Jon Schackmuth had deep, personal motivation in starting sol-is, a body care company.
Besides being an avid cyclist who could use the products, Shackmuth’s wife, Jane, received a second kidney transplant in 2014.
“The real thought process behind this is we had been on vacation, and she was looking for a natural-based lotion,” Schackmuth said. “They’re out there, but they are not easy to find. We talked about different concepts. I said, ‘Why don’t we start making our own?’ We’ve owned our company before. We decided to go down that route. She didn’t get what she really wanted as a (natural-based) sunscreen yet. We’ve tested some this year.”
The company does produce an SPF (sun protection factor) lip balm.
The Zionsville residents started sol-is body care in 2015 and offer a variety of sports cream products under the bluerub label.
to launch the bluerub product line after Jane had
a second kidney transplant in 2014. (Photos by Lisa Price)
Schackmuth said athletes typically don’t look at ingredients, which are often saturated with petroleum, silicone or have high alcohol content.
“That was important to myself and my wife, because everything you put on skin as a transplant patient is important,” Schackmuth said. “Being immunocompromised, everything you put on skin absorbs in, so you have to be careful. Deodorant has high aluminum content, and you really shouldn’t use it. So we are really conscious about what (ingredients) we use and how we use it. That fueled the concept of the company.”
Jane said they discussed the idea for the company at least a year.
“I researched what was available and how to go about doing it,” said Jane, who previously had a kidney transplant in 2003. “We wanted to go ahead, and we thought it was a good idea because other people would be looking for the same kind of things. We started with the chamois cream and the muscle rub because there is a demand for that. I use the products. I’ve been running, and I want to run my first 5K this fall, perhaps late October or early November.”
Schackmuth said the company has its own chemist.
“I’ve been in pharmaceutical sales for 15 years, but that doesn’t make me a chemist,” Schackmuth said. “We figure what ingredients are important to us, and then we send it off to our national lab. Then we tweak it some more and come up with a final product.”
Schackmuth, whose products are available at nearly 200 stores nationally, said the company has a very strategic growth plan.
“Next year, the forecast is about 400 stores,” Schackmuth said. “The year after, we’re going to leap to a thousand. It all has to do with distribution. This year we got picked up by the largest outdoor distribution center in the country.”
The product is available in approximately 40 bicycle and running shops.
Indianapolis-based professional sports chiropractor Rob Schroeder helped work on the bluerub muscle cream, which is silicone-, petroleum- and alcohol-free and provides a penetrating heat.
“We’re working with chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists,” Schackmuth said.
Schackmuth said the muscle cream is to be used before and after endurance events.
“I used to go to West Virginia and hike, and you would chafe on eight or 10-mile hike,” he said.
Schackmuth said the athletes like bluerub because it’s natural and goes on thin.
“It lasts for the performance, and it’s good for the body,” said Schackmuth, who estimates bluerub is available in 90 percent of the bicycle shops in Indiana. “We’re in 70 percent of the independent running stores in Indiana.”
Schackmuth said the company has five sales representatives covering 15 states.
“We have a chiropractor in Canada we’re shipping products to as well,” he said.
Schackmuth, 51, describes himself as a serial entrepreneur. He started a furniture company out east when he got out of the Navy.
“I sold off to my partner, and that’s when we moved back to the Midwest in 2001,” Schackmuth said. “I’m originally from Wisconsin, and my wife is from Terre Haute.”
Schackmuth said the family lived in Carmel for several years before moving to Zionsville approximately five years ago. The couple’s oldest son, William, a 2013 Guerin Catholic High School graduate, is in the Coast Guard. Their younger son, Charlie, is a sophomore at Zionsville Community High School. Both sons were adopted from Russia.
Marian cycling teams with bluerub
The Marian University cycling team formed a partnership with bluerub to use their products.
The Knights have won five consecutive Division I Team Omnium championships and are the defending national team champion in the track, BMX and road disciplines.
Marian cyclists will use bluerub chamois cream as well as the company’s muscle rub, anti-chafe stick and hand repair cream.
“As we have done with team helmets and other pieces of equipment, we look at each individual piece of ‘gear’ that our student-cyclists use as a crucial part of their performance,” Marian cycling coach Dean Peterson stated in a release when the decision was announced. “Evaluating the ingredients of our chamois cream was a step toward ensuring we are using the safest and most reliable products in our training and racing. The fact that bluerub is local and involved with many of our existing community and retail partners was icing on the cake.”
Co-owner Jon Schackmuth said he hopes this leads to other athletic teams using the products.
For more on bluerub, visit solisbodycare.com.
