169. Max Kislevitz, Co-founder of Bala

Today, I'm joined by Max Kislevitz, co-founder of Bala, maker of design-focused functional fitness accessories. Founded in 2018, Max and his wife Natalie took on Bala as a side project with the goal of making ankle and arm weights more practical and attractive. Their creation: weighted accessories called Bangles. After appearing on Shark Tank and hosting successful retail pop-ups, Bala has become a rapidly growing business, selling a variety of at-home fitness accessories and launching a digital fitness platform, Balacize. In this episode, we discuss the company's design-forward approach to fitness equipment, and Max shares the company's vision to "Balaify" fitness for all ages and ability levels. In this episode, you'll learn: • How Bala started as a side project and turned into a booming business • The role Shark Tank played in its exponential growth • Bala's plan to double their product line in the coming year Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider/ Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:17) About Bala (02:41) Bala's journey (03:48) Max's journey to starting Bala (05:25) Marketing strategies (10:09) Bala's growth during the  pandemic (11:40) Shark Tank (14:30) Iterative approach to business (15:46) The team (17:21) Future growth plans (19:51) Bala's products (22:28) Brand marketing (25:12) Building a fitness brand that resonates with people  (26:27) Bala's vision (28:18) Future roadmap (30:31) New products to look out for (31:33) Conclusion