He Never Wanted to Go Viral. That's Why Brands Trust Him.
Our panel with Tommie Runz at TrailCon just scratched the surface, we had to keep it going.
Starting Line
We started this conversation on stage at TrailCon, but when the panel was over, we realized we had so much more to dig into. The original panel was “Athletes As Creators”, so we picked it up from there and kept it going. Tommie shared his approach to brand partnerships, content creation, and his approach to growth. This is Tommie’s first appearance on the podcast, but certainly not the last.
He Never Wanted to Go Viral. That's Why Brands Trust Him.
Tommie Runz started running in 2018, a year after choosing sobriety, and began documenting the journey simply because it felt good to share progress and get encouragement. Seven years later, he's built an audience of over 30,000 through nothing but consistency and honesty — no viral moments, no big follower jumps, just a steady climb built entirely on trust.
In this conversation, Tommie and Aaron pick up where they left off after a live panel at TrailCon, digging into what it actually looks like to build a career as an athlete-creator without compromising who you are. Tommie breaks down why he's turned down "ambassador" deals that undervalue creators, how relationships with brands often take years rather than emails to develop, and the moment he realized his content needed to sound exactly like him or it wasn't worth doing at all.
You Can Do It
If you’re an aspiring creator, looking to walk the path that Tommie talked about in today’s episode, Popfly is the best way to make that happen. On the Popfly platform, there are brands, ready to support you and looking for your talent. We’re using it outside of the podcast and having a lot of success with it - and this is exactly why we wanted to partner with Popfly in the first place. Highly recommended!
Job Of The Week
If you’re on the hunt for a job in the industry, this newsletter has all the goods!
Show Notes
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
BPC is our closing segment where we share Brands we’ve discovered, Products we’re using and Content that we love.
🎽 Currently: Tommie came through with Brand, Product AND Content this week on the podcast. If you haven’t had a look at Currently yet, take this as a sign - they just released eyewear, too!
🎙️ Best Running Podcasts: After our podcast with Centium, Hans Kristian Smedsrød took inspiration from the lessons in the episode and created the highest ranked website for best running podcasts! And yes, Tommie’s podcast, PR Project is on there!
👉 Precision Hydration: Precision has been supporting Tommie at his big races this season - including Western States, which he just completed.
🏔️ Aaronnomics: Tommie shared another outdoor creator that he’s discovered, check him out!
Thank You
Stay tuned for next week, we’ve got an outdoor clothing brand that took inspiration from a very different place than most brands. They were previously mentioned in a BPC segment, and we know you’re going to love next week’s podcast as much as we did.
Thank you for recommending WIRE. I'm humbled and grateful. Appreciate everything you do for outdoors entrepreneurs! Tommie is awesome. I dropped the drink five years ago, wondering who I could possibly be without it. Then, life opened up in ways I could not have imagined. Looking forward to diving into this one on my long run.