Brian Shaw, the World’s Strongest Man, is a “New Age athlete” and one of the stars of the Dragon’s Den segment. He played the role of a human elevator for a judge who eagerly wanted to test his credentials prior to his powerlifting demonstration using the 6DS Mouthpiece. Brian’s one of dozens of professional athletes who sees themselves as empirical data. “Brian Shaw actually saw the product on our website, ordered it, and loved it. Later, he called our office to let us know how much the product improved his performance and I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know who he was,” Dr. Makkar recalled. “I remember Furious Pete, the other co- owner with Rob, he said, ‘That’s the strongest guy in the world praising your product right now.’ It was such a great endorsement and it was just a natural move to make Brian a big part of our Dragon’s Den pitch.” “Basically, they were shocked,” Dr. Makkar reminisced about the April taping in Toronto. “There was no better demonstration of what the alignment of your jaw can do to your body than having Brian Shaw, the World’s Strongest Man, come in and do his thing. Michelle had to be picked up by him,” he laughed.
“When we went in, it was intimidating and we were nervous — they’re the best, after all. “I hired a trainer, asked him to try the bite, and after only 15 minutes he called for me to come down there,” Dr. Makkar recalled. “He was lifting more weight and he was balancing on the ball for two minutes longer than he ever did. That’s how it all started: corroboration from someone who didn’t have a horse in the race. We want full transparency with all the scientific information on the market and I think that helped us on the Dragon’s Den.” Rob Charlton, agreed. to put them in a very comfortable bite situation. My first patient I treated with this orthotic was a lobster fisherman from Yarmouth. When he came back in he said, ‘You know, doc, I don’t have any headaches anymore but the weird thing is this: when I put those traps that weigh about 75 pounds in the water with this in, I feel like it’s effortless. But when I don’t have this in it takes all of my energy.’ I just brushed it off; my focus was reducing my patient’s symptoms. My second patient was a young mother to a six-month- old who had lots of headaches. She said one day she woke up early, headache-free, for an appointment with her baby and she still had her mouthpiece in and when she lifted him in his car seat into the car that it was practically effortless. That sparked me. I wondered if there was something there.” That spark ignited the inaugural R&D phase of what was to become New Age Performance.
“When we went in, it was intimidating and we were nervous – they’re the best, after all. As you start getting into your pitch though, it puts you on an automatic mode because you’re passionate about your product. I think they saw that. Joe Fresh said, ‘I love this team. You’ve got a CEO, a dentist, and a bodybuilder.’ We were proud about what we accomplished.” Dr. Makkar’s nerves were well-justified. The product has had an unavoidable image issue from day one. “That comes from a marketplace flooded with magnetic bracelets and other hocus-pocus products,” Dr. Makkar said emphatically. “Who can blame the consumer for being skeptical? That’s why we always want to get everything on the table, all the science, wherever we’re promoting the product. There’s research on the topic that dates back to 1960 and it’s all based on dentistry. People with TMJ or joint issues – these sorts of soft tissue problems – found increased range of motion with custom mouthpieces. It’s been proven.” The initial proof was in the pudding, so to speak, for Dr. Makkar and it couldn’t have been a more Maritime recipe. “I focus a lot on patients who experience TMJ symptoms like dizziness, headaches, and ringing in the ears. In 2009 at a cosmetic study in Las Vegas, I learned about, well I learned how to make a special orthotic that goes over the patient’s lower teeth
88
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2019
89 OCTOBER 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online