Icon co-founders still have Aggie spirit
Two creative-minded businessmen started their local business while attending Utah State University.
Gary Stevenson and Scott Watterson are the co-founders of Icon Health and Fitness, Inc. Their business has evolved through the years to help people become healthier and stronger.
Stevenson, president and COO (Chief Operations Officer) and Watterson, chairman and CEO (Chief Executive Officer); grew up together in Logan as school buddies.
Later in life they attended USU where they became true Aggies.
“And proud of it,” Watterson said.
Both Watterson and Stevenson met their wives at USU. Their wives were friends in college and are still friends now, he said.
Upon high school graduation, Watterson attended Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. He then served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years in Asia. When he returned from his mission he attended BYU, then he repented and came to USU where he graduated in marketing, he said.
Stevenson was an Aggie fan, so naturally he attended USU. He majored in business information systems with an emphasis in marketing, he said. He spent a few years in Asia as well.
Watterson said he met some people from Asia with business ideas. Both Watterson and Stevenson had the desire to return to Asia, and what was then a great opportunity for a summer job and money for school ultimately became Icon Health and Fitness.
“Utah State forced us to do it so we could pay for tuition,” Watterson said.
He said there were classes they took at USU to help encourage them to go into business together.
Stevenson said headquarters were set up in the back of Watterson’s parent’s house. Now there are a lot of people employed all over the United States and Canada.
“[It’s] more than [we] expected it to be; more than [we] bargained for both positive and negative,” Watterson said. “It’s nice to be involved with making people healthy and strong.”
Their first import was brass and marble furniture accessories, Stevenson said. Now the business specializes in fitness products.
“[The business] evolves with changing circumstances,” he said.
Colleen Logan, director of marketing, said Icon is an interesting company to work for.
She said both Watterson and Stevenson have a sense of the world as being a big place, and yet they still experiment with new ideas and keep trying to bring about more success.
In spite of the government’s bill to raise tuition, Watterson believes students should keep attending the university. The culture is rich with opportunities to succeed in life and are enhanced by USU experiences, he said.
In a marketing and strategic planning class in 1979 Watterson and Stevenson were required to do an assignment about the wine industry, Watterson said.
Stevenson and Watterson came up with the idea to put wine in a can and place it in a cooler and have different flavors. No one in the class thought their idea would ever work, Watterson said.
“Neither of us had ever drank wine,” Watterson said.
The plans were made up, but they did not act on it for business. Watterson said he thinks someone saw their plans, because now, wine coolers are seen in almost every grocery store.
“Take risks early,” he said.
He also advised to be patient with opportunities and not be restless to change. Give ideas more time. Stevenson also had some advice for students currently attending USU.
“Strive to be the best in [your] field, choose areas you’re comfortable with, [and] work to be the best [and with that], personal satisfaction comes,” he said.