We were lucky to catch up with Jenny + Kirk Whiteman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny + Kirk, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with important influences in our lives. Is there a historical figure you look up to?

When Bob Beaman jumped to 29’2.5″ at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he set a world record that lasted 23 years and an Olympic record that stands to this day! With that jump, Beaman redefined what was possible in human achievement. That moment of transcendence inspired Kirk’s philosophy both as an athlete and coach, believing that anything is possible and breakthrough moments come when we dare to push beyond our perceived limits.

Jenny + Kirk, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We’re Jenny and Kirk Whiteman, the founders of DIALED[IN] and owners of TEMPO cycling & pilates studio in Portland, OR. Kirk is a multiple time national and world champion track cyclist who also competed in the blind tandem sprint event in the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games.

In 2001, we opened our studio doors in Brooklyn, NY and have been training athletes and people recovering from injuries, post-surgery and cancer treatment since then. Helping people feel good and perform better in their bodies is our passion and the catalyst for developing DIALED[IN] muscle cream. Dialed In is unique in that it combines ingredients that aid in healing and recovery, as well as provide natural performance enhancement. The specific blend of ingredients was curated based on Kirk’s decades of training, racing and coaching national and world champion cyclists; researching and testing in real-time what worked best.

Dialed In helps athletes perform better but what we’re most proud of is the feedback from our clients that it has reduced their symptoms from fibromyalgia, TMD, migraines, and cramps! We love that!

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Well, it’s funny because as we created Dialed In, Kirk’s coaching clients became our guinea pigs – our R&D! We knew the key ingredients that we wanted to combine but weren’t sure how to make it user-friendly. One of the early variations was lovingly called “salad dressing” by his clients. Eventually, as we dialed it in they were the ones who pushed us to take it to market and begin scaling up – outside of our kitchen.

Our key milestones were definitely finding a manufacturer and accessing capital. We knew nothing about the difference between OTC and Contract labs and that many OTC labs don’t sign NDA contracts and have higher minimums. We ended up finding a contract lab in Oklahoma that did smaller runs and met our labeling needs. In terms of accessing capital: developing a pitch, sales projections, contracts and presenting our idea to capital investors was a huge milestone!

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

We pitched to friends and family and over half of the money raised was from clients who already used Dialed In. To create the financial portion of the pitch deck a smart, finance-savvy friend came up with the valuation of our business so we could determine the ownership percentage, based on the investor contribution, and set a minimum contribution amount. Since founding our business just two years ago, we’ve discovered so many local (and national) resources to help entrepreneurs with funding, skill development and mentorship. We’ve tapped into many, here are a few: Livelihood Northwest, MESO, EO, Prosper Portland, Impact, BACC and Hello Alice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dialedinsport.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dialedinsport
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dialedinsport
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-whiteman-391239229/

Image Credits

Ana Paloma Whiteman, Kim King