“There Is Nothing Noble In Being Superior To Your Fellow Man; True Nobility Is Being Superior To Your Former Self.”
– Ernest Hemingway
If you’re wondering why this article started with a quote, it’s because this quote is more or less the entire point of MNLY Box. If there’s anything you remember from this article, even if you stop reading right now, don’t forget these words.
They will serve you indefinitely.
My name is Luke Hartelust, the Founder of MNLY Box and I’ll be giving you deeper insights into the MNLY Box origin, core values, and our entire reason for existing. If you’re reading this, then I know you’re a man who strives to become better.
I created MNLY Box to help you. But before I explain how it will do that, let me tell you my story.
THE MAN BEHIND THE BOX
One thing you should know about me is that I am obsessed with being at my best. I have always been a high-performer with a keen interest in strength, conditioning, nutrition, and entrepreneurship. Over the last 10 years, I’ve researched and tested many different modalities and products to boost productivity and performance, which has naturally molded me into the person I am today. If you know me, you know how passionate I am about pursuing the experience of life – the goal is to be successful in all areas of my life. I work hard to give myself and my team the opportunity to live fully without boundaries, without judgment, and with a clear vision of themselves. Life is my passion, and business is my vehicle to achieve the ultimate life.
Over the past decade through my experiences, endeavours, wins, and failures, I’ve built a system around myself that allows me to operate at my best more consistently than others. I firmly believe that MNLY Box is the organic outcome of that system manifesting itself in my life, although I wasn’t always walking the path I walk today. My professional roots originate in the Australian resources sector, working in underground diamond drilling, surface iron ore blasting, and oil and gas drilling off the coast of Western Australia. While the money was sufficient, it ultimately wasn’t where I saw myself long-term. So, in my first attempt to get out of the oil industry, my business partner and I inaugurated a gym in Chalong, Phuket, Thailand, where I lived at the time. To phrase it candidly, we lost a great deal of money; the gym flopped. Yet still, we persisted and soon after traveled to The United States, where we initiated our first F45 Training Franchise in La Jolla, San Diego.
My second attempt changed everything and put me on a path to exponential personal growth. Despite the adversities, we built something special and remarkably successful. We opened up two more gyms – one more in San Diego and one in Los Angeles. Between the three locations, we now have around 20 employees and have built amazing communities across southern California. I’ve spent the last five years coaching, scaling business systems, building teams, mentoring, and getting a deeper understanding of what it means to do business in the US. I have learned a lot in a very short time, and I’m so unbelievably grateful to be here and have created this opportunity.
THE MNLY ORIGIN
The inspiration for the MNLY brand was the result of me consistently being asked a single question: “How do you do it?”
Over the years, my network has grown tremendously – CEOs, Athletes, Entrepreneurs, and mentors – all high functioning achievers in their own right. Yet, they would still ask me that question in one form or another. It usually sounded something like “What do you take for X” or “Where did you find Y product?” I realized that even if you’re a high achiever and you have drive and tenacity, you still don’t know what you don’t know. It was apparent that regardless of their level of performance, men simply did not know about the ample amount of products out there that could help them improve.
Being that I’d spent well over a decade immersing myself in exactly those kinds of resources, I felt compelled to find a way to share what I knew with them extensively. Then one day, the seed that eventually burgeoned into the MNLY brand was planted when I noticed the product subscription boxes that my girlfriend had been receiving. It was exclusively for women, so I wondered if there was a version of that for men. I conducted some intense market research and quickly realized that there was a HUGE gap in the market for men when it came to personalized product boxes. I saw my opportunity to create a concept that connects men with the tools and resources to improve their personal and professional performance.
When I was scaling our F45 Training Studios, the most fulfilling element was that I could—and still can—build a massive impact in a community. I garnered instant respect from helping them along with the expansive network growth that came with it. I saw that I was influencing lives and connecting like-minded people, all focused on the same goal of being better. I witnessed the natural synergy produced as a result of it. My F45 gyms allowed me to leverage a trusted network and create a larger-scale impact and brand.
Out of that desire, MNLY Box was conceived.
THE MNLY MISSION
When creating the MNLY concept, I wanted to avoid the “one-size-fits-all” approach I’d seen while researching other subscription boxes.
I wanted a product that was hyper-personalized but not so personalized that it would be hard to sell. That led to me designing not just one but four different boxes based on four different types of men.
This ensured a holistic approach to boosting men’s performance.
THE CEO:
The entrepreneur’s box. This is the box for the man looking to improve his focus and productivity, stabilize his mood, educate himself, and stay updated on the cutting edge of technology. This is my favorite, as it’s the box I feel most expresses my true nature.
THE ATHLETE:
As the name implies, this is the athlete’s box. This box brings men the latest performance wear, supplements, recovery tools, and resources to help them engage that BEAST MODE mentality.
THE GENTLEMEN:
The box for the stylish man of purpose – this box contains the best in men’s grooming products, leather goods, fashionable tech, and resources to help men upgrade their masculine swagger.
THE PARTY BOY:
If you’ve ever described yourself as “passionate,” then this is for you. This box contains resources for sexual health, wellness, recovery, and “man-care” accessories to help men stay suave, appealing, and fully ignited.
Between these four profiles, I am confident that there is a box for every single man out there. No matter who you are, you will find a product that deeply resonates with you and can help you upgrade your A-game and stay on it. Every man wants to look, feel, and perform at their best across multiple avenues in their life whether that’s business, fitness, style, or sex. Let’s get real – we are men. We all want that magnetic charm and charisma, authentic style, and the ability to speak our truths as we are. The common denominator between us all is that we all strive to attain the perfected vision of ourselves that we constantly update as we move through life.
MNLY Box exists to address that commonality.
Fulfill your purpose, live your passion, peak your performance.
I made this brand for ANY man who is serious about improving their professional and personal output. If you see the potential of who you could be if you aligned your life with your values, then it shouldn’t shock you that you’re reading this right here and now. Everything in these boxes has helped and positively impacted my life. Everything has been tried, tested, and given the MNLY stamp of approval. If you don’t like what you get in the box, I’ll give you your money back, and you can keep everything you received. This is about putting the right resource in front of you to positively impact you enough to push you to your next level.
Think of MNLY Box as an ambassador of your higher self who comes to serve and show you what you may not know yet, who wants you to consider the possibility of trying a new approach to becoming the man you are inside. I created this brand while managing three gyms and 20 employees; I would be lying if I said it wasn’t extremely difficult to get this off the ground. I had to find time to build this while working around 14-hour days. I had an adequate network but a lackluster social media presence; that meant relentless outreach, personally pursuing and pitching to every company I wanted to partner with while designing four different boxes and adjusting from the brick-and-mortar gym industry into the e-commerce industry.
It was hard, but I knew what I wanted to create for myself and people like you and now, the reality of it all is here for you to witness. The best part of it all is that you won’t have to wonder how I did it. You won’t need to put in the hours of research, trial, and testing of an expensive array of tools and resources, because I’ve done it for you. All I ask is that you trust the MNLY brand and let us do the heavy lifting for you.
GROW, CONNECT & COLLABORATE.
MNLY is a collaborative company. There’s a mix of high-level and grassroots companies in each box, and MNLY Box acts as the center point between the two. Every company with a product in the box gets to leverage the audience of every other company in that box, thus gaining more exposure, traffic, and credibility by association. But MNLY Box isn’t just a way to scale those that we partner with. It’s a way for brands to further align and showcase their missions to their ideal candidates. Companies want to show their products to the exact individuals they serve, and MNLY Box is the most direct channel to achieve that.
The men who receive our boxes want one thing: to be better, and our boxes only contain products meant to help them achieve that. When brands contribute a product, they can be certain that the man who opens that box and sees their product is the exact man they intended to serve. That means less time explaining who you are and more chances for your product to make it into the hands of the man who didn’t know he was obsessed with you until he opened that box.
We provide done-for-you, hyper-targeted marketing in the form of a partnership, one that won’t just increase organic traffic but also refine it and increase organic conversions. Brands can grow faster and farther without EVER compromising on what they stand for; everything is aligned. We are on a mission to help the modern man become more refined, more confident, and more MNLY.
Think about the quote I started this with… if it didn’t before, it should make a whole lot more sense to you now.