Tracksmith, an independent running brand, today announced that its founder and decade-long CEO, Matt Taylor, has appointed Jared Carver to succeed him as its new CEO. Effective today, Taylor will work closely with Carver in a leadership advisory capacity to ensure a successful transition while stepping into a new role leading global brand strategy as Tracksmith’s Chief Creative Officer.
Jared Carver
Taylor founded Tracksmith over a decade ago with the belief that a brand could play an important role in the amateur runner’s journey by celebrating competition and offering classic performance running apparel. Established as a Boston-based brand inspired by New England’s running culture, Taylor scaled Tracksmith’s business to become a global apparel and footwear player with a robust ecommerce presence complemented by its retail footprint spanning two continents. In charting a new course for the industry merging community, premium product, and the amateur spirit, many credit Taylor with the recent surge of independent, community-focused running brands. In his transition to chief creative officer, Taylor will focus on Tracksmith’s brand vision, identity, and creative direction while maintaining his seat on Tracksmith’s Board of Directors.
“Over the last few years, I’ve strategically turned over parts of the day-to-day management and broader business direction to trusted members of my senior leadership team who have been pivotal to our most recent phase of growth,” said Taylor. “The last piece was bringing in a CEO who could help us achieve the brand’s full potential and allow me to focus on the areas where I thrive. Jared brings great breadth and depth in all business disciplines that we’re fortunate to add to our leadership team as we continue to drive Tracksmith’s growth forward and scale to market demand.”
Carver joins the Tracksmith leadership team as an industry veteran with more than two decades of experience leading global brands where he focused on planning, developing and executing strategic omni-channel growth solutions and has successfully driven double-digit growth in the consumer products space in several industries and companies. Carver most recently served as Converse president and CEO, a position he held for three years. Before that, he was Converse vice president and general manager of North America; vice president and general manager of global digital direct; vice president of strategy; and director of strategy and business development for Converse’s European headquarters.
“I’m honored to join a brand so deeply rooted in running heritage, with such an exciting future. I have a passion for mission-driven brands and Tracksmith sits squarely in that space,” said Carver. “As a Bostonian and a runner who draws inspiration from New England’s rich beauty, joining the Tracksmith family presents an opportunity to work alongside a very talented team and build on the massive momentum Matt has built over the past decade. Every day we get to work on inspiring people to go outside and run; there’s nothing better than that.”
For more information about Tracksmith, please visit tracksmith.com or follow us on Instagram, X and Facebook.
About Tracksmith
Founded in Boston in 2014, Tracksmith is an independent running brand built on a deep love for the sport. The brand honors the Amateur Spirit upon which running was founded upon and champions the Running Class—the non-professional yet competitive runners dedicated to the pursuit of personal excellence. Tracksmith crafts products, tells stories and creates experiences that enrich the running lifestyle—for training, racing and rest days. In everything it does, Tracksmith aims to celebrate, support and add to running’s distinct culture.
