Natalie Holloway is the CEO + Co-Founder of Bala with her husband Maximilian Kislevitz. Natalie and Max first thought to modernize the old-school wrist and ankle weights from the 1980's when they were on sabbatical in Southeast Asia after taking a yoga class. After an hour of light stretching, both felt unsatisfied. Afterwards, they began sketching out designs for a more fashionable, more functional wrist and ankle weight. Because the idea was conceived after a yoga class, they decided to name the company 'Bala', which means 'strength' in Sanskrit. In their first calendar year and in Feb 2020 they appeared on ABC's Shark Tank and received a $900K investment from Mark Cuban and tennis legend Maria Sharapova. The rest is a wonderful story of helping to empower others to feel strong and stronger in their body.