Twenty containers.
That was the order that helped turn Xtrema from years of testing and a big idea into a real business.
Not 20 pans. Not 20 cookware sets.
Twenty shipping containers.
For a young family company, that kind of order can change everything. It can also scare the life out of you. An order that large is not the finish line. It is a promise and then you have to figure out how to deliver on it.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Before the Modern DTC Playbook
Xtrema did not start with a Shopify store, Meta ads, influencers or a polished marketing funnel.
It started with two twin brothers who knew how to sell.
Rich is my uncle. Bob is my dad. They were outside sales guys. They understood how to pick up the phone, earn a meeting, explain a product and ask for the order.
That may sound old school now. I think we could use a little more of it.
After Rich left Corning following more than two decades in the glass and ceramic industry, he spent several years working with a ceramist to develop and test what would become Xtrema.
This was not a trend he jumped on because “non-toxic” happened to become a popular marketing phrase. At the time, very few people were publicly asking hard questions about cookware materials or what might happen when those materials were repeatedly heated.
Rich believed there was a better way. Bob believed they could sell it.
That combination of product conviction and sales grit is where Xtrema really began.
The Meeting in Chicago
Eventually, Rich earned a meeting with Dr. Joseph Mercola at his home in Chicago.
At the time, Dr. Mercola had one of the largest natural-health audiences talking about cookware materials and toxicity. He was already selling cookware that he believed was a healthy option.
Rich flew to Chicago with the testing, the cookware and a pretty bold case to make.
He walked through the available testing on the cookware Dr. Mercola was selling. Then he presented the work behind Xtrema, put the cookware on the stove and cooked for him.
No giant team. No expensive brand presentation. No retargeting campaign following everyone around the internet for the next two weeks.
Just the product, the testing and the willingness to make the case face-to-face.
That meeting ultimately led to an order for 20 containers of cookware.
Crazy, right?
People sometimes talk about grit like it is a motivational quote you hang on an office wall. That is not grit.
Grit is spending years developing something before you know whether anyone will buy it. It is getting on the plane. It is asking for the meeting. It is making the presentation yourself. Then, when the big order finally comes, it is doing the work required to keep the promise you just made.
Why the Name Xtrema?
The idea behind the name was simple. This ceramic material could handle extreme temperatures and retain heat exceptionally well.
The name was bold. Our early marketing was not exactly subtle either. 😂
One of Xtrema’s first marketing demonstrations involved putting our ceramic cookware and a metal skillet into a furnace. The metal skillet eventually melted. Xtrema held its form.
Was it a little crazy? Yes.
Was it memorable? Absolutely.
The furnace demonstration was never a replacement for testing. It was a way to help people see, in a few unforgettable seconds, that this material was different.
That is another lesson I still carry with me: testing earns trust, but a great demonstration gets people to pay attention.
When I Entered the Story
I came into Xtrema a few years later to help with marketing, launch the website and begin figuring out ecommerce and direct-to-consumer sales.
Bob and Rich helped build the company through calls, relationships and outside sales. My job was to help translate that same story to customers online.
The tools changed. The work did not.
Know your product.
Tell the truth about why it is different.
Earn people’s trust.
Ask for the order.
Then keep the promise.
Nineteen Years Later
As we celebrate Xtrema’s 19th anniversary, it would be easy to clean this story up and make it sound like there was some brilliant master plan.
There wasn’t.
There was deep product knowledge. There were years of testing. There were two brothers with sales experience, a willingness to take risks and enough belief to keep going before the rest of the market understood what they were building.
Then there was a meeting in Chicago and an order for 20 containers.
I am proud of what Rich created. I am grateful that my dad, Bob, was beside his twin brother helping turn an idea into a company. And I am humbled that I now get to help carry their work forward.
Today we have a website, social media, email, data and technology they did not have when this started.
But none of it replaces grit.
Know what you believe. Do the work. Get on the plane. Ask for the meeting. And when the opportunity comes, be ready to deliver.
That is how Xtrema started.
And 19 years later, that is still how we move forward.
Let’s get after it.
— Patrick Bergstrom
Husband, Dad, Coach, CEO and Teammate
