QALO || Quality – Athletics – Love - Outdoors

Posted on by Vierra Reid

We were recently connected with active wedding band brand, QALO rings, and were inspired to learn more about the company and share the story with our own outdoor enthusiasts.

QALO has also offered our customers a 20% OFF coupon for their site! Use the promo code: proof20

More About QALO...

Founders: KC Holiday and Ted Baker

Location: Orange, CA

Start date: 3/1/2013

Give us a little background on how the QALO movement began:

QALO ring started out of pure frustration. After getting married we realized what a nuisance wearing our traditional wedding band was. While we love our wives, and love being married, the reality was that our ring was getting in the way (literally) of our active lifestyle.  The married men we talked with shared the same frustrations. Every time we hit the gym, worked on the car, surfed, rock-climbed, you name it (insert sport of choice here________) our wedding band got in the way.  These are the stories we heard over and over: “I lost my ring.” “I put it in my locker and it was stolen.” “I dove in, and didn’t even realize it was gone.” “I gashed it on a rock, and the rock won.”  “Man, I don’t even play ball with my ring on!” After all of these stories we searched for a solution that would allow us to show our commitment of marriage, and wear a comfortable wedding band that could withstand our active lifestyle. We started playing around with some rubber wedding rings, and then discovered 100% medical grade silicone wedding rings and thus…

QALO pronounced [KAY-LO] was born. Q-uality A-thletics L-ove O-utdoors!  

Was there a specific moment that catapulted the brand?

Our first true tipping point was last summer during HBO's Hard Knocks.  Andy Dalton, the Bengals Quarterback who is a close friend of the brand, was wearing the ring during the show and they had about a 5 minute conversation about how he was wearing the ring while he played.  It really helped give us that little boost to get rolling down the hill.

What’s the inspiration behind QALO’s philanthropy efforts?

We knew from the start that we wanted to use this brand to do something more than make money.  Every thing we do, from the culture we try to create internally, to the products we create, to our philanthropy help to solidify our vision of do something meaningful.  Ted's sister has suffered from Lupus for the majority of her life and so when we started we knew we wanted to try and assist her in her fight with whatever resources we were blessed to receive.  And while we have started with Lupus we are going to be continuing to find ways to give back to the things that our community cares about.  We have a pink ring coming out for breast cancer in October and will continue to expand the line from there.

How would you describe your average customer?

This is the brand archetype we use to think about all of our brand messaging: 

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN ARE PASSIONATE BY NATURE, BY PROFESSION, AND IN THOUGHT AND ACTION. THEY ARE DOERS, OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATES OF LIFE’S GREATEST ADVENTURES, WHO SHOW THEIR DEVOTION BY WORKING AS HARD AS THEY PLAY. ACTION DEFINES THEIR PURSUIT OF THE BEST LIFE, WITH A STRONG COMMITMENT TO LOVE AND FAMILY SERVING AS THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL THAT THEY DO.  

More practically our consumer base is really broken up into three core segments: Your fitness enthusiasts, your service men and women and your blue-collar workers.  All three groups represent a certain zeal for life and work ethic that our brand hopes to represent.

Where do you hope to take QALO as a company?

We really believe that the ring is just the start.  What makes QALO rings so special is that they are really a symbol for a certain type of lifestyle. Choosing to wear a rubber ring says that you work hard and play harder.  You love life and live it to the fullest. You value quality, athletics, love and the outdoors. We think we have built a really special community of people who share these same values and how we want to continue to bring them products that will enhance this pursuit.

Any last words? 

Just that we are so thankful for companies like PROOF and customers that believe in purposeful purchasing.  We hold close to the idea that where your treasure is there your heart is also and we want to also partner with people who are working hard to bring high quality, amazing creative treasures into the world.  We are honored to be featured on your blog and excited to share our products with your community. 

Follow QALO:

Instagram: @QALOring

Facebook: www.facebook.com/qaloring

Twitter: @QALOring

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