not passionate about, but need to be done, employee manuals, organizational charge, things like that. Those are the things I need to do, but I still need to lead with passion. I still need to talk about the power of the sport, what I think running and walking does for people, because that's what we all return to. That's why people come to work. You know, people don't come to work for a paycheck. Obviously, you need to provide for your family, you need to provide for yourself, you need to move ahead. But that's not why they stay with you. That's not why our employees have been here two decades, a decade and a half. You know, they're here because they love their co-workers, they love the business we transact in and they love the customers. And being at work here is better than not being at work. So I have to return to those things all the time, because that's what makes Trump City Iran special. And then I think trusting the people who you brought on, which has been relatively easy for me. I think that I think that, you know, one of my only superpowers is identifying great people with great talent and keeping them here. So, you know, our president joined us as a freshman at Towson University. You know, our footwear buyer, the same. You know, our apparel buyer, I've known since I was 14, you know, so they have passion. They care about Trump City Iran. They care about me. They care about each other. Change is good. And we've obviously brought on a lot more people too. But stability is good to people that have been around that believe in the mission, that aren't just moving from one job to another. Fantastic. You kind of touched on this sum, but I want to circle back to, what do you think the biggest challenge is in terms of your industry? And I don't know is this sports equipment? Is this, you know, athletic apparel? I don't know what you call the industry you're in. But tell me what that is and tell me what the biggest challenge is. Yeah. So the industry is running and walking specially. That's the name of the industry. There's about a thousand brick and mortar doors across the country. It's relative, you know, it's a relatively small industry. It's probably 900 million to a billion dollars in the US. And the challenge to the industry is that retail is dead, right? So nobody's going to walk into stores. Everybody wants to buy online. Price wins. Relationships don't matter. You can get shoes anywhere, right? That's the challenge. And, you know, the pundits got it all wrong, you know, and we certainly learned that post COVID. As humans, we thrive on interaction. You know, we love to be around each other. And people want to shop retail. They don't want to shop bad retail, shop specialty retail for sure. And we see that in a multitude of specialty retail, not just run and walk. So there's a couple of keys. One is that we need price parity. And the manufacturers have done a great job over the last 20 years doing that. You know, so when a shoe comes out, it should be the same price everywhere. Christ, if you want to buy it online, by all means, you can buy a pair of shoes online. But if you want to come into Charm City or on, it should be the same price as it is online. You know, if it's a race to zero online, we're going to lose all the new customers that we're cultivating and bringing in. You know, as soon as we fit them in the perfect shoe, right? They're just going to, they can just go somewhere else, right? And get it for cheaper. So, you know, we need manufacturers to be great partners and they have been. And we need to put the best product out there. And we are so lucky that we have amazing employees. I mean, our employee is so overqualified. I mean, it's because they have a passion for this place and they have a passion for this sport. And they love what they do. And the good thing about jobs that aren't fulfilling is that if they're runners or walkers, hopefully they end up here. You know, so we have benefited a great deal from unfulfilling industries or bad bosses or, you know, just bureaucratic entities that don't care about the person, you know, and we've also benefited from poor customer service in a lot of big retail, right? So, we, so when we have that opportunity and you walk through our threshold, you better have an experience you're going to remember. It can't just be a transaction. It's got to be special. And we have to put that out there every day. And, I mean, look, finding good people, our product is our people. You can find shoes anywhere, you know. So those people have to feel supported. They have to be motivated and they have to be the right people and they have to be willing to work. You and I had not met prior to this. So, in full disclosure, I had shared with you via email that I had actually bought shoes from your store. It just so happened to be that. And I can tell the listeners that I can buy shoes anywhere. I went into one of your stores. They fitted my foot. They watched me walk so they could see what was going on with my gate. And then I actually left with a pair of shoes that, if I was looking online, I would never have purchased. Was it really the aesthetic I was looking for? But now I can work out at the gym and I don't have the foot soreness that I had before. I don't care that that particular aesthetic didn't. I also walked out with a pair that's really attractive that I can wear when I'm walking outside. Full disclosure. Full disclosure. So it does matter. So I bought two pair of shoes and I love these shoes because they're comfortable. So full disclosure. I'm not getting anything for saying that. Just sharing that your team really does that. And they spent 30 to 45 minutes with me helping me choose shoes that were comfortable and would be comfortable days later. If you could start Charm City from the scratch again, is there anything you do differently knowing what you know now? Talking to those new entrepreneurs when you're first starting up, is there some decision you would make a little different? I think that if I was starting up again, you know, I would obviously raise more money. You know, we had plenty. We had plenty of money and my dad was a struggling entrepreneur for most of his life and he was in the restaurant business, but he would say things to me that stock like, you know, raise twice as much money as you need, you know, because things come up and mistakes happen and it's really hard to go back to investors a second time. You know, if you go back to investors a second time, something didn't work. You know, when you go to investors the first time, the number is the number. It doesn't matter if it's a million or 500,000 or 250,000. It's all reasonable if you can explain what it's going to be used for, you know. So even though, you know, we had SBA financing and family and friends financing, I probably would have raised even more money and I probably, you know, our first location in Timonium was amazing to us, but it was kind of a C minus retail location. You know, it was, it used to be a bank. It wasn't at a stoplight. The signage wasn't very good. The layout was really poor. The ceilings were low and we did an amazing business there, but now that we've moved and have beautiful fixtures and lighting and use, you know, we used an architect for the first time, I think I would be a little bit less risk averse and I would have invested more into the brick and mortar locations. That's great advice and it's difficult because you're scrap scraping together whatever money you can when you're first starting, but holding off just a little longer so you have a little more cash to dig into. It's great advice for someone out there listening. I'm going to switch gears just a little bit. I like to ask this question. Is there anyone who is a writer in leadership or business or maybe in the running and walking industries or someone that you read, someone that when they write something new, you want to grab onto it or someone that you follow? So this may come as a little bit of a shock, but I sort of have a Walter Isaacson, you know, fan, you know, I'm a big fan of his. I just, I love the way he tells stories about people and the way he describes people's faults, their vulnerability, their career path, and I think he does it in a very fair way. So when he comes out with something new, now granted those books are, you know, thousand days. They're an investment. They're a time investment. But he can write in a way that they're not boring and I love reading about people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. And yes, Elon Musk is, you know, a crazy person and I don't agree with most of what he does, but the story is, is amazing. It is amazing. And yeah, so, so that is a person who, when he's writing about somebody, I want to read that. You know, Doris Kern's good one for a long time. I couldn't get enough, but you know, the way she told, the way she explained history and these times in history, where people were involved, you know, team of rivals with Abraham Lincoln, like, seeing how people, how people led at a different time, a very challenging time and how they dealt with people they were in conflict with and people that they were loyal to and mistakes that they made. I really learn a lot from that. And then, you know, the other podcast I listened to is how I built this. You know, I love hearing people's stories. You know, and that gets back to one of my first answers about, you know, allowing kids to find their passion and supporting that passion. And you never know what, you know, you never know what's going to happen. I agree with you about Walter Isaacson. And for those that can see, there is a book that's red, white and blue over my shoulder that is a Doris Kern's good one on leadership, where she writes about four different presidents and what they did and their different leadership styles and skills. So I agree with you, which, which isn't, doesn't necessarily have to be the case. Josh, I could talk to you for hours. However, we've been at it for about 30 minutes. And I want to give you a chance to tell me, is there a question I didn't ask? Or is there something you would like to share that I didn't ask you? This is your opportunity. I think that, you know, when Karen and I started, we sort of, you know, we would take long walks and we'd sort of bat around this question of, how do you create a business that you'd want to work for? And so we gave that a lot of thought. And so, you know, I think part of our retention has been, we always wanted to be a step ahead on benefits. And we always wanted to be a step ahead on pay. And you can only do that within reason. But nobody at Charm City Run should worry about their healthcare. And we should have a 401k, you know, which we have. And the second piece of that is, people like to work for places that take care of community. And our community investment has been, you know, a couple of million dollars, countless men and woman hours. You know, we're from here. And this place, like many places, has a lot of challenges. And certainly the times we're in are challenging and, you know, do your part, do your part. And so we, we have to do our part. And so, you know, our part is the environment. Our part is getting people moving. And our part is motivating kids that want a better educational path supporting that. And so we're focused on those things. I think the employees take a lot of pride in it. And, you know, I don't remember reading about a business that gave away too much. So that's sort of the way we approach things. That's wonderful to hear. If anyone wants to get in touch with Josh or with your company, how should they reach out? Oh, yeah. So Josh at CharmCityRun.com, pretty easy there. And then, yeah, CharmCityRun.com is the website and a lot of great events coming up this fall. A lot of training programs and, you know, the training programs or what fill you up, you know, I love seeing people do something they didn't think was possible. That's, you know, you never take that for granted. Josh, thank you so much for helping us ascend to the top floor once again. This is As Dr. Christopher Crawford, I'll see you next time.
