Nike is making room for a new role on the team — lifestyle influencer and runner Brett Chody will serve as the brand’s first running global creator.
The social media star, who posts about running as part of her wide-ranging content under the username @brettsbites, had a pre-existing relationship with the athletic giant. She was featured in Nike‘s Calling All Athletes marketing campaign last year, which entailed flying out to Barcelona. Following this well-received project, Chody wanted to push the relationship with Nike forward, and the feeling was mutual.
“It’s just a dream come true, there’s no other way to really describe it,” she told FN when asked what this new role means to her. “As someone who grew up running and is obviously still very active in the community, Nike is just a brand that I’ve known and loved forever. I feel like every athlete, when you’re growing up — envisioning yourself working with Nike, it’s just like the pinnacle.”
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After running for years and committing to USC for running, Chody retired from the sport due to injury and burnout, but rediscovered her passion for it in her postgraduate era — and eventually her running content became core to he online presence. And last year, she started Bites Run Club, which brings her fans together in real life in cities around the country; around 1,500 showed up for a gathering ahead of the Chicago Marathon. There’s an even an accompanying clothing line for the run club.
As Nike’s running global creator, Chody will champion the brand’s women-focused After Dark Tour, which features 10k, 21k and half-marathon runs in seven cities around the world. Chody plans to participate in the Los Angeles half-marathon coming up in fall 2026, and potentially an international race as well.
“So much about my community and what I do is about bringing people together, especially women, and the After Dark Tour is the same thing,” she explained. “It’s supposed to be a really positive experience, very community-driven and making a race very approachable. I know a lot of people who get into running, they find races so intimidating, and so that makes so much sense, because a big part of my platform is making running accessible and trying to break down the barriers of people thinking, ‘I’m not a runner, I’m too scared to try.’”
Another element of the partnership involved Chody designing a custom Nike Vomero Plus shoe, which will launch later this season on nike.com. “I’ve run thousands of miles in them,” she said of the Vomero Plus, noting that she shot the Calling All Athletes campaign in a hot pink pair.
Chody traveled to Nike’s headquarters in Portland, where she toured the campus and was able to view fabrics and colors to personalize the max-cushioned road running style. After coming up with three or four options, she ultimately landed on a colorway featuring a gradient magenta base, a partially blue sole in addition to a blue Swoosh and blue laces, and a subtle flash of green that can be seen when the foot takes off.
The longtime runner explained why it was particularly special to have the opportunity to create her own version of the shoe: “This is another pinch-me moment, because I was on the NikeiD website in high school, always messing around with it, designing my own shoes, and I literally ordered myself a pair when I was a senior in high school. I remember begging my parents to let me get this custom pair of Nikes. And so it’s just a really fun full circle moment.”
