Today we’d like to introduce you to Teshia Robinson.
Teshia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I think the beginnings of RollATL started over 20 years ago when I first got into skating.
As a kid, I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. All I knew was that I wanted a pair of rollerblades. I literally fell in love with skating the first time I tried it and begged my parents for a pair of my own inline skates, but we couldn’t afford them. My grandparents saved the day and sent money to get me a pair for my 6th birthday.
Going to the store with my dad to pick out my first pair of brand new rollerblades was one of the highlights of my childhood and a special memory that has always stuck with me. Later when I got into college, I revisited my favorite childhood past time and started skating regularly again as a stress relief from classes and work.
At the time I was living in Iowa. None of my friends skated and I rarely saw anyone on inline skates. I had seen YouTube videos of night skates in cities like Paris where dozens of inline skaters would explore the city at night. It was an inspiration to me and it became more than just a bucket list item.
I wanted to move to France where I could be a part of a skate community. I decided to get a master’s degree to make it easier to get a job in Europe and I chose to do graduate school at Georgia Tech where they had an exchange program with a university in Paris.
When I got to Atlanta though, I discovered something amazing. Not only was there a fantastic skate community here, but they also did multiple night skates through the city every week. It was like my dream had come true much sooner than expected! I also discovered that inline skating, which I thought was a recreational past-time, was actually a legitimate sport with multiple competitions and disciplines.
I could skate for miles and train for distance marathons like Athens to Atlanta, or go to Piedmont Park and learn slalom skating from a former US Champion, or go to the skatepark and learn tricks from pro bladers who traveled the world doing crazy street tricks for video edits, I also realized inline skating is very much an international sport.
While studying abroad in Cambodia, I skated at a rink in a rural farming town and played tag on skates with some of the local children at another rink in the capital city of Phnom Penh. I began to realize that growing up I never knew what I wanted to be because the sport of inline skating didn’t exist where I was raised in the Midwest.
I immediately fell in love with the new world I had found. I began to wonder how many people were like me–how many people love skating but don’t know about the incredible international skate community and culture. With the completion of the Eastside Beltline Trail, I saw more and more skaters enjoying their newfound or re-found freedom on wheels.
I started brainstorming with one of my close skating buddies about how we could build the skate community and help local skaters connect. We agreed that having a skate shop would be a fantastic platform for helping those interested in skating learn more about the various sports disciplines and communities.
A skate shop would not only be able to advise skaters on the best gear to help them get started, but it could also promote upcoming skate events and help skaters connect with clubs and groups. Thus, although it is a sporting goods store, the goal of RollATL has always been about sharing the love of skating, and not just about selling skate products.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but it is incredible to see how everything has come full circle. Shortly after I moved to Atlanta, my parents separated after years of domestic violence in the home. Suddenly I found myself dealing with not only my first year of graduate school but also processing years of negative emotional baggage for which I had never received counseling or therapy.
I decided I needed to quit the graduate research I was struggling with as the added stress of academics during that time was pushing me to a mental breaking point. Then my grandmother who had been diagnosed with cancer took a turn for the worse. I took a break from my studies for a few months to help my grandfather care for her as it was difficult for anyone else in the family to take the time off work.
Caring for my grandmother in her last days reinforced to me the fragility of life and the beauty of the simple moments spent with those you love. School grades, career goals, and even family drama seemed so trivial. After my grandmother’s funeral, I decided to move back to Atlanta even though I had no source of income, virtually no money, and no idea what I wanted to do next.
Needless to say, I was in a pretty serious state of depression. One of my skate friends offered to sponsor me to do a marathon on the condition that I would make an effort to actually be able to compete. It was exactly what I needed. The skate training was like therapy for me as it forced me to be present and focus on a goal.
I ended up skating 200 miles in 24 hours and winning the marathon. It was the confidence boost I needed to keep moving forward. I got a full-time job and took classes part-time at Georgia Tech while continuing to explore what I wanted to do next. When we had the idea to open the skate shop, I was in a much better place mentally to tackle opening my own business, but with the new adventure came new struggles.
Before opening RollATL, I left most of my belongings and my boyfriend in Atlanta and moved to Boston for a 5-month internship at Thuro inline skate shop. I wanted to learn what it takes to run a skate shop and quickly found it requires 110% of your energy and commitment with virtually no financial return on investment.
With the boom of online retail, opening a brick and mortar store is no simple task, let alone opening a store that carries “luxury items” like sporting goods where the market instantly takes a dive with any sort of dip in the economy. It is a very risky business; so finding investors and applying for a loan was daunting.
I saved every penny I could while working at the skate shop in Boston and the skate community actually crowdfunded a good chunk of the start-up money we used to open the store. It was incredible to me how many people came alongside to donate everything from store fixtures to their time to move items and help with store set-up.
RollATL was definitely a labor of love from the ground up. I could not have done it without the support of my amazing boyfriend and the wonderful “skate fam” as I like to call them.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with RollATL – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
RollATL is a sporting goods concept store celebrating the culture and community of urban skating. We have a unique selection of inline and roller skates stylishly showcased for customers to choose from, and we are conveniently located a block away from the Eastside Beltline Trail and just a few blocks from the interstate for easy access to the shop. One of my favorite features of our store is the graffiti wall where customers can take a quick Instagram picture to show off their new skates in front of the RollATL sign.
Several of the skates featured in these Instagram photos are completely custom. We love to modify our skates to fit each customer’s specific needs–whether it’s changing the wheel size, swapping components to get it within their budget, or adding flashy, fun components like gold frames or LED light up wheels. One of the other things that makes the customer experience at RollATL unique is that skate fittings can be scheduled ahead of time on our website. This makes it possible for customers to schedule fittings during or even outside of store hours so that they are guaranteed to get a sales representative’s undivided attention while trying out different styles of skates.
This also enables us to make sure we have what our customers need in stock before they walk in the door. Besides selling skates, we love to support the local community through organizing social events at our store. We have hosted everything from a pop-up shop for a local music artist to a meet and greet for the Atlanta Roller Girls derby team. Since opening, I have also been amazed by the skate love shared from out-of-state! We have had multiple customers visit from Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi as well as a few from North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire, and even Germany.
For some of them, it is their first time walking into an inline/roller skate shop and the first time they’ve seen their “dream pair” of skates in person. RollATL has become a destination spot for skate enthusiasts visiting the city. One of my favorite examples of this is a customer, Cindy Osborn, who I actually met while working at the skate shop in Boston. She was planning to participate in the Athens to Atlanta road skate and I gave her advice for marathon skating and connected her with an instructor for skate training.
Weeks later and over a thousand miles away, Cindy surprised me by walking through our front door on the day of the RollATL Grand Opening. She had been on a skating road trip and drove all the way from Nashville to celebrate with us and buy some skate gear from my new shop…
Magical moments like those are why I love RollATL, and there have been so many more since I have opened the shop. Skating and the community surrounding it has helped me in so many ways and RollATL has become my opportunity to give back to the community and help spread the joy of skating.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
When RollATL first opened, I honestly was not sure how popular inline skates and roller skates would be or how many we would sell. But I have (happily) discovered that Atlanta is very much a skate city.
At the beginning, RollATL was focused on urban action sports such as roller derby, pro scooter, longboarding, and recreational inline skating. Ironically, I did not know many rink skaters, even though they constitute the majority of roller skaters in Atlanta. Yet as more and more of our customers purchase skates specifically for rink skating, I am learning about the fascinating culture surrounding it.
A couple from Germany who visited RollATL were in town for Joi’s Sk8-A-Thon and told me about the documentary “United Skates.” I realized I had lived in Atlanta for three years and missed one of the most quintessential aspects of this city. Moving forward, I would love for RollATL to be able to be more involved with the rink skating scene in Atlanta..
Currently, we support local skating by offering discounts to roller derby league members (regardless of which league they are from) as well as discounts to roller hockey league members. My goal is to collaborate with local rinks and roller skate groups to discuss ways to promote upcoming events and get more people visiting their local rinks.
Recently, roller skating has been featured in multiple music videos and there was a small buzz earlier this year about Drake’s inline hockey skates. Both inline and roller skating appear to be gaining popularity and we would love to continue to help put both sports in the spotlight through social events and supporting the existing skate talent in Atlanta.
Ultimately, I hope RollATL will inspire new skaters. One of the reasons I moved back to Atlanta and did not stay in the Midwest is that I love the unique culture and diversity here. The shop is located just a few blocks from the MLK Memorial in the dynamic Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.
There is a rich cultural heritage here, including a rich skate culture. If RollATL can be a small part of sharing and preserving that heritage and fun, healthy past-time, then our mission has been accomplished.
Contact Info:
- Address: 572 Edgewood Ave SE #122 (facing Randolph Street)
- Website: rollatl.com
- Phone: 678-845-5944
- Email: info@rollatl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rollatl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RollATL
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RollATL
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rollatl-atlanta
- Other: https://goo.gl/maps/7eBPsy3LVK22
Image Credit:
Brandon Wiggins
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