Additional Coverage:
- When I started my company, my wife and I were in our 20s. Ten years later, we’ve made over $250 million in sales. (businessinsider.com)
From PVC Pipe to Pain Relief Powerhouse: How One Utah Couple Built a $250M Empire
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – What started with a curious glance at a yoga wheel and $450 worth of materials has blossomed into Chirp, a wellness company that has generated over $250 million in sales in a decade. Meet Tate Stock, founder of Chirp, who, alongside his wife Hannah, transformed humble beginnings into a major player in the pain relief market.
Back in 2015, Stock, then 23, was doing laundry at his aunt’s house when a “yoga wheel” caught his eye. A farm kid with no prior yoga experience, he saw what looked like “sewer pipe with a grippy mat on top.” A quick Amazon search confirmed his hunch – demand was there, but sellers were few.
Armed with $400 in PVC pipe and $50 in yoga mats, Stock set up shop in a friend’s barn, crafting 110 wheels. Within two weeks of listing them on Amazon, he’d made thousands, marking the unofficial birth of Chirp.
Living Lean, Growing Big
Stock and his then-girlfriend, Hannah, were a lean, mean, entrepreneurial machine. Living on a modest $22,000 a year, largely supported by $100,000 Stock had earned from door-to-door pest control sales after a two-year mission in Fiji, every profit dollar was reinvested into the budding business. “We were living off love and potatoes,” Stock quipped, emphasizing their willingness to “live the lifestyle that fit our age, not our wealth.”
A Painful Pivot to Success
Around 2018, Stock observed a crucial trend: while Chirp wheels were marketed for yogis, husbands were increasingly using them for back pain relief. A convention experiment confirmed his theory.
Selling the wheels as a yoga tool yielded few sales, but repositioning them as a pain relief solution led to a complete sell-out. This strategic pivot sent sales soaring, raking in $4 million in just six months that year.
The company’s profile surged further in 2020 with an appearance on Shark Tank. While they secured a deal with Lori Greiner for $900,000 for a 2.5% equity stake, the deal ultimately wasn’t finalized. Both parties mutually agreed that Chirp had already achieved many of the milestones Greiner could assist with, such as QVC exposure.
Staying True to Their Roots
Despite the lucrative offers, including those from private equity firms seeking full or partial ownership, the Stocks have consistently turned them down. “Accepting it just didn’t feel right,” Stock explained, highlighting their desire to continue growing Chirp on their own terms. At 26 and 28 at the time of these offers, they felt they had more to accomplish.
Today, Chirp remains founder-led and investor-free, a testament to their independent spirit. Stock, now 10 years in, says he’s more enthusiastic than ever, even acquiring a pet chameleon for the office to symbolize the company’s “wild” culture.
Beyond the Business: Family and Perspective
No longer subsisting on just love and potatoes, Tate and Hannah, now parents to four children ranging from 8 months to 8 years old, prioritize unique family experiences. One indulgence is an annual month-long cultural trip, having taken their children to Japan, Fiji, Switzerland, and England.
“It’s humbling to understand how other people live,” Stock stated, emphasizing his desire for his children to grasp that “the world is bigger than themselves.” For the Stocks, travel is a vital tool for fostering perspective and a healthy understanding of one’s place in the world.