Cory Firth and Chris Jepson, founders of HeadSpeed Golf, are creating a one-stop shop for recreational golfers to improve their game.

Their brand is inspired by Maxwell Maltz’s revolutionary book, Psycho-Cybernetics. If you are not familiar with the book, you should think about giving it a read. Much of modern sports psychology is based on its philosophy.

Maltz’s believed in self-image. What you think of yourself is what you become. If you state a goal to your Automatic Success Mechanism (your brain) then your subconscious will direct you towards that goal.

It’s a powerful book. And a more powerful mindset. Professional golfer and legendary putter, Dave Stockton, read Psycho-Cybernetics weeks before winning his first major.

HeadSpeed Golf is bringing the concepts from Psycho-Cybernetics to its community of recreational golfers, and they are adding a modern twist.

#BRAINTOBALL

With this hashtag, Cory and Chris are starting a movement. They want recreational and amateur golfers alike to use the power of their minds to play better golf.

And that’s why HeadSpeed Golf is great for the game. There are so many “get better” tools in golf today. It can be a challenge to know where to start. With HeadSpeed Golf, they are putting it all in one place.

At headspeedgolf.com you can find everything from swing aids to puttings aids. They have created accessories for the golf course, such as their insulated water bottle, and a creative apparel line that any golfer can enjoy.

Cory and Chris are working 9 to 5 jobs while creating a career out of their passion for golf and self-improvement. Here’s what they had to say about their entrepreneurial journeys so far:

How did you guys meet before starting HeadSpeed Golf?

Chris and I met through our significant others. Chris is married to my girlfriend’s sister.

Where did the idea of Headspeed Golf derive from?

HeadSpeed Golf was developed, like any good idea, on the golf course. Chris and I came together about a year ago to chat about starting a business that we could build up, be proud of, and eventually leave our 9-5 jobs for something we are passionate about. We wrestled with a few different business ideas, but we ultimately kept coming back to golf as every conversation seemed to revolve around a game; best ball tourneys, family cottage rounds, etc. We looked at the market and realized that there was a lack of conversation happening around the growth and prosperity of the mind and how a healthy conscious can lead to better performance on the course. We’ve seen it help in our own games and we are now working towards building a digital shop and resource center full of high-end products and free information that can help any recreational/amateur golfer flex that mind muscle and improve their game

How did you come up with the name of your company and what is the inspiration behind your growing hashtag #BraintoBall?

The idea for HeadSpeed came to us pretty fast once we landed on the golf niche. We knew we needed something that spoke about the mind and was relatable to the average golfer. HeadSpeed was derived from a visual of a brain on a tee, which is the centerpiece of our brand and the visual behind our hashtag #BrainToBall. #BrainToBall is a movement or change within the sport, empowering golfers to channel their inner success mechanism (their mind) to improve success on and off the course. Our brand is built around four main principles: Visualization, Relaxation, Concentration and Dedication all of which are driven from the brain through the body and down to the tee.

When you first started out, what were some of the biggest struggles you faced when building HeadSpeed Golf and how did you overcome them?

Probably our biggest hurdle is just a lack of knowledge. We are first time entrepreneurs, and we needed to go through some ups and downs and learn new things before we could truly launch a brand that we’re proud of. We don’t see them as struggles, but more as opportunities to learn and grow. Some hurdles we’ve managed to break down are incorporating on our own (in Canada), sourcing suppliers for quality products, sourcing manufacturers for our flagship product, etc.

I am aware you guys are both working 9 to 5 jobs while building HeadSpeed Golf. Do you have any strategies for balancing both pursuits?

Automated tools, time management tools and the love and support from our family and friends. We take advantage of tools like Slack for internal communications, Buffer and Canva to help with social media and various Google products to help us manage our email and documentation. The tools are endless for entrepreneurs right now, so many amazing things that have helped us start and grow our business, we’re constantly testing things out.

Your signature collections are awesome! Had you always planned on creating a clothing line associated with HeadSpeed Golf, or was this an addition to the business as you grew your brand?

Not really no, I mean it made sense to have something in there, but it was more of an afterthought. We’re really focused on providing products that help our community optimize their performance round in and round out, but the apparel allows our brand to be more visual and allows our customers, audience, community to represent us, which is something we are truly grateful for.

I too am a big fan of Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s book, Psycho-Cybernetics, and it is clearly a big inspiration for your brand. Has applying the concept of the Automatic Success Mechanism helped you, as not only a golfer but as an entrepreneur?

1000% for me (Cory) it was an absolute game changer. I had always struggled with my “north star” so to speak, but implementing a lot of the tactics from that book helped me really transform my life and find my direction

Being in the online business sector, has social media been a major driving force for growing your business? If so, do you have any advice for aspiring online entrepreneurs?

Absolutely. One of the biggest factors for us in creating and fostering our community. My advice for other entrepreneurs when using social media would be to focus on attention. Figure out where your following is spending the most of their time and spend YOUR time in that space respecting that attention by providing as much value as possible. Reviewing the engagement, deploying changes based on the data, rinse and repeat. In my opinion, we don’t have to be all things to all people. We don’t need Pinterest, we don’t need Google+, our audience is on Instagram (primarily), Twitter and Facebook so we spend our time in those spaces, testing content and reviewing data to learn what our audience is more receptive to and giving them that. Sometimes that means dropping a collection in replace of some something different or flipping to a different style of post over another to get more engagement and referrals to our website.

Are there any entrepreneurs you look up to for inspiration? Are there any quotes from famous entrepreneurs that have had a lasting impact on you?

Some of my biggest inspiration comes from my family. My grandfather was a serial entrepreneur in Canada, he ran multiple successful businesses and was dedicated to make entrepreneurship work for him and provide for his family. Some more well-known entrepreneurs I get inspiration from are, Aubrey Marcus (Founder/CEO of Onnit), Tim Ferris (4 Hour Work Week, etc., etc.), and Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library, Vaynermedia, etc., etc.)

A quote that always sticks with me from Maxwell Maltz is:

“Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.”

To me moving forward means having and attaining goals – working towards something and not sitting still. With a direction we create processes, and those processes keep us poised.

What are your goals for HeadSpeed Golf and yourselves into the future?

Our main goal is creating a community. Building up a group of like-minded golfers who are looking to better themselves. They don’t have to be pro’s or amateurs, just recreational guys, and gals who are trying to be better for themselves.

We have a lot of exciting projects coming soon that we’re really excited about for 2017 that should help us grow and foster this community even more.

What is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs, especially one’s who want to create an online business?

Start