I had to quit my dream job at Callaway after Mark Wahlberg messaged me

Municipal was founded by Harry Arnett and Mark Walhberg to help bring a brand to people who need all day everyday sportswear

Callaway’s former VP of marketing, Harry Arnett, walked away from golf to launch a lifestyle brand with Mark Wahlberg. He tells TG why he chose chaos over stability…

Municipal wasn’t born in a boardroom. It started on a golf course, not with marketing decks or investors, but with a conversation between two friends: one a former Callaway VP, the other one of the most driven actors in Hollywood.

Does it make sense to leave one of the most respected jobs in golf? Probably not, but when does life actually make any sense? Having been as successful as Harry Arnett has been in the sport, when someone like Mark Wahlberg drops you a DM asking to partner up on a project, it’s hard not to say yes.

Arnett was ready for a new venture. Wahlberg, ever the early riser, was searching for gear that matched his lifestyle, from workout to work meeting to golf course to movie set. No frills. All functions. Total commitment.

When TG interviewed Arnett, he was visibly excited at the prospect of going out on a whim and teaming up with Wahlberg to create something special.

“It was never about just making clothes,” he explains. “It was about creating something that didn’t exist, something for people who live in that overlap of ambition, movement, and mindset.”

They couldn’t find it. So they built it.

When the hustle outgrows the gear

Municipal was officially founded in 2019, but the idea had been simmering for years. Arnett and Wahlberg connected long before that, through golf, and quickly developed a friendship rooted in shared values and relentless routines.

As they spent more time together, a recurring question kept surfacing: why wasn’t anyone making sportswear that could keep up with a full day? Not just for the gym or the course, but something built for everything in between.

Those early conversations happened well before anything was official. Over fast-paced rounds of golf and pre-sunrise gym sessions, the two kept circling back to the same problem: no brand truly matched how they lived.

“It was about what we needed ourselves,” Arnett continues. “Stuff you could wear to train, work, travel, and live in all without changing outfits or compromising who you are.”

That insight sparked something bigger: a mission-driven brand rooted in the Lifestyle by Hustle mentality. Not just for elite athletes or models, but for the grinders, the doers, the 5am crowd. The ones who treat ambition like a sport.

Some might question why Arnett, a golf industry veteran, is the right fit to lead a brand that isn’t tied to one sport. But that’s exactly the point. Municipal isn’t about categories. It’s about mindset. And the leap of faith he took in 2019, walking away from a role at Callaway that people could only dream of, mirrors the brand’s belief system.

That you can succeed at anything you commit your mind to.

“I walked away from the best job I’d ever had because this idea wouldn’t let me go,” Arnett adds. “I believed in it that much.

“I left a job I loved to build something I thought needed to exist. It felt like a now-or-never moment.”

Performance everywhere

Municipal’s tagline, ‘Lifestyle by Hustle’, isn’t just clever copy. It’s a filtering mechanism. If a product doesn’t serve multiple functions and reflect the values of movement, drive, and purpose, it doesn’t make the cut.

From the Sport Utility Joggers to the Everyday Tees, the brand’s bestsellers emphasize fit, comfort, and movement but with sharp, elevated design. It’s what Arnett calls streetworthy performance. Think high-end technical wear without the tech bro aftertaste.

The brand’s messaging – ‘Dream. Plan. Hustle. Repeat.’ – isn’t empty inspiration. It’s a filter for every product, photo shoot, and campaign.

Mark Wahlberg’s 3am alarm and the brand it built

A name like Mark Wahlberg has the power to open some pretty big doors, but his work ethic is what defines the brand he co-founded.

Municipal isn’t just a project for him. It’s a reflection of who he is when no one’s watching. He doesn’t just wear the brand, he lives it. Every stitch, every slogan, every design passes through the Wahlberg mindset.

I’m sure we’ve all seen Wahlberg’s silly o’clock workouts and tee times on socials, so we ask Arnett if that’s what he’s actually like.

Wahlberg’s personal routine, built around consistency, mental toughness, and movement, became the blueprint for Municipal. From the tone of the brand to its product functionality, it had to match the demands of people who move with purpose.

Wahlberg’s involvement goes well beyond the co-founder title. He’s deeply embedded in the big-picture vision, strategic direction, and, often, the creative process. He reviews product designs, pushes for bigger goals, and challenges the team to stay focused on the mission, not the hype.

Why Harry Arnett left the best job he ever had

Before co-founding Municipal, Arnett was thriving in the golf industry. As chief marketing officer at Callaway, he helped lead one of the most successful brand revivals in the sport.

Before that, he was a VP at TaylorMade-Adidas Golf. Quite the resume.

That idea was Municipal. It had started as casual conversations with Wahlberg and others about the gaps in the activewear market, but quickly evolved into something more profound. A calling, not a campaign.

Leaving Callaway wasn’t a calculated business move. It was a leap of faith. Arnett traded structure and stability for early-stage chaos and uncertainty, but he believed in the mission so strongly that he couldn’t ignore it.

Since then, he’s poured himself into Municipal, working 80 to 100-hour weeks, building a brand from the ground up, hiring a team, designing product, shaping messaging, and staying grounded in the original purpose.

What sets Municipal apart is its ability to meet people where they are, in the middle of real, hectic, everyday life. The gear doesn’t demand an outfit change or a reset. It’s high-quality performance wear made to move through every part of your day without compromise.

Municipal may not be the flashiest brand on your feed, and that’s the point. It’s built for the grinders. The ones who don’t need to show off because they’re too busy showing up.

This isn’t just a product. It’s a mindset. A lifestyle people buy into because it reflects who they already are. And like the best brands in the world, Municipal isn’t just building clothing, it’s building community.