2026 feels different. This year marks 20 years since I first started in business. 20 years of trying, failing, learning, and building something from nothing. I still remember the first belt I designed late one night after a golf tournament, on a journey home, wondering if anyone would even care. That belt did not just start a business, it started a journey that taught me more than I could have imagined. It was a dream, but it became more than that.
Those belts gave me a way to leave professional golf and step into something of my own. In the last 20 years, through CM®, we have sold a serious amount of belts. More importantly, every single one represents a step. Proof of an idea. Proof that something built from nothing can become something real.
Now I’m 34, and I have been asking myself a simple but tough question. Do I really want to work this way and at this intensity for the next 20 years?
Honestly, no.
Not because I do not love fighting against the belt industry, but because I want to do it on my own terms, in the way I love most. I do not want to work as hard as I've had to for the last 20 years. I gave up 20 years of my life for this. I sacrificed time, freedom, and parts of myself to build it. Now I want to enjoy what I have built. I want to live inside it, shape it, and experience it.
This year I am shifting focus. I want to pour my energy into the parts of CM® that excite me: the creativity, the experiences, the people. I want to connect offline again where it all started and rediscover the real world connections that built this brand in the first place. Creating moments you can actually step into. Giving you access to the events, the activations, and everything happening around CM®.
Starting now. Everything changes. You will no longer be able to buy CM® belts directly from christianmacleod.com. Instead, we are opening the door to brands, stores, and experiences that have been waiting to join us. After 20 years, this is the era that excites me most. One where CM® can grow, evolve, and connect in ways I could only imagine when I first started.
I have realised that success is not just about hours, scale, or grind. It is about clarity, focus, and choosing what really matters, and living life in the middle of it all. This business and this trademark have been my life for 20 years, but now it is about being real and truthful to myself, to continue CM® for many many years to come.
I am excited for this next chapter, and I hope you will be part of it, not just as a customer, but as someone who shares the belief in community and creativity. Because at the end of the day; this is still CM® against the belt industry, just more personal than ever. Here is to the next 20 years.
