So, having learnt my “why” for getting into health and fitness, I’ll now explain my “why” for creating StoneWolf. Fast forward 18 months into my fitness journey, and my love of training and conditioning was growing by the day, I had set myself some very lofty goals for competing at various competitions – which began to happen when I qualified on a team for the 2019 Torian Pro. However, a freak injury soon after led to these dreams of being an athlete vanishing virtually overnight. My patella had a transverse fracture (basically a straight split from left to right across my knee) and I was told the chances of me walking without a limp were slim, and that running, weightlifting, or standing in a hockey goal ever again were pretty much zero.
So, as we all began to settle into the new COVID world, I quickly found the addition of being bed ridden with a broken knee was not a great mix. Although, without these times, I would not be where I am today with StoneWolf. And here is my “why” – I was living day-to-day in my various gym clothes, pulling on my shorts over the knee brace, living in gym t-shirts and Hoodies. However, there was a problem! These clothes were simply not doing what they were supposed to. Either the items made from comfy materials were strange fitting, and the items that fitted better were made of less comfortable materials. I noticed these things when wearing them for extended periods of time – and this gave me an idea. Instead of laying around in bed wasting the days away, letting my thoughts get the better of me watching Netflix, a friend encouraged me to find something productive to do, and come out of the other side of this with something I could be proud of. Although those far-flung dreams of being out on a competition floor may be all but gone, I could still be involved in this industry that I had learnt to love so much.
Having made the decision to pack up my life, leave a comfortable career behind me and move back home to England. My final few weeks in Aus were now spent, noting down various materials, clothing items, and starting my business plan – made slightly easier by the fact that being bed ridden, I didn’t have much else to distract me. I was going to start my own apparel business, I wasn’t sure exactly HOW, but in my naivety, this didn’t seem to matter too much. Don't get me wrong, I knew how risky a decision this was, leaving a steady career for the complete unknown – especially when everyone tells you that 99% of businesses fail, but this didn’t matter. I didn’t want to have any regrets, or any “what-ifs”.
Up next, I’ll talk about where the name StoneWolf came from, and why our core values of Strength, Resilience & Determination as a brand have helped shape every decision over the last couple of years for me, both in the business and everyday life.
