We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Luke Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Luke below.
Luke, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I’ve always had a passion for health and wellness. Before this I was in the restaurant industry for years and while I was passionate about my work I wanted something more. I read a book about some of the benefits of cold water exposure which sparked my interest. I would take coolers full of ice from the restaurant I worked in and make my open ice baths at home, and loved the way I felt after. I shared the experience with a few Friends I thought Tucson could really use a place where people could go for this type of therapy.
Luke, 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?
I have done grappling on and off my whole life (wrestling and jiu jitsu) As a 30 something year old practitioner you really start to feel the toll it takes on your body. Cold water therapy significantly decreases inflammation and fatigue from hard training. At Tucson cold plunge we offer what’s called contrast therapy, which means exposing your body to extreme hot and cold temperatures (sauna, cold plunge, hot tub) for health benefits. Some of the benefits are; decreases inflammation, helps with sleep, regulates hormones, increases dopamine naturally, and gets our body used to dealing with stress in a controlled environment. Which makes it easier to deal with mental and physical challenges in day to day life. People who come to Tucson Cold Plunge experience a better quality of life extending for hours even days after a single visit. We are proud to be the first place in town that offers cold water contrast therapy at an affordable price to the community.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for us is definitely word of mouth. We offer such a unique service not many people, at least in America right now are familiar with, though it’s gaining popularity. So when we started last august we would have 1-3 customers per day that’s in a 12 hour period of being open. After almost a year and a lot of hard work combined with patience we’ve built up to 15 (which would be considered a slow day now) to 37 people last Sunday was our busiest day to record so far. Some people know they are interested right away ( I call these die hards) they hear about it come take the plunge they try to tell their friends for a while and their friends call them crazy. Then eventually one friend will come try it, love it, and start bringing their friends. It’s been rewarding to see it grow and have people see my vision which they thought I was crazy for having a year ago.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
As I mentioned before I was in the restaurant business before this. Specifically wood fired pizza. My buddy and I started the first wood fired (Neapolitan Style) mobile pizzeria in Tucson back in 2014. As 2 22 year old kids who knew nothing about business we were in for a rude awakening. A lot of hard lessons and about 8 years later I knew I didn’t want to do the pizza thing forever but it was my life’s work at that point. I knew something was missing. With my passion for grappling, I felt like I needed to be in the Health and wellness space to really put my all into what I was doing. With the idea in the back of my head that there was a hole in the Tucson market in the form of cold water therapy I decided to make a drastic career change and stop working in the restaurant business, investing my life savings to “take the plunge” if you will, buying a commercial cold plunge, 2 saunas, and build what is now Tucson Cold Plunge. Most of my family and friends looked at me like I was crazy, Though they thought it was interesting. Yes I was scared but I believed in my vision. And I saw what some of the older guys who were working in the restaurant industry ended up like, and I knew I didn’t want to end up miserable like so many of them I saw and got the opportunity to work along side at a young age. I can honestly say now I’ve never made a better decision in my life and I plan in growing this business much past what it is now but the success I’ve experienced in this short time has been incredibly rewarding. I hope this story can inspire someone else who may be on the fence with pursuing their dreams. It’s not easy but it’s wort it.
Contact Info:
- Website: Tucsoncoldplunge.com
- Instagram: Tucsoncoldplunge
- Facebook: Facebook.com/Tucsoncoldplunge
- Yelp: Tucson Cold Plunge