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The Crossrope Story: From a One-Man Operation to a Leading Fitness Brand with David Hunt Ep. 83
Episode 8323rd August 2022 • Fascinating Entrepreneurs • Natasha Miller
00:00:00 00:31:01

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In 2011, I suffered a severe injury. I tore a pectoral muscle while bench pressing. I was shocked and angry at myself. Why, 7 years after college sports, was I lifting heavy weights? Now, as an instructor pilot in the Navy, I couldn't fly, I couldn't workout, and I had a painful surgery and long recovery ahead. I was consumed with sadness and self-loathing. 

Leading up to this incident, I was a skeptic. I'd roll my eyes at stories of silver linings and turning lemons to lemonade. Sure, there might be some good outcomes from a 'positive mental attitude,' but not in most cases. My first reaction was to dwell on my misery and irresponsibility. 

But I had an entrepreneurial itch. Was this the best opportunity to take a shot at creating something with energy, inspiration, and purpose?

During my Naval career, jumping rope became my favorite fitness tool. It was portable for all my traveling and always a fun challenge compared to boring cardio routines. 

Even better - I discovered weighted ropes. An amazing workout I didn't know existed. The ones I used broke due to terrible designs, but a seed was planted.

What about a Cross-training jump rope? Amazing quality with ropes that can be swapped to provide an awesome variety of jump rope fitness experiences ... 'Crossrope.'

I didn't have any business or fitness industry experience. Just a library card and determination. Many founders are touted as visionaries who saw the future and took bold action. I laugh because my experience has been the opposite. I began fearful of failure, but now Crossrope has far eclipsed what I could have imagined. That is a testament to the incredible team we've built that brings energy, talent, and purpose. Crossrope is definitely a different way to find joy in getting healthy and staying fit.

Though there are many influences shaping our culture, but I love our core value of striving for continuous improvement. We bring enthusiastic efforts to employee experience, customer experience, and product development, synthesizing internal innovative ideas with customer feedback. It's been incredible to see the life-changing experience shares of our customers, the successes of our team, and momentum of Crossrope. I'm filled with gratitude every day and excited for the path we're on.

If the idea of striving to become world-class at what you do in support of a mission to bring joy, confidence, and inspiration through jump rope fitness sounds interesting, take a look at our job openings or shoot me a note. We're excited to continue building an amazing team!

Where to find David Hunt

Website: www.crossrope.com

SPONSOR

This episode is sponsored by Entire Productions- Creating events (both in-person and virtual) that don't suck! and Entire Productions Marketing- carefully curated premium gifting and branded promo items. 

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Transcripts

David Hunt:

I would say to anyone out there that hasn't been through the

David Hunt:

process, one of the very best things to do is to try to get connected

David Hunt:

to some entrepreneur, some business owner that's done it before because

David Hunt:

they're happy to pay it forward and share the trials and tribulations.

David Hunt:

And I think most of all help them hopefully avoid some of the mistakes

David Hunt:

that are inevitable along the path.

Natasha Miller:

Welcome to FASCINATING ENTREPRENEURS.

Natasha Miller:

How do people end up becoming an entrepreneur?

Natasha Miller:

How do they scale and grow their businesses?

Natasha Miller:

How do they plan for profit?

Natasha Miller:

Are they in it for life?

Natasha Miller:

Are they building to exit these and a myriad of other topics will be discussed

Natasha Miller:

to pull back the veil on the wizardry of successful and FASCINATING ENTREPRENEURS.?

Natasha Miller:

My book RELENTLESS is now available.

Natasha Miller:

Everywhere books can be bought online, including Amazon and BarnesAndNoble.com

Natasha Miller:

try your local indie bookstore too.

Natasha Miller:

And if they don't have it, they can order it.

Natasha Miller:

To them, the reviews are streaming in and I'm so thankful for the positive feedback,

Natasha Miller:

as well as hearing from people that my memoir has impacted them positively.

Natasha Miller:

It is not enough to be resilient.

Natasha Miller:

You have to be RELENTLESS.

Natasha Miller:

You can go to TheRelentlessBook.com for more information.

Natasha Miller:

Thank you so much.

Natasha Miller:

David Hunt was a Pilot in the Navy and suffered an injury while bench

Natasha Miller:

pressing during his recovery.

Natasha Miller:

He jotted down some ideas for a business that ended up being Crossrope.

Natasha Miller:

We talk about how he worked part-time at first, what happened to the business

Natasha Miller:

during the pandemic and how they managed their incredible marketing.

Natasha Miller:

Now let's get right into it.

David Hunt:

I had some early entrepreneurial ideas.

David Hunt:

One of 'em was when I was a sophomore in college, I did jumping sports go

David Hunt:

figure, and I wanted to create this digital vertical jump measuring device.

David Hunt:

And I had taken some engineering classes.

David Hunt:

And I went to one of those invention submission corporation offices.

David Hunt:

The ones that advertise on TV will help you with your

David Hunt:

invention and I'm 19 years old.

David Hunt:

So I'm feeling good about taking the initiative and trying to get this

David Hunt:

thing figured out, but I just felt that kind of this short cut route.

David Hunt:

Something just felt a little off.

David Hunt:

And I know there are people that have gone that route and they get something

David Hunt:

patented and it all works out, but they wanted X amount of money for

David Hunt:

this and this amount to market it.

David Hunt:

And so when I got injured in 2011, it was difficult to manage mentally.

David Hunt:

But one thing that I did realize I had was quite a bit of time.

David Hunt:

And the entrepreneurial itch from that original idea had stuck

David Hunt:

with me through all those years.

David Hunt:

It burned like maybe that wasn't the right avenue, but I really wish I had

David Hunt:

created this product that solves a problem for me and all the things that I enjoy.

David Hunt:

And so I think the ultimate impetus to get over the fear.

David Hunt:

Oddly enough, more of a fear that if I didn't take this opportunity to

David Hunt:

try something, I'd really regret it.

David Hunt:

So ironically enough, it was the fear of not doing it that pushed me over the top

David Hunt:

to give it in a shot and going for it.

Natasha Miller:

So you were injured and you were in the Navy, correct?

David Hunt:

Yes.

Natasha Miller:

And so during the time you're developing the idea

Natasha Miller:

for the product and the service.

Natasha Miller:

I think it's both.

Natasha Miller:

Maybe you can correct me to me as a customer.

Natasha Miller:

It feels like both, but anyway.

Natasha Miller:

Yes.

Natasha Miller:

Were you working somewhere at the time?

Natasha Miller:

Were you on leave?

Natasha Miller:

How did you spend your time?

David Hunt:

Sure.

David Hunt:

I started working on it as I guess, a side.

David Hunt:

I don't know if side hustle had been coined back then, but in essence, a side

David Hunt:

hustle and it was a fairly serious injury.

David Hunt:

I was still active duty in the Navy and I still had certain

David Hunt:

duties, but I couldn't fly.

David Hunt:

I couldn't work out.

David Hunt:

I was limited in my capacity and that allowed me enough time to be able to

David Hunt:

start to get the idea off the ground, to take the nights and weekends.

David Hunt:

And it was actually a part-time job until 2016.

David Hunt:

So I launched it in 2012 and-

Natasha Miller:

Wow.

David Hunt:

for four years, up through 2016, I was still active duty in the Navy.

Natasha Miller:

What was your revenue like during those first few years?

David Hunt:

So the first year was about seven months and it was $57,000.

David Hunt:

And what's interesting about that is that it had actually

David Hunt:

greatly exceeded my expectations.

David Hunt:

I remember what I was going-

Natasha Miller:

What I was saying, you should have been happy about that.

David Hunt:

I was, and I went to go incorporate as a business and

David Hunt:

the individual, the accountant that was gonna help me with it

David Hunt:

said just rough estimate, ballpark.

David Hunt:

What do you think you'll sell in the first year?

David Hunt:

And I told him $3,000, that was my target.

David Hunt:

And you kinda have a little bit of that imposter syndrome and you don't

David Hunt:

know how it's all gonna pair out.

David Hunt:

And then the first time I ever used an accountant, I had booked a $10,000 loss on

David Hunt:

$57,000 in sales and he said to me, if I were you, I would never go on shark tank.

David Hunt:

. And I said, so that's a interesting, but random comment.

David Hunt:

Why not?

David Hunt:

And he said, because I don't think they'd take you seriously.

David Hunt:

At some point, you're gonna need to make money in order for the IRS to

David Hunt:

consider this to be a real business.

David Hunt:

And

Natasha Miller:

Right.

David Hunt:

that bothered me so much.

David Hunt:

And just it's the little experiences like that.

David Hunt:

I think make us resilient and motivate us.

David Hunt:

But yeah, started with 57K that first year.

David Hunt:

Wow.

Natasha Miller:

That's quite the comment from that person.

Natasha Miller:

And that would get me.

Natasha Miller:

I would be like, I'm gonna prove you wrong.

Natasha Miller:

I'm gonna do incredibly well.

Natasha Miller:

And I'm gonna go to shark tank.

Natasha Miller:

I'm gonna get the offers and I'm gonna turn them down.

David Hunt:

Exactly.

Natasha Miller:

That's exactly what happen if that, to me.

Natasha Miller:

So the next question I had for you.

Natasha Miller:

We didn't really talk about, but how long from the idea of your

Natasha Miller:

product to actually selling one?

David Hunt:

Yes.

David Hunt:

So I remember the dates fairly specifically, so I got injured

David Hunt:

July 1st, 2011, and I was, so I think I'm very cognizant of mental

David Hunt:

health and things of that nature.

David Hunt:

And so I don't want to use any like clinical term, but I was

David Hunt:

in a very despondent state.

David Hunt:

I was so angry at myself around the injury.

David Hunt:

And so in order to snap out of the negative mentality.

David Hunt:

I within probably, and I got surgery on July 11th.

David Hunt:

Within that first week, I had a notebook out with ideas.

Natasha Miller:

Wow.

David Hunt:

And the way that the process went is I was newly married.

David Hunt:

And I had five or six different ideas, frankly.

David Hunt:

I don't remember what the other ones were.

David Hunt:

And-

Natasha Miller:

I wanna find that notebook.

David Hunt:

Yeah, I know.

David Hunt:

I feel like it's gotta be somewhere.

David Hunt:

I gotta dig it up because I'm curious if any of them were any good.

David Hunt:

But what was interesting is when I ran the ideas by my wife, she's very direct.

David Hunt:

She's supportive.

David Hunt:

But she won't tell me something that she thinks that I want to hear.

David Hunt:

And the interchangeable jump rope idea was the one that she said

David Hunt:

that makes sense and could work.

David Hunt:

That's interesting.

David Hunt:

And so July 11th is what I consider to be, or shortly within that first week is when

David Hunt:

I formalized and came up with the idea.

David Hunt:

And then May 29th, 2012 was when.

David Hunt:

The website went up and launched and we had our first sale, so just under a year.

Natasha Miller:

Okay.

Natasha Miller:

And so are you manufacturing locally in the United States?

Natasha Miller:

Did you go overseas?

Natasha Miller:

What was that for you, that journey of discovery?

David Hunt:

Yes.

David Hunt:

Journey of discovery is certainly the right phrase for it

David Hunt:

because I didn't have any idea.

David Hunt:

It was at the level where you don't even know what books to check out

David Hunt:

from the library, cuz you don't know the right terms to look for.

Natasha Miller:

I love that you check out books at the library seriously.

Natasha Miller:

I mean we're such a goggleable society now that going to the library seems

Natasha Miller:

ancient, but it is incredible resource.

David Hunt:

It's a different way for discovery and the level of content

David Hunt:

that you'll find you still can't find it on the internet, the same

David Hunt:

way that you find it in the library.

David Hunt:

So that was my early business lessons and teaching on everything from, I

David Hunt:

drafted my own provisional patent the first time through, I would not

David Hunt:

recommend that upon anyone else, but you're trying to stay as lean as possible

David Hunt:

and you're learning along the way.

David Hunt:

And so in essence, for the manufacturing piece of it, which was a big challenge,

David Hunt:

I really wanted to try to make something out of preexisting parts and

David Hunt:

components to validate the process.

David Hunt:

I've seen others that go and they pay for the expensive molds and the

David Hunt:

tooling, and they take years and look for some I'm not judgmental, right?

David Hunt:

For some products and business opportunities.

David Hunt:

You have to do that.

David Hunt:

For this one, it was really Google search for handles that have ball bearings.

David Hunt:

It was going to Lowe's and Home Depot.

David Hunt:

And it was a really interesting journey that led the first version of it, to be

David Hunt:

made out of deconstructed, nunchucks and fishing, lure components and my cable-

Natasha Miller:

My dad is gonna love this.

David Hunt:

What was so interesting and then insightful is I had started to learn

David Hunt:

a little bit about MVPs and go ahead and put out something to validate the process.

David Hunt:

And of course the risk is if it doesn't work the right way, or if it's so bad,

David Hunt:

you might never get off the ground.

David Hunt:

But what was interesting is even though I was slightly embarrassed

David Hunt:

of this product and ashamed to say I had used preexisting components

David Hunt:

from nunchucks and fishing lures.

David Hunt:

It actually worked very well.

David Hunt:

And so when I started to get feedback on it from people that I didn't know

David Hunt:

that liked it and thought it was a good idea, it was very validating.

David Hunt:

So it started with manufacturing in my house.

David Hunt:

In my garage.

David Hunt:

I found a cable manufacturer all along the way, knowing that with

David Hunt:

this being a more premium product manufacturing state side, wasn't going

David Hunt:

to be a feasible long-term objective.

David Hunt:

And I was fortunate to get introduced to a sourcing partner over in China

David Hunt:

that we're still with and he, and-

Natasha Miller:

Let's stop right there and talk about how did you source that person?

Natasha Miller:

Because I think the barrier to entry is pretty great.

Natasha Miller:

I will assume that you weren't an EO at that point.

David Hunt:

I was not.

Natasha Miller:

So did not qualify where did you find this resource?

Natasha Miller:

I was lucky.

Natasha Miller:

I had one other Navy friend that I knew that had gotten out to go

Natasha Miller:

the entrepreneurial route and asked him they had done some interesting

Natasha Miller:

sort of 50 caliber based jewelry.

David Hunt:

So they gave a percentage of their profits back to veteran

David Hunt:

funds and things of that nature, but he was a helpful guy at the outset.

David Hunt:

And so he knew a couple individuals that had done some sourcing.

David Hunt:

They actually didn't work out, even though it didn't work out.

David Hunt:

I didn't know anybody else to go to.

David Hunt:

So I went back to him.

David Hunt:

And he introduced me to some former army guys that had a good experience

David Hunt:

with a sourcing coordinator that they had met in Chicago that lived overseas

David Hunt:

and understood the space . And so I think it was the confluence of looking

David Hunt:

across my network just to find anyone.

David Hunt:

That might have some leads that they can refer.

David Hunt:

And then just the patients to try to convey the vision-

Natasha Miller:

You could've find it from the library though.

David Hunt:

The library.

David Hunt:

Yes.

David Hunt:

And now I think there are more resources, but I would say to anyone out there that

David Hunt:

hasn't been through the process, one of the very best things to do is to try to

David Hunt:

get connected to some entrepreneur, some business owner that's done it before

David Hunt:

because they're happy to pay it forward and share the trials and tribulations.

David Hunt:

And I think most of all help them hopefully avoid some of the mistakes

David Hunt:

that are inevitable along the path.

Natasha Miller:

Okay, this is the question that I've been dying to ask you, based

Natasha Miller:

on my own experience with your brand, when was your tipping point of success?

David Hunt:

Ooh, that's a good one.

David Hunt:

And I appreciate the question.

David Hunt:

It's interesting because like I had mentioned when I was act duty in the Navy,

David Hunt:

at some point I had to make a commitment to go for it and to run it full time.

David Hunt:

And of course, as an aviator in the Navy and with a wife

David Hunt:

and kids, I had bills to pay.

David Hunt:

I didn't have quite the latitude.

David Hunt:

I didn't have a lot of savings.

David Hunt:

I didn't.

David Hunt:

Access to capital or parents or any of those sorts of things.

David Hunt:

And so the original plan was that I had owed one more year on my Navy

David Hunt:

service obligation and would get out.

David Hunt:

But after one more year, things never go quite as fast and smoothly

David Hunt:

as you think they're gonna go.

David Hunt:

And so I had extended for four years till 2016, and I had a nasty surprise.

David Hunt:

Five months out from when I was gonna be getting out full time.

David Hunt:

What happened was I hadn't paid myself any money from the business all

David Hunt:

the way up through the end of 2015.

David Hunt:

So you're talking three years into business.

David Hunt:

Still hadn't paid myself anything.

David Hunt:

And not only that, but in the first quarter of 2016,

David Hunt:

our revenues were down 20%.

David Hunt:

So I'm not a panicking sort of person , but I was getting pretty close.

David Hunt:

So I had a business coach that.

David Hunt:

You've learned a lot.

David Hunt:

You've done a lot.

David Hunt:

You have the drive to be successful.

David Hunt:

This may not be your thing.

David Hunt:

Maybe there's other things you can get a job.

David Hunt:

And this is my coach and I like him and I very much respect him.

David Hunt:

It lit a fire under me that I've gotta figure this out.

David Hunt:

So the tipping point was two things in 2016 and it was very timely.

David Hunt:

The first one is, and I don't necessarily like plugging things, but

David Hunt:

the first one was reading traction.

David Hunt:

I think implementing EOS for us.

David Hunt:

Yeah, there's lots of good systems.

David Hunt:

I advocate for any system that works, but for us, that one really helped to

David Hunt:

get a sense of organizational structure.

David Hunt:

And I think it helped to reduce the sense of imposter syndrome.

David Hunt:

It felt like we knew some real business organizational things to

David Hunt:

focus on and in doing so we got our scorecard clear, we got our metrics

David Hunt:

clear on what we needed to focus.

David Hunt:

And the second facet of that is that we had found these partners, these creators

David Hunt:

on YouTube, who at the time had a thousand followers were just getting started out,

David Hunt:

actually already had our product and liked it and entered into a relationship.

David Hunt:

And in 2016, they started to go viral on YouTube and they went from a

David Hunt:

thousand followers to 50,000 followers.

David Hunt:

And so the end of the story that year in.

David Hunt:

Yep.

David Hunt:

The end of the story and why it was a turning point, is that not only do we

David Hunt:

end up having 40% revenue, 5%, but we were profitable at a level that I was

David Hunt:

able to comfortably make that transition and onwards and upwards from there.

David Hunt:

So very, I still feel very grateful.

David Hunt:

You create your own luck, but there's an element of luck to the timing.

David Hunt:

And that was definitely present here.

Natasha Miller:

Okay.

Natasha Miller:

So that was a different answer than I expected from my vantage point.

Natasha Miller:

And what I'd like to share with you and ask you about is during the pandemic.

Natasha Miller:

I saw you everywhere.

Natasha Miller:

And I didn't know that you were in my Etrepreneur's Organization.

Natasha Miller:

And so you were just this like amazing product that just came to market.

Natasha Miller:

That was my, that's what it looked like to me and the ads were great

Natasha Miller:

and your, a buy was so great too.

Natasha Miller:

So I would've estimated that your tipping point or the big

Natasha Miller:

push would've happened during the pandemic, talk to me about that time.

Natasha Miller:

Have you ever thought that you should write a book that you should write

Natasha Miller:

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Natasha Miller:

Please go to MemoirSherpa.com and learn how I can help you write, figure out your

Natasha Miller:

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Natasha Miller:

Yes.

Natasha Miller:

In essence, I think the first one was like the viability tipping

Natasha Miller:

point and the second one was an on the map tipping point.

David Hunt:

So you're right.

David Hunt:

It was an interesting time and the perspective that we first

David Hunt:

of all, just to give a little bit of insight in the back end.

David Hunt:

I remember in March.

David Hunt:

There started to be whispers of COVID and what was gonna happen.

David Hunt:

And I don't know if you remember Natasha, but it was like

David Hunt:

right around, like March 17th.

David Hunt:

I remember like March 15th, 16th, 17th, there was the Laker that

David Hunt:

got COVID and then there was kind some of these big names.

David Hunt:

And so something happened.

Natasha Miller:

On March 19, we had an event planned.

Natasha Miller:

A $500,000 event plan for over 800 people that had to be canceled.

Natasha Miller:

Oh my God.

Natasha Miller:

So that date burns.

David Hunt:

Well, and that's one of the, I think really paradoxical

David Hunt:

things about the impact of COVID on different businesses, right?

David Hunt:

Because there's not really words to describe her and capsulate the type

David Hunt:

of experiences, largely negative across the globe that will go on

David Hunt:

and have second and third order effects for years and years to come.

David Hunt:

And for us and for some other businesses, that's what put us into this weird spot

David Hunt:

of wanting to be helpful and supportive and not celebratory of something that

David Hunt:

was adverse, but taking the perspective that we offered something that hopefully

David Hunt:

was a positive impact at an adverse time.

David Hunt:

And that the incidents of COVID really served as a megaphone

David Hunt:

for what we were already doing.

David Hunt:

We didn't change our tactics or our strategies.

David Hunt:

We didn't try to take advantage of the situation.

David Hunt:

We simply felt like we had a platform where more and more people were

David Hunt:

interested in this idea of how they could get an effective health and

David Hunt:

wellness and fitness routine at home, maybe with a form of training

David Hunt:

that they hadn't experienced before.

David Hunt:

And so really, from March to may, if you take mid-March to mid-May our

David Hunt:

sales 10x and its just like it's, I think it's hard for people to fathom-

Natasha Miller:

that's

David Hunt:

it's insane.

Natasha Miller:

Within the pandemic timeline.

David Hunt:

Yes.

Natasha Miller:

That people picked up on that because during those

Natasha Miller:

months we were still being told two weeks, couple more weeks.

Natasha Miller:

Maybe two months, like there was no like huge gloom and

Natasha Miller:

doom yet, but that's amazing.

Natasha Miller:

So let's talk about what happened the rest of the next couple of years.

David Hunt:

Yes.

David Hunt:

I think what I've put a lot of reflection into is that first of all,

David Hunt:

the importance of humility is because the pendulum always swings both ways.

David Hunt:

I think success gets a level of confidence that.

David Hunt:

Take away from innate humility, but it puts you into a position where

David Hunt:

you're focusing your energies in a different way on what the future holds

David Hunt:

on the decisions you should be making.

David Hunt:

And I think the reminder on the humility is useful for making decisions to

David Hunt:

remember that we don't know how things are gonna manifest in what's gonna happen.

David Hunt:

And so even though 2020 was a game changing year for the business, I

David Hunt:

think what a lot of founders and then particularly in the fitness space,

David Hunt:

particularly in the connected fitness space, particularly in eCommerce found

David Hunt:

that this idea of the new normal.

David Hunt:

Didn't necessarily play out.

David Hunt:

A lot of demand was pulled forward.

David Hunt:

So customers that you might have had in 20 21, 20 22, 2023 were all

David Hunt:

customers that you had in 2020.

David Hunt:

And so we're still very proud of what we've built.

David Hunt:

And we still feel that we are at a level as an organization and a brand

David Hunt:

that is likely above where we would've been and we not had that platform.

David Hunt:

And yet by the same token, that's one of those, I call it like the Peloton effect.

David Hunt:

If anybody's followed Peloton stock,

Natasha Miller:

I wasn't gonna mention it, but

David Hunt:

and I've got no qualms, right?

David Hunt:

Like I view it's rising tide raises all ships.

David Hunt:

Sure.

David Hunt:

I believe anybody contributing to health and wellness in whatever

David Hunt:

capacity is doing something positive and you have to face the realities

David Hunt:

of competition in a marketplace.

David Hunt:

But I think when you look at them as the bellwether in the space and you

David Hunt:

see the market cap peaked at 50 billion and it's slightly under four right now.

David Hunt:

And that may not be directly relevant to all other connected fitness or

David Hunt:

all other health and wellness spaces, but it certainly is a reasonable

David Hunt:

representation of the overall macro factors because people want

David Hunt:

to go out and travel and maybe,

Natasha Miller:

oh yeah

David Hunt:

self care is in different places and locations.

David Hunt:

And so we've had a lot of great opportunities to really refine

David Hunt:

and think through what our growth strategy is gonna be moving forward.

Natasha Miller:

Were you the highest revenue of all time in 2020 and 21?

David Hunt:

Yes.

David Hunt:

2020 was our peak.

David Hunt:

And I think part of the reason why is because we're very

David Hunt:

systems and production oriented.

David Hunt:

So we actually never stocked out in 2020 because we were able to

David Hunt:

ramp up production because we were able to sort out logistics.

David Hunt:

Whereas I think a lot of companies that

Natasha Miller:

Wow, you did had a supply chain shipping situation nailed.

David Hunt:

There were challenges.

David Hunt:

But one advantage that we had is that even though air freight rates

David Hunt:

had gone up so much, customer acquisition was so inexpensive.

David Hunt:

In 2020 that we could pay.

Natasha Miller:

That was a super toter balance.

David Hunt:

Exactly.

David Hunt:

We could afford to pay for whatever we needed to fulfill the demand.

David Hunt:

And once we were able to get production ramped up.

David Hunt:

So 2020 was a peak down a little bit from that in 2021.

David Hunt:

And we think that this year will be somewhere in the realm of where we were in

David Hunt:

20, 21, maybe down a little bit, but with a lot of exciting things in the horizon.

David Hunt:

And I think a conviction around the idea that this is a category

David Hunt:

expansion opportunity, right?

David Hunt:

There isn't an established jump rope market.

David Hunt:

That's a joke, right?

David Hunt:

Like it's more of this idea of could jumping rope be something that's in with

David Hunt:

somebody's health and wellness routine.

David Hunt:

Cause there's a lot of amazing benefits and we look to the very best experience.

Natasha Miller:

I watching a lot of incredible jump

Natasha Miller:

ropers that are doing tricks.

Natasha Miller:

And I follow this woman in London.

Natasha Miller:

Who's 60, who's just killing it.

Natasha Miller:

I'm not sure if they're using your ropes, but it doesn't matter.

Natasha Miller:

Because it's all contributing to your brand one way or the other.

Natasha Miller:

I don't know if she's using your ropes, but I know of your ropes.

Natasha Miller:

And if I wanna be like her, I'm just gonna get your ropes.

David Hunt:

I'm glad that you brought that up cuz it's another one of

David Hunt:

those rising tide raises all ships.

David Hunt:

And it's funny because there's a ton of amazing jump rope creators.

David Hunt:

And sometimes there's, it even seems like there's these little

David Hunt:

tensions and these little rivalries and this competitive element.

David Hunt:

And I wanna bring everybody together and say, Hey, there's

David Hunt:

just not enough people jumping.

David Hunt:

We're not losing out.

David Hunt:

Also to that end.

David Hunt:

Our focus within jump rope is really strongly in the jump rope fitness realm.

David Hunt:

And what I mean by that is that.

David Hunt:

You're implementing some form of a workout around the weights of ropes and integrated

David Hunt:

with body weight exercises in a way that's intended to get really efficient

David Hunt:

and well rounded fitness results.

David Hunt:

Whereas of course, if you're doing any jumping, it's good for

David Hunt:

fitness, but there's this whole realm of jump roping for tricks.

David Hunt:

And it's what on America's got talent and it's what you'll see in Cirque du Soleil.

David Hunt:

And it's all amazing things beyond what I could ever imagine myself or others in our

David Hunt:

community doing, but what it's great for, even if that's not our specialty, even if

David Hunt:

we don't make that sort of rope, is it.

David Hunt:

Inspires people and it captures their attention and it brings awareness.

David Hunt:

And so that's genuinely my perspective on it when I see

David Hunt:

anybody new doing amazing things.

Natasha Miller:

I just wanna tell you a little secret that I'm pretty sure

Natasha Miller:

you don't know about me, that I had this dream to learn how to double-dutch

Natasha Miller:

jump rope maybe 10 years ago.

Natasha Miller:

And to me, I just couldn't conceive of how you do it.

Natasha Miller:

And then I took a class and now I can do all these double-dutch jump rope

Natasha Miller:

tricks so it's my like secret thing.

Natasha Miller:

Now.

Natasha Miller:

I know we're not doing that with your weighted ropes, but it's relevant.

Natasha Miller:

OK.

David Hunt:

It's totally relevant.

David Hunt:

Yeah.

David Hunt:

And I love that.

David Hunt:

And I have a lot of respect too, because believe it or not, until about a year

David Hunt:

ago, I had never tried double-dutch.

David Hunt:

I'm like almost embarrassed to admit that.

David Hunt:

And we had team week and two of our team members brought some double-dutch

David Hunt:

ropes and everybody on the team.

Natasha Miller:

That's so much fun.

David Hunt:

Had a chance to jump in the fun is what it's all about.

David Hunt:

It's I'd call it like double-dutch.

David Hunt:

And some of the playground stuff is like the gateway drug.

David Hunt:

If you will, to jump rope training, cuz if it starts out fun and it's something

David Hunt:

that you're interested in trying, it becomes a habit that's more sustainable.

David Hunt:

So that's awesome that you do double-dutch and you can probably smoke me.

David Hunt:

We'll have to try it sometime.

Natasha Miller:

We'll try it next year at MIT.

David Hunt:

Yes.

Natasha Miller:

So I wanna know your secret to the social media marketing.

Natasha Miller:

Did you have a different team than you ever had before during the pandemic?

Natasha Miller:

Or did you find someone new?

Natasha Miller:

And if you wanna say who it is, that'd be awesome too.

David Hunt:

Yeah.

David Hunt:

Sure.

David Hunt:

When I had started and was solo in it, it felt like the world of the internet

David Hunt:

was the best place to move quickly.

David Hunt:

And so to that end, I became interested in learning about the various online

David Hunt:

marketing and growth strategies and got a little bit into the growth hacker circles.

David Hunt:

And you learn the various platforms.

David Hunt:

And I was so fortunate that early on in 2012, there was a gentleman up in Toronto.

David Hunt:

That had reached out saying, Hey, I have a fitness blog.

David Hunt:

People always ask me what jump ropes I recommend.

David Hunt:

And I haven't really had a go to, but yours looks interesting and different.

David Hunt:

And if I like it, maybe we can partner up.

David Hunt:

Interestingly enough, I knew who he was because at the time he had the most.

David Hunt:

View jump rope, video on YouTube.

David Hunt:

It had over a million views.

David Hunt:

And so I was thrilled to partner up.

David Hunt:

And so we did some affiliate work and then contract work.

David Hunt:

And then he came on in 2016 as head of digital marketing.

David Hunt:

And now he's our chief marketing officer.

David Hunt:

So he's been with us for.

David Hunt:

Full time for seven years, but we've known each other for 10 years.

David Hunt:

His name is Serge Popovich and he runs an internal team that

David Hunt:

coordinates on the campaign execution.

David Hunt:

But then we use multiple agencies across different areas.

David Hunt:

So in 2020 part of the difference.

David Hunt:

And part of what individuals were seeing was an expansion of the

David Hunt:

number of agencies that we used.

David Hunt:

And I'm happy to share names of anyones that we did or didn't use as

David Hunt:

long as it's not too long of a list, but I think it would be surprising to

David Hunt:

people cuz we used a Facebook agency.

David Hunt:

We used an agency for all of our Google and YouTube spend.

David Hunt:

We used an agency for our branding and industrial design.

David Hunt:

We use an agency for our influencer marketing at the time we used

David Hunt:

an affiliate marketing agency.

David Hunt:

We used a creative agency.

David Hunt:

We used a creative contractor and I think with regard to what would've been seen.

David Hunt:

Online on the ad creative.

David Hunt:

The influencer marketing agency that we worked with is called village

David Hunt:

marketing out of New York city.

David Hunt:

And they're fantastic.

David Hunt:

They had worked with brands like SoulCycle and some other iconic

David Hunt:

sort of consumer facing brands.

David Hunt:

And we don't currently work with them, but not because they're not great, just

David Hunt:

because as everything started to come back down to reality, we wanted to make sure

David Hunt:

that we learned that skillset internally.

David Hunt:

And then on the Google side for running our ads and executing, we

David Hunt:

an agency called Digital Position.

David Hunt:

That's been fantastic for us and they do SEO and things of that nature.

David Hunt:

And so those are two that we use during the pandemic that we still use, that

David Hunt:

I highly recommend and happy to make intros, but definitely great to have

David Hunt:

partners that you trust to understand what you're trying to execute on and

David Hunt:

then have an internal team that knows enough about what's going on to give

David Hunt:

the direction of those partners.

Natasha Miller:

Was it your CMOs idea to go out to these various agencies

Natasha Miller:

rather than try to fit all in one agency, because a lot of agencies

Natasha Miller:

will say, yeah, we can do that.

Natasha Miller:

We can do your SEO.

Natasha Miller:

We can, your Facebook and your TikTok and your Google ad buys.

Natasha Miller:

But really it is a specialty.

Natasha Miller:

And so was it his thinking that you should.

Natasha Miller:

Spread yourself out.

David Hunt:

It's interesting because we're also fortunate to have a very established

David Hunt:

and accomplished eCommerce consultant.

David Hunt:

And so he's been a trusted partner for about five years now and he works almost

David Hunt:

exclusively with consumer facing brands.

David Hunt:

And what is amazing is he has.

David Hunt:

Sense of the relative skill level and capacity of the various agencies.

David Hunt:

And then he has the blueprints from the clients that he works with,

David Hunt:

that have used them that have had adverse results versus good results.

David Hunt:

And so when we enter into strategic discussions, we look at our relative

David Hunt:

spend plan in the various areas.

David Hunt:

And a lot of times what it is, if we feel like we're going to invest

David Hunt:

enough in creative, in Facebook, in Google, in TikTok, once we feel the

David Hunt:

spend level is commensurate to I.

David Hunt:

Meet the prerequisite spend amounts that make sense for an agency he'll make

David Hunt:

the introductions and recommendations, but we're all believers in doing our

David Hunt:

best to learn and understand it at the outset and not just abdicate it and say,

David Hunt:

"Hey, we don't wanna know about this.

David Hunt:

We don't do that."

David Hunt:

And so it was a combination of the CMO, the consultants in my perspectives

David Hunt:

in believing that as those spends get high enough, a couple percentage

David Hunt:

points difference in efficacy from an agency that you can trust that has

David Hunt:

credibility can make all the difference.

David Hunt:

For instance in the outcome.

David Hunt:

And that's how we came about those decisions in 2020.

Natasha Miller:

The last question I wanna talk to you about is you have

Natasha Miller:

a successful business that really grew over the pandemic and it's

Natasha Miller:

settling into itself now, right?

Natasha Miller:

Cause you have to face the new reality.

Natasha Miller:

What is the number one challenge that you're as a business owner today?

Natasha Miller:

July 21st.

David Hunt:

I think in broad terms, it's interesting to have

David Hunt:

to manage a lot of inflationary pressures on the expense side.

David Hunt:

At the same time, you're recalibrating it for a contracting environment.

David Hunt:

At a very broad level, but it's not one set thing.

David Hunt:

It's we have a great culture and a great team and great people,

David Hunt:

but there still is inflation.

David Hunt:

And there's still a lot of pressures within the job market and they

David Hunt:

all deserve to be valued and treated and compensated properly.

David Hunt:

And so it doesn't matter that business is contracting in terms of the

David Hunt:

value that they bring and deliver.

David Hunt:

So that's definitely a challenge.

David Hunt:

The input costs on manufacturing, freight tariffs.

David Hunt:

The agency costs because the agencies that we're working with are also

David Hunt:

having the same labor issues.

David Hunt:

And so I know I rattled off a couple things, but I think it fits within

David Hunt:

this realm of, for organizations that are still growing quickly.

David Hunt:

I think it's easier to dampen the perceived effect of

David Hunt:

the inflationary pressures.

David Hunt:

Ended up being so insidious about, and maybe that's too harsh of a word, but

David Hunt:

about the massive growth during COVID, because I've seen and heard just many

David Hunt:

stories that through the best forecasting the founders and the leadership could

David Hunt:

have made, nobody can tell the future and it almost ended up, setting up a

David Hunt:

failure, as things started to settle back into what nobody could have forecasted.

David Hunt:

So I feel proud of the way that we are managing that right now and

David Hunt:

coordinating with our team and our vendors and still having a good

David Hunt:

year by it's all relative, right.

David Hunt:

By most standards, still having a good year.

David Hunt:

Yeah.

David Hunt:

But I also feel that challenge may continue for a bit.

David Hunt:

And so we're trying to be prudent and conservative on how the confluence

David Hunt:

of those two factors will help us to make commensurate and prudent

David Hunt:

decisions for our growth plans so that we don't overextend or over invest.

Natasha Miller:

For more information, go to the show notes where you

Natasha Miller:

are listening to this podcast.

Natasha Miller:

Wanna know more about me go to my website, OfficialNatashaMiller.com.

Natasha Miller:

Thank you so much for listening.

Natasha Miller:

I hope you loved the show.

Natasha Miller:

If you did, please subscribe also, if you haven't done so yet,

Natasha Miller:

please leave a review where you're listening to this podcast now.

Natasha Miller:

I'm Natasha Miller and you've been listening to FASCINATING ENTREPRENEURS.

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