The Story

 


-Brian Pedone, Founder and CEO

It all began with my love for boxing and my father. My dad and I found something to bond over. He was always such a huge fan of boxing and I was always into playing sports. Both basketball and baseball were so much fun to me, but I could never find a way to really excel at it. I was just good enough at baseball and had to really hustle hard at basketball.

 

After 10 years living in Queens, NY my parents decided to move us to the Poconos in PA for a better life along with my two younger sisters. Our new neighbor was a retired police officer and boxing instructor. My father was an accomplished Jazz musician and only watched boxing on television. No other sport appealed to him. He decided that it might be fun for the two of us to take up boxing lessons together.

 

After a few lessons I realized what it meant to box. This was unlike any sport I had ever “played” before. I had to learn how to punch my dad and my neighbor. Such an interesting concept especially since I was never a violent person. Flashbacks came to me when I was in 1st and 2nd grade and I was the only kid to stand up against the school bully. My mom always taught me to stand up for myself and never let anyone pick on you or others. I can remember this boy punching me as I was pushing him on the floor. The other kids couldn’t believe that I had stood up to Charles. It defined me those first couple of years at school. Violence is not the answer to anything, but you need to stand firm in what you believe in and this is what boxing symbolizes and teaches.

 

After a few lessons my dad realized that I was pretty good. He ended up tearing his bicep during a sparring session and decided to hang up his gloves. He had too much to lose, especially since him and my mother were always working so hard to keep the three of us kids living a life that afforded us each to go to private school. Up until around 17 my dad would drive me to boxing gyms all over Pennsylvania and I would train and compete. It was an amazing time in my life and really taught me a lot of what it means to be a man.

 

Heading off to college I started a boxing gym that became my second home. I fell in love with mentoring and teaching people less fortunate than myself. I was really inspired by a number of the people I worked with early on, like Ronald, a 35 year old man at the time, who is mentally challenged. Ronald felt like home to me, as I was raised with my mentally handicapped Aunt, Loretta. I could see what boxing and the idea of belonging felt to all of the kids that would come to my gym, but especially Ronald. (Ronald is still one of my best friends to this day, he is going to celebrate his 52nd birthday this year)

 

I had early visions of what I wanted to do with my life at the age of 19, help people. I moved to the big bad city after spending nearly 10 years after college working with hundreds if not thousands of people. My gym was doing very well along with my knack for computer programming, what I went to school for, but knew that to really challenge myself I needed to compete with the best in the world. I started heading into NYC with nowhere to stay, but knew I would find my way. I would take the bus in early in the morning and visit different gyms to see if I could find a place for myself as a trainer. No one knew who I was or about the following I had in the Poconos.

 

I made a choice to go towards teaching, inventing/designing over the office job route with my computer science degree. I had always felt the pull of entrepreneurship, innovation and design for helping people, especially kids. In making this decision I turned away from the dependability of a regular paycheck, health insurance, retirement plan, etc. I believed that I could contribute more to the world by striking out on my own.

 

I took my love and passion for boxing and turned it into a business in NYC teaching hundreds of people and it sparked a desire and idea in me. I also learned to be a small business owner without a business degree, made multiple important connections in the world of influencers, Chris Santos being one of them, who would later rally around Quiet Punch. I worked constantly, 80+ hours a week, sacrificed social life, etc. I didn’t go on my first date until I was 24 years old.

 

I created Quiet Punch so that I could share this love with thousands of people all over the world. I wanted to bring something that I loved and believed in to people everywhere who might not have the means or motivation to get to a gym or have a trainer but want to improve their lives. I wanted to offer something people could afford in the increasingly exclusive and absurdly expensive world of fitness products. I came up with the idea, prototype, material testing, early production and distribution in my family’s home, with my family helping. My vision was made a reality by the people I value and trust the most, something that I think is important to being a successful business person and leader long term.  

 

I was faced with a dilemma when it came time to focus my energies into just one project. I sold my boxing program in PA to move to NYC and then ended up selling my boxing program in NYC to fund Quiet Punch. I learned that having my energies in multiple locations would never let me be truly successful. I needed to put all of my energy and passion into one project. If I was going to fail or succeed I had to go all in.

 

It was a lot of work, but worth it. I was not only the President, but the entire C-Suite, customer service, HR, and the face of Quiet Punch. At many moments I realized that it might not work out. What kept me going was the consistent encouragement from my parents, specifically my dad who didn’t want me to get stuck in the traditional route of life.

 

Quiet Punch began with 1,000 units in my parent’s house STACKED IN MY CHILDHOOD BEDROOM!. My mom would put labels on the boxes and bring them to FedEx for delivery. We would sell about 10 units a month by traditional forms of social media advertising. None of which really showed us that this would actually take off.

 

August 2017 one of our Facebook videos went viral selling off the remainder of our first set of inventory. It worked! People loved the product, and word of mouth began. I started hearing from people all over the world, all ages, backgrounds and stories.

 

"I've only had the Quiet Punch for a short while but I already love how easy and quick it is to setup and take back down again. It also feels like it can take some decent abuse, so I'm not worried about it falling apart on me in the next few months.  Also, the customer support I've experienced has been PHENOMENAL. Couple a great product with great customer service and what else is there to look for? Lastly, the videos that Brian puts up on the Quiet Punch Youtube page are really great for beginners like myself that need some guidance on taking these first few steps into the world of boxing. I'm certainly no pro but I feel like the Quiet Punch is something I could use at my level all the way up to a professional level.  Thanks Brian and thanks Quiet Punch for making my workouts this much more fun while keeping it nice and easy to use! Great stuff!"

 

We are now at over 12,000 units sold worldwide and just ran out of stock yet again. I have retailers knocking down my door for stock like Sharper Image, Walmart, The Grommet. I am in conversations with multiple other major retailers.

 

The next phase of QP is unfolding. My long time dream of using technology, gaming and QP together is about to be available to our many customers who’ve been chomping at the bit for Quiet Punch Play. I have come a long way from figuring out how to securely mount a punching bag to a doorway now into coding and testing the software for Quiet Punch Play.

 

Quiet Punch Play is about to begin pre-orders! The future is bright. I have many plans and ideas for the future of Quiet Punch, always with a focus of helping people and giving them a good product. I stand by my customers so much so, that I respond to them directly!

Brian Pedone - Quiet Punch

Brian Pedone with Boxing Group in NYC

The Quiet Punch Family