We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Giacalone recently and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I came up with the idea to start BLC during quarantine of the COVID-19 shutdown. By nature, I cannot sit still, so I turned quarantine into a giant creative project. I built a garage gym so I could continue my olympic weightlifting training.
Due to a former back injury when I was a competitive gymnast, I get flare ups every so often. One of my flares started during quarantine. Being my stubborn self, I continued to train through the pain. Please don’t judge me – I am very intune with my body and know what it can and cannot handle. Believe me when I say, some days I simply did PT exercises and mobilization just to stay active.
I found myself belting up for lifts anywhere over 75% of my one rep maxes, which is ok to do, but normally I do not put on a belt until around 85%. With the extra use of my belt, I felt it getting flimsy. The sides would fold and overall the quality of the belt seemed to be deteriorating faster than expected. So I switched from the belt I was using to an older leather belt. However, during quarantine, I gained some weight and the belt didn’t fit the way it used to. I hated the restriction of the belt loops and got really frustrated.
If I were to continue to lift, I needed a sturdy durable belt. Using my college degree in the Arts and my 10 years of NYC Fashion Industry experience, I got to work. I ripped open every belt in my home gym and analyzed the materials meticulously. The crazy thing is that all of the belts I dissected were made of the same cheap materials. It became clear to me. All of these products are mass produced at a low cost to create higher mark up when sold at retail. Duh, I know this game! I was a Sales Executive for years!
It became my mission to create a product that was not only affordable but also functional and made of quality materials. Sourcing materials during COVID was difficult but I managed to do it. I handsewed several prototypes and tested them myself before finally offering it to the public.
Stephanie, 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 was born and raised on the East Coast between NJ, NY, and FL. I spent my childhood as a USAG competitive gymnast. I trained 5 days per week for 3-5 hours per day. Fun Fact: I was a gymnast under Maggie Haney, who brought my teammate Laurie Hernandez to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Due to a back injury my gymnastics career came to a halt.
I attended Montclair State University and graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts in Fashion Studies. I spent about 10 years in the NYC Fashion Industry, working my way up from a Receptionist all the way to a Sales Executive. I worked for prominent companies such as Elie Tahari, Puma, and Calvin Klein.
Because of my love for fitness, in 2016, I left the Fashion Industry and began working as a Membership Advisor at Equinox. I later transferred into a personal training role.
After retiring from gymnastics, I began CrossFit, which sparked a whole different love for training. Because of my gymnastics background I had a solid foundation built to be a decent CrossFit athlete. Movements and strength seemed to come natural to me. A weightlifting coach at my CrossFit gym pulled me into Olympic weightlifting, which has been my sport of choice for the past 5 years.
In 2019, I moved to Texas to pursue my own personal training business with an ex-partner. While the business did not pan out the way we had planned I found a different calling in life. Still fitness related but instead using my arts and fashion background. It’s so crazy how life truly comes full circle!
Brooklyn Lifting Company offers custom lifting accessories – belts, singlets, wrist wraps, chalk bags, shoe bags, and apparel. All products are handcrafted by me. After some R&D, I realized that athletes want products that not only function well and last a long time, but they want products that show off their unique personalities. My theory is – when you look good, you perform well.
The products are built to last and unique in design and construction. For example, my belts are hybrid belts which means they are a combination of a leather belt and a velcro belt. The benefit of a hybrid belt is that you get the support of a leather belt with the flexibility of closure like a velcro belt. The customization option is the best part. You can choose your own fabric and add embroidery details to make the belt one of a kind!
The business is still a seed but it is growing everyday. I am hoping to expand tremendously over the next year!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I am definitely not the queen of social media, however, I feel I did a decent job at building my following for my brand on Instagram.
Starting a new account is never easy. My IG handle is my business name @brooklynliftingco. I think that should be rule number 1: Make your social handles the name of your business. No extra numbers or symbols – simply the business name. For all of us millennials out there who had AIM handles (mine was onekrazekid *palm to face emoji*) that day and age is over. People don’t want to purchase goods or services from a cryptic handle anymore.
Once I started my business account, I linked the handle to my personal IG account in the bio. If you’re comfortable, I found that customers and clients love to sync a business with a face. It makes them feel connected to the brand when they see the person behind it.
My first post on my business page was simple. It was an image of my logo and the caption described my new baby that I created. I then shared the business post to my personal page and asked everyone to share it. This was how I got my initial 500 followers- friends, family, and word of mouth.
Because I am an athlete, I go to competitions (whether I am competing or just coaching) and hand out stickers that I drew with my business handle in the graphic. I’d introduce myself to competitors and hand them the stickers. This then organically increased my following because after meeting me they would witness me compete or coach athletes. The natural inclination of being inquisitive would bring them back to the sticker which led them to my business page. At vendor events, where I simply sell goods, I always ask people to follow my page and tag me when wearing my products.
I make sure to post quality content – customization inspo and highlights of athletes within the weightlifting and CrossFit world. Highlighting athletes promotes engagement. Engagement leads to likes, followers, and sales! People love to feel seen.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I remember when I made a huge life decision to go from a salary employee to a commission employee. That was probably the most life rattling choice I ever made because the thought of giving up “security” was terrifying. I was 27 years old, living in NYC. The cost of living there is outrageous and the thought of possibly not being able to make ends meet was very real.
I had a secure well-paying job as a Sales Executive at Calvin Klein; however, I was miserable. I hated the monotony of a 9-5 job. It was extremely unfulfilling.
My passion was fitness and I was offered a position as a Membership Advisor at Equinox on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. While the position was still a sales role, it was a step in the right direction towards the fitness industry. Even with the promise to be transferred into a different position in the future, the thought of a commission based sales position sounded daunting. Sure, Equinox is an upscale gym and the commissions were favorable, but could I really sell enough memberships to make rent each month?
I must have done the math 1000x. I really wanted to make a logical decision and not an emotional one. I wrote out my monthly expenses and calculated the number of memberships I would have to sell monthly to sustain the bare minimum. With a plan in hand, I felt a bit more at ease of taking on the position. But the question still lingered – could I really sell the mandatory number of memberships monthly to make ends meet? There was only one way to find out.
I quit my job at CK and dove head first into Equinox. I took my 5 years of sales experience from the fashion industry and applied it to the fitness industry. Luckily my passion for fitness also drove my sales. I struggled a bit at first. In fact, I had to take on a side hustle with Wag as a dog walker. I also began working part time as a CrossFit Coach at my CrossFit gym to make up for lost money. It took almost a full 6 months to officially get on my feet.
There were many nights of eating ramen noodles because it was all I could afford. It felt like I was in college again. The thought crossed my mind multiple times – did I make a huge mistake? But I pushed through, hustled day in and day out, persevered, and proved to myself that I could do anything I put my mind to.
This life choice changed my life forever. This decision single handedly proved to me two things.
1) I can do anything I set out to do.
2) I NEVER wanted to work for anyone but myself ever again.
It was the catalyst to becoming an entrepreneur.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brooklynliftingco.com
- Instagram: @peanutdoxie and @brooklynliftingco
- Facebook: facebook.com/stephgiacalone/ and facebook.com/brooklynliftingco/
- Other: email: info@brooklynliftingco.com
Image Credits
6 for 6 Media