So there we were driving to The Shore Thursday night as the signal from WCBS 880 kind of drifted in and out as we listened to Howie Rose and Wayne Randazzo call the first of the Mets-Marlins series from CitiField. As always the guys were brining all kinds of stories into the broadcast, when Randazzo brought one up during Brandon Nimmo’s seventh inning extended at bat, which eventually led to a hit.
All fine and good, but was really interesting was the back story on the gloves, a small Texas company called BRUCE BOLT. It was a story that both my wife and I were amazed at, and were so glad Nimmo’s at bat played out long enough so Randazzo could go into detail, as much detail as apparently there is in the glove design.
You can read the whole story here, but in short…it’s one of a young entrepreneur who found a way to turn a challenge from his dad into quite a blossoming business by seeing a need and having the grit and determination to get things done. It has great thought, cause merketing, entrepreneurship, everyting you would want.
Some details…and they are great ones…
BRUCE BOLT is a family owned and operated family business based in Austin, TX. The company was started in 2017 by Bear Mayer, a 16-year-old baseball player who wanted better batting gloves and needed money for his first truck, a ‘93 Landcruiser named Jennifer.
BRUCE is Bear’s grandfather. He was an exceptional athlete and a great baseball player who just loved to compete. He still tells great stories about when he played, like the first time he took over as starting SS for his prep school’s varsity team. He had 3 balls hit to him in a row. The first two were terrible errors, but the third one he turned into an unassisted triple play – that’s BRUCE for you. And the “BOLT”? Well, that’s because BRUCE is one of the few people in the world who’s been hit by lightning TWICE and lived to tell about it.
When Bear started the company, he wanted to design the best batting gloves in baseball. But every time they would finish a design, they’d ask, “How can it BE BETTER?” Their designs…from batting gloves to protective sleeves, are handmade in small batches and have a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
Now how they got from Bear’s idea to Alonso’s and Nimmo’s hands was word of mouth, a little luck, a great product, some family friends who knew someone, and the rest has taken off. And how did they make it to the airwaves of WCBS in New York?
They showed up, hung around as guests of the players, got recognized and told their story on a warm July afternoon.
Great designs…servicing a need and a backstory that also sells. We asked Bear to give us more detail as well, so here goes, and check em out.
What’s the biggest surprise you have had in growing this business?
I would say the biggest surprise to me was how big the brand got so fast and how well received it was. I had started BRUCE BOLT in 2017 but really didn’t start selling until 2019. Over that one year period I was selling maybe 2 gloves a day and packing them up every morning when I woke up before school, and that went on for a whole year. It was February 6th, 2020 when a video was released by Whistle Media on myself and the company. The video took the company from 2 orders the day before to over 100 that day.
What’s the greatest lesson you have already learned being a young entrepreneur?
The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that it’s not necessarily what you know, but who you know. You can be the smartest guy in the room at all times, but if you can’t make connections with those around you that can help elevate you to another level, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to reach your full potential. You have to make connections and be able to utilize them as well.
Is there a mistake, even early on, that you guys saw and pivoted off of for success?
The biggest mistake that was made wasn’t necessarily by us, but by the batting glove industry itself. I wanted to make more durable, better performing gloves and the way I did that was making a real leather glove rather than the synthetic leather gloves on the market. So maybe not a mistake per say but it’s what I saw that could be changed and pivoted off of to get to where we are now.
While you are on a really positive pace, what’s the biggest hindrance to accelerating your growth and how are you dealing with it?
The biggest problems we’ve had so far all have to do with the world flipping on its head back in 2020 and still causing problems within the supply chain to this day. Getting some of the materials that we need that help put our gloves at the top of the game can be very difficult to find at times and causes production to slow down at times.
You have already quite the cadre of professional athletes. Who or who are a few, who have been your biggest supporters and why?
All of our guys are massive supporters of the brand. I wouldn’t consider them just athletes but honestly we are a family, as cheesy as it sounds. We make sure before we begin working with any of the guys that we like them, they like us and most importantly the product is something they love and will stand behind. We don’t want them to just be wearing something to get paid, we really want them to love what they are wearing. So to answer the question our biggest supporters are Harrison Bader, Ian Happ, Brandon Nimmo, Brett Phillips, Richie Palacios and many more.
In a time where social influence has become so critical, how have you used both the social platforms and word of mouth best to find customers both on the professional level and across the sports space?
Our social media is based around highlighting athletes who wear our gloves. Not just the pros, but everyone from tee ball to college. It’s really cool for the kids to see themselves featured on an account for everyone to see. It’s something that they can show to their friends and family and really makes them excited about the brand. Because of this, it also builds word of mouth not only of how good the product is, but how we give the same support back to our BRUCE BOLT family and that seems to be something that really resonates with people and shows them just how much we care about those who support us.
Do you have a role model in the business world? if so, who and why?
I wouldn’t say I have a role model specifically for business, but just really for life in general and the life I should lead. Trey Hillman, who is a former Major League Manager, has also been a close family friend of ours since I was around 11 years old. I’ve learned more than baseball from Coach Hillman, even before I knew it. I look up to who he is as a person, as a mentor, and as another father figure in my life. He leads the life that the Lord would want him to and I try to emulate that as much as I can in my business and life.
Cause is so critical to brand success today. how have you guys adopted cause marketing to the business plan?
Since I started the business, my goal was to have a profitable company that could give back to the community. We started with what we called “get a pair, give a pair” with RBI Austin. Starting this year with all the growth the company has seen, we’ve branched out to other cities such as Cincinnati, Chicago, New York City, St. Louis, Houston, and Tampa Bay. All in direct work with our players. We are extremely blessed to have an opportunity like this to give back to the communities, getting to see how it can impact the kids involved is a really fulfilling feeling.
Without getting into numbers, where would you like to see the business at this time next year? Any new markets, products or enhancements on the horizon?
I want to see BRUCE BOLT continue to grow within the world of baseball. We’ve set ourselves up with a “5 year plan”: we want to be able to dress a player from head to toe both on the field and off. Our goal for next year, which is actually a little ahead of schedule, is to get into protective gear, hand guards, elbow guards, you name it. After that we really want to finish out baseball with bats and mits. Once we have all of that figured out is when we will start talking about other sports, but for now we’re sticking to what we know best.
