We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nolan Kahal and Sean Morrissey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nolan and Sean below.

Nolan and Sean, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

At SaunaBox, we’re on a mission to make wellness accessible to everyone.

That might sound like a big goal, but for us, it’s personal. We started SaunaBox because we saw a huge gap in the wellness world—one where the benefits of things like steam therapy and recovery tools were reserved for people with time, money, or access to fancy spas and elite gyms. That didn’t sit right with us.

We believe feeling good—mentally, physically, emotionally—shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be something everyone can access, whether you’re a busy parent, a college student on a budget, a weekend warrior, or just someone trying to take better care of yourself.

So we created SaunaBox: a portable, at-home steam sauna that’s easy to set up, affordable, and built to help people take control of their recovery, their stress, and their well-being on their terms. Removing barriers and making proven health practices simpler, more affordable, and more approachable.

At the end of the day, our mission is about empowerment. It’s about helping more people feel better in their bodies and minds without needing to rearrange their lives or break the bank to do it.

We’re just getting started, but we’re grateful to be part of something bigger: a movement toward everyday, real-world wellness—for all.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We were two guys in college who loved fitness and the feeling you get after a good sauna session. The problem? The local gym sauna smelled gross, was full of bacteria, and just wasn’t an enjoyable experience. A sauna session should be relaxing—it should be a time to decompress on your own terms.

The issue was that those cheap, portable saunas you find on Amazon were ineffective, poorly made, and usually broke after a few uses. We set out to create the world’s highest-quality steam sauna—made with third-party tested materials—that didn’t break the bank.

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

Funding our business wasn’t traditional—it was scrappy, lean, and powered by community belief.

We launched SaunaBox entirely through pre-orders. After putting down an initial deposit for a few hundred units, we immediately started creating content to promote the brand. Then… lightning struck.

One of our early videos went viral—2 million views in just a few days. It absolutely took off. We sold out of our entire first batch of inventory almost overnight.

From there, it became a cycle: place a deposit, promote the product, open up pre-orders, and reinvest into the next batch. That strategy allowed us to grow organically, stay cash-flow positive, and test demand before going all-in.

It’s still how we launch new products today—create real demand first, then scale with confidence. For us, it wasn’t just about raising money—it was about proving people wanted what we were building.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

The most anticipated fight card in UFC history. And we had a shot to sponsor Max Holloway—an absolute legend in the sport. Everything was locked in: payment sent, content prepped, SaunaBox shipped to his team.

Then disaster struck.

Just two days before the fight, our product got lost in transit. UPS couldn’t track it down, and time was ticking. Most brands would’ve accepted the loss. But we couldn’t let this moment slip.

So, we jumped in the car and drove through the night from Southern California to Las Vegas, SaunaBox in the trunk.

We arrived at Max’s hotel the night before the fight, handed him the SaunaBox, and crossed our fingers. We woke up the next morning to see he’d posted it—already pulling in hundreds of thousands of views.

But the best part? Max didn’t just win. He delivered one of the most iconic knockouts in UFC history. The internet exploded. And that SaunaBox video? It racked up over 6 million views.

It was the perfect storm: timing, risk, hustle—and a little bit of luck. That moment didn’t just elevate our brand. It reminded us why we bet on ourselves in the first place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://saunabox.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saunabox/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-kahal/