Interview with the founders of the company Wheels & Feels

Wheels & Feels Turns two! The Founders Story

Join us as we celebrate WheelsFeels' birthday!

Discover the story behind WheelsFeels. In this candid interview, the founders Andrew and Oxana share their personal journey, from their initial inspiration to building a thriving company that's revolutionizing SUV’s storage.

How did you get into this business? Why did you start manufacturing systems for SUVs?
 

Oxana: 

My husband and I are from Eastern Europe, where we were also involved in creating and selling storage systems for automobiles. Andrew (CEO) is a car engineer by training. He has always been passionate about creating and improving cars.

Initially, we didn't have solutions with sinks, faucets, and sleeping platforms. This idea came about in the USA because camping is very popular here. When you travel to remote places, a kitchen and a sleeping platform are essential!
 

How did you come up with the idea of making trunk systems for SUVs?

Andrew: 

As often happens, I initially invented a storage system for myself because important things were always rolling around in the trunk of my SUV. Then friends saw my invention and asked me to make similar systems for their SUVs. 

Oxana and I love long car trips and travels, and we always lacked space in the trunk. The storage system solves this problem, the trunk is completely organized, and we can fit everything. As a bonus, we can even sometimes spend the night in the car on the way from point A to point B. Thanks to the sleeping platform in the car, we sometimes stop in cool, wild locations where there are no hotels.
 

How did your journey begin?

Oxana: 

We first came to the USA in 2022. We immediately saw the global prospects for our business, so we decided to open our company. We went through different times, from finding premises to mistakes with thermal insulation because we didn't initially understand the weather conditions in Texas.

There was a funny incident - we wanted a cool, powerful machine with a vacuum table and many other important elements. It was expensive to start a business, but we wanted everything to be of high quality right away, so we ordered it overseas. We waited 2.5 months for it because it was being assembled for us and painted in our corporate colors.

When we arrived at the port, it turned out that we couldn't clear anything ourselves, so we had to look for a broker on the spot. Also, we didn't have a forklift, and without it, the machine couldn't be transported, it is very heavy. Thanks our friends and partners who lent it to us!
 

Andrew: 

During this period, we faced a large number of challenges. At first, we had complaints from customers due to defects. At some point, we started to grow rapidly, and we had to hire many employees in a short time without losing the quality of work.

Now we are proud of our team of engineers and assemblers who have refined the product to the smallest detail. We have also developed a system to speed up processes. 

Products for Lexus gx460, Bronco 4 doors, Toyota LC250, and the full Lexus gx550 line will be available soon. We also have many plans to expand the range by the end of the year. Stay tuned!
 

What is special about the product?

Andrew: 

Our strategy is a unique product for a specific car. Each system is unique, and its parameters repeat every inch of the trunk so that access to everything remains.

There is no universal solution for Toyota Rav4 and Jeep Wrangler. We could make an imperfect solution, but for most cars. From a business point of view, it would be more profitable and faster. But we make the product as for ourselves, because we are our first customers :)