Sauna is booming in America for its community-building, mental, and physical health benefits—and Minnesota, especially Minneapolis, is the epicenter of authentic sauna culture and innovation.

Enter Darin Mays. In 2020, he left a corporate healthcare software career to pursue his passion for building physical products. He set out to create something truly different—a sauna structure using unconventional materials. Because sauna doesn't need to be a dark and musty place.

Darin sketched a never-before-seen design and, within nine days, built the first working prototype. His 6-year-old daughter named it “NorthUp” — “because we go up north.”

The now patented NorthUp Sauna is handcrafted in Minnesota and meant to connect you with nature with it's unique light-filled design.