We are three childhood friends from Luleå, a small town in northern Sweden, surrounded by a fantastic archipelago with thousands of islands. Here the water is always close, and largely each cabin has its own sauna. The winters are cold and dark, but the fresh air, the quiet landscape and the northern lights make Luleå a magical place to grow up.
We grew up with a common dream of becoming a professional football player. Of the three of us, only Sebbe had the real talent to succeed, but regardless of skills we spent countless hours in the dressing room together. And there, after each workout, there was the sauna. It was our natural gathering place - a place to relax, share laughter and have deep conversations. The sauna was an obvious part of our lives, not only after workouts and gym passes, but as part of Northern culture.
From football dreams to starting a sauna company
The dreams of becoming a football professional eventually took us to Stockholm, where we were seen less often and sailed less and less. Then the pandemic came, electricity prices shot up and public saunas closed. We missed our meetings and the social community that the sauna had always given us.
We started exploring different solutions and quickly realized that we needed something portable. None of us owned land or a garden, so a fixed sauna was never an option. After much searching Sebbe found what we were looking for, a Sauna Tent! We fell directly for the idea - the tent itself and the stove were not good at all, but the feeling was perfect. It was then and there bast sauna was born.
We quickly set up the sauna tent and already during the first hour passed about twenty curious people and shared our enthusiasm. We realized that we could offer a sauna experience not only for ourselves, but for anyone who lacked budget, space or building permit for a traditional sauna.
There we sat together in 90 degree heat, just like in the dressing room during our upbringing. But this time it was different. Our goal went from building a sauna for ourselves to creating a sauna for everyone - the most accessible sauna in the world.
The development of the best sauna tent
Once we have decided, we were faced with the biggest question: how should we realize our vision? How do you even start a sauna tent production? And not just which Sauna Tent Anyway, without the best sauna tent ever manufactured.
We didn't have the answers and we made lots of mistakes along the way. We tried to build our own benches (they collapsed after the first use), used Viktor's basement as warehouses, and took advice from the wrong people. But through our curiosity and the desire to ask the right questions to the right people, we took small steps for each day.
After many failures, tests and adjustments, the sauna tent was finally ready for our first customers.
But bast Not only was built by us three, and we had never managed this on our own. It is with the people around us: Sebbe's dad helped us with rental in our hometown, our friends and girlfriends helped to unload the first containers and most importantly - our customers gave us invaluable feedback so that we could improve the sauna tent.
Bast-Family and the future
But when you build something special, they always appear new challenges and how we handle these will always be the most difficult question. But thanks to everyone who helps us, the challenges are easier to handle, and we cannot express our gratitude enough for all the support we have received. Together we have created our own bast-Family, and we are incredibly proud of.
Many people ask us what it is like to run a business with their best friends. The answer is simple: it is the best feeling in the world.
