To make life truly worthwhile, you need to find things worth fighting for. My family’s legacy has always been that for me. It was the inspiration behind starting YORK Athletics Mfg. back in 2016.
Since then, I have watched the company, under the steady guidance of co-founder and CEO Mark McGarry, develop the best fitting performance footwear on the market and bring it to a passionate customer base.
It has been a joy to watch. But you can’t fight from the sidelines.
That is why, as the company enters its next phase of growth, I am happy to announce today that I have been named the new Executive Chairman of the YORK Athletics board of directors. This means I will be more involved in the day-to-day operations with a focus on brand and performance marketing working closely alongside Mark to scale the business. As we enter the next chapter, our attention is turning to scale and focusing on more ways to bring our shoes to the public.
We are also bringing in a heavy hitter to help us achieve this focus.
I am way more excited to announce that Curtis Charles is joining me on the Board of Directors. Curtis is CEO of FFB Collaboration, a full service, cultural strategy agency that helps companies drive wholesale sales to a variety of strategic retail partners as well as understand the youth and minority consumer.
Before that he was Senior Vice President North America and Head of the Wholesale Division at PUMA. Curtis is a legend in the footwear industry and a global leader in omnichannel and wholesale. But, more importantly, he is someone who represents everything we stand for at YORK.
To say I am pumped is an understatement. What we’re building at YORK Athletics has always been special to me. But to see the way all of you are embracing our everyday fighter mantra and are rocking YORKs as you kick ass in life, shows me that it is special to all of you as well. Which means we’re all part of this legacy now.
And that makes me want to fight even harder.
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Travis York is a creative entrepreneur, strategic advisor, marketer, investor, and co-founder of YORK Athletics.