Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Nathan Towry, Founder and CEO of Neuflect, located in Portland, OR, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are a new business started to address a massive opportunity in the sport and physical healing/movement space – connecting people to their bodies in new ways! We are just weeks away from launching our private beta for Frame, our digital platform designed to help Movement Professionals communicate with their clients in a totally novel way. Frame lets clients see trainers and therapists demonstrate the exercise and then see the trainer's / therapist's movement side-by-side on their own video so they can mirror proper form in real-time and remotely when they are alone again. They can also see themselves from the side, or any other angle, without breaking form. Frame hacks the client's mirror neurons so they can strengthen the connection between mind and body.
Want to see how it works? Check out this introduction video on YouTube!
Frame by Neuflect is a digital platform designed by a Movement Professional for Movement Professionals. When we think about Movement Professionals, we include personal trainers, physical therapists, yoga instructors, coaches, and more. Movement Professionals (we say 'MPs) establish an account with Neuflect and then download Frame onto the mobile devices they already own – mobile phones, tablets, laptops, etc. MPs subscribe to Frame for a monthly fee and can invite as many clients/students as they like onto the platform for free! Clients get an enhanced experience working with their MPs and Frame together.
As a new start-up company with a fresh product, we are excited about our next steps for the business. We have an incredible team and can't wait to deliver Frame to the marketplace. Building Neuflect and Frame has been an insane learning experience and has taken me places I could have never imagined.
Tell us about yourself
I have been a Movement Professional for over 20 years and have serviced more than 13,000 sessions with clients. In that amount of time, you learn a thing or two about people, movement, and the psychology of changing behavior. I just happened to be the kind of person who likes to continuously improve and solve problems when I see them. I think that's what makes a great entrepreneur: we see problems and want to solve them and, in the process, discover new problems and new solutions.
My industry has a big problem that we all take for granted: we see our clients from perspectives they cannot, and then we correct them on their form and movement from our perspective, not their own. Our clients have to interpret what we are saying, perceive their bodies in three-dimensional space, and then use their brains to piece the two together and make the adjustments. Often, the results are comically disconnected.
One day I found myself wishing that my client could simply see what I was seeing…and then I realized that they could, with a bit of technology. The solution was almost too simple – I connected to their mobile phone using live video, put their phone in front of them, and then used my camera to show them my perspective. Instantly, they could see their body move, feel the correction, and make the EXACT adjustment I had been trying to communicate to them! A breakthrough moment that was profoundly effective. "I should buy an app that utilizes this technology and start using it with all my clients." And then I made an odd discovery: I could not find ANY app for this purpose, none.
Video conferencing kind of work, but it was clunky, one-dimensional, and many of my clients had Android phones. Finally, I did the one thing that separates us from the crowd – I decided to build the solution I needed and share it with my Movement Professional colleagues around the world. I became an entrepreneur.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I took action. So many great ideas die on the back of a napkin and never see the light of day. Really smart people can see all the massive complexity and challenge it will take to go from idea to reality. Entrepreneurs are simply persistent enough (or hard-headed enough) to chip away at the problem, no matter how complex or challenging it might be.
If I had chosen to look at the mountain top instead of taking the first step, I would have never started. Instead, I did as I always do – I took the first step, and then a second, and then a third. Don't focus on the height of the mountain; focus on your next step, and then enjoy the view when you get to the top. Additionally, I've surrounded myself with people that are better than I am. I once heard you never want to play music with people that aren't better players than you. I believe the same is true in life and in business. I am continually grateful, and perpetually in awe of those, I have the privilege of learning from on my team.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
That depends on what your strengths are. We are all different. For example, I spent time as an actor in Los Angeles, which means I went to a lot of auditions and was lucky enough to get hired a few times. Before I became a business owner, I already knew that success requires only one 'yes' out of a hundred attempts. That lesson has served me very well in my business career. For me, 'the hardest things are the administrative tasks it takes to actually 'run' a business. I am in love with my product. I am obsessed with my customers. I don't wake up in the morning and think, "I can't wait to balance the checkbook and chat with my accountant." Again, I did not let that slow me down – that's what partners are for – I sought out a partner that knew much more than I did and simultaneously complimented my strengths, and this helped ensure the success of our business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Take action. You can dream about your idea as long as you want, but you must take action for it to become a reality. Take little steps or big steps as they come, but take that step. I hunted down someone who knew how to build a business and when they told me it started with note cards, me drawing out, screen by screen, what I thought it would look like, I thought they were insane. We are still using those notecards today. When you lose momentum, take another step, no matter how trivial or misaligned, take that step.
- Welcome advice. Welcome advice and then distill it into your own beliefs. There is no shortage of people willing to give us advice. Seek it out. Some of the advice might even be good advice (but not all). It can be exhausting to continuously invite, hear, and distill the stream of advice headed your way, but it is important to keep your ears open and hear what people are saying. In my case, I had to hear multiple times some of the best advice that I firmly hold true today before I could internalize what it really meant. Sometimes we need a few more experiences under our belt before we can truly understand what our advisors are saying.
- Push forward. No matter what challenges you face (and there will be many), break down the challenges and push forward. As business leaders, our most important role is to champion progress. Every step forward is a win, and every setback is a lesson learned. Some people give up in the 11th hour, not knowing that one more step would have been the breakthrough step, but a business leader can never give up. We are problem solvers. Our customers and our teams depend on us to push forward.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Starting my business, Neuflect has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my life, and I would not trade it for the world. At a minimum, the process has taught me more about myself than I could have ever imagined. Yes, I have learned more about how to build a product and how to build a business than I could have ever anticipated, but the surprise for me came from learning more about who I am as a person in the world. Mostly, I am proud of myself and how I have handled the learning and challenges our business has brought to me. I discovered parts of myself I did not know existed, and those parts needed some loving work. What an amazing opportunity to add richness to our lives and, just as importantly, to others' lives – it's more than building a business – it's about building lives worth celebrating.
Where can people find you and your business?
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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