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Municipal CEO Harry Arnett met his future co-founder in a setting acquainted to many enterprise leaders: the golf course. They bonded shortly over shared experiences — elevating youngsters, navigating careers — and from that connection, a friendship grew. At first look, it appears like a typical entrepreneurial origin story.
However in Arnett’s case, the accomplice by his facet wasn’t one other government. It was Oscar-nominated actor and Boston icon Mark Wahlberg.
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Objective over merchandise
“When Mark and I first mentioned beginning a model, it wasn’t in regards to the merchandise,” Arnett tells Entrepreneur. “It was about how we might equip fashionable shoppers with what they should obtain their targets.”
They, together with movie and tv producer Stephen Levinson, recognized a serious white area on the intersection of health and style. Arnett previously served as government vp at Callaway Golf, the place he seen a shift in how shoppers engaged with manufacturers.
“They had been beginning to search direct relationships with manufacturers they favored, primarily via digital media,” he explains. As EVP, he targeted on revitalizing Callaway by reconnecting with shoppers in a contemporary, dynamic manner — a method he calls the centerpiece of his community-building efforts.
After years of back-and-forth, the duo lastly launched Municipal in 2019.
“The concept for Municipal was one thing I’ve needed to do for a very long time,” Wahlberg tells Entrepreneur. “It wasn’t about simply attaching my identify to another person’s concept, which is usually what celebrity-led manufacturers are. Municipal is completely different — this can be a actual partnership from the bottom up.”
The launch meant Arnett needed to go away Callaway. “For me, that was an aha second,” he says. “An opportunity to step away from a cushty, acquainted profession and begin over in pursuit of one of the best model of myself.”
That mentality grew to become the ethos of Municipal, an organization based on serving to fashionable shoppers pursue excellence in all elements of life.
“Municipal is about creating one of the best merchandise on the earth for exercises, athletic pursuits and the whole lot in between, from the workplace to an lively weekend,” Arnett explains. “It would sound like we’re making an attempt to be the whole lot to everybody, however when individuals see our product, they get it instantly — nobody makes gear like we do.”
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Constructing tomorrow’s leaders
Opposite to plain practices, the place manufacturers are inspired to hone in on a spotlight space, Arnett positions Municipal as extra than simply one other activewear firm, calling that label too “one-dimensional.”
He envisions the model inspiring a drive to achieve any area — athletics, lecturers or past. A key a part of this strategy is Municipal’s Subsequent Gen Model Immersion, a free, week-long program that provides younger individuals an inside have a look at each side of constructing a contemporary, purpose-driven model — from product design and advertising to finance and operations.
“Too typically, younger individuals are fed the parable of in a single day success and shortcuts,” Arnett says. “From our expertise, these are fantasies. We noticed a chance to make use of our platform to have fun ambition, onerous work, and self-belief in a manner that feels ‘cool’ for teenagers.”
The concept for this system did not originate with Arnett or Wahlberg, however with Arnett’s youngest daughter, Kerris, who has proven a eager curiosity in Municipal.
“We have been speaking in regards to the model since day one, and he or she received actually enthusiastic about it,” Arnett shares. “She mentioned it will be superb if extra youngsters her age might expertise these sorts of issues firsthand, as an alternative of simply studying about them. I informed her, ‘Karis, that is a giant concept.'”
Constructing on his daughter’s suggestion, Arnett sought to copy what manufacturers like Nike have achieved with sports activities camps — making a expertise pipeline for Municipal whereas connecting the corporate with the subsequent era of potential entrepreneurs and gaining insights into the preferences of the extremely coveted Gen Z viewers.
The hassle culminated in a week-long, hands-on program giving bold 18- to 24-year-olds an actual have a look at what it takes to construct a contemporary, purpose-driven model. Contributors work instantly with Municipal’s group throughout product design, advertising and operations, gaining expertise in creating, launching and selling an actual assortment.
The scholars even designed a capsule — that includes a hoodie, pants, shorts, t-shirt and hat — that Municipal will launch and assist market.
“It is a option to interact with this group past simply promoting one of the best gear on the earth,” Arnett explains. “These 25 college students are leaders of their faculties and have turn into rabid Municipal followers. They’re going to inform their buddies, and even once they go off to school, they will preserve a reference to us. The probabilities for extending that relationship really feel virtually infinite.”
