Charlotte Running Company’s Armani McDonald on Run Specialty Leadership and Creating a Community Hub

On Tuesdays, Armani McDonald ran. It was the one day of the week he would lace up his running shoes to join Charlotte’s Mad Miles run club. 

Until the Tuesday he met Heather Taylor.

“I realized that people ran every day, and that she was one of them. I was like, I gotta run more so I can be around her,” Armani shares. “I started running more, seeing her more, doing some trail runs, and then fell in love with the community.”

Before he knew it, Armani was training for the Chicago Marathon and volunteering to run as a pacer for Charlotte’s local races. It was at the Around the Crown 10K race expo where Armani ran into Harry Chandler, co-owner of Charlotte Running Company. 

“I was volunteering for the expo that day. I was just walking around, doing what I do, talking to people. Ended up selling a few things on their floor,” Armani explains. 

That grabbed Harry’s attention, and he came over to see why someone outside of his staff was helping to sell Charlotte Running Company’s gear. When Co-owner Donny Forsyth joked he might end up with a job, Armani replied that he was looking for one. 

Life Comes In Chapters 

Armani was well aware that a hurdle to clear with any new career opportunity was the felony on his record, for which he served prison time. Reflecting on that experience, Armani shares, “I think that was probably the most growth I’ve had in my life, ever.”

One thing he realized was how little support others had from their families and friends while they were incarcerated and that they were likely to have even less support when they were released.  

“That, for me, was always sad, thinking that someone might revert to old ways or even new ways, just because it is so hard to do anything once you do have a felony,” Armani explains. He notes that the support of his loved ones helped him pave a good path forward once out of prison.

Living in Atlanta, he started an Airbnb hosting company with a couple of close friends and owned or managed more than a dozen properties. Then he launched a cleaning business to service those properties and others. 

When he moved back to Charlotte, he worked with investors to flip homes, changing out the lighting fixtures, cabinets, faucets, doors, and doorknobs — everything except the floors and countertops. But the hours were long, and good help became harder and harder to find. Armani would sometimes arrive at a job site at 5 a.m., wrap up at 2 a.m., and sleep in his car so he could finish the job the next day. 

“I’m too much of a family guy to be away that much,” he states. After realizing he was hardly spending time with his daughter, he decided it was time for a change. 

“I’ve heard a lot of ‘no’s,’” Armani explains about applying to jobs with a record. “One thing I’m very confident in is, I might not be the best on paper, but interview-wise and work ethic, it’s tough to beat me.”

When he interviewed with Harry and Charlotte Running Company’s Founder Scott Dvorak, the two saw his potential and offered him a part-time job to start. In less than a year, Armani’s passion for serving the running community, paired with his work ethic, led him into a management role at the company’s Dilworth location.

Building Genuine Relationships with the Community 

Working with Charlotte Running Company, Armani became a recognized face to local runners. He shares that the owners of the run specialty company empower employees to prioritize education and provide a personalized experience for each customer, with less focus on simply making the sale. His commitment to that approach quickly resulted in authentic relationships with customers who stop by regularly. 

“Sometimes, it’s embarrassing when I’m working with a new person, and then the next 12 people that come in, I’m giving them hugs or saying ‘What’s up?’ to,” Armani shares. “It’s a tight-knit community.”

Realizing the opportunity to create a hub for Charlotte’s runners beyond the walls of the store, Armani, Heather, and Naim Bell launched the sole, a weekly Thursday morning group run, which was soon followed by an additional weekly Wednesday morning track workout called the sole circuit. 

While the sole and the sole circuit are supported by Charlotte Running Company and off-the-clock staff members who help lead the runs, the emphasis is on creating a shared space for the running community at large. In fact, it’s typical to see more than a dozen local run clubs represented on Thursday mornings, and this summer brought well over 100 runners out to the track on any given Wednesday. 

Working Together on a Brighter Future

Engaged and soon-to-be married, Armani and Heather are raising four kids together, including the newest member of their family, born in November 2024. 

Amid their busy schedules filled with work, parenting, and supporting the running community, Armani continues to train for new race goals. He recently returned from the Berlin Marathon, where he ran a 2:46:02. The London and Tokyo marathons are on his calendar for the next two years to complete the original six World Marathon Majors. 

Looking ahead, Armani and Heather share a vision of finding meaningful ways to connect their professional and personal experiences in the service of young people. While their ideas are still taking shape, they hope to build a program rooted in community, movement, and human connection to create positive and lasting change.

“My wife, Heather, and I want to become more involved with youth in underserved communities like the ones that played a role in shaping who we are today, finding meaningful ways to give back, provide support, and create opportunities for them,” he explains.  

Below, Armani shares more on launching the sole for the local running community and Charlotte Running Company’s leadership in the run retail industry. 

What inspired you to launch the sole run club at Charlotte Running Company?

Armani McDonald: We like to call it a ‘hub,’ rather than a club, for a couple reasons. 

One, to not take away from what the space actually is …. A lot of times, if a customer or family comes in [to the store], they’re asking Naim for tips on their training, or they’re asking me about nutrition, or they’re talking to Kelee about apparel. They then almost feel like the obligation is to buy something because that relationship is there. I wanted to take that out of it. 

So, us being out there on the pavement in a common ground, somewhere that we’re all putting in work and where we all want to be or know we’re going to end up, took that out of it immediately. It’s a much more comfortable space. We’re not inside the store. Most people don’t even realize that the store is open. 

The other reason we like to consider it a hub is because that first one we had, we had almost 50 different run clubs, their leaders and multiples of their members, here at one time. Every Thursday, there’s a couple dozen different run clubs that are being represented there at one time. We don’t want it to ever feel to our community that this is a competition or that we’re trying to take you away from your space. This is just a common space where everybody can meet.

That’s how the sole came to be. It was out of necessity more than anything …. The store is the one place where everybody goes. It only made sense for us to have a larger group run that everybody felt that same way about. And you have access to all of the same specialists, the same people that helped you with your shoes the day before. We could talk about nutrition on the 4-mile run, or we can go a little bit longer. We have sweepers. It’s the same amount of care consistently that we have in the store.

The community pours so much into Charlotte Running Company, and Heather is a perfect example of that. She’s not an employee but she’s become a life force here. She pours into CRC, she pours into the people, and that same heart is what built the sole. Without her, that space just wouldn’t exist.

In what other ways is Charlotte Running Company setting itself apart in run speciality right now?  

Armani McDonald: I think one of the biggest ways of late has been creating opportunities and cultivating enough ownership in our employees that they’re seeking out more responsibilities and they’re creating new positions for themselves, or asking if this position is something that we need. We probably have more full-time employees now than Charlotte Running Company’s ever had.

Caylon is now the first CFO the company’s had …. Kelee just took a full time position as our new apparel buyer over a position with the Panthers. Naim actually has shifted his entire career trajectory. He was supposed to be pre-med, but this is something that is way more interesting to him right now and Charlotte Running Company is better for it. 

It is very much one of those spaces now where, if you just walk in, you won’t know who’s actually in charge until you start talking to us for a while.

Creating that ownership and allowing people to express themselves in the store and have the freedom to do that is something that definitely sets Charlotte Running Company apart. And honestly, our Dilworth location specifically, the fact that anybody can walk in here and see somebody that looks like them now. I mean, I think because I work here, I get numb to the fact that the industry still doesn’t look like me at all.

What sets Charlotte Running Company’s ownership team apart? 

Armani McDonald: I’ve never met more graceful and passionate men than Harry and Scott, in totally different ways. I mean, Harry’s passion is a little bit louder, definitely a little more intense. He is an amazing mentor, a great father figure, big brother. He’s the man. Sometimes, when I start listing his current accolades, it’s like, damn, I can’t believe I’m here with him. He just stepped down from being the president of the RIA. He’s been on the retail sub-committee for the RIDC …. When he speaks, everybody listens. 

And then there’s Scott. He held North Carolina’s 5K road record for 25 years, a testament to the level of athlete he was. Then, in 1997, he won the Antarctica Marathon in 2:23:11, setting a continental record. 

What makes all of that even more remarkable is how humble he is. You’d never know the impact he’s had on the sport and the running industry unless someone else told you. He’s never going to be the person in the room talking about what he’s accomplished. 

He has one of the most culture-driving run specialties in the country, all because of how he treats people, the relationships that he has with people. I mean, he is endeared throughout the running community here. I don’t think there’s a brand that we work with that there’s not someone he has been roommates with, or ran with, or ran against, or they’ve just been friends forever. It’s insane to see. 

They are the epitome of the kind of people you want to work for.

Follow @Armani.Mcdonald, @CharlotteRunningCompany, and @thesole.clt on Instagram. 

“Creating that ownership and allowing people to express themselves in the store and have the freedom to do that is something that definitely sets Charlotte Running Company apart. And honestly, our Dilworth location specifically, the fact that anybody can walk in here and see somebody that looks like them now. I mean, I think because I work here, I get numb to the fact that the industry still doesn’t look like me at all.” – Armani McDonald