Chad Harrell got on a roll when he decided to leave his first career choice behind and become an online entrepreneur.
“I was an AT&T technician, installing cable television and satellite. I hated it,” he said with a chuckle.
What was not humorous, Harrell said, was the mental stress the job was putting on him. He took a 30-day leave to figure out his next career move.
“I’ve been roller skating all my life and during those 30 days I skated almost every day,” he said.
Fate stepped in, he explained, when someone taped him doing some moves while skating backward and AT? Skate King and texted the file to him. He posted it and soon more than 7,000 people had viewed it.
“It’s not only part of the roller-skating community, it is a historic part of the Black community,” – Chad Harrell, entrepreneur
He began videoing other skaters on his I-Phone, posting the videos “and it grew a community.”
“I have never taken a film class in my life. I enjoyed doing [the skating videos.] I was unhappy. I was leaving my job. I decided what to do,” Harrell said.
“I came back [to AT&T], resigned and on Oct. 12, 2017, I created an LLC and started SkateLyfeCO.com” Harrell’s site is at www.facebook.com/SkateLyfeCo/
He was out daily recording skaters at rinks including Saints and The Palace and within a year had 5,000 followers. Five years later, he has more than a half-million followers and almost 90,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel.
“It just took off,” he said.
To ensure a smooth path as a self-employed business owner and not takeTO AVOID TAKING a tumble, Harrell knew he had to turn a profit. His business was a fit with the Facebook Partner Program (now known as Meta Business Partners,) and the wheels of success began spinning.
According to Meta’s website, its services include “helping grow your business, from running ads, to selling products, to engaging with customers.”
Harrell said it gathers and shares information including data oN who watches views his website, who clicks advertisements, and rate of clicks per minute.
Along with advertising revenue, SkateLyfeCO produces a skating fashion line which is available through the website.
Harrell said the roller-skating community, throughout the U.S. and the world, shares the positivity and “good feelings” skating brings to people.
“A lot of people may not understand why people skate. It’s fun. It’s something positive and it’s a community of people who care about each other.”
A 2020 American Sports Data survey concluded 10.8 million people ages 6 and above roller skate, USING traditional quad-wheel SKATES skating.
The activity also draws skaters of all ages, something that appeals to the 38-year-old Harrell.
“I see a lot of different age groups. Sometimes they are older, sometimes they are younger. It depends on the nights; the music being played that evening. There is something for everyone, including families,” he said.
Harrell was raised in the Walnut Park neighborhood and began skating when he was 6.
“My mom took me to a birthday party,” he said.
The cultural significance of roller skating is also part of roller skating’sthe activity’s popularity, according to Harrell.
The 2019 HBO documentary “United Skates,” explained the role it played in the quest for equality.
“In the segregated 1960s, most roller-skating rinks were off-limits to Black skaters, but that didn’t stop the Black community from embracing the pastime,” said the documentary’s writers.
“African American skaters had to stage protests to fight for admittance into roller rinks. Even then, they weren’t always allowed to skate with white skaters and had to participate on Black-only nights. From this, however, came the rise of the Black skate culture, which thrived throughout the 1970s and even helped give rise to rap and hip-hop of the 1980s.”
Harrell said, “It’s not only part of the roller-skating community, it is a historic part of the Black community,”
