Hello all, it's Colton, and welcome to week 1 of the DailyStax Wellness Newsletter! 

This week, I'd like to talk to you about my story. Who I am, why I started this business, and how I plan to change the way we maintain wellness through convenience and education. 

Each week going forward, I plan to make a post at 8:00pm EST every Sunday, so you can sit down, relax, and read about the research, discoveries, and science surrounding your favorite supplements. 

Anyway, let's get started. 

Colton Demarais: Who am I?

My story starts in 2023, when I decided to go to college at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A small liberal arts school known for its history, being the first university founded in Minnesota in 1854. It was founded a few years before Minnesota was officially a state, in 1858.

I grew up in the suburbs of the Twin Cities, so I knew I would be close to home, but in a new place where I could experience life as an adult for the first time. 

You may be asking; Why Hamline University? Well, originally my dream was to go to a school that I could play basketball at, and that had my field of interest as a program, forensic science.

Hamline checked all the boxes. 

Small community feel, good professor to student ratio, smaller campus, close to home, etc. I knew right away when I was offered to play basketball there, it was the place I wanted to be. 

The First Year: Ups and Downs

The first year of college was similar to how many would describe theirs; ups and downs, amazing at times, but hard at others. Playing basketball while maintaining a full class load and trying to have a social life was difficult, and much more demanding than I thought it would be going into it. Supplements were beginning to become a part of my life at this point, as I was very into exercise, lifting, and of course, basketball. 

I was first introduced to supplements in high school by a friend of mine whom was very into bodybuilding. I started with the basics. Creatine, Zinc, Ashwagandha, etc. I understood after a few months just how much these were affecting me in basketball and in life, as I saw great progress in my physique and stress response. As I started to get more into the science inside the capsule, I started to try more and more different supplements. Lion's Mane, Rhodiola, Fish Oil, and others. I learned about how these substances can be beneficial to the brain and emotional systems, and that piqued my interest even further.

Even then, I guess I was content but annoyed at juggling 5 different bottles every morning and night. Accidentally pouring out too many pills, dropping them on the floor, the ugly look of all the different bottles laying around, and the time I would waste waiting for my bottles to come from different distributors and companies. Back then, I never imagined creating a product that would take away all these annoying challenges. 

 

A Roadblock: Summer of 24'

The first year of college went by fast. Classes were done, and suddenly it was summertime. I did the same thing most guys do after their first year of college. I got a summer job landscaping for a local city government with a couple buddies. I continued playing basketball for the school, doing workouts with the team, and participating in summer league games against other schools from the area. 

Everything was going great. Had stable paychecks coming in, a good work-life balance, great friendships, and rent-free living at home. 

That all changed on June 30th, 2024.

At a seemingly meaningless summer league game, I went for a routine closeout on another player, and I felt a pop in my knee. 

I'd never really been injured before. Sure, I'd dealt with the normal dents and dings that any high school or college athlete deals with, but this felt different. 

After hopping on one foot out of the venue, I found myself laying in an MRI machine, with whispers of "torn ACL", and "torn Meniscus". This is when I began to really fear for the future of my basketball career. 

A couple days later, I got the bad news. Right Lateral meniscus, bucket-handle tear. Non weight bearing for 6-8 weeks, then physical therapy for months afterwards, then back to basketball. 

To make a long story short, the summer of 2024 was one of the worst summers I could've imagined. Cooped up in my bedroom, away from my friends and teammates, unable to move freely while I let my knee heal.

This time I had on my hands seemed like hell. I was bored. I was emotionally drained from being out of basketball and not seeing my people. But what I never expected was that this time would birth a mindset within my mind that has brought me to where I am today. 

The Entrepreneurial Mindset.

This was the first time I dreamed of starting a business. I began to research, brainstorm ideas, and try to come up with money to fund whatever crazy idea I came up with. In the end, the problem was always getting to a point where I had something. A product, a concept, a vision. It would always end the same way. I would hit a roadblock like that of my knee injury, and the ideas would start to fade, I would second guess the impact of the product. Ultimately, I recovered from the knee injury by the winter of 2024 into early 2025, and by December, I was ready to play again. 

A Bump in the Road: March 20, 2025.

It was the last day of the season, we had a good run in the playoffs, and we just finished out last game. I was prepared and excited to finish out the year, get into a summer job, save up some money and have some fun as well. 

We arrived home late on the night of the 20th after a long road trip to the opposing school. I was relieved that the end of this season meant I would gain so much time to do whatever I please. 

As I was getting out of the car in front of my house, I stepped off the curb, and my knee gave out. 

I heard the pop come from the right side of my right knee. The same spot I had surgery on the summer before. I knew right away.

It was torn again. 

Sure enough, same knee, same meniscus, same diagnosis. This time the tear had multiple orientations, which meant a more complex repair, and possibly a longer and different recovery process. 

I finished out the last 7 weeks of my sophomore year from my bed, online, at my parents' house. I was away from my people again, which made me feel miserable. However, I knew that I could come back from this by summer, which gave me hope. 

I worked on my knee non-stop for those next three months. I'd been through this process before, so a lot of it was familiar to me, but anyone who's been through a recovery like this knows it's not fun.

As my knee recovered again, I landed a job at a local glass manufacturing plant for the summer. The pay looked good, lots of overtime, which I needed to make up for the last summer being missed because of the first tear. 

Fast forward to Sunday June 22nd, 2025. I've gotten the offer for the factory job. I start on Monday, 7 in the morning.

The night of the 22nd was where everything changed, and not because I was finally getting to earn some money in the summer, but for another reason you might be expecting.

Third time's the charm: June 22nd, 2025.

On the night of the 22nd, I found myself laying on the floor in my underwear, unable to move my leg. As I was walking to the bathroom to take a shower the night before my new job started, my meniscus tore again. A third time. 3 months after the last one. My surgery was a year to the day after my first one. This one really killed me. I had my imaging done, and the surgeon told me it was unrepairable. It had to be removed entirely. 

Apparently, this way would make it easier for me to return to playing basketball, the sport I loved. However, I didn't realize at the time that having three knee surgeries in a year before I turned 21 may have been a sign to stop playing. I played on this broken knee until December 2025, when I couldn't justify the pain I was enduring, and I retired from basketball officially.

I now had all this free time. My knee eventually healed, I got back in the gym, got back to "normal life", which never felt normal to me. I was used to going to lifts, then class, practice, then home to do homework and sleep so that I could do it all over again. This felt different. More time on my hands meant I had to fill the empty time with thoughts and ideas. 

This is when I rediscovered the entrepreneurial mindset.

Every minute I wasn't occupied by work, school, friends, relationships, or family I was spending thinking of problems I could solve. I would sit and think, "How can I make someone's life easier?" Eventually, in the beginning of summer 2026 it hit me. I sat there, about to go to the gym. I got dressed, grabbed my stuff, and as I was walking out the door, I remembered there was something I hadn't grabbed. I went out the door anyway.

An Idea is Born: May 2026.

My supplements. Five bottles. Something hit me as I decided to drive away from my house without them. Having five bottles is about the most inconvenient thing I could've had in that moment. That's when I thought of a solution that seemed fairly obvious.

I'm going to put them all together. 

I got home from the gym and began to research. 

As I researched more and more, I realized that there were problems with this market. 

Increasing prices, limited education, inconvenience, and clutter.

That's why I designed DailyStax. 

DailyStax takes all of these problems and erases them with a simple idea. 

All of your supplements in one place, from one distributor, in the same box, personalized to you.

Your wellness journey is YOUR journey, and supplements from DailyStax are a great way optimize your wellness routine. They're perfect for on-the-go, busy people, and all of our ingredients are third party tested, doctor formulated and come from a cGMP certified facility.

I am motivated to making wellness accessible to all, so I intentionally sell all capsules under MSRP. This way you get exactly what you need, in one place, at an affordable price. No more paying big bucks for wellness, juggling bottles, and not feeling informed about the substances you're ingesting. 

My mission is to revolutionize the wellness industry by making it more convenient for people from every walk of life to attain their health goals, without breaking the bank.

A Short Thank You.

You've read part of my story, but this is just the beginning of my new one. 

If you're serious about your wellness journey, and want a starting point, try a personalized box from DailyStax today. You won't regret it.

If you've made it this far, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being here, and I hope I can help you find the beginning, or the revolution of your wellness journey.