Flywheel Sourcing Client Spotlight: Meet Joe Faulkner-Edwards with PROMiXX
Are you curious about what it’s like to work with Flywheel Sourcing for product development, sourcing support, or overseas supply chain management? If so, you’ll get a bird’s eye view from this interview with one of our clients.
We recently sat down with Joe Faulkner-Edwards, founder of PROMiXX, to discuss how working with Flywheel Sourcing has helped him grow his business. Read on to learn more about Joe and PROMiXX and how the team at Flywheel has partnered with them to bring their products to new markets.
Give us a brief overview of your business: What is PROMiXX?
At PROMiXX, our mission is to help people reach optimal health and peak performance through better experiences with their food and nutritional supplements.
The word “experiences” here is key. There are an unlimited number of choices when it comes to nutritional supplements. But even with the best supplements — and the best intentions — it is very difficult to make healthy changes or build healthy habits if the experience of using these products sucks.
So we design innovative solutions for every touchpoint with nutrition, from storing and dispensing to mixing and blending.
To be honest, that’s all a rather pretentious way of saying: we make kick-ass shaker bottles, drinkware, and blenders for athletes and health-conscious consumers.
What do you love about what you do?
There are many aspects of my work that I love.
I’m a product person (and somewhat of a design snob) so seeing a physical object come to life from initial sketch to full-scale production really lights me up.
Then there’s our team and partners like Flywheel. Building a cohesive unit of phenomenal individuals, all working towards a shared vision, is something very special.
What is the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome in your business? What did you learn from it?
As a product person, I was naive to think that in business, the best product wins. But without visibility, you don’t have a business.
Now we’re fortunate enough to have an established audience and diverse channel mix to launch new products. But in the early stages, we had a real reality check when we went to market.
It took many years to build an audience and trusted brand. Here’s how we did it:
Created the best product in each category and clearly defined the value proposition.
Researched our consumer thoroughly to understand their habits and motivations.
Placed our products where our audience was shopping. In our category, this was Amazon, retail, and other nutritional supplement brands (with strong brand loyalty).
Grabbed attention with unrivaled design assets, packaging experience, and shelf presence.
Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of juggling…how do you stay focused or get re-focused?
Ask me again later on — I haven’t figured this one out yet!! I have learned to embrace the chaos, however. I actually think that’s the more important skill for an entrepreneur to have.
Do you have a favorite business book, podcast, or app you’d recommend to another entrepreneur?
Shoe Dog (Phil Knight’s story of building Nike) was a great read. It’s refreshing to be reminded of the reality of building truly great brands. There’s no secret recipe: it’s time, passion, and a lot of debt!
Tell us about your experience working with Flywheel Sourcing. How has their partnership impacted your business?
We couldn’t do what we do without Flywheel. We consider Steve Rosen and Gretel Brown invaluable members of the PROMiXX team.
When we started working with Flywheel Sourcing, we were still very much a small startup, with some success selling direct-to-consumer in the UK and EU. Now, 5 years later, we have scaled into a global leader in our category, manufacturing millions of units each year and selling across the biggest retailers in the world.
During this phase of rapid expansion, at no time was our sourcing and manufacturing operation a bottleneck. Flywheel made this happen. And I have incredible peace of mind in this area of our operations, knowing we have Steve and Gretel in our corner.
What is the #1 thing you have learned about business development or outsourcing from working with Flywheel Sourcing?
Pinpointing just one thing is difficult. But having your sourcing team carry the experience and perspectives of a national retail buyer is immensely valuable. When planning new product launches or new retail rollouts, Steve and team will always be one of the first calls I make to gain critical perspective and trusted advice.
Steve’s guidance and connections even helped us land a nationwide rollout with Target!
Anything else you’d like to share about your work with Flywheel Sourcing?
In the 12 years I have been building PROMiXX, there hasn't been another partner as valuable as Flywheel Sourcing. Being transparent, I feel conflicted writing this as I would like to keep Steve and his team all to ourselves!
At Flywheel Sourcing, we deeply value our relationships with our clients, and we’re grateful to play a part in helping them grow their businesses and succeed at what they love.
If you’d like to explore the ways Flywheel Sourcing can support your business — from product development and sourcing support to overseas supply chain management and more — contact us to discuss your needs. We look forward to partnering with you to grow your business and meet your goals.