Today, I'm joined by Todd Meleney, co-founder & CEO of While on Earth. An athletic footwear and apparel brand for the modern wellness consumer, While on Earth prioritizes versatile "performance wellness" over single-sport specialization. In this episode, we discuss creating an underdog brand in a competitive market. We also cover: Christian McCaffrey's role as co-founder Defining "performance wellness" as a category Investing in grassroots community over paid marketing Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider While On Earth's Website: www.whileonearth.co While On Earth's IG: https://www.instagram.com/whileonearth/ - The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities. Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/ Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/ Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/ Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:40) Todd's background and While on Earth overview (02:40) White space opportunity in performance footwear (04:25) Lessons from building NOBULL (05:15) Shifting consumer behavior toward holistic wellness (07:15) Defining "performance wellness" as a category (09:30) Product philosophy (12:00) Building vs. buying brand awareness (14:30) Grassroots community strategy over paid marketing (17:00) Retail strategy (19:30) Athlete partnerships (22:00) Christian McCaffrey as co-founder and investor (24:30) Product roadmap and innovation focus (27:00) Staying authentic while scaling (29:05) Running category launch in 2026 (30:15) CMC signature product line coming 2026 (32:45) Role of athletes in brand building (34:50) Conclusion
