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A
What initially inspired you to jump in and say, ann, I want to go and start an ice bath company?
B
It was not popular back then. Nobody was doing it, and it sounds silly. I'd found cold showers as a way to help symptoms of anxiety. And I had terrible anxiety from childhood. And also the career that I was in was very anxiety inducing. Somebody encouraged me to try a cold shower. I was reluctant and actually a little bit offended at the time, too, because I was like, as if this is going to help. So I just kept taking cold showers, and for whatever reason, my physiology responded so, so well. I made such a drastic change in my life. Cold therapy is incredible. It boosts your mood and your energy levels. Two minutes a day, and you've reduced inflammation in the body. You have these incredible beta endorphins going off in your brain. You're doing a full reset on the nervous system. There's not a lot of stuff that you out there that you can do, like an ice bath that gives you, like, that amount of health benefits in such a short amount of time.
A
Hey, guys, I'm super excited for this episode. We got Wyatt Ewing, founder of Ice Barrel. You want to know more about cold therapy? What? It's how this guy has built this thing out of his garage to now doing over $50 million in revenue in a period of, like, six years. You're going to learn so much about the science behind it, the struggle, the building up what really worked for him from a marketing standpoint. All the good stuff. Why you should be incorporating more cold therapy into your life. You're not going to want to miss this episode of the Founder podcast. So, Wyatt, dude, I'm super excited to have you on today because, you know, I'm a big, big fan of cold therapy. Just health in general. I think, you know, it's the commonality that all entrepreneurs have. You may not be in the same industry, but you're all. Everybody's focused on being healthy. And so, man, you guys are doing. I mean, before this, we were talking about you did 50,000 or you're planning on doing about 50,000 selling of this product this. This year.
B
That's the goal. Yeah, that's what we're pacing towards.
A
That's pretty.
B
Our new partners, Costco, Best Buy, Shields, they've helped us out a lot. So they've been.
A
Oh, man. So. So tell us a little bit about the journey. I mean, getting into cold therapy. Like, what initially inspired you to. To jump in and say, man, I want to go and start an ice bath company? I mean, that that's not an everyday idea.
B
Yeah, that's true. Especially back then. I was like the crazy guy in 2017 telling people to take ice baths.
A
Right.
B
It was not popular back then. Nobody was doing it. And I had found. I sound silly. I'd found cold showers as a way to help symptoms of anxiety. And I had terrible anxiety from childhood. And also the career that I was in was very anxiety inducing. Somebody encouraged me to try a cold shower. I was reluctant and actually a little bit offended at the time too, because I was like, as if this is going to help.
A
Well, it's like what you tell somebody that like, is like drunk or something, right? Like, yeah, I gotta take a cold shower.
B
Exactly.
A
Yeah, I could, I could see how you, you'd probably interpret it that way.
B
Yeah. So I listened to them though. I took a cold shower and did not regret it. That moment of presence after a five minute cold shower was something that was like so sacred. So I just kept taking cold showers. And for whatever reason, like, my physiology responded so well. I made such a drastic change in my life that my wife was even like super shocked by. And I was like, I, I had like, more people need to experience cold showers. And then I started taking ice baths and I wanted to share the power of cold with everybody.
A
So tell us about some of those initial changes that you were experiencing just from taking cold showers. Like what? Physically, emotionally, like what, what, what was being impacted?
B
Yeah, a lot of it was my attitude and my emotions. It was like anxiety and stress were just like melting away. I was showing up way more present for myself. The people I love the most and the things I love. But really one of the biggest things was like, I was always kind of known of being a really impatient person. And after about like three to five months of cold showers, like, I was surprising myself with how patient I was, like showing up in the world and just peaceful. I mean, I'm kind of like that a type high achiever, go getter. It's caffeine, nicotine, and a little bit of sleep. Get me through the day and like, just push really hard. And I mean, ice bows have had a way of just bringing me to a present moment and like calming me down. It's been an incredible practice.
A
So what were you doing at this point in life? Because obviously it wasn't like you took a cold shower one day and then the next day you're like, hey, let's go make ice barrels. Right. So what, what, what was your career like? And like, how did you make that shift into okay let's go and, and start selling this thing and like be, become like a true evangelist.
B
Yeah, I was, I was selling corporate aircraft, I was selling jets.
A
Nice, nice.
B
So yeah, I was an aircraft broker. Would have been my title and I would help people either buy or sell their airplane. That's an industry where you work like three to nine months on a deal and if they go through great, if they fall apart last minute, that's rough. Eat what you kill commission based. It was tough industry and, and you.
A
Would have, you would have loved me as a buyer and a seller. So I, I owned a jet for a couple years and you know, I found the jet that I wanted online and just said hey, I want this jet. And we closed on it like I don't know, three weeks later.
B
Oh yeah, let me know when you need another one.
A
And then when we sold it, we got an unsolicited offer and we're like sure, yeah, we'll take and anyways, yeah, we were, we were definitely not your nine monthers.
B
That's great. What kind of jet was it?
A
Phenom 300.
B
Oh, I love those, Those are the best.
A
Great, great jet. Kind of a pain to own though as far as like not a lot of, not a lot of pilots that are type rated to them especially well in the area that I live, you know. And so we had to like our initial, we got our initial pilot trained and type rated to it and then he quit two weeks after we got him type rated. And I'm just like, dude, we spent 60 grand on getting you, getting you trained only for you to quit. And now we have a jet that we can't fly.
B
That's nice. I mean, yeah, it's such a, like, it's such an operationally efficient jet though. It is it anywhere. Their operating costs are low. Such a good jet.
A
It's a fun jet. So you're, you're selling jets taking all of a sudden cold showers and life is starting to transform. At what point did you say I'm going to walk away from this and I'm going to go all in on, on this cold therapy?
B
Yeah, I mean there was a little bit of overlap where I had like started the company but I was still selling airplanes. I mean with the company that I was working with at the time, I mean I kept selling airplanes all the way through. I want it like 20, 21 like every time because I bootstrapped the company. Every time we ran out of money, both personally or the business, I would go sell a plane. Let's go that was the, that was the path to funding this thing. And yeah, so, but it was. I started the company in 2017 and I went all in by 2008, team in the business. And I thought it was going to be one of those things where I knew people were going to buy the ice barrel. And I thought it was at first I thought it was going to grow really fast, and then it didn't. And then I was like, I'm going to need like 10 years to like build this thing. And then it did the opposite. It then finally like just took off, which was wild. But yeah, I mean, started out in my garage in Denver, Colorado, and then by to April of 2019, I convinced my wife we got to move to Ohio of all places, and scale manufacturing and production and vertically integrate the business. And thankfully she agreed to come along and it's an incredible journey.
A
So two. Two things I want to discuss. One is the business side, right? Like, you got a lot of entrepreneurs and whatnot that love to just understand kind of the, the behind the scenes of scale in that. But two, just like the actual product as far, as, you know, the benefits and everything. So, you know, you're scaling this thing out of your garage and bootstrapping it on cash that you're, you know, selling jets to to be able to float this thing. What was, what were some of like the initial breakthrough moments from a marketing, sales, manufacturing standpoint? Like, where did it like start ripping?
B
So there's like two different versions of this product because like we originally started out you kind of prototyping, if you will, but like also like doing a product market fit with an oak barrel, a white oak barrel that we were custom making out of California and that. But the idea was always, we want to create cold therapy and ice baths where you're in the upright position. Because nowhere in nature does a creature, a human or an animal go into the fight or flight response and then lie down on their back. So I'm like. And at this point in 2017, nobody was taking ice baths except like professional athletes, right? Or in like your high school locker room for sure. But I noticed that the people that were taking those ice baths, they were using the family bathtub or like a stock tank. And I was like, it's so counterintuitive to nature to take an ice bath laying down. And I took a big group of people out to this river. I told everyone to get in. I watched. Nobody tried to lay down, right? Everyone just tried to stay upright. And so I was like, I'm going To create a very accessible, effective cold therapy solution that keeps the body in its natural position. So originally started out with the barrel idea, but had a whole vision and strategy for the company very early on. But yeah, started with the white oak barrel, proved that there's a fit in the market and that we can crank through these things. Then moved out to Ohio where I was ready to mass produce these and I started buying the equipment and the molds and all the tooling I needed to actually produce this thing out of a very high quality plastic that I could also get recycled. So to date we've recycled over 500,000 pounds of plastic, which I think is incredible.
A
That is incredible. So tell me about like your, your go to market strategy. Like was it, was it influencers, paid ads, organic marketing through TikTok? I mean what, what was like the thing that, that worked and worked well and was measurable and scalable.
B
So from 2017 to the end of 2020 I actually didn't do any marketing other than like showing up at events. And so those were the years where it was like product innovation. I vertically integrated the company. So like we do all distribution, manufacturing, accounting, everything's in house. So those were the years where I was building the foundation of the company. Once everything was ready to really scale 2021 and it was like January 15th, I ran our first AD and then we had an incredible year. The next year we 10x the business, the following year we 5x the it was just like huge growth. But the go to market strategy was obviously paid ads, influencer marketing and event marketing were like our three top channels. And then we dabbled in podcast and a couple other like smaller channels, direct mail, things like that. Once we proved out the DTC model, the game has been distribution. And so how many drop ship dealers can we get in? How many big retailer stores can we get in? Since we control the manufacturing and distribution and we're not reliant on like China for manufacturing and we're not relying on like third party logistics. Like I can scale this company in a really unique way and so getting in a big box retailer just like makes sense.
A
Right? Right. And you know, obviously time in the market perfectly from, from a standpoint of getting involved in an industry that is just continue to thrive. Right. Like, I mean when you got guys like Huberman that are, you know, doing hour and a half long podcast and he's top of the charts about cold therapy, I mean that's where I really got like most of my education from was just, you know, guys, guys like him, two guys like Rogan who literally anywhere he goes. Have you heard of, heard about like his, what he does with, with ice baths where whenever he travels?
B
No, I have no idea. What does he do?
A
Dude, it is wild. So he'll go to a hotel and he will buy the hotel a new ice bath. Like, like he'll spend like 10 to $15,000 on it just so that he can get his ice bath in for the day. Right. And then, and then he'll like donate it to the hotel and, and so like he has his assistant like call, call ahead, get it all lined up, delivered whenever he travels. And so like he's, he's like a super religious, you know. And so, so obviously like having those guys pushing just the general message has been phenomenal. So you've really ridden that wave. What are your, what are your thoughts? Like where are we at market penetration? Is it going to be slowing down? Is it going to be something that lasts forever? What are your thoughts there?
B
Yeah, that's a good question. I want to, I want to stave off competition as much as possible. So we're, we've arrived. There's no more. Nothing, nothing. Nothing more is happening. But no, I'm joking. We went from early adopters, we're starting into early majority. There's 8 million non commercial saunas here in the US alone. There's over 15 million non commercial hot tubs here in the US and we estimate right now there's about 250 to 300,000 ice baths. Yeah, that's a long way to go.
A
Long way to go.
B
Yeah. Yeah. And I think the key is to success in this space is you guys. Like everyone needs to wean themselves off China. You have to wean yourself off the three Pls and you got to build a real business. That's going to be key because distribution is, is super important.
A
Well, you've done some unique things. I mean, you were mentioning you guys have an app that with your product. Tell me how does that work? I mean is it to remind me? Is it to timing? Help me understand that.
B
Yeah. So there's five phases to the app. We've successfully launched phase two. The app is designed with four things in mind. Controlling your chiller. So we have a state of the art cooling system that we've been building since 2019. We've spent like $2.5 million building this chiller. It's the first of its kind. So you can control that chiller from anywhere in the world from the app. Additionally, there's a lot of great, like, tracking. So you can track your ice bath not just for Ice Barrel customers, but for anyone in the cold therapy community. You can use your bathtub. You can use any cold therapy unit. You can use showers, like, anything, so you can track your ice baths. There's an incredible community within the app, so people can engage in the app, and the community piece is incredible. And then lastly, we have really incredible coaching in the app. Think, like guided meditations, but for your ice bath, depending on why you're using it. So if it's for sleep or improving symptoms of anxiety recovery, like, things like that, you pick your category. And then we have these guided meditations that are awesome.
A
Awesome. So speak to somebody that's like, just really, you know, has their doubts around this whole cold therapy thing, right? Like, I mean, there's. There's a lot of lovers out there, but there's also plenty of haters. They're just like, oh, you go take your ice bath and meditate and, you know, do your, what, whatever morning routine. So, like, why. Why should someone consider adding cold therapy? Like, tell us. Tell us about some of the health benefits. And obviously you. You've talked about, like, some of the emotional, but, like, a little more of the science behind it.
B
Yeah, I'll hit the science. But first, like, let's be honest. Life is hard. There's a lot of hard things we go through, and you get to pick what that is, right? Like, making a lot of money is hard. Being poor is really hard, right? You've heard this stuff before. Taking an ice bath is really hard. Being anxious is really hard. So, like, pick what kind of hard you want to live with. And cold therapy is a great hard that you can add into your life.
A
Life.
B
Some of the benefits. I mean, cold therapy is incredible. It boosts your mood and your energy levels something like two minutes a day. And you've reduced inflammation in the body. You have these incredible beta endorphins going off in your brain. You're doing a full reset on the nervous system. There's not a lot of stuff out there that you can do, like an ice bath that gives you, like, that amount of health benefits in such a.
A
Short amount of time and what, like, what temperature? So me and my wife have this battle, right? Like, she hates the cold. Like, with a passion. She's always cold. And so I like keeping my ice bath at the lowest temperature possible, which I believe the thermostat goes down to, like, 39. She's always trying to crank that thing up to 50am I am I losing benefit at 50 degrees that I could be getting at 39.
B
So, yeah, I think there's. When you put a lot of early or like early adopters in a new space, they just say whatever to get business. And here's what, like the science is saying anything under 60 degrees, like, there are benefits, but the lower you go, it's diminishing returns. Now there are like, mental and resilient, like, practices of like I. Right. That are helpful because you do build up a tolerance to the cold.
A
Right.
B
I've been doing this for a long time. I have a very high tolerance to the cold, so I like the mental struggle of going to the lower temperatures. But at the end of the day, if you're starting out in cold therapy, between 50 and 60 degrees is a great starting point for 30 seconds to three minutes. Whatever you can tolerate, build up a tolerance to it. Right. Get into the practice, find consistency in it, and then play with time and temperature down the road.
A
So why. What is. What does your daily routine look like with. I mean, at what temperature? How long? Long, how often? What. What does that look like for you?
B
So it's changed over the years. I used to be like the 5am Ice bath guy. I was also like the late night ice bath guy. Middle. I've done it all. But right now, currently I do 15 minutes in a sauna, four to six minutes in an ice bath at 45 degrees, and I'll do three rounds of that.
A
So. So you say that again. So you start with the sauna for five minutes.
B
You said 15 minutes in the sauna.
A
15 minutes in the sauna. And you go directly into the ice bath afterwards.
B
Directly into the ice. Okay, 45 degrees, how long? Four to six minutes.
A
Four to six minutes. And you do three rounds of just hot cold.
B
Correct.
A
So what, what are the, what are the benefits of that? I've, you know, I've. I've listened to, you know, the Huberman podcast, goes into all kinds of, like, scientific details of why you should do this and why you shouldn't. Why you. You know, like, I'm always like, afraid to do ice bath after workouts now because I'm like, oh, I'm gonna lose all the benefit of, of my workout because I did that. Like, so, I mean, I guess. Tell me, tell me the science between the hot cold and why you do that or what, what makes you feel good? Love to hear that.
B
Yeah. Yeah. And also the whole like, losing muscle mass if you do it immediately after it. Yeah, we're talking like sub 4% of, of the work that was produced that day. Like, it's nominal. Like the, if you take an ice bath immediately after a workout, you're not going to lose all your muscle that you just work so hard for. But if you are building muscle and you want to follow the protocol that's prescribed, it's four to six hours after a workout. And the benefits of the hot and cold, you get the vasoconstriction and then the dilation. So like, it's incredible for like draining the lymphatic system and improving cardiovascular health, things like that. Sauna has a tremendous amount of benefits and it is incredible how it improves longevity in life, things like that. But it also feels really good at the end of the day. It's a great way to melt away the stress to reset. One thing that we hear from our customers a lot and it's really interesting, we have a lot of first responders, teachers, just hard working humans and they love to finish a shift or some kind of work. And then the ice bath is strategically placed in their garage, right outside their garage. So they go from their shift strip down into the barrel and then they show up inside. And that like two to three minute reset for them just helps them show up so much better for their family when they come home. And that's meaningful.
A
I love that. I love that. Yeah, we, we recently just relocated. So I live, I live out on a farm and I have my house and I have my shop. The shop's like across the driveway. And my eyes, my ice bath used to be on the back side of the shop. Right. And it was just like such a mental fatigue to be like, all right, I gotta walk across my driveway, go through my shop, out the back door to there. And I can't do it after my work, so my gym's out there and I can't do it after my workout because I'm gonna lose, like, and so go through like all this battle. So we finally relocated outside one of our house doors and it's like kind of overlooking this space and so just making it more convenient. I like the idea of what you're talking about with some of these clients where it's part of the routine, getting home. That's really cool. What are some other health best practices that you've seen coupled together with ice bathing that, that you like or some clients? I mean, what are your thoughts on like red light therapy? Is it, is it just a sham to sell you more expensive equipment? What are your thoughts?
B
Yeah, I mean, I obviously I like trying all the products, like, I don't think. I don't think there's like a biohacking product or peptide out there that I haven't tried. So, I mean, I do like red light therapy. I don't do it a ton, but whenever I get a chance, I like the red light therapy. But I also like the things that are simplistic, that make us feel very alive and very human. And even when it comes to recovery, like just moving the body, stretching is such a great way to, like, get the blood flowing and help with recovery. I like going barefoot outside. I like drinking water. I like meditation. I like getting to good sunlight in the eyes. Like, I like the basic human things.
A
And have you always been into that or has it been just this transition? Once you started taking cold showers, then you're like, what else can I do to really biohack and kind of go back to some of those basic things of grounding with the earth and all that?
B
It was actually the other way. So I was very aware that I was in a very, very dark place mentally and emotionally. I had a pretty, like, wild upbringing coupled with, like, very high stress with the work environment. And so I was doing like, crazy two, two and a half hour meditations every day. And I would. I would do them on a concrete floor. And I got to the point where it's like my body became like, it was so wild. Like, the concrete actually felt soft. Like, I got really good at meditating as a way to try and like, manage this. And it worked in the moment. But as soon as I was done meditating, I was like, back into the, like, the spiral. But I had also tried a bunch of other modalities and diet, nutrition, exercise, and nothing was working like the way the ice baths did. So I've always been really interested in, like, holistic living and yeah, just leaning, leaning into like, what's human and what's natural and nothing. Nothing helped, though. Like, the cold did. And the cool thing about, like, the cold is, like, I felt like I got a reset on my nervous system after about like, day 90 of every single day I'm in an ice bath or a cold shower. It was when I stopped taking them for a time when I was traveling other than, like, in the hotel, but there were days where I would miss it. It wasn't like anxiety came rushing back, right? Or stress back. Like, I was super balanced and peaceful and it was really unique.
A
It's interesting. So I know you. You build up kind of this tolerance to it. Is there, is there any recommendations out There as far as like cycling on, cycling off, or is it something that we should be doing on a daily basis?
B
Well, I, I mean, I don't know how much research backs this up, but Huberman says you should try and get 12 minutes a week. Right. I personally, I am between four and six days a week taking an ice bath, anywhere from four to six minutes each time. So I probably, I do more than 12 minutes a week and I feel good.
A
Are there any little hacks that you use when you're traveling? Do you go to like certain spas? The different. Like what. What do you do when you travel?
B
Yeah, and thankfully it's getting popular now and there's. In all these cities, there's like these new sauna houses where you can go hit an ice bath and a sauna session and the community is always cool. I feel like post Covid, these sauna houses are like, it's a really like cool experience where everybody is there for a similar reason and the energy is good. And post covet, it's kind of hard to find big group settings where the energy is good. You know what I mean? Right. And so I like that. I like that sauna cold therapy culture.
A
Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah, it's definitely such a positive thing. I've enjoyed it a ton in my life. What are some of. Maybe the. Have you seen any new biohacking or new technologies that are coming out that may be like the next ice bath that could be paired up with that?
B
I think that can be paired with it. That's a good question. Somebody was asking me the other day, like, sauna makes you sweat and you get depleted. And so the solution to that is like electrolytes. Right. So I think like in the sauna space you're going to see a lot more like electrolyte type drinks come out for sauna. But the ice bath doesn't really deplete anything physically other than there's like this, like, how do you test for resiliency? You know what I mean? Yeah. And, and so I think there's going to be an effort to track recovery and resiliency through some kind of wearable of. My ice bath did this for me. I think that's going to be a big push here. One thing that was really interesting, I was part of a study where they took 40 biomarkers, they drew our blood and then we all sat in an ice bath. I think it was four minutes at like 39 degrees all up like right above the vagus nerve. And we then got out waited 30 minutes and then got those biomarkers retested. And it was like a thousand fifty percent increase in, like, norepinephrine and a decrease in cortisol levels. Like, it was insane, insane data. So I think you're going to see a lot more research studies come out around the benefits of cold therapy and, like, how long the benefits last. And then everybody's going to try and track that through wearables.
A
Right. Is there, Is there any science that supports the, like, an increase in testosterone or anything like that for. For men?
B
There. There are a few things. We actually have an article on our website that's fascinating about that. But the one thing that's, like, really interesting is our customers report an increase in testosterone, and with all these hormone companies out there that are, like, testing for testosterone levels and things like that, they're starting to even, like, recommend cold therapy. And even if it's like a 5% lift, like consistent ice baths, like 5% increasing your testosterone, that's meaningful right now.
A
Right. Have you gotten any testimonials regarding, like, certain health problems, whether it's like, circulation or Alzheimer's or, you know, different. What's. What's the one where, like, you shake? I. I'm trying to. I can't remember. Have you had any reports along, along those lines where people are seeing, like, drastic improvements in those type of things?
B
Oh, absolutely. We get thousands of customer reports back on how cold therapy has changed their life, both physically and also mentally. We obviously can't say that it cures or heals anything like that. Right, Right. So it's just the customer's experience. But yeah, we've gotten some incredible ones back. The ones that I think are really meaningful are moms that struggle with postpartum depression. I've seen incredible healing people with fibromyalgia. And then also all the depression and anxiety stories. Like, those are also moving and really awesome.
A
Yeah. And frankly, we're going to need more and more of it. You know, I was reading a book the other day. It's called the Anxious Generation. Have you heard about that?
B
Somebody gave it to me today. I literally just put it on my shelf. Yeah.
A
So do you have kids?
B
I have three. Yeah.
A
How old are they?
B
Eight, five and three.
A
Nice. My. I have a 17 and then just turned 16, 12, 10 and six. And so I'm not sure if you've had a chance to dive into it yet. But, you know, essentially the premise of the book is that this new generation has had their brains completely rewired through technology. Right. Just like the access that they have, the self comparison or the comparison and just all the different things that social media spawns off and whatnot and so forth and really just the anxiety and the depression and everything that has been caused from it. Like we are going to need more and more solutions around things that, that help us get there. Whether it's biohacking, whether it's controlling of our discipline around technology. Like I, I, I try to set up my life where there's just like where I can be disconnected as much as possible. It sounds like you're not even on social media, right?
B
I'm not, no. The only thing I have is a LinkedIn and shout out to Olivia, she runs my LinkedIn.
A
Good for you.
B
But yeah, no social media for me.
A
What, what's kept you, what's kept you off social media?
B
Yeah, the idea like winners focus on winning and losers focus on winners. Yeah, yeah. Like I just wanted to live a very peaceful, focused head down life.
A
I love it.
B
And the social media just was a distraction. Yeah. For that and so yeah, I turned it off.
A
Yeah. There's this, this little cheap invention that just came out. It's not anything in intense at all. All it is is a 3D printed like scanning thing that it's called Brick and it bricks my phone. And what it is is you have it like located in a certain part of your house and so when you want to brick your phone, which only will give you access to like the phone and texting, you go over there and then it'll literally shut down every other app unless I return back to that location, you know. And so I think, you know, there's just going to be more and more need for those type of things. Whether it's ice baths or breaking your phone or what. Like we've just become so like dependent on these things and creating like these crazy emotions and anxieties and stuff and depression inside of us that like more and more we're going to need you know, more extreme solutions that are going to somehow like reconnect us with Earth and each other again.
B
Yeah, yeah, no kidding. I also think it's like crazy, the inability to retain information now.
A
Oh yeah.
B
Because like people don't actually remember like the reels.
A
Right.
B
That they watch. Right. And there's like they can't recall them. And the information in there, it's wild. I think. Yeah, I think it's concerning.
A
Well yeah, I mean it's because we live in a day where you don't have to retain information. Right. Like every your Smartphone has made you dumb and, and you just have to know how to like go and figure out where it was from, not necessarily what it was. It's, it's a crazy, crazy world we, we live in. So if you don't have a social media, what is the best way that people can continue to learn from you or you know, follow your journey or anything like that?
B
Yeah, so the company has social media that's ran by our social team. So you can follow along @iceberrel on Instagram you can go to our website which is iceberrel.com I'm also. You can find me on LinkedIn. I'm not, I don't actively reply to messages there and then. Yeah, just reach out to the company if you ever want to get in touch and I'm always happy to have a conversation.
A
I love it. So what is the, what does the future behold? What do you have new product mapping stuff coming down the pipeline? Is it to get into some of these other adjacencies, health related, like what, what's the plan? Take this thing public and what we'd love to know what the future for Ice Barrel.
B
Yeah. So we do have a very exciting product roadmap. So over the next like 24 months we'll be releasing another roughly four products that are really unique in the cold therapy space. So we're very excited about that. We, we do have our eyes on some international expansion. We're probably a little bit early to that, but we definitely see opportunity and it also lines up with our vision of sharing the power of cold with everybody everywhere. So we gotta get the, the rest of the world colder.
A
So are you guys just currently in shipping in the us we'll ship, we'll.
B
Ship all over the world and we have ice baths in every continent except Antarctica. And so we, we do a lot of distribution up into Canada, Mexico, but really just North American focused. But I definitely want to open up a factory over in Europe somewhere.
A
That's awesome. You know, it's, frankly it never ceases to amaze me how just much of a bubble we live in in the U.S. right. Like us as business owners, like getting outside of our borders just seems like so such a foreign concept I have. So I'm a part of a Harvard group that where like 80% of my 160 group are outside of the US and like for them like going over borders is nothing. And it's just really opened my mind to like the opportunity that exists outside where we're here. It's just like, you know, so much centric. So that's. That's exciting. There's. The world is a big place and there are, you know, a lot of people that need ice baths.
B
No doubt. Yeah.
A
That's good stuff. Cool, man. Why I appreciate your time, sharing your wisdom, your knowledge. Exciting to. To see what you're doing in the cold therapy space. And just hearing your story is. Is phenomenal. What are. What are the last. Just couple pieces of advice from an entrepr perspective that you would give to a group that's wanting to go and run a road map like you ran.
B
Yeah. I. Best piece of advice I can offer is there's never a better time to start than right now. And then the other thing is, it's important to focus on your mission, your vision, and your core values. Get those laid out first because those will be your north stars when things go crazy, as they always do.
A
Amen. Do you mind sharing your mission, vision, and core values of Ice Bath with us?
B
Yeah. Yep. Our mission is to create the most accessible and effective cold therapy solutions. Our vision is we see a future where the power of cold therapy has enhanced the potential of everybody, everywhere. And we have four core values. The first one is to be wildly courageous. The second is to lead with the heart. The third is to live mindfully. And the last one is to be playfully curious. I believe that the highest level of innovation and creativity comes from a spirit of play.
A
Yeah. Awesome. Well, it's. There's no doubt why you've been able to be successful. I mean, just understanding that that's something that we preach. We. We consult all kinds of businesses. And just that aspect of understanding your mission, your vision, and your core values is like you shared the. The foundation to any great organization. And clearly that's the reason why you've been able to have lots of success. So thank you so much for your time, Wyatt.
B
Until next time.
Podcast Summary: Next Level Pros Episode #121
Release Date: August 22, 2024
Title: What's the Craze All About? Wyatt Ewing Founder of Ice Barrel
Host: Chris Lee
Guest: Wyatt Ewing, Founder of Ice Barrel
In Episode #121 of Next Level Pros, host Chris Lee welcomes Wyatt Ewing, the entrepreneurial force behind Ice Barrel—a cold therapy company that has skyrocketed from a garage startup to a $50 million revenue powerhouse within six years. This episode delves into Wyatt's personal journey, the science behind cold therapy, and the strategic moves that propelled Ice Barrel to success.
Wyatt shares the personal challenges that inspired him to venture into the cold therapy industry. Battling severe anxiety stemming from childhood and a high-stress career, he discovered cold showers as a coping mechanism. Initially skeptical, Wyatt remarked:
"I'd found cold showers as a way to help symptoms of anxiety... I was reluctant and actually a little bit offended at the time, too, because I was like, as if this is going to help."
[00:05]
Despite his reservations, the positive physiological effects convinced him of cold therapy's potential, leading to the founding of Ice Barrel.
Before Ice Barrel, Wyatt was entrenched in the high-stakes world of selling corporate aircraft. The unpredictability and pressure of closing deals on expensive jets provided the backdrop against which he sought a more balanced life. As Wyatt transitioned to entrepreneurship, he balanced both worlds by:
"Every time we ran out of money, both personally or the business, I would go sell a plane."
[07:17]
This dual approach of maintaining his aircraft sales career while bootstrapping Ice Barrel provided the necessary funding to nurture his burgeoning business.
Initially prototyping with white oak barrels, Wyatt aimed to create an ice bath that aligned with natural human physiology—upright rather than lying down. This unique positioning addressed a gap in the market where existing solutions were either confined to professional athletes or lacked ergonomic design.
"We want to create cold therapy and ice baths where you're in the upright position... It's so counterintuitive to nature to take an ice bath laying down."
[09:15]
After validating product-market fit, Wyatt strategically moved manufacturing to Ohio, allowing for vertical integration and scalability. By April 2019, this move facilitated mass production and distribution, setting the stage for exponential growth.
Wyatt emphasizes a phased marketing approach. From 2017 to 2020, Ice Barrel focused solely on product innovation and vertical integration, avoiding traditional marketing channels. The first paid advertisement launched on January 15, 2021, marking the beginning of a meteoric rise:
"Once everything was ready to really scale 2021 and it was like January 15th, I ran our first AD and then we had an incredible year."
[11:19]
Key marketing drivers included:
Subsequent strategies focused on expanding distribution channels, prioritizing partnerships with major retailers like Costco and Best Buy to enhance accessibility.
Wyatt delves into the physiological and psychological benefits of cold therapy, underscoring its transformative impact:
"Cold therapy is incredible. It boosts your mood and your energy levels... you've reduced inflammation in the body... doing a full reset on the nervous system."
[17:31]
Key benefits discussed:
Wyatt also addresses common misconceptions, emphasizing that colder temperatures yield diminishing returns and advocating for personalized approaches based on individual tolerance.
Ice Barrel's innovation extends beyond the physical product to its integrated mobile app, designed to enhance user experience through:
"The app is designed with four things in mind... controlling your chiller, tracking your ice bath, community engagement, and guided coaching."
[15:23]
Addressing skeptics, Wyatt advocates for cold therapy as a manageable challenge compared to life's inherent difficulties:
"Life is hard... Taking an ice bath is really hard. So, like, pick what kind of hard you want to live with."
[17:31]
He encourages consistency, suggesting that even moderate engagement can yield significant benefits, while also dispelling fears related to muscle loss post-workout, citing research that supports minimal impact when protocols are followed correctly.
Wyatt emphasizes a holistic approach to health, integrating cold therapy with practices like meditation, stretching, and proper hydration. He values simplicity and efficacy, often prioritizing fundamental health practices over more complex biohacking methods.
"I like the basic human things... drinking water, meditation, getting to good sunlight in the eyes."
[24:06]
Looking ahead, Wyatt outlines an ambitious roadmap for Ice Barrel, including:
"Over the next like 24 months we'll be releasing another roughly four products that are really unique in the cold therapy space."
[35:43]
Wyatt imparts valuable entrepreneurial wisdom:
"There's never a better time to start than right now... focus on your mission, your vision, and your core values."
[37:54]
He shares Ice Barrel's guiding principles:
Chris and Wyatt conclude the episode by reflecting on the transformative impact of cold therapy and the steadfast dedication required to build a successful business. Wyatt's journey from managing anxiety through cold showers to leading a multimillion-dollar enterprise serves as an inspiring testament to resilience, innovation, and the power of embracing unconventional solutions.
Notable Quotes:
"Cold therapy is incredible. It boosts your mood and your energy levels... you've reduced inflammation in the body... doing a full reset on the nervous system."
— Wyatt Ewing, [17:31]
"There's never a better time to start than right now... focus on your mission, your vision, and your core values."
— Wyatt Ewing, [37:54]
"We want to create cold therapy and ice baths where you're in the upright position... It's so counterintuitive to nature to take an ice bath laying down."
— Wyatt Ewing, [09:15]
Key Takeaways:
For more insights and to follow Ice Barrel's journey, visit their Instagram or website.