For Cheney High School graduates Jacob Mager and Robby Stevens, a routine visit to catch up after high school turned into a business opportunity that would help them both down the path of entrepreneurial success.
Two men in seemingly unrelated fields working in two distinctly separate parts of the country have come together, bound by their hometown roots, to complete a project that showcases the best of both their skills — and may be the catalyst for even bigger and better things.
Starting out
Mager and Stevens both graduated from Cheney High School in 2011 and began working cooperate jobs, Stevens as an IT manager in Nashville and Mager in sales in San Francisco. In a meeting to reminisce, they each found out that the other was aggressively pursuing outside passions.
Stevens partnered with yet another Cheney graduate, Lucas Hathaway, to kick off his own media and video production company, Midtown Motions, about two years ago.
A friend wanted to do a cover of a pop song and post it online, so Stevens and Hathaway shot the video, which garnered more than 140,000 views on YouTube overnight. After being offered a long list of projects, including a two-week job in Germany, Stevens quit his day job and began working on Midtown Motion fulltime.
“We just kept saying yes to everything,” Stevens said. “The response blew us out of the water.”
At about the same time, Mager was conceptualizing a new venture — the creation of Bolde Bottle, a ground-breaking protein shaker different from others on the market. Mager calls it “transforming an outdated fitness staple.” At the time of the pair’s meeting, he planned to feature the product on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter but had run into a snag.
To place the product on Kickstarter, Mager needed a promotional video. And now he knew just where to find it.
Working together
When speaking, Stevens and Mager interrupt each other frequently, talking over each other in the rush to sing the other’s praises. The pair have known each other since fifth-grade, and played soccer together for most of their high school careers.
So working on Bolde Bottle’s promotional video seemed like a natural next step.
“Robby was the creative genius behind the video,” Mager said.
The two do not work together routinely, but thought collaborating on the same project could help their respective businesses take off even more. Midtown Motion shot the two minute, 13 second video for Bolde Bottle in San Francisco, and it was posted on Kickstarter June 25.
The coincidence of both men pursuing entrepreneurial projects at about the same time is not lost on the pair; in fact, Stevens said they quit their day jobs to start their own companies within the same month.
“I just had this gnawing feeling like, ‘If I don’t do this now, when am I going to do this?’” Mager said. “I felt like if I looked back on it, I’d be glad I took the calculated risk.”
Small-town success story
The risks seem to be paying off.
As of press time, Bolde Bottle’s Kickstarter campaign had earned nearly $176,000 — more than $140,000 over the campaign’s original $30,000 goal. The campaign ends Aug. 8 with virtually all funds going toward production and a first product run.
“Without Robby’s excellent video production work, none of this would’ve been possible,” Mager said.
The draw? Most protein shakers are made from plastic, which tends to react with the protein powder used in fitness shakes and create a distinct, lingering odor. Mager said that won’t happen with Bolde Bottle because the entire bottle is made of stainless steel.
“Our entire bottle is metal,” Mager said. “Everywhere the liquid could come into contact with the bottle.”
Stevens jumped in to add that the shaker is also silent, so the most other exercisers nearby can hear is the sloshing of liquid.
Stevens also has his hands full with ongoing projects. Midtown Motion regularly works with recording artists and record companies and is gearing up for a collaboration with popular band Sublime next month.
And the pair has advice for those hoping to follow in their entrepreneurial footsteps.
“Say yes to every opportunity even if it’s not exactly what you envision yourself doing,” Stevens said.
According to Mager, the biggest step in starting a company is setting a deadline and taking action: “The only difference between you and someone else is they’re acting on their ideas and you’re not.”
For more information on Midtown Motion, visitt http://www.midtownmotion.com. For more information of Bolde Bottle, visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118695001/bolde-bottle-elite-design-and-odor-free-protein-shaker.
Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].
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