Ask any entrepreneur about the early days of building a brand, and chances are they’ll all say the same thing: it’s not glamorous — it’s gritty. It’s jumping over boxes to get to bed. It’s dinner in one hand and customer chat support in the other. It’s waking up and refreshing your phone before your eyes are even fully open — just to see if someone out there believes in what you’re building.
In Episode 2 of Behind The Brand, we go deeper into the heartbeat of SQUATWOLF’s earliest days — the phase that tested us the most. The long nights. The tiny wins. The overwhelming doubt. And the random call that changed everything.
The First Order: A Moment of Validation
It wasn't a large office or a group of professionals when SQUATWOLF first started. It all started with the straightforward idea that the world needed a brand of gym wear that genuinely understood the grind.
In the beginning, there was a lot of excitement and uncertainty. A tense phone refresh preceded each morning in the hopes of receiving that first order. When it did happen, it was validation rather than just a sale. Suddenly, the dream felt real, and the excitement was electric.
The 18-Hour Hustle
It was chaotic juggling full-time jobs and building SQUATWOLF. Before work, the mornings started with packing orders. Answering consumer questions, manually managing inventory by going through boxes, and hoping we didn't run out of the size someone had just ordered took up the evenings.
There was only hustle and no system. We personally delivered orders, even delivering one to a client in the Burj Khalifa. Each sale seemed unreal. However, expansion also brought with it new difficulties, such as inventory shortages, cash flow problems, and the weariness of working eighteen-hour days.
The Breaking Point… and the Lifeline
We reached a wall after a year of slogging. Although the business was expanding, we were mentally and financially exhausted. We required a restart. In order to decide what to do next, we decided to take a trip to Georgia. Then, a chance phone call on a café atop a mountain altered everything.
Unaware of our difficulties, a friend inquired about SQUATWOLF and offered to contribute money. It served as our lifeline. With that backing, we took the risk: one of us quit their job to devote all of our time to SQUATWOLF.
The Lesson in the Struggle
Those early days taught us that belief alone isn’t enough. You need resilience, adaptability, and sometimes, a little luck. SQUATWOLF wasn’t built in a day—it was built through sleepless nights, endless problem-solving, and an unshakable commitment to the vision.
This is just the beginning of the story. Click here to watch the full episode. Stay tuned for Episode 3, where we take SQUATWOLF to the next level—scaling the brand, facing new challenges, and proving that the hustle was worth it.
Full Episode Transcription
[0:00] (Fast cuts of early SQUATWOLF days—packing orders, late nights, warehouse chaos.)
[0:44] "We woke up around 7:00 a.m., and the first thing—before even opening our eyes—was refreshing the phone to see if we’d gotten an order."
[2:55] "It was really disappointing. We launched the website with so much excitement, but no one else seemed to feel it."
[5:01] "That morning, it was a bit sad. No orders."
[5:17] "In every meeting, I kept refreshing my phone."
[5:32] "Then, around 10:30 a.m.—an order! I called Anam: ‘We got our first order!’ Goosebumps. Disbelief."
[7:24] "I couldn’t wait to pack it, ship it, and hear what the customer thought."
[9:02] "By the time we got home, we had a few more orders. Day one wasn’t just one—it was a start."
[10:31] "We put all our heart and soul into it. There was no other way."
[12:06] "Everyone asked: ‘Why would people buy from you instead of big brands?’ They didn’t see the gap. We did."
[18:04] "It was hard to switch back to ‘normal’ work. The to-do list never ended."
[19:12] "After launch, work felt like a trap. But the momentum kept building."
[20:21] "The real hustle started—orders piled up. We’d eat dinner with one hand, type support chats with the other."
[21:54] "No inventory system. We’d pray: ‘Please let the size they ordered be in stock.’"
[22:58] "Everything was manual. Digging through boxes, sold-out panic."
[23:17] "Our house was a mess. Jumping over boxes to reach the bedroom."
[24:48] "The security guy asked for our ‘move-out form.’ We laughed: ‘We’re not leaving—we’re building.’"
[26:02] "Someone in our building ordered. We hand-delivered it—they had no idea we were the founders."
[28:22] "Every morning: drop off orders, then rush to work."
[29:59] "An order from Burj Khalifa! Someone would wear SQUATWOLF in the tallest building on earth."
[32:44] *"For 3 months, we worked 18-hour days. Jobs by day, SQUATWOLF by night—product, delivery, support."*
[37:14] "Frustration hit. Not regret—just exhaustion. The demand outpaced us."
[38:53] "No cash left. Savings gone. Stock running out. How do we reorder with no money?"
[39:59] "First lesson: cash flow ≠ profit. Anam showed me the books. ‘Sales and cash are different!’"
[40:26] "We argued: ‘The P&L says profit, but the bank’s empty—how?!’"
[42:49] "After 12 months, we paused. Posted a delay notice on the website and booked a trip to Georgia."
[43:47] "On a mountain café, the phone rang. A friend: ‘I see what you’re doing—what’s your plan?’"
[46:34] "Investment secured. Now, who quits their job? We chose logic: ‘Keep the higher salary as backup.’"
[50:41] "Telling my dad I was leaving my job? Hardest call. His response: ‘No, you shouldn’t.’"
Stay tuned for Episode 3: Scaling the dream
