We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tyler Morey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tyler below.

Hi Tyler, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

When I started coaching in 2017, I always wanted to brand my business. I came up with hundreds of names over the next few years and wrote them down in a notebook to remember. One day during a business trip to Duluth, Minnesota, commonly referred to as the North Shore, I came up with North Coast Running. Then I thought more broadly about the upper midwest being the north coast of the United States and I loved the way it sounded and how well it represented our geographical area. I started using it subtly in conversation or on social media and it stuck. In 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown, I hired a local designer to bring my brand vision to life. I sent her a creative brief and mood board and she came up with branding that far exceeded my expectations. I spent the next year claiming domains, social handles, researching other North Coast’s and setting up the business LLC. We’re almost 2 years in and I cannot believe how it’s grown and what the team of coaches and athletes have accomplished.

Tyler, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started running when I was in elementary school and fell in love with the rush of adrenaline I got from competing. I had a successful high school career that ultimately landed me a scholarship to run at Clemson University. After some setbacks on the team, I graduated early and finished my eligibility at UW Oshkosh where I had a successful end to my collegiate career. I always considered myself a student of the sport and helped coach the team for a year after I graduated. I continued to stay competitive in running as a post-collegiate and coached a youth cross country program which I loved. It wasn’t until my sports chiropractor approached me with an opportunity to coach 2 local high schoolers that I realized I had a passion for coaching privately. I coached them for 2 years and loved seeing them develop as athletes and people. I continued to gain clients word of mouth and started to enjoy coaching athletes in longer distances like the marathon as I started to enjoy the distance myself. After a few years of coaching privately on the side, I decided to brand the business as North Coast Running in an effort to attract more runners. What I did not expect was to have numerous coaches approach me to start coaching under the brand.

North Coast Running originated with a simple desire to inspire distance athletes to reach their full potential. We are a team of six expert coaches who all live and train in the upper midwest and understand the constraints and demands it takes to train in our variable, sometimes harsh conditions. We design custom tailored coaching plans that meet our athletes specific life circumstances and training goals. We coach athletes from beginner to elite, middle/high schooler to adults and track, road and trail athletes alike. No two plans are the same, just as no two athletes are the same. We are proud to see our athletes reach their goals and improve on their personal bests by approaching training with consistency and life balance to properly recover and gain the benefits of training.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I had dreamed of creating my own coaching brand and continually dragged my feet in launching the business. During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 I was furloughed from my full time job for 3 months. During that time, I decided to hire a local designer and funded the business costs like the LLC, website cost and initial startup marketing costs from my personal savings. I kept a detailed list of my expenses and as more athletes hired me, I made sure to pay myself back from the initial business start-up expenses I incurred. I was definitely a small risk at the time, but I am so glad I made it!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Over the years, I have made a lot of connections with runners and continued to stay in contact with friends and family over social media. When I launched North Coast Running in March of 2021, I had teasers leading up to the launch on my personal social media and also the business page. I created a coordinated promotional launch on my personal page and drove organic followers to my business page and newly launched website. I kept a steady stream of inspiring and authentic content on both my personal and business accounts posts and stories.

Within the first few months, I branded merch and primarily saw that as a promotional opportunity to get my brand out there. North Coast Running has a strong following of organic followers and a steady e-commerce business. It has been fun to use that creative side of my brain to grow the brand and truly bring North Coast Running to life. Social media continues to be one of my favorite ways to express the brand voice.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.northcoastrunning.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northcoastrunning/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthCoastRunning/

Image Credits
Stephen Matera Carlos Loyos Ashleigh Wallen