IN THE AMERICAN WEST , an innovative company is born in a garage : It ’ s a story we ’ ve come to associate with tech giants like Apple , Google , Amazon .

But it ’ s also the story of ReadyCare , founded by Gary Robie in 1989 . Robie , working out of his garage in Colorado , built a self-pay razor dispenser for a local gym . This entrepreneurial turn was new for him , though he had “ had about a hundred jobs ” when he wasn ’ t rock climbing , Robie says . He views those frequent job switches as an asset in the early growth of ReadyCare : “ When you ’ re at a job , you think of the good things about it , the things that are wrong — I think having all those jobs helped me at the time .”

When ReadyCare began , most health clubs ’ lockerroom amenities consisted of a bar of soap in the shower . “ When we did our first soap dispenser that could hang on a wall and we could silkscreen the logo of the gym on there , that was a first for its time ,” Robie notes . Ready- Care ’ s growth in the spa industry came once spa directors called Robie after noticing how nice — and cohesively branded — its health club clients ’ locker rooms were .

FOUNDER ’ S PLAYBOOK l ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF : “ Listen to your customers . They ’ ll guide you in the right direction .” l PERSONAL MOTTO : “‘ Never give up .’ We use that phrase all the time here .” l BIGGEST MENTOR : “ I ’ ve had a couple . Allan Share . He ’ s always been a great person that I can bounce ideas off of .” l ALTERNATE CAREER : “ I have no idea to tell you the truth . I probably would have gone somewhere in finance .”

“ Getting that first phone call and being introduced to spa ,” adds Robie , “ it just blew up from there .”

Now , ReadyCare makes everything from dispensers and equipment to private-label retail and back-bar products ; you can find its sustainability-minded EcoEclipse and DoveLok dispensers in more than 1.3 million hotel rooms around the globe , and Robie “ can ’ t even tell you how many spas we ’ re in where we ’ ve put their logo on shower or vanity dispensers .” The transformation from garage to global happened organically over more than 35 years , says Robie . “ It wasn ’ t very hard to get bigger and bigger in this industry , because it was always our customers who told us where to go .”

Looking back on that growth , Robie views his decision to purchase a silk-screening company as a key one ; bringing the operation in-house allowed ReadyCare to offer custom logos on an even wider variety of products and gave them the expertise they needed to succeed in the private-label space . “ Learning everything about the silk-screening process and how we can do the best job possible ” set the company apart , Robie says . “ I ’ ve always been mechanically minded , and I love to learn new stuff and make things .” n

Know a company founder in the spa industry whose legacy should be celebrated ? Contact ispa @ ispastaff . com to share their story .

MARCH / APRIL 2025 n PULSE 17