How a paintball fanatic built Punisher's Paintball into a thriving brand

Sophie Hessekiel | 22 Hours Ago

Joel Baker of Punisher's Paintball / Joel Baker

Few people are more acutely aware of the intensity and joy that comes from a good round of paintball than Joel Baker. The professional anesthetist has over twenty years of paintball experience, including playing in circuits like the NXL and MSXL. In 2018, Baker turned his passion for the sport into his business by purchasing Punisher's Paintball. His vision was to create Ohio's premier paintball pro shop.

"I have loved the game of paintball since I was a teenager," Baker told SI. While in college, he took a short hiatus from the game, but picked the sport back up while getting his anesthesia degree. It was at that time that Baker had the opportunity to purchase Punisher’s.

Baker initially spent much of his time on social media, trying to create more content for exposure. During this time, he also opened a brick-and-mortar store for people to shop at, which allowed him to build out his inventory correctly. But what really made the brand pop is the online community Baker built around it.

The earliest expansion efforts on social media significantly contributed to Joel and Punisher's success thus far. By attempting to garner the brand further exposure online, Joel wound up tapping into an entire online world of paintball enthusiasts.

Today, Punisher's Paintball engages with the paintball community through social media, especially its YouTube channel, which offers educational content, product reviews, and event footage. The channel uploads videos 3-4 times a week and covers various paintball topics, including beginner information, product reviews, VLOGs, and playing footage of regional and national events. Baker created a place for people who share his love of paintball to learn and talk about their passion.

Baker aims to make Punisher's one of the top three paintball retailers in the US while growing their social media following and YouTube channel. By building out this community, he hopes to grow the sport of paintball by informing people that "paintball is a sport that can be played across all ages, races, genders, and backgrounds."

In the meantime, Baker will continue to help paintball lovers have the best experience possible with the sport. "Since I still work in anesthesia outside of Punisher's PB, I am not financially dependent on making sales. I pride Punisher's on selling customers the superior product the first time instead of multiple products," Baker explained. Punisher's provides excellent customer service, including a unique trade-in program and fully serviced used equipment, which creates opportunity for people from multiple financial backgrounds to play.

— Enjoy free dish of rich and fabulous players with The Athlete Lifestyle on SI —

First Lady smokin’: Steve Sarkisian’s wife Loreal rocks shoestring tank in all-black fit

WAG roar: Dan Campbell’s wife Holly stun in unique black fit at Lions-Vikings game

No. 1 Dunne: Livvy Dunne’s sister Julz’s gold LSU cowgirl fit, superfan antics win meet

Pure class: Kobe Bryant’s daughter Natalia stuns in elegant low-cut dress

New shade of purple: WNBA star Cameron Brink wows in Unrivaled Lunar Owls uni