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This is How I Work, a series where founders, CEOs and leaders share the essentials that help them do what they do, from their morning routines to productivity tools.
Are cold plunges a fad? Or is the trend of submerging yourself in freezing cold water — preferably while filming yourself for your social feed — here to stay? For that answer, look at the year Plunge just had.
“We launched 12 new products this year,” Ryan Duey, co-founder and CEO of Plunge, which makes cold plunge tubs and saunas, said on a Zoom call last month. “We went from a single product to this whole portfolio, different categories this year. We’re fundamentally a different business now.” That’s a business that did $4.9 million in sales in their first year after launching in 2020, as noted in their pitch on Shark Tank. In 2024, Plunge surpassed the $100 million revenue mark.
Duey describes the company’s “rocket ship” growth as “challenging and stressful,” so it helps that the main product the 38-year-old is selling is designed to combat all the ailments of a high-functioning CEO: cold plunging is said to increase energy, reduce stress and boost your immune system, among other benefits. It also helps that, unlike other flash-in-the-pan wellness trends, like fitness mirrors and intermittent fasting, cold plunges have been able to retain their cool factor: This year, Liquid Death partnered with Plunge on a limited-edition tub called the Freeze to Death Cold Plunge.
Other than jumping in a frigid 48-degree tub every single day of his life (that’s his ideal temperature, though the tubs can get colder), how does Duey manage a company of 150 full-time employees who are making and selling tens of millions of dollars worth of plunges and saunas? As he detailed, his routine involves a personal trainer, Sundays for the boys and thinking a lot about the Roman Empire.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
InsideHook: I’m interested to hear: Is the cold plunge business better in winter because people are thinking about it more, or worse because people gravitate towards the natural cold plunge?
Ryan Duey: Sales are definitely better from springtime through summer. We sell really well in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida all year, and then the rest of the country starts to light up April, May time. Memorial Day is a real big moment for us. And then what we find is every year, as cold plunging becomes more discussed, the pool is our top-of-funnel play. [People] start to use their pool through the winter. They fall in love with it, get addicted to it, understand the benefits of it, and then it starts to warm up and their pool’s not a great tool for cold plunging anymore.
Is there a main Plunge office or is it a remote situation?
We’re actually in the midst of a move right now, which I think will be our seventh location in four years. It’s in Roseville, which is right outside Sacramento, California. We were in Lincoln, another suburb of Sacramento. Ours is a unique business because we have our office operations and business operations team, and then we have this huge manufacturing warehouse and assembly plant. So there are very different employees, but we’re all under the same roof. You could literally be in the sales room and walk out and you’re on the floor and seeing where the Plunge is made.
We’re an in-office culture. We’re about three days in office and then two days remote. Ninety-plus percent of the team is in Sacramento. We’ve really leaned in early as an in-office team, which has been how quickly we’ve grown and, I think, was pretty essential for us to be able to solve problems in real time. Just that extra layer of communication. We have a lot of mission-driven people that join the company, so it’s also important that the team is around each other. They’re all very bought into this lifestyle.
What’s the start of a workday look like for you?
Monday, Wednesday, Friday I have a trainer who shows up at my house. I get out of bed four minutes before he shows up and get outside and then he puts me through my workout. Depending on how I wake up, if I’m pretty groggy, I’ll hop in the cold plunge before my workout. If not, I’ll do the plunge after. Tuesday and Thursday I’ll go to a 6 a.m. yoga class — just kind of roll out of bed, drive over, get in a hot yoga room, do yoga, come home, cold plunge. Basically every morning starts with a movement workout of some type and cold plunging.
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The WellSaid CEO also swears by office culture, Clayton Christensen books and Brian Eno’s deck of cardsWhat kind of workouts are you doing with your trainer?
It’s a mix of things. A lot more of what would be considered functional movement. [We do] kettlebell workouts; some free weights mixed with movements; assault bike-style workouts; we work on a Bulgarian bag, a very unique bag for movements. Every day he just mixes it up and flows through upper body, lower body. And I’m going to start, for the first time — I’m saying it here publicly — I’m going to run a marathon in March.
Whoa!
That’s going to start becoming part of my training. I’m going to probably bring a coach in for that, or to just give me some structure. Things might be switching up a bit, like what the days are going to look like, but pretty excited for that.
Have you worked up to this — have you done shorter distance races — or was this something you’ve always wanted to do and you’re like, I’m going to take running seriously now?
I’ve done some small races before. I run on my own, but we’re talking two to four miles weekly. This distance is by far the farthest I’ve ever gone. We’re doing a campaign around it with Plunge. I’ve been kind of beating around the bush wanting to do it and this was the forcing function to be like, all right, let’s put it out there. It’ll be a new challenge for me.
Does that mean you’re getting other people from Plunge to run it too?
We’re finalizing the actual campaign, but it’s basically going to be Teagan [Whitaker], who’s our marketing coordinator and works a lot on our social campaigns, she will have a goal. We’re finalizing exactly what it is, but it’s around our app to get people to do sessions of cold plunges, and if she can hit the goal, she doesn’t have to run the marathon. And if she doesn’t, she has to run the marathon with me. The whole thing is like: don’t make me run the marathon with my boss.
I love that. In terms of your setup, do you have a sauna and cold plunge at your house? What models do you have?
We have the XL Sauna and then I have an All-In Plunge, and I actually have an XL first-generation Plunge. So we have two different ones with different temps for the household. I have a back area for it. It’s a pretty sweet setup.
What’s your temperature setting?
48 [degrees] is my go-to temp set. The other one we keep a little higher, around 55 to 60. Plunging is an everyday thing for me. The sauna’s probably about three days a week in the evenings. On Sundays, my good guy friends come over — it’s like guys’ day and we’ll do sauna and cold plunging together. Then my partner and I will do a couple saunas a week in the evening, go for about 20-25 minutes in there, about 190 degrees.
I love that that’s the guys’ day: the sauna and cold plunge instead of going out to a bar.
It’s so easy to invite them over. It doesn’t linger for hours. It’s intentional time. It’s an easy open invite. And the modalities do the work to get us to connect. Once you start sweating, once you go cold, everyone’s a little more vulnerable. It’s a great connection period.
I’ve got to get that setup. But going back to the office, give me an idea of what your personal office is like.
I like my room as casual as possible. Mine’s got a couch, a round table. You wouldn’t walk in and be like, this is someone’s personal office. I like to think of it more as a collaborative room. We host groups of four to six people who meet in there. And I don’t like to feel like I’m just working at a desk. There’s something confining to me about that. Even in my own house, I work more from the living room. It’s open and expansive, this place I get to go plop down and work, and that’s how my office is set up as well.
In terms of apps that you use, what do you need that is essential for your work?
Slack’s a major tool. I’m also on a pretty good system with my assistant. She’s a remote assistant and manages a lot of my email flow. It keeps me from having to check that daily, and then she communicates with me in Slack and we have a cadence of things I need to follow up on and things that she can handle. I get a full breakdown on the weekend and I can crank through any things that I missed or that are important to follow up on.
How do you feel about Slack? Are you a Slack lover? Is it just a necessity?
I guess I would be a Slack…lover is a strong word, but I am an advocate of Slack. I just don’t know anything better. I think it separates work and personal life pretty well too. You can modify your notifications. I also keep my phone on Do Not Disturb like 24/7. That for me helped turn down any noise and notifications. I’m already addicted to my phone, but that helps a little bit more. That’s been a big hack for me is the Do Not Disturb.
You’ve got your own podcast, The Journey, but what do you listen to every week?
My mornings are always business podcasts. That’s what I’m either listening to on my runs or a ruck or driving into work, and those fluctuate between My First Million, All-In, Operators has kind of entered fray. And then if there’s a referral on an episode, I’ll go listen to that. Then in the evenings, I’m fully shut off. I don’t listen to any business stuff driving home. I’m a big history guy, so I fall asleep every night to history podcasts. I love Anthology of Heroes, Fall of Civilizations, Conflicted.
So are you wearing AirPods or something, or are you playing it out loud?
I play it out loud. I probably have so many subconscious history podcasts that have played through my brain.
Your dreams must be crazy.
I sleep really, really well. I’m sure [the podcasts don’t] totally help my sleep, but I was the kid that went to sleepovers and was always going to bed first and the one that got picked on because I just had to go to sleep. People ask me, what are your strengths? I don’t really know, but I know I can go to sleep. I think that’s been my strength in this whole journey — no matter how hard the day was, I’m going to go to bed and I’m going to sleep well. I just love [history podcasts]. They’re like a bedtime story to me.
I feel like that’s a good pitch for plunging. You started this business and it’s been crazy, but you still sleep well every night.
Totally. I mean, the cold plunging in general has been a huge asset during this rocket ship, you know, stressful and challenging time. I get to go in and full reset every single day for two to three minutes. Sauna, same thing. They all play into the ultimate success of what we’re doing here.
Say you have a really tough day at work and you left the office. What are you doing to blow off steam and let the day go?
For the evening time, it’s usually a sauna, more of a download on the day with [my partner]. It doesn’t have to be about the specific example, but she just listens to me and lets me process, and that’s really, really helpful. Then some historical fiction book or historical podcast and go to bed.
Are you reading anything now by chance?
I’m reading The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden. It’s basically on Caesar’s upbringing. It’s historical fiction. But I just ran through like 10 of Ken Follett’s books over the last year. He’s my top GOAT of historical fiction writers right now.
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