Meet Sean Morrissey and Nolan Kahal Co-founders SaunaBox

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sean Morrissey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

I believe that if you don’t take risks, it’s nearly impossible to achieve anything extraordinary. For me, I always wanted to start my own business, and while that is risky, I thought it was also a risk to never know what my life could have looked like if I didn’t pursue that passion.

In the context of business, Nolan (my co-founder) and I have always agreed that we are more scared of looking back with regret that we did not take enough risks than we are scared of the risk of losing time or money. You can’t compete with big companies and separate yourself from the noise unless you take risks – if you swing enough times, you’re bound to hit a homerun eventually (hopefully, right?).

Nolan and I have both always been inherently risky and that has had a massive impact on our chosen career paths. Over the last couple years, we learned we had very similar hobbies growing up – specifically action sports like downhill skateboarding/surfing/BMXing/etc. beyond just our conventional regulation sports too. It makes it easier to see how that side of us has transpired into our career choices.

To be honest, I thought quitting my job and starting a business would be the riskiest decision I would make because it could fail right away. But, that initial decision is only followed by continuously riskier decisions. Let’s say you use your savings to bootstrap your first inventory order and then completely sell out. Now, do you risk all of the money you just made to double down and scale or do you play it safe and take some profit?

That cycle never ends because the stakes get higher – whether it means going into retail, signing big brand partnerships, etc. – so you have no choice but to become comfortable with the risk or it just wouldn’t be enjoyable to do what we do. It definitely is not for everybody but we would not be here if we didn’t take the risks other people wouldn’t, which gives us an edge over others who might be too calculated to take those risks – you have to be irrationally optimistic to start your own business when you know 90% fail.

Granted, we’re 25 and 26 years old and view this as a time in our lives to take risks to pursue our dreams but acknowledge that our risk tolerance will continue to evolve.

What should our readers know about your business?

We are on a mission to make wellness products affordable and accessible to everybody. We are very proud that we’ve been able to sell over 20,000 units in our first year in business and truly change the lives of people around the country by providing products to people that previously never had access to do so. When we can help change the lives of millions of people around the world, we will feel satisfied.

Getting to this level in our business has been everything but smooth – it has been a rollercoaster of challenges, achievements, setbacks, and everything in between. Since college, we spent the last few years learning and failing by launching other businesses that ultimately acted like stepping stones to get to where we are today – some businesses failed, some succeeded – but with each one, we have been able to improve our craft and become better business operators to prepare us to succeed when the right business idea entered our minds. This allowed us to scale very quickly because we had built skillsets that enabled us to overcome challenges and bypass learning curves we had encountered previously.

For any brand, it has never been as easy as it is today to get knocked off – fraudulent online sellers and dropshippers are consistently trying to duplicate our website and offer a product that looks similar, but in reality, nothing shows up to the customer’s door or whatever does show up does not compare in quality. Cutting through that noise and differentiating ourselves while being a solely direct-to-consumer business has been challenging and overwhelming at times, which is why we have invested so much energy into our branding and our product quality. Regardless of who enters the market, we know that we will be different by providing the highest quality products on the market because we’re a brand that people can trust. We will always continue to improve, innovate, and only provide products that we are truly proud to put into the market to represent our brand.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I live in Venice Beach where we are surrounded by endless things to do – so we would have to start it off with a coffee stroll down the boardwalk to see where the morning goes. I grew up surfing and love to get active, so we would have to hop in the water for a few waves. Then, I would definitely pop onto main street to grab lunch and a beer in Santa Monica (pro tip: Ashland Hill does a great happy hour during the week).

If there’s enough time, I think everybody visiting LA needs to catch a view of the sunset at the Getty. That being said, my personal favorite thing to do around Venice/SM is bring a hammock down to South Beach Park for a picnic and sunset – nothing beats it and you’re guaranteed to always be entertained by the endless foot traffic.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am not sure if I am allowed to shoutout my co-founder Nolan here – but that is hands down the obvious choice. He is a workhorse and I can’t imagine a better business partner and friend over the last few years.

I would not be where I am without my mom, dad, and brother. Many people do not have their family’s support and I am beyond lucky that I do. This rollercoaster would not be as fun without them onboard. It makes it much easier to take risks when you know that you have a support system if the bottom falls out.

Daniel Rutberg, Steve Weiss, and Tessa Cohen are people who have been unbelievably generous in giving advice (both personal and career-focused) and always offering a helping hand when I have been young in my career without much to offer in return. I will always remember to pay it forward.

Website: https://saunabox.com/

Instagram: @thesaunabox

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sean-r-morrissey11

Image Credits
NA. Feel free to use any images on our website as well!