This week’s conversation is a journey, a little metaphysical, a little brass tacks life advice, no doubt this week’s guest will send you! A resident of Long Beach California since 1999, Tracy Emiko Ugai created a mosaic by picking up pieces that work and discarding what doesn’t to build the colorful life she has today. Best known for her roller skating and wellness brand Basics of Happy, her impact as a visible Long Beach skate community member, and storied career in action sports marketing and PR (for iconically California brands such as Vans, Quicksilver, and Moxi ) precede her.
Tracy regales us with tales of her roller skating roots, which started with Long Beach DIY parking lot roller derby in all of its scrappy down and dirty charm. She also takes us back to park skating before its boom and the exciting collaborative phase of discovery the community was in before the days widely available tutorials and park hardware.
The draw Tracy feels towards wellness is in no way out of left field, in part born of the dissonance she felt between the marketing (and social media) presence she crafted and real life, she found herself hungry for a more grounded perspective. She was evolving and wanting out of the corporate gig life, and wanted to leave space for healing herself, and on the way she found herself positioned to pivot towards a path working wellness. In the process she found herself back in roller skating community and exploring the intersections between movement and healing.
Tracy generously shares the lessons that very much influence her business and her brand today. Applying her life experience, she tackles issues like facing burnout, overcoming self-doubt, redirecting hyper focus as a neurodivergent business owner, and meditative power of roller skating! Above all else she highlights how relinquishing control in creating her own business allowed the road to unwind before her in unexpected and miraculous ways.
Not to mention, we get granular about her foray into developing roller skates for the first time for her very own company, and how collaboration in community are very much the engine behind Basics of Happy. Get ready to nerd out!
Suffice to say, this interview is a veritable treasure trove featuring slices of roller skate history, personal wisdom, healing, and being in business in roller skating today.
Dive into Basics of Happy ! :
https://www.thebasicsofhappy.com/
Tune in to Tracy's playlist! This mix is definitely giving grooving on a basketball court by the beach:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2zXIeEnEbu4at6X9OiQV9Y?si=Hj-8ejXFSpCQ2_xSpGdt4Q&nd=1
Keep up with Tracy's world and projects on IG :
@thebasicsofhappy_skate
@xoxobanzai
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