Common Climber Marketplace is highlights small climbing-related businesses to help spread the word about their work and to help our community thrive.
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Common Climber interviews 15-year-old Joseph "JG Rock" Rouse, creator of SLAPCHALKS and the Refill Ring. What are these things you ask? Read on to find out!​

You have this product called "SLAPCHALKS," what exactly is it?

​SLAPCHALKS are pants and shorts with mesh chalk pockets for chalkballs. Just insert the chalkballs into the chalk pockets on the side of the legs, slap them, and go! Great for climbers, ninja warriors, and any athlete who uses chalk! 
 
SLAPCHALKS helps reduce the chalk mess in the gym, provides athletes with easy access to chalk, is more convenient, and hygienic!
 
The best way to get the concept is to see it in action:

How SLAPCHALKS work - place a chalk ball in the zippered pocket and pat! No chalkbag needed.

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How did you get the idea?

​I was at a ninja warrior competition, and my coach stuck a chalk bag in my face right before a salmon ladder transfer. I lost my balance and focus and missed the obstacle. Maybe just a coincidence, but later on in the course, I was about to jump out to a grip and the same thing happened. The coach stuck the chalk bag in my face again, and I lost focus and flow, and missed the obstacle. After the run, my parents and I discussed ways to more effectively chalk up. We brainstormed ideas like putting chalkballs in normal pants pockets, or just smearing chalk on your pants, which we had seen other athletes do, but would run out very quickly. My dad just so happened to have a mesh lining on the inside of his jacket, and thought about how chalk could easily pass through it, and together we all thought about external mesh pockets to hold chalkballs, so the athlete could slap and go!

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(Click on photo to enlarge - SLAPCHALKS come in a variety of styles - biker shorts, loose-fitting athletic shorts, and athletic pants.)

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Tell us about your climbing journey.

I started climbing when I was 8. I have been a competitive climber since then and train at the Ozark Climbing Gym in Springdale, Arkansas. I have been at USA Youth Climbing Nationals for bouldering and speed climbing. I'm also a competitive Ninja Warrior and have been doing ninja for 3 years. Last year, I competed on the American Ninja Warrior Junior Season 3 and reached the quarterfinals showdown. The show is available on Peacock. I'm on the Episodes 8 & 9.

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Tell us about your process of making the prototypes.

​We took the design to a local seamstress, and bought two pairs of the same stretchy cargo pants, cut off the legs of one, to use as material around the pocket. And tried different types of mesh on them to see which one was the most durable, had a good feel, and let chalk pass through the best. We learned that most mesh were too ropey in feel, and would easily break in use and in the laundry. We found an optimal mesh that worked best, as well as learned that we wanted to use more athletic apparel materials so people would be more accustomed to it. ​

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What made you think to take the next step and make SLAPCHALKS a business?

​We searched to see if there was already a product or patent out there with the same idea and found no existing products. We then began testing them at home and applied for a patent. We then took them out to practices and competitions where we saw many people interested in my new invention. After a successful pilot production run, we began our journey as an up-and-coming business by starting to develop more designs.

15-year-old Joesph Rouse (aka JG Rock), boulders with his SLAPCHALKS. Joseph has been in the USA Youth Climbing Nationals for bouldering and speed climbing.

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As of this interview (January 2023), you are 15 years old. How old were you when you started the business?

​I was 13 when the idea was born, and after turning 14 with the patent applications being filled out, we started our business. 

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Are your parents helping you with the business? What do they think of all of this?

​My parents help me out and fully support me in this business. They help me navigate the new world of business, apparel engineering, marketing, research and design, and finance. My parents are Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and ⅓ owners each in my business. We all work together with each of our unique abilities and skill sets to make this business work.

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What is the hardest part about owning/running a business?

​Running a business has so many puzzle pieces! They’re always going to be pieces that look like they will work, but will end up costing you time and effort to fix. So, in my business, having enough inventory and finding a good partner to help us produce SLAPCHALKS has been a huge challenge for us to overcome. We only just recently found a partner in Northwest Arkansas to help us out. 

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You go to school at a place called Don Tyson School of Innovation. What is that? Based on the name of the school, I'm guessing your teachers know about your business?

​Don Tyson School of Innovation is a charter school that includes and provides new innovative fields like robotics, coding, drones, industrial maintenance, agricultural engineering, debate, culinary arts, and much more to allow their students to pursue whatever topics they may be interested in. I have told many of my teachers about my business, where they are very supportive, excited, and interested in my journey and experience of running a business.

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How challenging is it to go to school and run a business? Tell us about a "day in the life."

Going to school and running a business is a little tricky with my schedule. I am associated with many different groups and actively compete in robotics, climbing, and Ninja warrior. This and school eat up the majority of my time. Often when I’m not at school or extracurricular activities, or just while we are in the car, we go over sales, product inventory, new updates with the business, and would sometimes stop by our manufacturing partner, Interform, to scout out the production.

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Where is the production happening and what have you learned about production processes and modifications?

We partnered with a non-profit small manufacturing company (Interform) to make our shorts and pants. They are located in Springdale, Arkansas and they provide training and jobs for women of diverse backgrounds. Interform is the same company that works with Pedro Somarriba with Lacaida Ropes.

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(Above: Joseph Rouse is with the people who help manufacture SLAPCHALKS. SLAPCHALKS partnered with a small non-profit manufacturing company, called Interform, based in Springdale, Arkansas.)

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What kind of response are you getting from climbers and other sports?

We have seen a tremendous amount of support and recognition from the Ninja community with SLAPCHALKS, with some even being super fans of the brand, posting and sharing SLAPCHALKS on social media. With the climbing community, we have seen some support from climbers, but the climbing mindset has been set on chalk bags for so long, getting people to adopt SLAPCHALKS will require a little more education and demonstration of benefits. This could be whenever the climber may have trouble reaching their chalk bag, but have more accessibility to use SLAPCHALKS conveniently on their legs by shaking out their arms and chalking up simultaneously.

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What do your friends think about you owning and running a business?

​Many of my friends are very supportive and interested in my journey of running SLAPCHALKS. They often ask questions about how the business is doing, how much money we’ve received, how many pairs we’ve sold, and also follow and stay in touch with our social media platform for updates on the business.

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You applied for a patent. What was that process like for you? Did you get help?
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Applying for a patent was time consuming (and also not cheap) because you have to be very detailed in your descriptions of all interworking parts and alternate possible variations. It took all three of us on the SLAPCHALKS team to polish the application and get it submitted, so we can now claim patent pending status!

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What is the Refill Ring?

​This is my second patent pending invention! For this one, I am the sole inventor. If you’ve ever tried refilling one of those stretchy chalkballs when they’re depleted, you will understand how difficult it is to hold them open and pour in chalk. They keep wanting to close and push the chalk out. You need 3-4 hands! So, I designed a funnel/scoop ring in CAD that holds open the mouth of the chalkball and allows you to refill your chalkballs in just seconds. No more hassle or mess while refilling them!  

(Above: Click on the photos to enlarge and see entire image. The photos show how to use the Refill Ring and the color options.)

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Congratulations on making it to the quarterfinals! Did you use your "SLAPCHALKS" on American Ninja Warrior Junior? ​

​Unfortunately, I hadn’t come up with the invention yet! But also, since you're falling in water, I’ve only seen them allow competitors to use chalk on stage 3 (very grip intensive stage) in Las Vegas for the adult show.

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What do you envision for yourself in your climbing journey and business journey?

Since I just turned 15 last month, I have around three-and-a-half years left of youth competitive climbing, I will simultaneously grow my business as much as I possibly can and envision myself improving not only my climbing and ninja abilities, but also sharing my revolutionary product to as many people as possible to help athletes chalk up more efficiently.

SLAPCHALKS and Refill Ring creator Joseph Rouse competing in American Ninja Warrior Junior.

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Any last words for our readers?

​For every situation, no limitations, only adaptations.

SLAPCHALKS Website: https://www.slapchalks.com/
INSTAGRAM: @slapchalks
FACEBOOK: @slapchalks
TIKTOK: ​@slapchalks
YouTube: @slapchalks