The Blox, a competitive web show for entrepreneurs, might be closer to Fear Factor than Keeping Up With the Kardashians as far as reality television goes.

The web show’s focus on public speaking, spur-of-the-moment pitching, and an intensive point system are enough to challenge anyone, especially Rick Coughlin.

Coughlin, co-founder and co-owner of Ypsilanti’s Grove Studios, a 24/7 rehearsal space and recording studio, said appearing on season 16 of The Blox was a well-needed “kick in the teeth.”

“You’re standing in front of all your peers, the guy that’s doing $5 million a year, and the woman who just started her dog business, and they’re all looking at you,” said Coughlin, a musician who co-started Grove Studios in 2017 and now runs it with business partner Breck Crandell.

“You have to deliver something that makes sense, and then a coach pokes holes in everything that you said. You get grilled for another half hour or so, and then you rinse and repeat for seven days. And there [are] cameras everywhere all the time.”

Coughlin was selected from a large pool of national applicants to participate in the show. As one of 100 contestants, he spent a week being filmed for the show in Tulsa last summer.

“On The Blox, we talked a lot about ‘client nurture,’ which is all about continuing to build relationships with clients and guests in the studio,” Coughlin said. “For me, it’s asking, 'How [can] I provide and continue to grow this platform of education?' Being a lifelong musician myself, I understand that if you want to make money, have a living, or even just make some side cash being a musician, you’re kind of running a business yourself.”

Run by Weston “Wes” Bergmann, the co-founder and investor of Kansas-based business development company BetaBlox, The Blox hosts a slew of budding businessfolk for a boot camp composed of workshops, one-on-one consults, and exercises to help tune each business owner's vision for their work. The businesses featured range from pre-launch status to companies earning millions a year, and the winner receives a $10,000 prize.

“It was a really cool opportunity to network alone,” Coughlin said. “The coaching I got from Wes, who has built a business in his own right, was based in reality. It wasn’t like he was just having us write a business plan like a lot of other business incubators. It was a lot more than that.”

On The Blox, each day begins with a lecture from Bergmann to help set the educational foundation for the rest of the day. The competitors take notes and evaluate how they might be tested on the information later.

Then, the entrepreneurs break off into different “pods” and participate in inter-pod challenges and one-on-one evaluations, which prime them for presentations they give to the entire group later. For each activity, they earn points through an intricate point system, with Bergmann announcing the top three rankings each day.

The Blox continues as a rapid-fire test of grit, attempting to enable business owners with new skills to better their businesses.

In Bergmann’s first-episode introduction speech to the season 16 contestants, Bergmann highlights the real rewards of the program.

“There are life-changing friends, mentors, investments, customers, and most importantly, education-based traction that is to be earned here this week,” Bergmann said. “You should be striving to get those things because it’s the most guaranteed. If you pay attention to these classes, your life is going to be different when you leave. If you pay attention to these mentors, your life is going to be different when you leave.”

Coughlin’s primary takeaway from being on the show was precisely what Bergmann suggested: He loved the camaraderie, which the exercises encouraged throughout the week.

“It really was the recognition of being around such a mix of entrepreneurs in a way I hadn’t been before,” Coughlin said. “It opened my eyes to how some of our challenges were the same. We were all sort of struggling with the same things.”

While Coughlin didn’t win season 16 of The Blox, he did glean fresh insights into his beloved business and company ethos.

“I feel like a lot of light bulbs went on for me in terms of work that needs to be done in order to grow and really continue to get the word out there,” Coughlin said.

After a season of burnout post-pandemic, Grove Studios is working to reinvigorate its community outreach programs. The Blox helped spur this for Coughlin, reminding him of what drives clients to Grove Studios in the first place.

“It was a reminder to get back to why we started it to begin with,” Coughlin said. “And to focus on some of the things that we dropped along the way because they were difficult and time-consuming. Those turned out to be the right things to be doing: having workshops, hosting events, doing open mic nights, and really engaging with the community.”

Ally Hall is the writer and editor of Rocka Magazine, a music publicist, and a freelance writer.

All episodes of season 16 of “The Blox” are available to stream here. Also, Grove Studios is hosting a drum masterclass on June 30 with musician Mark Damian at 6 pm. Grove Studios is located at 884 Railroad Street, Ypsilanti.