On November 13, 2019 oGoFloat celebrates 1 full year in business. This date marks the 1st anniversary of something special, but it’s very far from the beginning.
Like so many others, I learned of float tanks from the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. When I was finally able to experience a float, I fell in love hard and fast. After years of hearing Joe Rogan talking about it, I knew that floating was a practice and would improve the more I did it – and did it ever! I started chasing the float dragon! I traveled to Kelowna every weekend to float and quickly decided that I wanted to bring float therapy to Penticton. I became friends with the [then] owner of Float Space and would hang around after my float for salt talk. On the drive to/from Kelowna I would listen to float industry podcasts, usually the Art of the Float Podcast or the Daily Solutions Podcast. On weekends I would volunteer at Float Space moping floors, folding towels, and hosting floats to absorb all the information I could about running a float center.
August of 2015 I attended my first Float Conference. This was a game changer, and I came back mega inspired and motivated to open oGoFloat. I worked for hundreds of hours building the business plan and painting the financial picture. I enrolled in Bookkeeping classes and the Community Futures Business Development Program. I scouted commercial locations for well over a year. In April 2016 an opportunity arose to purchase a Samadhi float tank and dove in! I began hosing floats for friends and family.
I continued to float as often as I could, and once I owned a float tank it became my reality. I made gradual improvements to the float tank and became more familiar with the daily operations and maintenance. I tinkered, materials were tested, and upgrades installed.
I continued to work on oGoFloat and did everything I could to convince everyone I knew to float. Looking back, over the years, I calculate I’ve introduced floating to someone new at least once a day. I conducted surveys, sourced supplies, and cold called float centers for advice and market research, making many good friends along the way. I floated at many different centers and experienced as many different styles of tanks possible.
The 2016 Float Conference was even more monumental than the previous year. This was the year our name was drawn as the winner of an entire float cabin! No manufacturer had ever been so generous to give away a float tank, and it hasn’t happened since. This was a moment that dreams are made of, bigger than I could have ever imagined. Now oGoFloat owned 2 float tanks and there was no stopping us! When I came home from this Float Conference I made the decision that a home based float center was better suited to our communities needs and more attainable.
However, I didn’t own a home, so I set about finding one that would fit our family and a 2 tank float studio. The search lasted about 6 months before deciding on 144 Chambers Place, and it was another 2 months before we took possession. We moved into our first home and packed up the float tank – knowing it could be a long time before I next slipped into it’s salty warm waters. Work started immediately installing new windows and doors, adding insulation to the attic, replacing the hot water tank and old baseboard heaters with more energy efficient heating options (which we learned of at the Float Conference).
Fresh off the 2017 Float Conference demolition of what is now oGoFloat started. The carpets were pulled out, walls came down, windows removed and filled. The first focus was setting up the new laundry room, bathroom, and post float lounge, then moving into the renovation of the actual float rooms. So many sheets of drywall and hundreds of hours after work and on weekends building the studio.
Not having an available float tank during this time made the whole process so much harder. I floated in Kelowna as often as possible, but I knew the 4+hour journey was time I could have spent inching oGoFloat forward. I was working day and night to build the center. On one hand, an operational float tank was the carrot dangling in front, and on the other hand, it was hard to maintain momentum when I couldn’t do the thing that had supported and motivated me for so long. There were many days when I would detail elaborate plans to install the float tank in the basement, a bedroom, or a garden shed, but my partner would lovingly remind me how impractical it would be.
After almost a year and a half of construction, and not long after the 2018 Float Conference it was finally time to install the float tanks. In case you’re wondering - we didn’t receive the float cabin that that we won but, in the end, everything worked out for the best. I found a float tank nearby and enlisted amazing friends to help get it here.
While installing and filling the Samadhi tank the building permits were closed with approval from Interior Health and finally the business licence from the City.
I faced many hurdles on the journey to open oGoFloat and will continue to face challenges. After 6 years of living the #SaltLife, I know that I have the passion, resiliency, and tools to thrive.
I’ve attended the How to Start a Float Center Workshop and 7 Float Conferences. Floated at 20+ float centers, visited a handful more, and experienced 18 different styles of float tanks. I’ve listened to virtually all Art of the Float episodes and 380-some Daily Solutions podcasts; some episodes 2 or 3 times. I’ve watched webinars, opined on industry boards, and had countless salty conversations. I'm Pool Smart certified, First Aid, and Mental Health First Aid trained and most importantly, I have spent hundreds of hours floating.
Not a day has gone by over the last 6 years that I haven’t said, thought, or lived the word FLOAT.
We’ve only been open for 1 year, but the opening date wasn’t the beginning, and it’s no where near the end. The journey continues, and the path is paved with salt.
