Latest / Glovisor Podcast / Ep. 8: Revolutionizing Sports Branding: The Mouthguard Breakthrough (Katoa Sports)
Transcript
- GLOVISOR: The next big sponsorship space in sports is not in your Jersey. It's on your teeth. Today's guest is the founder who's changing the game in sports protection and branding. He's the inventor of Katoa Sports, a customizable mouth guard system, a patented innovation that lets teams, big brands and organizations turn their logos into bold, wearable faceplates. Let's dive into the story behind a product that's about to reshape how athletes protect, represent, and get seen. Glovisor welcomes Sione Hi Ola. Sione Haiola: Hello everyone. Thank you for having me today. I'm super excited. GLOVISOR: Welcome. All right. So Sione, what inspired the idea for this sports advertising startup? Sione Haiola: It goes back to 2017 when my nephew called me from Hawaii asking me for a mouthpiece. So I went into Big Five in Brera, California, looked at the mouth guards that were there and I realized that it's the same mouthpieces that I was using in 1998, looked at the product, how can we make it better? ⁓ You know, how can make it customizable and so forth. And that's what started this journey. GLOVISOR: your goal was mostly to make it more customizable or is there another problem that you're solving Sione Haiola: the I looking at was just the really like how the innovation of the product really evolved, ⁓ the way that it's, it was really plain designed, adding an extra layer of protection, know, lip protection for the athletes. And my nephew just was looking for something much better than what was being offered on the market, especially in Hawaii. So that's one thing. And then he also wanted like his own. In Hawaii, a lot of the kids love to personalize their stuff. They're big on their pride, their high school, their culture yeah, that's what kind of started this idea, just looking at what was offered and then... Yeah, I went from there. GLOVISOR: Alright, so this is a great idea, right? So this is not something that you see every single day. But when was that moment that you first realized, hey, this could be a business? Sione Haiola: I kept doing research, my, ⁓ business and I, we kept looking into, the product and then seeing what, what was actually patented and then what was it? And then we kind of says, my God, like there's an opportunity for us to take advantage of this, and no one's been able to make anything affordable as far as customization. A lot of the products are either manufactured design and it's only designed once. So we wanted to create something that's affordable for the today's athletes and something that they can design over and over and over again and add their kind of, know, their, how would you say this Gen Z era of the their ⁓ artsy kind way of thinking ⁓ So that what kind of inspired all of this. GLOVISOR: it gives the opportunity for ⁓ purchaser to individualize it to they want to see themselves versus just ⁓ one brand maybe someone's logo on it ⁓ and they to live with that Sione Haiola: Absolutely, yeah. You know, lot of the kids, you know, thanks to social media and stuff, they really want to personalize and they want to share their story. football, playing any sport is it adds a lot of emotion, ⁓ of us, play for our families, we play our communities, people that we represent. So this, this was a good way for us to create a product that can represent all of that stuff. GLOVISOR: So now when you look at the market with your partner and you decided okay there's a great opportunity. What was your first step? Sione Haiola: Our first step was to start engineering a product. But before you do that, ⁓ have figure out organizations or schools, like entrepreneur schools. We were working with Cal State Fullerton ⁓ and they have an group that has engineers on campus. ⁓ They can help you an affordable price. ⁓ They can kind of you. with the whole entire process. So that way you can start doing market research and testing and so forth. GLOVISOR: what were some of those early challenges that you came across? Sione Haiola: It's been tough, just dealing with the type of people. ⁓ know, a lot of people over promise, under staying on top it, staying within your budget. as an entrepreneur, you're still working nine to five and then you're trying to build something. you're really trying to stress that dollar, that time, everything that you're trying to build, but it's so critical to find ⁓ people that can deliver what they, what they promise you and so forth. GLOVISOR: ⁓ when you an idea and you many of us have tons of ideas in an ongoing basis but it doesn't mean they're great ideas. ⁓ In order make it a great idea ⁓ we have ⁓ validate it We have to make sure ⁓ someone wants product or service. Did you have the opportunity and how was that to validate your idea? Sione Haiola: Yeah, ⁓ developing the first prototypes, I had ⁓ down to Las Vegas for a flag football tournament. It was huge. was athletes from all over the country. And I did was I showed them a couple other prototypes, showed the kids exactly what we were trying to do, what we were trying to build, what did think about it, get their actual feedback Everything that I wanted to hear what they would tell me because they are the buyer right the kids the way that they they think ⁓ way that they like the products ⁓ that was what I needed to design and so that was critical for me when we did market testing research, know validation ⁓ was listening ⁓ my key and what they wanted ⁓ and then go back to the drawing board, GLOVISOR: it's interesting because ⁓ at it from my perspective now, Couture Sports is not the product. It's not ⁓ just item you're trying to sell. ⁓ You're also a brand. and then you're also an advertising agency if you will because you're going to also offer those services to organizations. did see it that way from the beginning or ⁓ is something that's just evolving as it comes about? Sione Haiola: No, not. And I just thought about the whole customization part, ⁓ designing and stuff, But when I actually engineered this product and help and bring it to life, I noticed that there was an opportunity for sponsorships, advertising with logos, being put on a mouthpiece. to represent the school sponsors ⁓ and I had aha moment. ⁓ It wasn't the customizing and satisfying the athletes them being able to represent their families It was also, like, geez, I can put like in a... big sponsor company on the face of the athletes. And I could do that with their logos, their high school logos, their college logos. yeah, that was my aha moment. GLOVISOR: often I always ask who benefits from your product or service? Is it the team? Is it the sponsor? Is it the consumer? But ⁓ the it is that you're sort of fulfilling and a benefit across the board. Sione Haiola: Yes, absolutely. the Katoa Mouthguard ⁓ system is a one-stop shop. So if you look at versatility of the product, it's a mouthpiece, a pacifier, and an interchangeable logo that is placed on your front. So the athletes can satisfy the sponsor, the advertising company, they can twist it off, pull it off, and use the mouthguard, the functioning part for the safety ⁓ for, the specific sports that they're playing. As far as the customization software, that will be able to, help out with ⁓ student athletes as well once we to that part, GLOVISOR: Alright, so now that we're talking about the nomenclature of the product itself, they have to remove the faceplate portion when they're playing or can they keep it on? Sione Haiola: No, way that it's engineered they can keep it on if they choose. They can add letters, numbers, ⁓ there's things that they will be able to do when they're It's not gonna interfere with anything, it's not gonna hurt their ⁓ lips or anything like that. They're not gonna hurt their opponent. ⁓ Everything made out of medical grade silicone. so it's kinda like that rubbery but there's different ⁓ how would you say that tightening or levels of the ⁓ the silicone so no everything is ⁓ is ⁓ safe ⁓ if they choose that want play the logos it's fine if they choose not to and that's why we designed the interchangeable part so that way we can stay true to the versatility of the product GLOVISOR: let's stay with that. You're saying it's medical silicone, so it's pliable enough so it can move. ⁓ if comes apart, it's not a danger that you would be concerned about while you're playing. Sione Haiola: No, not. it's not going to interrupt or ⁓ hurt your mouth or it's it's absolutely safe. And we've we've done a lot of testing with actual athletes, ⁓ on the football field and flag football with with our products. we've seen it ⁓ and everything works fine. GLOVISOR: is there a target sport that you have in mind or is this across the board? Every sport can benefit from this. Sione Haiola: yes, ⁓ our core market going to be football. American football, rugby, hockey, those contact sports, but I'm starting to see like a lot of athletes just use mouthpieces because they're always constantly clenching on their teeth while they're playing. A lot of the, I don't know if you know this, but in women's basketball, a lot of the injuries are caused through the contacts that ⁓ the make while they're like either rebounding or running into each other that's another important ⁓ factor with in ⁓ basketball. But yeah, I am about women's football. this is why. I would love for them to really start making money as far as like NIL sponsorship deals through women's flag football. But yeah, that's the main sports. GLOVISOR: what has been the reaction that you've been hearing from teams and organizations? Sione Haiola: they want product now. Like they wanted it yesterday. They're asking me when am I gonna be ready to fulfill? ⁓ They wanna start ordering That's why we kinda took down our Instagram, ⁓ know, our social media because not, unless we get full funding, we. we're not ready to fulfill all those orders and I do not want to disappoint any of the athletes and teams because there's a lot that a lot of like even Papua ⁓ Organizations can do ⁓ can get sponsorships the pizza pizza hut place down the street or local restaurants ⁓ so there's a lot of benefits as far as helping them raise raise for their equipment Yeah, I'm not going to launch this company until I'm fully funded and able to satisfy all the GLOVISOR: sounds like you have big issue which ⁓ people want your in sales ⁓ right now. So a good problem to have. ⁓ Sione Haiola: Yes Joe, yeah, mean, just seeing the reactions, seeing the parents, the families, seeing how they react and they're like, wow, my son can put it, ⁓ in memory of his grandpa or his grandma or his ⁓ aunt something on the mouthpiece. Like that's huge, you know, cause a lot of them, they, they do represent, their loved ones and forth. And that's just one unique feature of our product. GLOVISOR: Yeah. Sione Haiola: and the fact that they ⁓ we do the old-school way of like selling chocolates right or going door knocking now with our product like they can actually go to to local restaurants or businesses like Chick-fil-a or so forth and tell them hey, ⁓ we're playing would love to have your logo here we're playing in local area so they can target like that specific demographic, GLOVISOR: as the company grows, what ⁓ the biggest opportunities that you see ahead? Sione Haiola: The partnerships, partnerships, that's for me that's that's going to be one of the key things ⁓ that ⁓ feel going to be huge. know partnerships with college sports, know working with marketing department, ⁓ NFL, ⁓ know pro professional working with their marketing and their clientele, know understanding ⁓ how we can integrate the Katoa mouth guard system into their department For me, that would be super exciting, especially because we don't offer only the mouthpiece, right? We will offer other products as well we evolve and move forward. GLOVISOR: That's the brand side of the business of course. As you start to grow you're going to have all these additional products and services that you're going to offer. And that's the beauty of this, right? Because it's not a, you're not just doing ⁓ specific product and once you outlive that, ⁓ business is over. ⁓ you have to go ahead and reproduce something else. ⁓ This can ⁓ be a brand that can outlive forever and as well. For sure. Sione Haiola: Yes. GLOVISOR: based on that, do you have a specific region or is there a specific area or state? Or are you thinking I can tackle all of US and then move into Canada? How do you visualize this? Sione Haiola: ⁓ Since I'm here on the West Coast in California, obviously I would love to target California, Utah, Hawaii, Washington, ⁓ ⁓ Vegas. reason why because research that I got is that they spent over ⁓ $1 billion ⁓ mouth guards year in 2025. Yeah, in just the West Coast region. So I would love to attack that and make sure that I'm buttoned up, before I move on to the Midwest, East Coast ⁓ I want to make sure I have everything right. I don't want to, I don't want to do things, ⁓ kind of like just guessing, I want to make sure I'm buttoned up down to the T, ⁓ make sure that, my manufacturing is correct everything as far as like ⁓ our customers are happy with the product making sure that like you know i can make any adjustments with the product development i'd i'm just passionate about doing doing things the right way GLOVISOR: And even with all of these adjustments that you have to make, ⁓ the way, every business that I talked to has the same issue and should have the same issue, right? You don't want to ⁓ a process ⁓ ⁓ review it again to see if you can improve it in some way, shape or form. But having said all this, if someone called you today with a big order, how soon could ⁓ actually drop ship to their location? Sione Haiola: ⁓ If I was fully funded, manufacturing would take... roughly around 30 days in all. Everything with customizing to the colors, know, everything down ⁓ that would be. But I would like to do is work with the actual organizations and wholesale it to them and work with them and make it affordable for them. ⁓ Our direct to consumer pricing be different, but that's just one, I would like to really work with the organizations and give it to them at wholesale costs and work with them as far as everything else and button down that. GLOVISOR: sure and I think most organizations would would be okay with something a few months from an order ⁓ it's that big I thought you were gonna say maybe next year but 30 days that's pretty good But even at that, even if you do take your time to really create that relationship, you can probably ⁓ it before the next season ⁓ that any sport, ⁓ group can contact you today and they can have it ready. ⁓ entrepreneurs that are and listening, ⁓ you've had a long You're going through the process. You're doing a startup. ⁓ You're improving the process. getting to that point where you're to start ⁓ shipping off your products, what would you say to them? What you recommend? Now in hindsight, because you can look back and say, whoops, ⁓ maybe shouldn't have done that, or I could do this, or maybe I can do this better. What would be the you would share? Sione Haiola: Just having obsession, ⁓ know, obsession of getting things done, stop talking about it, be about it, go and do it, go and build something minimal, what I mean? Minimal and then go and test it out, ⁓ see if there's a market, everyone has ideas and talks about right? Grab your idea, whatever it may be, and go test it out. See if there's a market. See who your competitors are. See what they're building. See what they're doing. Be obsessed with getting it out there. So that way you can see. Because if you saw the first prototype of Katoa versus what we have now, it took us eight years to build it. to build it out. It's a tough process. It's time consuming. a lot of money. Understanding business model, understanding ⁓ how build a team, being able to network with the correct type of people. And like I said, you've got to get around ⁓ the ⁓ that entrepreneurship and network with them. They offer so many ⁓ resources and you need to be resourceful like you need to understand how to take one dollar and stretch it into $50 or $100 you need to learn how to negotiate and speak and talk and remember that it's not about you it's about the company that you represent the product that you're creating you can't go out there and project everything about personally about you It has to be about what's best for the company and what's best for the product and the customer. That you work for the customer. Yeah. GLOVISOR: advice. now who should be contacting you now? ⁓ Who would be a to moving this brand forward? Sione Haiola: VCs, private angel investors that understand the ⁓ sports marketing space, technology, wearable space. I ⁓ would love to speak to any those investors that would be interested in, this new Warrior sporting brand. Yeah, that's would really get this and running. GLOVISOR: And I'm sure teams and organizations that need your products are also welcome. Sione Haiola: Yes, you are absolutely right. Yeah, it's just that like the reason why I want to get funded first before I approach them is because I do not know exactly how it's going to be as far as like what their marketing budget, what they want to see first before we actually move forward. I don't know what their whole guidelines are. It's different now. GLOVISOR: You Sione Haiola: because of nl name image and likeness with athletes being paid so the the landscape is much different now and i want to make sure that i have everything ⁓ up-to-date up to par within their and and i want to follow it i want to follow it down the t i want to build a resume with this organization build this resume with this this college team, professional team and be able to move forward and replicate that success with them and I can do it with the next, the next, the next and I just want to make sure that I'm buttoned down. don't like making mistakes I'm very prideful about ⁓ attention detail, making sure ⁓ that got all my T's crossed, my I's dotted I love seeing the smile on people's faces and ⁓ I don't like disappointment I don't want that for the people represent, especially my customers GLOVISOR: If someone wants to learn more about the product, more about the process, or they potentially want to work you, ⁓ where would they you? ⁓ Sione Haiola: On LinkedIn, Katoa Sports, ⁓ Sione, hi, hola. I'm always on LinkedIn networking and checking out who else I can build partnerships with. GLOVISOR: excellent. ⁓ Sione, thank you so much for sharing ⁓ journey. We're glad to have you here today. Sione Haiola: Thank you, Joe. It's been an absolute pleasure. I love this stuff. I love this entrepreneur journey. I'm really grateful for this opportunity. Thank you. GLOVISOR: you're welcome. ⁓ wait to find out more and how your company grows from here Sione Haiola: Yes, I'm excited to share that with you, especially seeing the reaction on all the athletes faces, organizations especially just ⁓ the innovation of product. it totally suits ⁓ the day and age we in now, especially when the technology era But yeah, I love it. Love it. GLOVISOR: Excellent. All right well thank you till the next one.