This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tate Stock, founder of Chirp. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Back in 2015, I was doing laundry at my aunt’s house when I noticed this interesting-looking wheel. My aunt explained it was a yoga wheel. I had never done yoga in my life, but I was intrigued. I’d grown up on a farm, and to me it looked like the wheel was made from sewer pipe with a grippy mat on top.
I typed “yoga wheel” into my Amazon account, and the suggested text finished my phrase. That told me there was demand that the algorithm was recognizing, but there weren’t too many sellers.
I went to the store and bought $400 worth of pipe and $50 in yoga mats. I set up shop in my buddy’s mom’s barn and created 110 wheels. I listed them on Amazon and made thousands of dollars in the first two weeks.
That was the start of Chirp — my company, which has generated more than $250 million in sales over the past 10 years.
We lived on about $22,000 a year and reinvested in the company
I was 23 when I started making the wheels, and my now-wife Hannah was 21. At the time, we were living off love and potatoes, and pouring all our profits back into the business.
We were able to do that thanks to some savings I had. After high school, I did a Mormon mission in Fiji for two years. When I returned, my older brother was working in pest control sales, going door-to-door. I just needed to make a buck, so I joined him and managed to make $100,000 that summer.
That’s what Hannah and I lived off as we launched Chirp. We budgeted $22,000 a year, most of which went to rent. Although Chirp was bringing in big margins, we were reinvesting them back into the company. That was OK with us, because we were willing to live the lifestyle that fit our age, not our wealth.
Pivoting from yoga to pain relief helped sales flourish
Around 2018, I noticed something: Chirp wheels were designed for yogis — mostly women. But their husbands were using the wheels to roll out their muscles and crack their backs, and it felt really good.
I attended a convention, and on the first day, I sold Chirp as a yoga tool. I made a few sales, but not many. The next day, I sold the products as a form of pain relief. We sold out. When we pivoted our marketing, sales skyrocketed. We did $4 million in just six months that year.
Another significant breakthrough occurred in 2020, when we appeared on Shark Tank. We secured a deal with Lori Greiner, who offered $900,000 for a 2.5% equity stake. Ultimately, we didn’t close that deal — we mutually decided that Chirp had already accomplished many of the things Lori could help us with, such as appearing on QVC.
We’ve turned down private equity offers
After the show, a private equity firm reached out, willing to buy full or partial ownership in Chirp. Hannah and I turned that down. Accepting it just didn’t feel right. We still wanted to do more with Chirp, and we were only 26 and 28 years old. We started investing more in research and development, creating new methods for personalized pain relief.
Most founders are burned out after 10 years, but I’m more excited than ever to show up for work. I love that Chirp is founder-led, and we have no investors. Recently, I bought a pet chameleon for the office. It symbolizes the company culture — keeping Chirp wild.
I indulge in travel to help my kids gain perspective
Hannah and I have four kids, who range in age from 8 months to 8 years. We’re no longer just living on love and potatoes, but we stay fairly modest. One indulgence we have is travel. We enjoy taking the family on a cultural experience for a month each year. We’ve taken them to Japan, Fiji, Switzerland, and England.
It’s humbling to understand how other people live. I want my kids to know the world is bigger than themselves. Life isn’t just about you, and travel can help them see the world through other perspectives. That’s really healthy.
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