We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marek Bowers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Marek, thanks for joining us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
I got my first B2B and B2C customers on the same day! This was in Spring 2019, when my plan had been to sell Rawlogy Cork Massage balls to long-distance hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I knew ultralight, durable, and eco-friendly massage balls would be a hit with backpackers beating up their feet and legs on the 2650-mile-long PCT. But, I was a nobody in the outdoor industry, and had no contacts in the gear world. I had done my research up to that point by sending out free balls to hikers using the Instagram hashtag #pct2019 and requesting feedback. All the hikers I sent the balls to raved about them. Using quotes and photos from those hikers as leverage, I contacted a little gear shop near the start of the PCT in Southern California. Mary, the owner of the gear shop, told me that she wasn’t interested as they already had their merchandise for the year, but I was persistent and begged her to check my product out. At dawn the next morning, I drove 2 hours south and waited for her to open the store. As soon as she flipped the “closed” sign to “open,” I walked in and demoed the products for her. Mary weighed them (weight-savings for backpackers is essential), considered the price, and bought 20 balls from me on the spot. Her gear shop was my first wholesale account! Satisfied, I got in my car and started driving back to LA. 20 minutes later, I get a text from Mary that says, “I’ve already sold 6. We’re going to need more balls.” And THAT is how I got the Rawlogy Cork Massage Ball rolling on trail and my first customers :-)
Marek, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
+The Problem+ I never intended to start a business with the Rawlogy Cork Massage Ball—I was just solving my own pain points (literally!). I was suffering from Plantar Fasciitis (foot pain) on my daily runs, as well as back pain/spasms. Both of these issues were also causing major discomfort on backpacking trips—so much that I thought I would never be able to backpack again.
+The Solution+
I was introduced to self-massage with a rubber lacrosse ball by a yoga instructor, and I seriously couldn’t believe how easy and effective it was. I could massage away my own pain! In my own time. In my own space. And at a fraction of the cost of a professional therapy session. It was a major revelation for me, so much so, that I needed to take the lacrosse ball with me on backpacking trips. However, I wanted to keep my pack weight low, so I brainstormed about other materials that I could make into a ball shape, and would be firm enough to offer the same therapeutic pressure. CORK dawned on me! It was perfect—not only could it be made into a ball, but it was also firm, light, and as a bonus, eco-friendly!
+The Business Genesis+
I prototyped the ball and started taking it out to Yosemite for testing. It worked so well that I wanted to share it with others, especially people who were active in the outdoors. So, I made more balls, and started selling them to people I was pretty sure had major back and feet problems—PCT thru hikers. And with that, Rawlogy was born! It didn’t take long to get the ball rolling with Rawlogy (ha!). Thru hikers love to talk about their gear, they are huge supporters of cottage gear companies, and they all have body aches and pains. Word about Rawlogy balls spread down the trail, and business picked up quickly. Appalachian Trail hikers also found out about the balls, as did other types of athletes. A big moment for us later that year was when Darwin On the Trail—a popular YouTube creator—mentioned a Rawlogy ball on his 2019 Top 10 gear list, and we also received a shout-out in Backpacker Magazine. I was ecstatic! 2020 was going to be a huge year.
+2020 and beyond+
Well, in 2020, of course you know what happened. Rather than throw in the towel, I started telling people about Rawlogy balls as the perfect solution for the stay-at-home massage—especially good for mental health and wellbeing. That kept us going, and we have continued to reach new audiences—including health conscious people who are frequent travelers, yoga enthusiasts, dancers, new moms, office workers, people who are on their feet all day, athletes, and so many more. In Spring 2023, I added skincare and body care products to Rawlogy.com to offer a holistic wellness solution to our target demographic.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
When I was growing up, my dad would say to me, “You need to be perfect. Perfect is the only way you’ll make a lot of money, and money is the way we keep score in life. You don’t want to be a loser.” So, I lived a good chunk of my life thinking that if I wasn’t perfect and didn’t make a lot of money, I was a loser.
Building a business is a process of failures and successes over time, and that process is messy. We may not make money in the beginning or any money at all if the business tanks. I’ve started 6 businesses and only 1 of them made money. If I had followed the lesson that not making a lot of money means I’m a loser, then I may not have started Rawlogy, the business that was financially successful. I could have just written myself off and stopped trying.
As a business owner, it’s impossible to be perfect all the time. I learned, instead, to be very best version of myself. Each version makes mistakes, but not the same mistakes the previous version made. It’s an iterative loop that yields upgrades based on tests of resilience and commitment. This goes for business operations and product design as well. I make a product mistake and it bombs… ok, I learned what not to do next time. I didn’t handle a customer service complaint well… ok, I learned that I need make a change that prevents the complaint from happening in the first place.
The belief that perfection and making a lot of money are the only measures of success can be limiting and detrimental. Building a business is a process filled with failures and successes, and it is through these experiences that we learn and grow. It is essential to embrace the messy nature of the entrepreneurial journey and understand that not every venture will be successful. Rather than striving for perfection, it’s more valuable to focus on becoming the best version of ourselves, constantly learning from our mistakes and making improvements. Success is not defined solely by financial gains, but by the resilience, commitment, and continuous growth that we cultivate along the way.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I sell Rawlogy balls on Amazon, as well as on my website. I got my start on Amazon where you need to be the FIRST TO MARKET if you have a product that is easy to copy. As the first to market, you must to act very quickly to establish a reputable brand, build up 5-star reviews, and optimize your listing SEO. As soon as your product becomes successful, it will be copied by 10 other people who will try to steal your market share with lower prices. I highly recommend protecting your brand with a trademark and enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry. The reasons I went hard on Amazon: (1) It’s where many hikers and backpackers buy smaller ticket items (share of cart); (2) Amazon FBA / fulfillment is very convenient; (3) the huge volume of traffic. Being an Amazon Seller definitely has challenges, including the copycats I mentioned previously, but also the fact that Amazon can kick you off at any time. You also must deal with changing search algorithms that can break your listing, and ineffective seller support reps.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rawlogy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawlogy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marek-bowers-7271981b/
- Other: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rawlogy%C2%AE/page/95A6C1A8-9779-463A-995E-C4B4712DEA48?ref_=ast_bln
- Daily Self Newsletter: https://dailyself.substack.com
Image Credits
Rawlogy Ball Photography by Jonathan H. Lee (https://subtledream.com/showcase)