Challenge

Jay McCareins knows the value of hard work and a hard workout. The former Princeton University standout and NFL player achieved his goals through determination and relentless training. Now he and his wife, Nikki McCareins, an accomplished track star, dedicate their lives to helping others get stronger, run faster and, most importantly, gain greater confidence. 

Since they opened the 5,000-square-foot gym MAC Speed & Strength in Plano, Texas, in 2016, the couple have helped adults and young athletes lead healthier lives. Their goal is to build strong, well-rounded athletes, but health and safety come first. Hand hygiene is a top priority, as it is at every gym and health club, where hands are constantly touching the equipment. 

Even before the pandemic, beyond spraying and wiping down machines, they stocked the “crappy plastic” bottles of hand sanitizer, Jay McCareins said. But they were a poor system for protecting members and staff.

Solution

A major point of contention was how the distributor pushed MAC Speed & Strength to stock pallets upon pallets of cleaning supplies and demanded locked-in contracts. 

“The bottles were upcharged from the distributor, along with I can’t tell you how many paper towels,” McCareins said. 

When he heard about Vaask’s touchless hand sanitizing dispensers and how the company never required locked-in contracts, he was on board right away.

Everyone who enters MAC Speed & Strength makes a beeline for the Vaask dispenser, McCareins said, thanks to its elegant design and attractive, eye-catching array of LEDs. And unlike those “crappy plastic” containers that broke or flew open when a stray soccer ball hit them, “Vaask is indestructible.”

While the old dispensers squirted a big glob of goo — when they weren’t empty — Vaask delivers a precise amount of sanitizer that feels and smells “like a gently scented body lotion,” he said, rather than rubbing alcohol. The touchless operation is also reassuring, he said, adding that using traditional dispensers almost leaves him feeling dirtier.

Although McCareins appreciates Vaask’s aesthetics — the sleek shape and attractive matte & finish — he especially likes the lack of maintenance required. 

“It may be the only item in our facility that hasn’t needed maintenance since it’s been installed,” he said. 

And he loves that he’s no longer forced into a long-term supply contract of more sanitizers than he has closet space to store.

McCareins has received endless compliments about Vaask. 

“We have physicians that use our facility, and they’re particularly impressed,” he said. 

Overall, he said he’d give the sanitizer an A+ for being exactly what a business like MAC Speed & Strength needs.