My belief and thought process initially for the first two years was that I was looking at what I wanted, but not what the market needed. If you're an entrepreneur, initially you think, "Oh, I could just start a clothing line." The reality of clothing, the apparel industry, the marketing behind it–very few brands truly build a sustainable clothing line. I think every kid wants to have a clothing line. Talk to us about how you approached this when starting up. That was my edge to be able to compete on a platform with these bigger brands.įelix: A lot of entrepreneurs can become married to the vision of their business. I knew what a good knee sleeve was, and I knew how the stitching should be and the materials. I couldn't afford to go to college and I was like, "My only option is to really just try." One of my unique abilities with this specifically was I knew the industry so well.
Over time, it became, "I don't really have another option." I didn't have a ton of resources. When I looked at other segments of the market in weightlifting and fitness, specifically because you look at the industry leaders, it was like looking at Goliath and thinking, "How am I going to be able to compete and actually get something sustainable. After ad spend, cost, overhead, you're not really turning a profit to be able to reinvest. I was making a shirt for seven, eight dollars because I didn't have good MOQs, and I was selling it for 20.
The problem was I didn't understand the margins. Initially, what took me so long to get into the equipment market was because I kept trying to force apparel. Starting a business at the age of 19 was intimidating for Roc, but he embraced the challenge of entering a saturated market.įelix: Did you ever doubt that you’d be able to succeed in an industry as a 19 year old competing against larger scale companies? It took a few years, but I came to a realization that I should merge these two aspects, and that's the direction that got planted. Through my powerlifting, weightlifting, and history, I was aware of weightlifting belts, knee sleeves, wrist straps, and products that I was using in the gym–I just wasn't using my brand. I was working more at BBcom and I realized, "Hey, nobody's really paying attention to equipment." I had had my tattoo artist mock up a design and screen print it on shirts and started flipping them out of my trunk. Having created the brand name, Gymreapers, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I ended up determining over time that this is really where I want to focus and do something. I was starting to become aware of these brands and what they were doing. Roc: I got into powerlifting and weightlifting when I was 14 and fell in love with certain brands that have been around for years, like Animal Pak, Universal Nutrition, and, which is actually based in Boise, Idaho.
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I wanted to figure out how to get into it and didn't have any real resources to start.įelix: You were passionate about the industry–did you have an idea of the products you wanted to produce at the time? Roc: I had a huge passion for fitness–weight lifting–and was seeing the ecommerce shift happening, and direct to consumer models growing with Shopify. Traction: Get A Grip On Your Businessįelix: You bootstrapped this business from the ground up when you were only 19?
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Recommendations: The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime, Brightpearl,Įntrepreneurial Operating System.Social Profiles: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.Don't miss an episode! Subscribe to Shopify Masters.
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