Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sean Whalen, CEO of B Strong LLC., located in Park City, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

B Strong's mission is to improve individual health and performance while saving people time and stress on their bodies. Our patented technology improves strength and vascular function (circulation) and speeds recovery with 15-20min of easy, lightweight exercise 3-5 times per week. The concept is referred to in science as BFR, and we have developed the easiest, most comfortable, effective, and affordable system with guided workouts for getting "the BFR effect." What's been truly amazing is the breadth of people that are seeing amazing benefits for all sorts of applications. Some short examples include:

  1. People who are injured and trying to maintain strength or reduce atrophy during injury. Because the exercise is lightweight, you can start recovery a lot sooner, and you don't experience the loss in strength/fitness that you normally would.
  2. Aging adults who are losing muscle mass use B Strong to build muscle and strength more effectively and in a safer manner. This is because B Strong uses lightweight activity, so there is less chance of injury from the exercise, but you still get the strength gains as if you were lifting heavy.
  3. Busy professionals use B Strong because all you need is our patented bands, our programs, and your body. B Strong CAN be done with all activities (swimming, running, sports training, weight lifting, etc.), but you don't NEED equipment to generate "the BFR effect." The time it takes to exercise is only 15-20min so busy professionals can squeeze this into a lunch break if needed or take on the road and perform in a hotel room. I do!
  4. Youth and professional athletes use B Strong to improve their strength during sports-specific training or to save their body wear and tear later in the season. B Strong can be integrated into recovery days to speed up recovery after a competition or as a warm-up tool to get your body "game-ready" faster than a traditional warm-up.

Tell us about yourself

I met my co-founder Dr. Stray-Gundersen in the early days of the first company I founded, which developed the Anti-Gravity Treadmill. At the same time, Dr. Jim was a science advisor for the Nike Oregon Project and evaluated the unweighting technology for use with the Nike athletes leading the Nike Oregon Project to become our first partner.

Over the years, we stayed in touch discussing various advancements in the field of rehabilitation and human performance until one day, Jim was introduced to the concept of BFR. It didn't take long to realize the potential or the concept for changing the way people train, recover, heal, and generally stay healthy.

Nobody had optimized the technology for mass adoption! With my decade of experience in entrepreneurship, Dr. Jim's 30+ years at the top of the medical and performance field, and a cameo appearance from my dad (NASA researcher, Biomechanics Ph.D., and original inventor of the Antigravity Treadmill), we set out with the goal of making a system for EVERYONE. We are very fortunate to have some of the brightest minds in the fields of strength and conditioning and physical therapy continuing to test and help us improve our products and services. We view the concept of BFR as a full system composed of hardware and software ingenuity, scientific acumen, and vigorous yet simple education. One of our goals at B STRONG is to mesh all these components into a system that follows our basic goals of being:

SAFE, EFFECTIVE, AFFORDABLE EASY-TO-USE
VOILA! B STRONG was born.

B STRONG has quickly grown to be the tool of choice for thousands of users around the globe since its official launch in early 2017, and we are fortunate and proud to call some of the best athletes, coaches, doctors, physical therapists, and fitness-focused Celebrities like Mark Wahlberg and Kathy Smith, part of our family.

As the field develops, we are looking forward to continuing to use science, engineering, education, and our strong connection with the professional community to continue to make this amazing technology accessible for every human on the planet! Change the world! B STRONG!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

The coolest thing about B Strong has been being able to organically grow the company into a multi-million dollar success that is helping hundreds of thousands of people lead happier, healthier lives. Check out the testimonials on our website, and you'll see exactly why this is such a cool company to be a part of.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The most challenging thing as a business owner is not giving up. It's not a question of whether the going will get tough; it's a question of when that will happen and are you ready for it when it does. Planning and managing a hardware business over the past few years where nothing seems to function as it should in terms of the supply chain, product deliveries, shipping companies, etc., have been extremely difficult. However, we have managed our way through and never had a delay in shipment to customers of more than a few weeks, and now are back on track operating as we expect and as our customers deserve!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.
  2. Pick something you truly and really love doing; it shouldn't feel like a job to you.
  3. Always put your customers first; without them, you have nothing.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://bstrong.training/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bstrongtrainingsystem
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bstrongtraining/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bstrongtrain
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bstrongbfr/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.