The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan 601: The Couple Who Built a 9-FIGURE Brand While Working Full-Time Jobs | Natalie Holloway
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Oct 30, 2025 Natalie Holloway, co-founder of Bala—an innovative fitness brand known for wearable weights—transformed a $5,000 side hustle into a nine-figure empire backed by Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova. She dives into the rollercoaster of building the brand, from epic growth during the COVID boom to facing bankruptcy. Natalie shares the pivotal lessons learned from Shark Tank, navigating partnerships with lifestyle brands like Spanx, and the importance of innovation and protecting intellectual property. Now, she’s writing The Bala Playbook to guide aspiring founders.
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From Yoga Frustration To Product Idea
- Natalie and Max created Bala after a yoga class felt too easy and they sketched wrist weights to solve it.
- Max, a product designer, drew the first concept and they decided to prototype and pursue it while keeping full-time advertising jobs.
Bootstrapped While Working Full-Time
- They bootstrapped Bala as a side hustle while working demanding agency jobs and prototyped for about a year.
- A Kickstarter provided the $40,000 MOQ and they funded early production by selling product while keeping their day jobs.
Shipping From The Garage To Retailers
- Natalie and her team hand-shipped tens of thousands of units from their garage and even fulfilled Shark Tank orders.
- They delayed using a warehouse because it felt expensive and unknown despite shipping to major retailers.
