Municipal CEO Harry Arnett met his future co-founder in a setting acquainted to many enterprise leaders: the golf course. They bonded rapidly over shared experiences — elevating children, navigating careers — and from that connection, a friendship grew. At first look, it seems like a typical entrepreneurial origin story.

However in Arnett’s case, the companion by his facet wasn’t one other govt. 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 concerning the merchandise,” Arnett tells Entrepreneur. “It was about how we might equip fashionable customers with what they should obtain their objectives.”

They, together with movie and tv producer Stephen Levinson, recognized a significant white area on the intersection of health and style. Arnett previously served as govt vice chairman at Callaway Golf, the place he observed a shift in how customers engaged with manufacturers.

“They had been beginning to search direct relationships with manufacturers they preferred, primarily by digital media,” he explains. As EVP, he targeted on revitalizing Callaway by reconnecting with customers 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 wished to do for a very long time,” Wahlberg tells Entrepreneur. “It wasn’t about simply attaching my title to another person’s thought, 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 depart 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 the very best model of myself.”

That mentality turned the ethos of Municipal, an organization based on serving to fashionable customers pursue excellence in all facets of life.

“Municipal is about creating the very best merchandise on this planet for exercises, athletic pursuits and all the pieces in between, from the workplace to an lively weekend,” Arnett explains. “It would sound like we’re making an attempt to be all the pieces to everybody, however when folks 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 reach any area — athletics, lecturers or past. A key a part of this method is Municipal’s Subsequent Gen Model Immersion, a free, week-long program that offers younger folks an inside have a look at each side of constructing a contemporary, purpose-driven model — from product design and advertising and marketing to finance and operations.

“Too typically, younger persons are fed the parable of in a single day success and shortcuts,” Arnett says. “From our expertise, these are fantasies. We noticed a possibility to make use of our platform to rejoice ambition, arduous work, and self-belief in a manner that feels ‘cool’ for youths.”

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 concerning the model since day one, and he or she acquired actually captivated with it,” Arnett shares. “She stated it will be superb if extra children her age might expertise these sorts of issues firsthand, as an alternative of simply studying about them. I advised her, ‘Karis, that is a giant thought.'”

Constructing on his daughter’s suggestion, Arnett sought to duplicate what manufacturers like Nike have completed with sports activities camps — making a expertise pipeline for Municipal whereas connecting the corporate with the subsequent technology of potential entrepreneurs and gaining insights into the preferences of the extremely coveted Gen Z viewers.

The trouble culminated in a week-long, hands-on program giving formidable 18- to 24-year-olds an actual have a look at what it takes to construct a contemporary, purpose-driven model. Members work straight with Municipal’s group throughout product design, advertising and marketing 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 solution to interact with this group past simply promoting the very best gear on this planet,” Arnett explains. “These 25 college students are leaders of their faculties and have turn out to be rabid Municipal followers. They’re going to inform their buddies, and even once they go off to school, they will keep a reference to us. The chances for extending that relationship really feel virtually infinite.”