Building a Merchandise Brand: Is It Easy?
When I first qualified for Britain’s Strongest Man in 2024, I had some purple T-shirts printed for my family and friends to wear in the crowd. I wanted them to show their support—and, more importantly, I wanted to be able to spot them easily!
Little did I know that, just two years later, I would be packing and shipping those same purple T-shirts, alongside more than 20 other products, to customers across the UK and around the world—including the United States, Australia and China.
Building the Brand Around Integrity
I built Haynes Strength around a word I hold close to my heart: integrity.
I will never sell—or put my name to—a product that I wouldn’t personally use myself, or one that I don’t believe is the best quality it can be.
My goal isn’t to reinvent the wheel or build a multimillion-pound company. I simply want to continue supplying fans, athletes and the general public with top-quality products and a genuinely personal service.
Every order is still packed by me, by hand. Yes, every single one!
Each package also includes a free gift—whether that’s stickers, a keyring, a shaker or something else—alongside a handwritten note thanking that person for their order.
Is Running a Merchandise Brand Easy?
We’re not a big team. To be completely honest, it’s literally just me and Dais!
We might not have the systems or resources of a huge company, but we care deeply about every order that comes through the door. Around 99% of our orders are packed and shipped within 24 hours, provided we’re in the country, and I’m incredibly proud of that.
Running the brand alongside competing, coaching, organising strongman competitions and creating content certainly isn’t easy—but seeing people wearing our clothing and using our products makes all the hard work worthwhile.
My Pledge to Team Paddy
Here’s my pledge: by supporting me—whether that’s through ordering merchandise, purchasing a coaching plan or signed photo, or simply leaving a comment on one of our YouTube videos—you allow us to keep growing and improving.
In return, I will continue sourcing and developing market-leading products that I genuinely believe in, ready to be used by me and the whole of Team Paddy.
I don’t want people to feel as though they’re simply purchasing a product. I want them to feel like they’re joining the family and becoming part of the most incredible community there is.
The future is purple.
Thank you to everyone who has ordered a product, left a review, watched me compete at a show or watched one of our videos. It all means the world to me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.