(with Hadley Miller, Christopher LaFontaine and Connor Hamilton)
The Backstory
I started seeing Chalk Pots around the middle of 2019. Right off the bat I loved the product and saw the gap that it filled in the market. People were used to large expensive chalk pedestals centralized in gyms or ultra-cheap Home Depot buckets laying off in corners. Chalk pots to me were the perfect solution for independent chalking stations that housed just the right amount of chalk.
Curious if there was any way AbMat could help them advance their plans I reached out to them on Instagram and got in touch with Hadley for the very first time. After a brief call of mutual flattery and learning of each other’s current positions, we decided to have a follow-up call a week later. A week goes by and Hadley gives me a call. I had gotten my schedule mixed up and thought that I was on a call with a different company. Hadley’s confusion left him speechless which made me ramble on for about 5 to 6 minutes about a marketing collaboration I wanted to plan with the person I thought I was talking to. After much personal embarrassment and a few laughs, I learned that Hadley was a really cool guy.
We ended up creating a wholesaling partnership and AbMat began distributing Chalk Pots in January of 2020. Since then, we have made a few slight changes to the printed design on the bowls and added a black color option, which is doing very well. Chalk Pots’ existence is a perfect example of seeing a need and finding the perfect solution.
~ Dylan Tellam
Director of Product Development
THE INTERVIEW
When did you create the Chalk Pot?
2018
How long after you had the idea did you start to develop the product?
6 months
What problem does the Chalk Pot Solve?
We found that chalk-heavy workouts, like W.O.D.S. with bar muscle-ups, often had us chasing down chalk mid-workout. We wanted to come off the bar, chalk up, and jump back on the bar. Second, at every Box we had belonged to we noticed chunks of chalk being set on J-hooks, boxes, and the floor. These chunks of chalk often got crushed to dust during the class, upsetting the gym owner.
Why did you go with the color green?
We really just liked the color out of all of the samples we reviewed. Needed a color to build a brand and logo around. Felt that green would stand out on black rigs. Always planned to offer other colors to give people options.
Was the Chalk Pot ever almost named something else?
Chalk Cup, Chalk Hive, Chalk . . . We tried a bunch of combinations. Creating a logo was harder than the selecting a name.
Can you describe your main customer? Who does it appeal to?
Any athlete who uses chalk during a workout. Gym owners and home gym owners make up the majority of our customers. Certain training disciplines like CrossFit, gymnastics, powerlifting, and Olympic lifting require a lot of chalk.
When did you know the Chalk Pot was ready for the market?
When it solved our problem of storing chalk at an arm’s length during workouts.
How long did it take you to sell your first unit?
Our online store was up for about two months before we had our first sale. During that time, we improved our images, logo, and marketing.
What advice would you give someone who is deciding whether or not to develop a piece of fitness equipment?
Test it in different gyms to gather feedback from your target market. Watch how people use it compared to how you intend it to be used. Build a durable product that will hold up in a gym environment.