Why Don't More Women Own Skate Shops? An Interview with Sasha Senior.
Sasha Senior - owner of Bliss Skateboard shop
We love meeting amazing women who help further skateboarding. So we were excited that we had the opportunity to sit down via zoom and do an interview with Sasha Senior. Sasha is 33 years old, a skater, a powerhouse, and is making history, opening the first Black female-owned skate shop in North America. Bliss Skateboard shop, with Sasha at the helm, opened its doors on March 20, 2020 - during the beginning of the pandemic.
Read on for how she did it, what it takes and how it’s all going.
Bliss Skateboard Shop
GN4LW: We absolutely love what you are doing by opening a female-founded skate shop - it’s important that women in this industry participate in areas where they can further skateboarding for other non-traditional skaters - can you tell us what made you decide to open a skate shop?
SASHA: I was having a convo with another skate shop owner, and he asked me if there was a skate shop by me, and no, there wasn’t. So that made me decide to start looking into it. I figured I had weekends free, so maybe I should? I found a great location five minutes from the local skatepark. So I got the space, and I was like, “I guess I’m a skate shop owner now.” I literally put the cart before the horse. That was the point when I realized I was really committing.
GN4LW: So, now you have a location, and since you went into this on a bit of a whim, what were your next steps to get products and build the shop?
SASHA: I didn’t really fully understand the commitment and work it would take to start a shop. So I saved some money and just made it all happen… I didn’t take out any loans, so I used the money I had to buy products, and as they sold, I rolled that back into the shop to buy more products.
GN4LW: You opened when the pandemic started - how was that?
SASHA: We opened on March 20, 2020, and a few days later, the government said we were going into lockdown… Non-essential stores were closed, so I shifted to online immediately. It was a learning curve. Sales were local - I’d advertise the website on my Facebook page and have people call my cell phone and tell me what they wanted to order, then I’d meet them at the shop in 20 minutes to give them their order. I’d leave it outside the door, wait for them to pick it up, and it went on like that for quite a while.
Saha Senior on camera for a promo for Bliss Skateboard shop
GN4LW: When did you start doing shipping orders?
SASHA: The next year is when I started shipping things which opened up even more areas for me.
GN4LW: How did things change for you as a shop owner as the pandemic went along?
SASHA: There was a lack of product available for me to stock - there were either really small boards or really large boards available, so that was tough. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel to get products that my customers needed and wanted. It was tough. I was placing smaller orders than larger, more established shops, so I was not always able to get what I wanted. It was a struggle.
GN4LW: How did you find and connect with skateboard distributors when you started?
SASHA: In Canada, we have to buy from Canadian distributors. Which I didn’t know when I started. Once I got with the first distributor here, I was still a bit limited as they only carry certain products. I really had to research and establish those connections to get to other distributors to get other brands I wanted to carry. I’m used to paperwork in my main job, so that wasn’t a struggle for me - but for someone else, a vendor application might be harder. Once I had that first distributor to help show trust with other distributors and made it easier to get an account with them. Even Google searches, Instagram, etc., helped me find the suppliers of the products II needed.
GN4LW: How do you feel about sharing resources?
SASHA: I’m like an open book, and I share info - I fully believe in that. A guy opened a new skate shop in Ontario and reached out asking how to get the product he needed, and I gladly helped him, so he didn’t have to go through what I did. Because in the future I’d like to think we all help each other. If I don’t have a board a customer wants, maybe I can call him and refer them that way. Hopefully, he will do the same for me. I want to maintain those connections - that’s what makes the skate community stay together.
Sasha - Kickflip
GN4LW: So it sounds like working with other skate shops is important to you?
SASHA: Keeping those connections is important. Maybe he decides to have a demo day and then asks you to do a popup with your skaters? And it works both ways - we all should support each other. And I think when you help your customers and have a good vibe in your shop, it’s better for everyone - so why wouldn’t I help - even if my shop doesn’t have what you need?
GN4LW: Sometimes non-traditional skaters are conditioned to guard all the info they have because they fear that someone else being on that team or having that resource takes away from them - it sounds like you are like me; we don’t believe that. At all.
SASHA: Let’s get the resources together, and I feel that there is always opportunity out there. Do you think that the guy who opened Burger King said to himself, I’m not going to open because there is already a Mc Donalds out there? Or if Wend’s said I’m not going to open because there are those other two. No, they said to themselves, “I’m doing it this way” - we can all be in this space, and I’m going to do it my way, and if they like me, they will come to my space. And that’s the same with anything you do - if you say, “I’m not going to be able to get that opportunity because someone else already has it - then you won’t.”
GN4LW: You need to do a TEDx talk - seriously!!
SASHA: Thank you - that would be rad!
Sasha Senior in front of her skateboard shop, BLISS.
GN4LW: Have you had any issues with people having issues that you are a Black, female-owned skate shop?
SASHA: No, the guys who leased me the space asked what I was going to do with it, and I said, “a skate shop.” They were saying, “wow, we don’t have one of those. That’s great!”. I finally told one of my friends halfway through building out the shop that I was doing this, and he was saying, “do you know how much work that is?” I really don’t look at obstacles that way - the fact that I am a Black woman or anything else did not cross my mind - I wanted to own a skate shop, and so I did it.
GN4LW: That is a great attitude to have - for anything in life!
SASHA: Right? If I had that attitude of I can’t because I’m a woman, I am a Black woman, I would have never gotten into skateboarding. And I have been skating since I was thirteen, only stopping when I was injured at one point in time.
GN4LW: The work you are doing is important for everyone else in the community and beyond.
SASHA: Yeah, my friend said, “you know, as a Black woman, you are going to make history doing this, right?’ But I hadn’t even thought about that - I just wanted to open a skate shop. And the fact that that is now the case is cool - but that was never my intention starting out. I came into like, “I’m a skateboarder,” that’s it.
GN4LW: Have you seen an influx of girls and women gravitating toward the shop?
SASHA: It is awesome now to see more women and girls coming into the shop buying boards and saying that I’ve inspired them - that’s really dope. I have never had the opposite response of “oh, don’t you feel weird?” I don’t feel weird because I’m a skateboarder at the end of the day.
GN4LW: It’s about knowing you belong here. No matter what. But I do think it’s great having a shop where girls and women feel OK asking basic questions and feel comfortable about it.
Sasha - ollie at the skatepark
SASHA: I like the fact that I represent women in skateboarding - every woman in skateboarding does. Growing up, if there had been a woman who owned a skate shop in my town, I’d want to skate even more.
GN4LW: A skate shop becomes your local community.
SASHA: Yes. And there is something really rad about skating with an all-women crew sometimes. It’s just a different vibe than when I skate with the guys. Skating with all women is empowering. We’re all out here doing something a lot of people think women don’t do.
GN4LW: Agreed - the feeling is different and so powerful.
SASHA: It really is.
GN4LW: Do you carry a lot of female-owned brands in the shop?
SASHA: In the beginning, during the pandemic, there was a supply shortage, but at one point, I was able to get Meow skateboard decks in, and then I wasn’t. I couldn’t get other things as well. And I also feel that there are not enough female-owned skate brands out there. There needs to be more.
GN4LW: Do you have any female employees at the shop?
SASHA: Right now, I have all guys working at the shop, I’d love to have more women in the shop working, but I need to find those women who skate and know the products and have the knowledge and experience.
Bliss Skateboard Shop
GN4LW: What is your favorite thing about the shop?
SASHA: I like the community aspect of it. Bliss Skateboard Shop has encouraged so many to skateboard in and near Windsor. I like connecting the community through skateboarding.
GN4LW: What would you like people to know about you and your skate shop?
SASHA: It’s doable, but it’s not going to be easy all of the time. I’m still learning how to make my business better. You have to take the time to understand that success is not going to happen overnight, there are going to be failures, and you are going to have issues. It’s all a lesson, and you need to learn from it. I can’t expect to open and my brand to be like Nike or Empire Skate shop in Montreal. I can’t have these huge expectations right away, or else you will burn yourself out.
GN4LW: It takes a lot of hard work - you also hold a full-time job as well!
SASHA: I had to find some good time management skills. I evaluate how important each issue is and prioritize them. So not everything is problem #1 - because that doesn’t work. If you do that, you won’t get anything done, and you’ll burn yourself out.
GN4LW: What advice would you give other women who want to start a business in skateboarding?
SASHA: I would say, do your research, don’t get discouraged, don’t let other people’s ideas of what they think your brand should be and change your idea of what you want it to be. And that well-known quote, “whatever you do at the end of the day, just start!”. Plan, but don’t be afraid just to start.
GN4LW: Any advice to a girl or womxn who wanted to start skateboarding?
SASHA: DO IT!! Don’t let guys at the park intimidate you. People always say, “I’m not ready for the park yet. I can’t even ollie,” but that’s what the park is for. Every single person you see at the park couldn’t ollie in the beginning either. Put headphones in, be in your own world if you need to, and just skate!
BLISS SKATEBOARD SHOP
3216 Sandwich St
WINDSOR, Ontario N9C1A8
(226) 759-6316
admin@blisssk8shop.com
They ship internationally too!!