What It Took for David Perry — 28:42 Collegiate 10K Runner, Former Portland Pilot — to Build the Jewelry Brand Designing Diamond Track Spikes for Nike and Olympians

About this episode

David Perry shares his journey from elite runner to entrepreneur in the jewelry industry.

Colorado-born elite runner turned entrepreneur David Perry is here—a guy who went from captain of Adidas Runners NYC to founder of one of the most talked-about jewelry brands in the athletic world. David gained notoriety in the NYC running community before founding his own luxury jewelry brand, David Perry Jewelry. He was an All-America runner at the University of Portland, where he competed in Cross Country and Track & Field. As a middle-to-long-distance specialist, he has times like 3:45.61 in the 1500m and 23:18 in the 8,000m under his belt. Post-collegiately, he became a captain for Adidas Runners NYC, while staying heavily involved in the city's running culture. Although he set out in 2018 to make the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials and failed to do so in 2020, his ambition is nothing to frown at; he also signed Olympic gold medalist Grant Holloway as the brand's first-ever ambassador in 2024. From the trails of Colorado, to the roads of New York City, to the Olympic stage in Paris, David Perry's journey is proof that your biggest ambitions don't always look the way you planned them. He set out to make the Olympic Marathon Trials. Instead, he built a brand that made it to…

People in this episode

Host: Dominic Schlueter

Guest: David Perry

Topics covered

• running
• entrepreneurship
• jewelry design
• Olympic aspirations
• athletic culture

Keywords

• David Perry
• running
• jewelry
• Nike
• Olympics
• Adidas Runners NYC
• entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nike, Adidas Runners NYC, David Perry Jewelry

Places: Colorado, New York City, Paris

More episodes of THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

• 24 Hours. 133 Miles. One Treadmill. Ed Martin on the Text That Saved His Life, Running So Others Keep Going, and Why "I Got This" Are the Worst Words You Can Say · June 12, 2026 · 43 min
• From 1:57 in the Tokyo Olympic 800m Final to 69:15 in the Half-Marathon: Alex Bell on Burnout, Reinvention, and Chasing the LA 2028 Marathon · June 10, 2026 · 41 min
• From Selling T-Shirts at Motocross Tracks to a $100M Global Brand: Jason Daniel on Building LSKD, the 1% Better Mission, and Running a Sub-3 Marathon · June 8, 2026 · 39 min
• How Sharon Lokedi Won Two Straight Boston Marathons: The 130-Mile Weeks Mileage, the Visualization, and Inside the Doubt She Fights Before Every Race · June 5, 2026 · 34 min
• Exclusive: Simeon Birnbaum On Going for the NCAA 1500/5K Double Title: Inside the Marco Langon Beef, the 3:31 Record Training, and Why He's Next Up · June 3, 2026 · 40 min
• Brian Burns on Chasing 3:57 at Festival of Miles: the Training Behind the Breakthrough, the Nerves of One Final High School Mile, and a Shot at History · June 2, 2026 · 38 min