Ren Field is a Salt Lake City-based inventor of the Foot Log and Body Log massagers, hit products that help to relieve muscle tension and increase blood flow by breaking up the fascia layer surrounding muscles. Field says the company has sold over three million Foot Logs since it launched on February 14, 1988, and purchasers include everyone from pro athletes with grueling training schedules to sedentary office workers seeking relief from body aches. We chatted with Field to find out why and how he invented the Foot Log and The Body Log over three decades ago. Read his story below.
Foot Log origins
It started with persistent foot aches and pain. Working full-time as a school custodian and part-time as an airport security guard, Ren Field’s long work hours were taxing on his feet. He tried many products to alleviate his pain, but he never found anything that provided relief.
Finally, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He began tinkering in his woodshop to create a solution for himself. “I designed a cylindrical wooden massager covered in 250 small, knobby protrusions on it,” he said. “I designed the cylindrical log to rotate separately from the handles, and I used it to roll the toes, soles, heels, and fallen arches of my feet. Thankfully, this finally provided the stimulation necessary to alleviate my discomfort.”
Field’s colleagues tried his device and soon wanted their own. The constant question, “Why don’t you sell this?” eventually led him to the decision to begin a business based on the product, which he named the Foot Log.
“I quit my airport job, withdrew the $2,000 I had in savings and bought some molds to create plastic replications of the original wooden massager,” he said.
It turned out to be good decision. Before long, Field was selling his Foot Log locally and business was picking up fast. “As business grew, I got connected with an injection mold company to make the components,” he said. “My wife, older children and I assembled the massagers in our basement. We sold between 200-250 Foot Logs each weekend at conventions, county fairs, home shows, and other events.”
High demand, rapid growth
Soon, the Foot Log was featured on the Home Shopping Club’s cable-TV program. Thanks to the exposure, the company began scaling rapidly and sold over 100,000 units in several months. Lacking an assembly team and shipping facilities, Field borrowed some money from a relative and quickly arranged for increased production of the Foot Log components to meet the demand. He hired disabled students in need of work to do the assembling. He also enlisted the help of 20 families in his neighborhood to assemble and box the Foot Logs for shipping.
The Foot Log and the Body Log today
The Foot Log went on to be featured on the QVC home shopping channel and is today sold through 250 Relax The Back stores. Field says the product is still manufactured in Salt Last City and assembly is still done at schools for the handicapped and neighborhood families, but he has added a shipping operation staffed by employees. The Foot Log’s success also led Field to add a second product to his inventory: The Body Log. It’s 25 inches long, has bicycle-type handles at each end, and is designed for application to any part of the body.
“The products are a hit with workers who spend time on their feet most of the day as well as sedentary workers who are sitting at their desk all the time and not getting blood flow,” Field says. “Using the logs helps to break up uric acid crystals and calcium deposits and increases blood circulation in the area of the body you’re massaging.”
Want to try out the Foot Log and the Body Log yourself? The best place to order is right on footlog.com. Foot Log products come in different bundles and payment plan options, and are backed by a 30-day money back guarantee and lifetime warranty. Watch this video from Ron Jones, Licensed Executive Corporate Wellness Coach to see how you can use a Foot Log to increase circulation to the foot and prevent/relieve plantar fasciitis and heel spurs.