This doesn't happen to other brands...

RUNLY NEWSLETTER #119
Thurs July 17th 2025

I can't believe we're already well into the second half of 2025. 

This year has been absolutely action-packed so far, it's been difficult to stop and take a breather.

And with so much coming up in the next few months, there's no slowing down.

But if I'm being honest with you, and I almost always am, it's been a little bit of a difficult week.

After a big few weeks, I've thrown myself straight back into the thick of it, and I've probably got a little bit of a burn out, and less energy.

As such, I've struggled to get back into my usual routine, and I've struggled to get my daily exercise in with less energy, a 12-week old and a growing to-do list.

It feels like things just haven't gone to plan for me this week.

Things haven't worked, some technology I've tried to implement to make things easier has made it harder and I've been working on new projects that have taken far too long to develop.

Ultimately I feel like I've stagnated this week. I've literally made no progress on what I'm working on.

If you've read this newsletter for a while, you'll know that is very hard for me! I'm a hundred miles an hour.

But in some ways, it's definitely been a time to reset. When things out of your control are taking too long, you have more time to think.

So it's been a refreshing change in that sense to be able to do some more planning, brainstorming, jotting down some ideas that have been circling in my brain to see if they eventuate into realised projects.

Something that I love about the Runly community, is how positive and supportive people are.

I never get over the fact that people come running towards me at running events yelling 'Robbie, Robbie, I have one of your vests they're amazing!!'

At the Gold Coast Marathon recently, it was no exception.

Close to 100 people must have come-through and introduced themselves to me and have a conversation.

Nothing can fill your cup like that can.

If you're on Facebook or Instagram, you may have come across a video ad with me in it.

Truthfully, I'm a reluctant content creator, or so I like to call myself.

It's a little daunting as an introvert to put yourself out there in the world with video content.

But I do understand it's an important aspect of building a real brand, one that shows intent, purpose and connection.

As my wife was scrolling on her phone the other day, she stopped on one of those videos to read some of the 27 comments.

'I can't believe how positive the Runly community is in the comments section. It's so lovely. What other brands at these big expos do you think have that?'

And she's right.

As I walked around the expo at the Gold Coast Marathon, there was probably 1-2 founder-led brands that have reasonably strong communities.

And I say this with a lot of respect for the big brands in our category, they're very transactional, and very few are actually Australian-owned.

There is no significant community-aspect to the brand, nor would people be charging over to their setups to have a chat with the founder.

That is something really special. I'm really proud of that.

I hope that as we grow, that connection remains true and we continue to build this element of community.

That's all for this week.

Run well,
Robbie