WellnessSpace Brands' Paul Lunter on Cold Plunges, Red Light Saunas, and the Business of Recovery

Paul Lunter didn't start out trying to build a wellness empire — he was in construction, watched someone in pain step in and out of the shower for relief, and built a machine instead. Thirty-seven years later, that machine (HydroMassage) has grown into WellnessSpace Brands: five product lines, 400 million sessions delivered, and installations in 50+ countries at Planet Fitness, Life Time, Gold's Gym, and beyond. Lunter walks Eric Malzone through the company's medical-market origins, the R&D behind machines like the PolarWave Dry Plunge and the company's newest RedZone sauna which uses no wood, and why he thinks recovery is a permanent industry shift rather than another fitness fad. Key Takeaways 🛠️ Paul Lunter built the first HydroMassage machine in 1989 after watching someone step in and out of the shower for pain relief multiple times a day — before recovery was even a category 🏥 The brand started as "Aquamed" selling into chiropractors, physical therapy, and pain management clinics — Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic are both longtime customers 📊 WellnessSpace Brands has delivered over 400 million sessions across 50+ countries and sold roughly 30,000 machines in the last eight years ❄️ Lunter built the first dry cold plunge prototype in 1992 — decades before cold plunging became mainstream 💰 When a Snap Fitness location raised membership dues by $10 after adding Wellness Space products, it lost only 2 members while 210 signed up for the add-on — a case study in pricing power 🏋️ Some Life Time locations run their equipment roughly 5,000 hours a year, out of a possible 8,000 — near-constant usage 🧖 The company's newest sauna uses no wood (to avoid bacteria and odor), circulates air for even heat, and layers in red light therapy at 630 and 850 nanometer wavelengths 💼 WellnessSpace Brands was self-funded until 2006, brought in private equity (Ilarion Partners), and has partnered with North Castle Partners since 2016 — now hiring aggressively after growing headcount by 60 this year