Renegade Running is a community-oriented retail business that launched in 2020 with its first storefront in Oakland. Now with 15 staff and a second storefront in Los Angeles as of 2025, founder Victor Diaz attributes their growth in large part to investing in staff.

Renegade pays staff $25-30, almost twice the average in retail, but according to Victor, the real benefit is career opportunities. “People with advanced degrees and experience come to work in retail with us because our staff gets to create and lead paid marketing campaigns for major brands, or do modeling photo shoots.” As creative partners for the business, Renegade employees can make an impact on athletics while growing their career.

“In six years, only one person has left – to pursue modeling full-time,” says Victor. “We still have the whole original team.”