We were lucky to catch up with Josh Levinson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

What Corporate America gets wrong about running specialty is that customers and runners especially care about shopping local. They want to walk into a store that feels unique to their community and possesses a local personality. It is also well documented that local business takes better care of its employees, community and environment. Customers care about these values and most want to see David win over Goliath. Running stores inventory the products that they believe in and it comes across in the sales process. Corporate staffs are less motivated to sell products that are delivered to them as the result of a decision someone made on a spreadsheet in a different state. Running specialty employees have a passion for the sport that comes across to everyone that walks in the door. Many team members are over-qualified and would not work a retail floor in another industry. They work run specialty because they love the sport and believe in its powers to make everyone’s life a little better. A customer may walk into a running specialty store in search of a product but they leave with a community and hopefully a little inspiration on the side.

Josh, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Josh Levinson. I live in Towson, MD and am married with three children. Ben is 21 and a senior at George Washington University. My daughter Lucy is 19 and a freshman at NYU and my daughter Sam is a senior in high school. My wife is a first grade teacher.

I am from Baltimore, MD and attended Gilman School. I then went to Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA. I graduated on the Dean’s List with a BA in Economics and was captain of the football and lacrosse teams. I received the Campbell Cup awarded to the best athlete in the school my senior year.

After college I went to Charlotte, NC to work for First Union Bank first as a credit analyst and then as a corporate banking officer in their US Corporate Division. After two years, I left First Union and returned to the Gilman to teach middle school math and coach high school football and lacrosse. After two years I left to attend the University of Texas-Austin MBA Program. I graduated with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and went to work at Dell Computer.

At Dell I worked in Dimension Center of Competence in Marketing but my role was as a Supply/Demand Marketing Manager making sure that we had all the components in stock to assemble the Dimension Desktop. I left Dell to accept a role as Director of Business Development for Pavilion Technologies, a young stage software company.

After a short time there I started thinking about what I really wanted to do with my life. I wanted to do something I was passionate about. Running had been part of my life since I was ten years old. My mom met my future step-dad around that time and she was seeking a healthier lifestyle. He was a runner and my mom wanted to start and also use it as a vehicle for us to spend more time together so we started running to the local Chili’s and back. It was only a mile each way and I drank enough Coke at dinner to negate any benefit but it was a start.

Running would become an important part of my life from that time forward. I always came back to it whether it be during the off-seasons in college or during exam week or anytime when I needed clarity. Finally it just became part of life. Some people go to church, some people meditate, I run. The run was a foundation for my marriage and relationship with Kara. When we met we started running together. When we traveled we would go for a run to check out the area.

Austin has a great running community and one of the focal points for the sport was Town Lake. There are several loops around the lake and it’s where people go to run especially if they are new to the area. On weekends at many key crossing points there were many orange coolers filled with Powerade and water. We discovered that a local running store called Run-Tex was supplying these much needed fluids in the Texas heat. It was all free.

Kara informed that we would be buying all of our running shoes from said establishment. We went on to train for the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth. We did everything wrong. Kara swore off long-distance running but bought me a training program to Run-Tex for Valentine’s Day. I fell in love with run specialty. Everyone in the store was a in a good mood. There were all walks of life present and more socio-economic diversity than I had been used to. On training runs you could have a postal worker, MBA, sanitation worker, and corporate executive running together. Running does not care where you came from or who your daddy is and I like that.

I was unhappy at the software job, we had our first kid and we were visiting family at home. On a run on the local trail in Maryland, Kara said Baltimore needs a Run-Tex. It was a crazy idea but I could not shake it and I could not argue the point. I went to the owner of Run-Tex and asked him if I could franchise it. He thought that sounded like a good idea and I started working there for free on weekends and eventually quit my day job and worked there full-time. I learned as much as I could. Eventually the franchise offer was off the table and I was ready to move home and open Charm City Run.

That was 20 years ago. Now we have eight stores, manage 80 events a year and train 2,500 runners annually. Charm City Run is a running and walking specialty company that fits everyone in the footwear and carries the highest performance athletic apparel and accessories. Our live.give.run. foundation has donated over $1,500,000 over the 20 years and raised an additional $500,000 for the local Police and Fire Foundations through our 911 Run to Remember. In addition Charm City Run Events helps non-profits raise over $500,000 by managing their running events.

Our giving sets us apart. Our people set us apart. Our effort and attitude sets us apart and our expertise sets us apart. I am most proud of the community that we have built, the company we have built with 160 employees that love what they do and grateful for the opportunity to make a difference is someone’s life every day. I believe that we matter and have created enduring change in people’s lives and the community.

What set us apart from others is expertise effort and attitude.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My dad was a restaurant entrepreneur and he always struggled. I never thought I would be an entrepreneur and here I am. Leaving the software business and starting Charm City Run was the largest pivot in my life.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I think I was surprised at how hard acquisitions are and they happen everyday. An industry friend started when I did and it was a second career from him. His store was approximately an hour from our first store. We stayed in touch through the years and called each other with questions. There was a lot of mutual respect between the two of us. When he was ready to retire he called us and we agreed to buy his store. It is so complex even when both parties are willing and have integrity. It has been a great acquisition and retained the entire management team and staff. It was a natural fit for us and has been a successful acquisition to the Charm City Run Family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://charmcityrun.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/charmcityrun
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/charmcityrun
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/charm-city-run/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CharmCityRun410
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/charmcityrun/

Image Credits
Elijah A’gurs Connor Clark Nina Kavoossi Thompson