Exray Unclassified | Meet the Team
Brennan Cassidy's path to apparel ran through athletics first. He started as an athlete, spent time at one of the most recognized organizations in professional sport, and eventually found himself running operations for a cycling apparel company building product in the United States. By the time he co-founded Exray, he had already worked through most of the problems a growing apparel brand can face.
The Background
Brennan was a college athlete who went on to earn a Master's in Sport Management. His first role out of graduate school was at the PGA Tour, where he got his first look at how large-scale sports organizations operate. He eventually moved into apparel, which is where the real education started.
As COO of Eliel Cycling and Wattie Ink, Brennan helped scale a USA-based production operation from the inside. He oversaw the opening of a second cut-and-sew facility as the business grew, and carried responsibility across finance, warehousing, logistics, and custom apparel operations simultaneously. The role covered multiple business units, from custom programs to direct-to-consumer retail, and put him in front of nearly every operational challenge an apparel company encounters as it scales.
That experience matters at Exray. Domestic manufacturing is not a simple undertaking. The supply chain is shorter but the margin for error is not, and the operational complexity of running custom apparel programs alongside a retail line requires someone who has done it before. Brennan has.
At Exray
Today Brennan runs day-to-day operations at Exray alongside co-founder Mike Gnoffo. His fingerprints are on the production side of the business, the custom unit program, and the infrastructure that makes it possible to deliver American-made gear at the standard Exray holds itself to.
The custom program in particular reflects a lot of what Brennan learned at Eliel. Free design support, no minimums, frictionless ordering for unit leaders who have more important things to manage than shirt logistics. That does not happen without someone who understands both the customer's world and the operational reality of delivering on it consistently.
Outside the Building
Brennan competes in Ironman triathlons. A 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles on the bike, a full marathon to finish. He also lives with Type 1 Diabetes, which means every training block and every race comes with a layer of management that most athletes never have to think about.
Brennan has spoken publicly about what that actually looks like. At Mitch Thrower's Triathlon Sanctuary in La Jolla, an invitation-only camp that draws professional triathletes, executives, and elite age groupers, he presented a talk called "Debunking Myths: Diabetes and Exercise." He walked through his real Ironman data, broke down the common misconceptions around diabetes and endurance sport, and used the sport itself to make the condition relatable to a room full of people who had never had to think about it. It is worth your time.
He and his wife, Jamie, have a son, Colt, who's currently undefeated in family footraces, thanks to some generous officiating.