I first began ice skating when I was two years old. Quickly falling in love with hockey, I began playing for a real team at just the age of five. Throughout the following years, I was lucky enough to play on great teams, meet some of my best friends, and learn from great coaches. But, in 2020, everything came to a halt. The COVID-19 pandemic shut the entire world down, including ice rinks, games, and practices. While everything was seemingly closed off to the public, social media platforms, such as TikTok, connected billions of people across the world. Just as I discovered my love for hockey when I was two years old, I also found out the power of social media for go-getters like myself.

On April 5, 2020, I recreated a goal scored by Connor McDavid in my backyard (video attached to the right). The video went viral on my page, and was quickly reposted by the NHL’s TikTok account, where it was seen by another 270,000 people. After the NHL reposted my video, I gained a lot of local attention from parents who wanted their kids to learn how to skate. Since many kids were denied the opportunity to learn how to skate during the pandemic, I knew I needed to help in any way I could. I had previous experience teaching my little brother and younger cousins how to rollerblade, so teaching younger kids how to rollerblade was a seamless transition for me. One customer turned into five customers and five customers eventually turned into twenty customers- all within a month of posting that TikTok. I realized that I could use my platform to give younger kids, no matter their financial situation, an equal opportunity to learn how to rollerblade. I started this business in my backyard, and there was no better name for it than “Backyard Bladez.”