Speaker 1: 0:09

Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate destination for all skating enthusiasts. We cater to everyone, from beginners to pros. Whether you love inline and ice skating or prefer quads and skateboarding, we have it all covered, and we bring you exclusive interviews with professionals, talented amateurs and influencers in the industry. So sit back, relax and get ready for an exciting journey into the world of skating.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Welcome to how Do you Skate. I am Sean Egan, your host and my guest today is Nicole Fiore. Hello, and so now let's get started on where you started with skating and how young you were.

Speaker 3: 0:57

So I was pretty much born on skates. That is. The big joke is that I came out with skates on because my mom was realistically teaching at the skating rink on skates herself a few hours before I was born. So I started skating as soon as I could walk. We had little baby shoes with wheels on that like have been passed around from family to family because it's like not a realistic skate, but it's baby shoes with a plate and with wheels on it. So that's how I started as soon as I could walk. And then I started competing at four years old and that went through my entire life up until I was an adult. I won four world championships along the way, many, many national championships, and then kind of retired from that and started teaching and performing. And that is where I'm at nowadays, is I get to teach everyone how to skate.

Speaker 2: 1:55

Nice. Now, how long was your mom skating? Has she been a lifelong skater too?

Speaker 3: 2:01

Yeah, so my entire family. It's definitely a skating family, like my parents. The scandalous story is my parents met through skating. My dad was my mom's skating coach, so my dad was like a national champion roller skater big time. Everyone in artistic roller skating knows Bob Leonard that was my father and then my mom came along and was very young, but she started skating and my dad started teaching her and the saying is that she was the worst student he ever had because she never listened. She did not do anything correctly, but anyway, years later they ended up getting together and then me and my three brothers all of us grew up skating.

Speaker 2: 2:47

Okay, are your brothers competitive too, then?

Speaker 3: 2:50

They were. We all competed. I have a van tattoo on my arm. This van we used to drive cross country every summer to go to the national championships all six of us. So you can only imagine how crazy that was. But yeah, we all used to compete. I've even skated with one of my brothers in competition, but nowadays they are pretty much doing their own things. They don't really skate too much. I'm the only one who is on skates every week still.

Speaker 2: 3:17

Okay Now. Do you prefer skating with a partner or solo?

Speaker 3: 3:31

prefer skating with a partner or solo. So I grew up doing all of it Um, but I won my four world championships and a third place that we forget to talk about, um. I got all of those solo and that was in solo dance. So I I I'm a team player, sure, but I love competing on my own because I can call the shots and like I, if I mess up, I'm messing myself up, I'm not messing someone else up.

Speaker 3: 3:53

That was the worst feeling growing up, like in a I used to do precision team. That was like a bunch of people and I remember one competition I turned the wrong way and led the entire routine backward and so we were facing the curtain instead of the audience. And, lucky for me, it worked out because we had this like sword fight scene and it looked really, really cool because there was like shadows on the curtain and so it looked like it was on purpose because the fight was displayed on the big curtain, and so we made it to finals. We ended up doing correctly in finals, but I felt so bad Like I cried the entire rest of the day because I was like I messed everyone up. So I hated that feeling. So when I got the opportunity to do solo skating, I was like, yes, sign me up, I'm there.

Speaker 2: 4:43

Now, how do you deal with, like, the frustration? Because I know, last night I played roller hockey on quads for the first time with my son and there was one kid Okay, I can't call him a kid because he's probably in his early 20s, but because of my age I can he lost it, like one time he like threw his helmet and got all pissed off and started yelling and then in the third game he ended up throwing a stick and actually getting kicked off the thing just because of frustration. So it's, I see that, and me being the oldest out there at 52 and skating around on quads since I haven't skated on quads since I was probably not even a teenager, really, and I didn't get frustrated, I didn't. But to see someone that's been doing it for a while get so frustrated and so hard on himself, how do you deal with stuff like that?

Speaker 3: 5:38

Yeah, I definitely things are a lot better now. Let's just say that now that I'm not competing, I am very fortunate to teach so many different people people going through competition, people not going through competition, just doing it for fun. But it is the same throughout where, like, no matter what, you're going to be super hard on yourself and you're going to expect the best from yourself. And I spent many years not being so great mentally. I was very hard on myself and I did not. I, it was kind of a blessing in disguise. I did not think I was very good. Um, so, even when I was going into the world championships, I had no expectation of winning and I think that was me like protecting myself of like you're not very good, just go have fun, it'll be fine. And then I ended up winning. And then that's when it went downhill for me. Then, when I started winning, because I was like, oh shoot, I gotta maintain this. So that is when I started getting like really sick, physically sick. I would get sick before I went out onto the skating floor. So they would.

Speaker 3: 6:51

Everyone had like protocol. They knew what to do. My coaches knew what to do. They would call my name. There needed to be a trash can nearby, I would throw up and then I'd go onto the skating floor and luckily I was able to perform through that.

Speaker 3: 7:06

Nobody really gave me necessarily tools to combat that. It was just like, I think, no matter what, I needed to figure it out on my own. My brother, my older brother, kind of dealt with the same thing, but he was still trying to figure it out while I was still figuring it out. So we were just skating blind and I had really great coaches around me that tried to help me. But I had to really like get out of my own head. So I had to write everything down. I had to basically journal everything out to clear my mind and refocus my energy, like through my body, to make sure I didn't like stiffen up.

Speaker 3: 7:47

You know when you like get scared or something and you just like freeze my body wanted to do that in competition and obviously you can't do that when you're performing in front of thousands of people. So I had to figure out how to redirect my energy. But even nowadays, like teaching people, I see it every single day people getting frustrated or expecting something different than reality and it's like no, we're doing a difficult thing, it's a difficult task and you have to figure out how to make it the best for you and not compare yourself to anyone else. That's the biggest thing I think nowadays with social media is comparing yourself, and you don't know where anyone else is on their journey. So you have to do it for you and figure out what works best for you. But yeah, it's not easy.

Speaker 2: 8:37

Yeah, they do say comparison is the thief of joy.

Speaker 3: 8:40

So 100% is yes.

Speaker 2: 8:43

And I think, just because of my age, that when I'm out there I'm not trying to be better than anybody else. 100% is yes, giant family. And even when new people come up and struggling, we stop to help them, like we're like okay, here, try this, and you know you're doing better, and you just give them that, that reassurance.

Speaker 3: 9:11

So and it is really helpful to help other people because then you, in verbalizing something, it might help something, stick where you're like, oh, I'm having trouble with this transition or something, and then you verbalize it to someone else and you're like, oh, I'm having trouble with this transition or something, and then you verbalize it to someone else and you're like, oh, that's what I'm messing up, yeah. So it is always good to help other people because in turn, you're actually helping yourself yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2: 9:36

So now how old were you when you won your first competition?

Speaker 3: 9:40

I was 14, going on 15, so I think I was 15 when I won the first world championship, my first national championship that I won. I believe I was about 11. So in artistic roller skating, you can grow up through it and you can do it forever, which?

Speaker 3: 9:59

is the beautiful thing thing, because in other sports like, let's say, hockey or something like, you may not want an 85 year old out there playing hockey, but also, if you can do it, I'm not gonna stop you. But in artistic skating it is a very usual, normal thing to have a four-year-old out there and then in another event have an 84 year old out there. So I grew up doing it and then I found success later on, later on in quotes, at 15. But from like a very young age I actually lost a lot. Like I started out at the bottom and my mom and I would count our way from the bottom. So like if I got second to last at a competition, it was in a plus because I got. I moved up one. And then, like, if I got, you know, I just moved my way up until I was actually at the top.

Speaker 3: 10:55

So that is a good reminder. I try to tell people, like, when people are comparing themselves, let's say to me who's been on skates my entire life and I'm teaching them a two foot spin and I can do a two foot spin eight times around at least like no problem. And they're like well, why can't I do that? And I'm like well, I couldn't do that when I first started. Like I started not so great and you gotta fight your way through that.

Speaker 2: 11:23

Yeah, exactly. So now where your championships, your world championships? Were they consecutive championships or yeah?

Speaker 3: 11:32

So I won 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. And then I took a year off. I was so burnt out from my own mind and from competition and I was like I need to be done, so I thought I was done for sure. But I took one year off and then came back to the senior level, which senior is above 18. And I got third place at the world championships within that and that is like another funny joke, because I never talk about it, I just say it has a better ring to say like four time world champion, not like a five time medalist, even though I am. So there is a third place at the end in 2012.

Speaker 2: 12:16

You know it's, but you took a year off. Did you seem to enjoy it more after you took the year off?

Speaker 3: 12:22

Yes, I did not get sick. That one year I didn't get sick. It was a big triumph, it was wonderful.

Speaker 2: 12:29

So what you're saying is you need to take breaks just to regroup and reset yourself mentally.

Speaker 3: 12:37

Oh, 100%, like even skating now just for fun. People say like oh, skate every day. Or like the big 365, like skate was really big on the internet for a while. Um, I'm like I don't think there's ever been a time in my life where I skate every day, like maybe five days a week when I'm training really hard, but never every day.

Speaker 2: 13:00

You need a break so every well, it started last year out here in Denver. It's called Mile High Rollers and it's like troops, artistic skating crews and all that kind of stuff. You should really try to make it next year and show off.

Speaker 3: 13:14

I would.

Speaker 2: 13:14

Yeah, that'd be fun and show off well, um, I want to say one of the DJs out here that works at Skate City, devin. I think his last name is Seamus.

Speaker 3: 13:28

Okay, yeah, I know him.

Speaker 2: 13:30

Yeah, he's one of the DJs out here, so he's really cool and I get to talk to him whenever I see him, whenever I show up, and he's DJing. But yeah, he's, I think, four-time national champion.

Speaker 3: 13:42

Yeah, in Creative Solo, which is the thing that I first won. He, he, this is what I mean by like how amazing skating is because you can be whoever you are and like compete again. In the event that he competed against people, it was everyone. It was like open age. I think you had to be above 13 and that could go on to whatever age. Um, if I'm remembering this correctly, I think it was open, creative and you like have a fun song. His songs were usually really fun and you have a pattern and you have like certain techniques that you need to do, but it's pretty much a free for all. And, yeah, he was amazing.

Speaker 2: 14:24

Yeah, I see him just at the roller rink and just he does stuff and I'm like I'm not even going to try that, I'll like throw out my back.

Speaker 3: 14:31

Yeah, I mean, I believe in you. I believe you're strong enough.

Speaker 2: 14:36

So now, when prepping for skating was, skating all you did. Or were you in the gym with the regimen in the gym and eating right and all that, like most athletes do, or are you going to be the one of those ones that ate burgers and still won?

Speaker 3: 14:50

I wish I was better when I was competing. Because I look at myself now like how I eat, how I train and I'm not even training for anything, I'm just training for life and I'm like, wow, I could have been so good, Like I would have been so much better if I had been a little bit healthier. But no, I was. Yes, I was going to the gym, but I was definitely going to get burgers and fries and milkshakes with my friends after school before heading to practice, Like that was my fuel and that is so ridiculous now that I think back, but that's just how it was.

Speaker 2: 15:27

Just had to bring that subject up.

Speaker 3: 15:29

Yeah, I mean no, it's a good thing to talk about because I genuinely wish I knew better when I was younger and I wish I knew my body better. But obviously when you're a teenager you don't really care or know. But yeah, if I could go back I would have been a little bit better about it. But the gym definitely helps because skating muscles are very specific and if you can build up the surrounding muscles as well, then you're going to be a stronger, better skater.

Speaker 2: 15:59

For sure. So now, when did you stop competing?

Speaker 3: 16:04

I. My last year was 2012. Okay so a long time ago now. Time really does fly.

Speaker 2: 16:10

Yeah, it does. And when did you transition into teaching then? Did you have a break before that, where you went from competition and then just skated for a while and then got into teaching?

Speaker 3: 16:22

I taught right away. I even taught people on my last year, so my last year of competition in 2012,. I was like warming up and telling my student that was in my warmup group like what to fix um, like while I was also warming up. So I was already teaching Um, but then I went fully into teaching and that I taught some of the best competitive skaters in the entire world, especially in the US. I taught them until 2012. And then, when the pandemic happened, I moved everything online and it wasn't on purpose to begin with. It was just how it needed to be. So I started teaching like group lessons for my competitive skaters. And then one day, uh, my husband and business partner and I were like I think more people would enjoy this. Maybe we should open this up to everyone. And then that's when that Nicole Fioricom became a thing, and that is what I do now.

Speaker 2: 17:22

And that is what I do now, nice. And now, as I was reading your, your what would you call it Biography or about you on your website, it says uh, you've trained some pretty famous people in skating too.

Speaker 3: 17:38

Yes, I have been very, very lucky to work with some of the most amazing people. I it's very funny how it comes about too because, like the one of the last ones are some of the most amazing people. It's very funny how it comes about too because one of the last ones, or one of the biggest names, that was very scary, because I was like, if you get hurt, america is going to be so mad at me. You need to be careful.

Speaker 3: 17:57

But Derek Hough from Dancing With the Stars he just commented on a TikTok video, randomly, just commented, and I happened to see it and I was like is this for real? And then, on TikTok, you can't message someone unless they follow you. I don't know if that's still the rule, but it was then. And so I went to message him and I was like, let's see if I can message him, because that means he follows me. And sure enough I could. And I was like, oh my gosh, so that's how that one came about. Um, a few others just randomly like slid into my dms and were like, hey, I want to learn how to skate. Or accidentally, like sent my profile or sent a class video to me, thinking they sent it to a friend yeah and I was like, oh, do you want to learn how to skate?

Speaker 3: 18:43

And they're like, actually, yes. So it's been really fun.

Speaker 2: 18:47

Now some of the musicians that I saw that you train now. Do they learn to skate to like use in their videos or anything like that?

Speaker 3: 18:58

A few of them have skated in their videos. Most of the people that I've worked with celebrities have just wanted to learn to skate, because they've always wanted to learn to skate. It's like not even for a thing, so that's extra fun, because it's like, yeah, skating is fun and a lot of people have always had the desire to do it and never had the opportunity or the means or whatever it may be, and finally can do it. But the singers and musicians that I've performed with, usually they were not on skates. So, like I've performed with Katy Perry, maroon 5. I can't even think of some of them, but a lot of amazing people, gwen Stefani they were not on skates, I was skating around them usually.

Speaker 2: 19:44

Okay, now do we know what videos there were, so we can go back and look at them.

Speaker 3: 19:56

Yes, I should know all of the names by heart. Kevin Hart is another one. He actually was on skates. The music videos some of them were live performances.

Speaker 3: 20:01

So, I'd have to send you links to the music videos because I cannot remember the names of them currently, but one of them are in five ones. It was, um, it was at the Playboy mansion. It was my second time actually on skates at the Playboy mansion, um, fully clothed, don't worry. Um, the first time is a very funny story, because I think I was supposed to be at prom or something. It was like I was. I was probably not supposed to be there.

Speaker 3: 20:31

I was in high school, um, but I was there to perform and the floor this is a typical thing that happens with roller skating jobs Um, the floor got too slippery from alcohol. So usually, like at a nightclub gig, you skate until you can't skate. It becomes too dangerous. But they had two poles. I don't think I've ever told this story on like a recording, so this is gold. They had two poles and with like little foundations and I was with my, my brother, my one of my older brothers, and just that fact alone myself and my brother at the Playboy Mansion is hysterical to me. Um, but then we were like we have an idea, we can get up there. And they were like wait, can you actually skate like around the pole. We didn't know what to do. We were just like, yeah, we can skate around the pole. So we did that at the playboy mansion the first time. Um, so somewhere there's probably photo and video of my brother, derek, and myself that would be awesome but yeah, the second time was for a created they.

Speaker 3: 21:47

I think they made it a little too x-rated and they couldn't actually release the music video which is a shame, because it was very cool. Like our part was not x-rated, our part was very cool, but yeah, that one was a bummer.

Speaker 2: 22:01

That would have been cool yeah, definitely send the links, because then I'll put them in the show notes so people could check it out yeah, yeah, I will. So what I noticed because that's when I bought pairs seven and eight of my skates was during the pandemic. That, during the pandemic, with not being able to go to the gym, that skating, whether quad or inline, has really resurfaced and become big again, just because you know people just trying to stay active. So and I, that's when you transitioned into online.

Speaker 3: 22:36

So how did your online business go during the pandemic with nobody able to really meet one-on-one it was the wild west, like, quite literally, it was when everyone started buying roller skates and wanting to learn how to skate. I was like this is the moment I have been waiting for for my entire life. Thank you, like I am ready and my timing was great. I was ready, um, and luckily we were able to build a website, build a membership, like very quickly, and I already had a community on YouTube and I already had some tutorials on YouTube and it's funny because it's like there's a lot of tutorials on YouTube but then we went onto the website, into like a paid membership, and those videos that I have now in the membership are way more in depth, like so much better and there's so many of them. There's so much to learn.

Speaker 3: 23:35

But it was a really good time. 2020 was a terrible time in the world, but a really, really good time for roller skating and I am so grateful I have people that I work with every week still that joined me in 2020. And it's just like a happy family and there are new members coming all the time and people leaving to move on with their lives for a little bit and then they come back and it literally it was a dream come true for people to be on roller skates.

Speaker 2: 24:07

Yeah, and definitely the nice thing about that is it expands your reach. You're not just teaching local anymore, you're teaching in Canada and Mexico and Italy and Germany, so it just really expanded your reach.

Speaker 3: 24:22

I did a video with, cause all of my stuff is posted on Squarespace. And they were like what? Squarespace reached out and were like what are you doing? Because it was like crazy, like the membership was so big and I explained and so they came and did like a piece on me to use for Squarespace and they had me pull up like the map of where people were and they were like this is so cool because it was like every country was on it and I was like, yeah, thank you for having something that can actually host this, because this is awesome. And they're like we've never seen so many countries like in one thing they all skate. And I was like, yeah, they're all skating.

Speaker 2: 25:05

Yeah, it's really cool Cause I'm following a bunch of different people and I plan I have one guy that I plan to have on and he's from London and just because I want to see what the skate culture is in these different countries, and I know I have one girl from Italy coming on.

Speaker 3: 25:22

Italy is big for artistic skating.

Speaker 2: 25:25

Italy is huge. Yeah, with her, though her friend's going to come on to translate because she doesn't speak English, so I think that'll be a very cool episode. That will be cool. So now is skating the one thing. I know you're in a business with your husband, but what is yours and your husband's business that you run together?

Speaker 3: 25:44

So realistically it's surrounded by the website, like the website is the core. Teaching roller skating is the core of it, but we've expanded a bit into overall wellness. So for people who are not necessarily able to skate from time to time or I have a lot of people that like go on to get pregnant and they were like, okay, I can't skate for like so many months, but I want something that will help those muscles maintain so we created a mind, body, soul section to the website. That is all off skates and it's breath work and it's fitness and it's all very quick workouts they're all under 10 minutes so that people can actually do them, cause I I even myself I'm like I don't want to spend 30 minutes and even though that's not a lot of myself, I'm like I don't want to spend 30 minutes and even though that's not a lot of time, I'm like that's too much time. So that is really the center. That is really my heart and soul is teaching people how to skate and making all of us better overall in our wellness.

Speaker 3: 26:43

But aside from that, we did start a podcast called Glitter and Cat Litter. That is because this room that I am in, our studio, is always like on the floor. Everywhere it's glitter and cat litter like no matter how much I vacuum and clean, it's somewhere here. So that is our podcast. And then we also do a lot of video work and photography, and I started movement coaching as well, and that I I really, really love. That's been a fun adventure to start in actually teaching models and actors and people on stage how to move for a camera.

Speaker 2: 27:20

Okay, you're going to laugh because I don't know if you remember back in the day, barbizon Modeling School.

Speaker 3: 27:27

I do remember that yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:29

The commercials would come on if you were like sick from school, at like 11 o'clock in between your cartoons that you were watching.

Speaker 1: 27:36

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:37

I actually attended that back when I was 18 or 19.

Speaker 3: 27:44

How was it?

Speaker 2: 27:46

It was interesting. But at that time, like my confidence level isn't where it is now Cause like, basically, I don't give an F right now, so the confidence level wasn't there. So it's like I'm looking at these people, I'm like God, they're so much better looking. I'm like looking at the guys and the girls, I'm like they're just so much better looking than me and I felt awkward doing like the runway walk and the turn and everything, but I can still do it with the facial expression. And then I went into pro wrestling, so then it's like a whole different, almost like improv.

Speaker 3: 28:18

Yeah, Some, some funny ones and some but for a few years I did a wrestling. I didn't wrestle, I skated in the show, but it was called Lucha Vavum. I don't know if you've heard of that.

Speaker 2: 28:33

I have.

Speaker 3: 28:34

Yeah, it was so fun, it was wild, but yeah, they had us skate for a lot of their stuff.

Speaker 2: 28:42

Nice. Yeah, those were the good days. Yeah, it's the funny thing, out here is Colorado. The skating community out in Colorado is huge and it's amazing, it's just.

Speaker 2: 28:55

I got back into it December after a very long hiatus. And then my 17 year old, we were just doing a family skate and I was talking to the manager because I've become friends with everybody and I said, oh yeah, my son's looking for a job and filled out an application, got my son's looking for a job and filled out an application, got an interview and hired on the spot. Like we didn't even finish family skate and he already had a job. That's amazing. And then he started playing the roller hockey. He did a tournament this summer and texted me like three days ago and he's like, hey, you know, my boss had another seizure so he's not sure if he's going to play. Can you play on Thursday? And I'm like no practice, nothing. I was out there, I tried my best, but going from inlines to quads and trying to maneuver it's two totally different things. The two wheels on the side were throwing me off.

Speaker 2: 29:48

It's like you could actually feel the fact that the wheels are in different places.

Speaker 3: 29:53

Yeah, but I do plan on getting you had to wear quads.

Speaker 2: 29:56

Yeah, so well, even my inlines. They have 100 millimeter wheels, so it wouldn't yeah, and my speed skates have 125. So trying to do that on a small and maneuver, I got to get pairs 7, 9, 10 and 11. So I can keep messing around.

Speaker 3: 30:19

I'm almost I think I'm almost at your, uh, your level, but mine are. Just because I need to try these skates so I can better recommend them to people which is what I'm currently doing.

Speaker 3: 30:24

But like I am the worst with my skates, Like I love what I love and I am so bad at switching my wheels, Like my, my community, my members, they know this that I show up to everything with my outdoor wheels on, no matter what. And they're like you knew you were going to be inside, Like why would you not switch your wheel? And I'm like I, I just like these wheels, I didn't want to switch them. Now, can you tell the difference when you're skating between the outdoor and the indoor wheels? Yeah, 100% I can feel it. And when I'm demonstrating like turns, um, in artistic skating, you doing one foot turns, you can hop the turn or you can slide the turn. And with outdoor wheels on you can't really slide the turn. I figured it out, I've done it enough that I can pretty much do it, but it is way more work to slide a turn on an outdoor wheel than an indoor wheel.

Speaker 2: 31:15

Yeah, I, some people were sliding last night and that's just like the level I want to get to. So in your teaching, do you teach us how to slide and all that kind of stuff too.

Speaker 3: 31:26

Oh, yeah, yeah, I teach everyone to hop it first, because you still still, no matter what, whether you're hopping or sliding a turn, the pressure is generally the same. You just, when you hop a turn, you lift either the back or the toe wheels off the ground, and then when you slide the turn, you still have to have the pressure to the correct spot, but you don't have to lift the wheels, you just slide it across the surface. So the pressure is still the same. Um, so, yeah, I cover all of that whenever we're working on turns.

Speaker 2: 31:57

So I'll be a better roller hockey player If I take your lessons, is what you're saying.

Speaker 3: 32:00

For sure I actually love hockey so much Like I love going to hockey games and we live very close to um. It's not Arrowhead pond anymore Honda center where the ducks play Um, so I go to ducks games a lot and that's not necessarily the best team in the NHL, um, but it's very fun to watch. And, like I always study, I like know who's the good skater and who's not the good skater based on their cross poles and transitions and stuff.

Speaker 2: 32:31

So do you have sections where you kind of teach all that kind of stuff so that we can?

Speaker 3: 32:36

Yes, that is a really good idea for me to make it specified to hockey I that I'm a write that down. That's a good idea, hockey speed, but all of it, all of it is the. I can't say. It's all the same, it's all in a solid foundation. So, as well as my membership that I have, I also have a course that is called the foundations course and that's like a roadmap A to Z what you need to know, what I think every skater needs to know, and that's every skater, not just artistic skaters, um, because I think that artistic skating is the most solid foundation, so you can have the foundation of artistic skating. You don't need to be an artistic skater, you don't need to skate that way, um, but if you know the techniques, you can take that into every other style.

Speaker 2: 33:26

Okay, and now with your teaching, is that the first course we take? We go through foundations and then we can move to more advanced stuff.

Speaker 3: 33:34

So I highly recommend the foundations course along with the membership. But it's totally up to you because I know some people they have. The foundations course has it's all its own videos. It's fully separate so you can just follow like an actual course. But the membership has an explosion of things. So it is organized, but it's drills, skills and choreography. So you have drills, which is drilling things, and like making sure your technique and balance and strength is there.

Speaker 3: 34:06

And then the skills is pretty much everything you want to know, anything you want to know, you can search whatever you want. And then choreography is for practice and for fun, which I get people who are like I'm not a dancer, I can't do choreography, and I'm like, yes, you can, I promise you can, and it's a really fun way to practice things.

Speaker 2: 34:28

Yeah, I've. I've been told that I can't dance, so I actually, I've been told I'm not allowed to dance. So now.

Speaker 3: 34:35

I'm like anyone tell you you're not allowed to dance.

Speaker 2: 34:39

I'm thinking because I love the step up movies. And it's just like now. I'm thinking it's like, do I just go behind her back? I mean, it's my girlfriend, but do I go behind her back and like learn how to hip hop dance? But then we want to take like the couple of swing classes too, so I can actually learn how to dance. But just do that, and I know she's going to listen to this podcast, so there's no going behind her back now.

Speaker 3: 35:03

Okay, well, I I support your opinion. I don't know your name. I support your opinion, but you gotta, you gotta let them dance, you gotta let them be free just to move. It's good. It's good for the soul, it's good for the body.

Speaker 2: 35:17

Well, it's funny because that's like the one thing. I can get up in a wrestling ring and be in front of a thousand people in tights, no problem, I can do this. I can skate I like to do speed skating but when I'm on the dance floor I get like this whole self-conscious thing and it's just I'm in my own mind Like you used to be with your competitions, and inside my head during that time is not a fun place to be.

Speaker 3: 35:44

So cause all the wrestling is like choreography, right?

Speaker 2: 35:48

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 35:49

When you think about it.

Speaker 2: 35:50

But I don't have to shake my hips or anything.

Speaker 3: 35:52

You don't have to dance anyway if you don't want to.

Speaker 2: 35:57

But so now, where do you see yourself going with the like? Are you just going to? That's your career choices. You're going to be a skate teacher.

Speaker 3: 36:08

I really, truly want the membership and the course to be forever. I want to continue growing it. I add on periodically for different skills, different choreography, um. I have a few more ideas for different courses, um, and I really do want to continue that. I see it being a forever thing Now, myself being like fully, like that is all I do. I don't see that. That's not even how it is now. Like with the movement coaching and other stuff. I, when I start something I genuinely like put my entire being into it. Um, and that has been the membership. It's been like my baby that I have brought to life, um, and now I'm adding other things onto it. Uh, so, like the movement coaching, the wellness stuff, all of that I hope continues to grow as well.

Speaker 2: 37:00

So one of the biggest things, aside from falling, when learning to skate is cause the guy that taught me. The first thing he taught me was how to fall, and then, when we were skating, he would actually run into me and knock me over. So I have no fear of falling whatsoever.

Speaker 3: 37:17

I actually hate falling. I hate it with a passion, and I don't think you need to fall in order to learn. That's a big thing, but yes, it happens. You do need to learn how to fall and how to get up, and all of that running into someone. Well, that would be very entertaining and I grew up doing karate and that's like a normal thing to like. Try to knock someone over yeah um your core stability, I'm sure, is top notch from that.

Speaker 2: 37:48

Yeah, and that was God. That was back in 1989, 1990.

Speaker 3: 37:55

It sounds like early nineties thing.

Speaker 2: 37:57

But the funny thing is is with him doing that. I wasn't afraid to run into people which last night. It was supposed to be no contact, but people were running into me.

Speaker 1: 38:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:08

And that fear wasn't there. It might have to do with part of the pro wrestling training too, but just that fear wasn't there. So one guy ran into me and I ended up landing on top of him and he's like, are you all right? And I'm like, I'm on top of you so and I probably outweigh you by about a hundred pounds, so like, can you breathe? But just not having that, it's just not in my head to fall.

Speaker 2: 38:36

And one of my worst falls actually I have two bad ones, but it happened in speed skating practice. When you yell track, the person in front of you is supposed to move over. Well, the kid didn't move over and he's like four or five, and so I went to go around him and then he moved in front of me. So I grabbed him, held him up, went down and just took the skin off my left shin, but then got up and finished practice and then skated another four hours that night, as you do. But have you had any really, really bad falls that just stick in your memory? That will never leave your memory?

Speaker 3: 39:10

Yeah, and they're always the freak ones like that, like it's, it's always just something really random. I had a fall, two, two big ones that I think of which, knock on wood, I, like I said, I teach in a very safe way, like I am all about learning the technique exactly how it needs to be, before you even move with it, um, so that you really can remove that risk of falling a lot, because I'm teaching a lot of adults who do not want to fall and I'm like I'm right there with you, I hate it, um. So it's a big thing that I teach to not fall, but, um, when it does happen, it happens, and my first one that I think of I was 11. And this was at the national championships. It was at a practice and this is a lesson in listening to your body. I did not want to go to this practice. Something was telling me like, do not go to this practice.

Speaker 3: 40:05

It was right before I had to compete. I had like an hour in between to get ready and I did not want to. But one of my coaches was like you need, you need to, and so I did, and I was doing my routine and I had like a really high kick at one point and I just lost my balance backward and instead of just like falling backward, I somehow did like a backflip, like I rolled backward and did a back tuck. I don't know what happened, but I ended up with my wrist behind my back and I like rolled my wrist so I I did fracture both sides of it and now I have arthritis in this wrist. So if you ever see me like wearing a wrist guard when I'm skating, it's not because I re-injured it or anything. It's just acting up.

Speaker 3: 40:53

But I really made lasting impacts with my injuries because then at the national championships again a different year, this was 2008. So I was defending my world title, so I still had to compete and skate at the national championships. I had to get first or second place in order to go to the world championships again. And I got out there really quick. In my warmup I was so stoked I wanted to leave a really good impression Went super fast, did a cross in front and a three turn and somehow ended up with my face on the floor I don't know what happened and literally knocked out my front tooth. It was in the skating floor and there was a lipstick like ring around that tooth.

Speaker 2: 41:39

At least you marked where you lost your tooth.

Speaker 3: 41:41

I definitely did so. If you ever are in Nebraska for the national championships, there is a divot in one part of the wood floor and that is from my tooth because it was in the wood floor and that is from my tooth because it was well, now I'm going to have to go and just find it and just take a picture of it. The meat director randomly, like every few years like, sends me a picture of it.

Speaker 2: 42:02

Nice Now. Do you have kids yet or no?

Speaker 3: 42:06

No, kids, not yet. I have two cats. I'm like I need things to stay how they are right now. We'll see in a few years.

Speaker 2: 42:17

Because I was just wondering, because you said you want the thing to go on forever, so you want to have that legacy. So I was just wondering if you're prepping your kids to take over the business yet.

Speaker 3: 42:28

I don't know. If I had kids, I don't know what sport I would have them do I actually don't. I would have them skate, of course, but I don't know if I would necessarily have them compete. I love hockey and I love baseball so much I think that would maybe be the route, One of the best sports that my kids did.

Speaker 2: 42:47

I think that would maybe be the route. One of the best sports that my kids did my two younger ones was wrestling.

Speaker 1: 42:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 42:53

Because, even though it's a team, you're individually out there and I mean you learn sportsmanship, hard work, dedication. It's like you learn everything and I think, as far as any sport goes, no matter what you want to do, that that sport teaches you life skills 100%. I mean my son, my 17-year-old. He came in second in states back when he was in eighth grade and this last year he got the lead in the play for his first play. He's working at Skate City and playing roller hockey and you know, it's just, it's that tough individual where, like we were talking earlier, where the people throw the fit and get all that anxiety and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, he looks at it like, okay, so I missed the and it went in the goal, no big deal, it's just I'll block the next one. So it just teaches those skills that I think can take you to any other sport you want and because of how hard the training is and the practices are, everything else seems easy after that.

Speaker 3: 43:55

Absolutely. I mean, I think, on a daily basis. I think back to like certain things that I learned when I was competing and in business. It translates really really well because I know how to perform. I know how to talk to people. One of the best things that skating did for me I know how to talk to people. One of the best things that skating did for me was learning how to talk to people, because it was not just like oh, I have this group of 10 year olds when I'm 10, like around me. It was every single age. So I knew how to talk to kids, I knew how to talk to teenagers, I knew how to talk to adults. I wasn't afraid of that. So that was probably the biggest thing that it taught me. But in general, like sports and especially roller skating for kids is such a smart move because that balance that skating creates is I don't think you can beat it with another sport.

Speaker 2: 44:46

Those wheels.

Speaker 3: 44:47

learning how to control wheels is pretty remarkable their sport.

Speaker 2: 44:52

Yeah, wheels, learning how to control wheels is pretty remarkable. So now, since we were talking about sports and everything, was there ever a phase that you had an ego where you thought you were better than everybody else when it came?

Speaker 3: 45:01

to skating, unfortunately. No, I kind of wish I did, because I think I would have been uh, because I think I would have been uh, like an even better and stronger competitor. But no, I never. I never did. I I always think back to competition and the friends that I had and the people that I knew that I was competing against, and I honestly can't think of a time that I ever was like, yeah, I got this, I'm the best. It never occurred to any of us, I don't think. But I competed against some of my lifelong friends, so it was never. Of course I wanted to win, but I was never pinning myself against any of them, because it was a happy family, it was a group of friends and I didn't. At the same time, I wanted to win, but I didn't want to beat them because I wanted them to win.

Speaker 2: 45:55

Yeah, so there was never any animosity if you did beat your friends.

Speaker 3: 45:59

I'm sure there may have been, but not too long. The only time that I was like really um, that it was very apparent, was with my little brother. We had to compete against each other one time and that was so messy because he won the regional championships and I got second and it was. You would have thought the world was ending in our household because I was so mad about it and I never got mad. I was like a pretty quiet, normal, like shy kid, and I was so pissed and my little brother was like I'll share my trophy with you and I was like get out of my face Like no, but I, I understood.

Speaker 3: 46:43

My parents did a good job of diffusing and then at the national championships I had to win. I ended up winning. He got second.

Speaker 2: 46:51

Well, there you go, you got your revenge. But I know from past experiences in sports that it's good that you did not go through the eco phase, because it doesn't make you better. It actually you get so confident that you actually end up making more mistakes, that you actually end up making more mistakes.

Speaker 3: 47:08

100%, yeah, I always. I forget the quote now, but it's like prepare for the worst, expect the best, or something like that.

Speaker 1: 47:18

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 47:18

And that really I was preparing for the worst at all times.

Speaker 2: 47:23

Yeah, and the nice thing is is going back to the wrestling part is when my son lost, he accepted that as the, as you know, just part of the sport, so he was never upset that he lost. And we were watching season two of the ultimate fighter and Matt Hughes came out and said if you're undefeated, you're fighting the wrong people. So and that can apply to everything If you're undefeated in skating artistic skating you're skating against the wrong people. You need a higher competition, but with you going to.

Speaker 3: 47:57

Worlds and Nationals. I don't think you get any higher competition. No, I was skating at my age in my weight class, so to speak, but it really does get so much harder when you are winning. It took a lot of joy out of it when I was continuously winning and that's why I didn't need to take the break to find the joy in skating again and luckily, I am so grateful that, like, I got to do so many fun experiences when I did stop competing and now teaching people. That's like that is what it is about is sharing that joy with other people so that they can learn with that joy surrounding it. Um, because I even, like this week, I did a performance.

Speaker 3: 48:39

It was so random at like an assisted living yes home and I was like I don't know how this is gonna go. Like these are my people, like I, I, these are my people, these are the roller skaters in the 70s. Like they know all about this. So I was a little nervous because I was like I need to be good, like I need to put on a show, and I did. And their faces it was the best because you could tell like they actually did skate, like studio 54 was their reality okay and like one of the guys started crying and I was like oh gosh, I'm so sorry.

Speaker 3: 49:17

And he was like no, you just brought back a lot of memories, like a lot of good memories. This was really nice and I was like this is what it's about. Like, this is what roller skating is about. It's not necessarily about a certain type of skating and all of that. It's the feeling, it's like the joy that skating brings you.

Speaker 2: 49:35

Yeah, now I think I already know the answer to it, but who was one of your biggest influences in skating?

Speaker 3: 49:43

Oh, I actually don't think you're going to know who it was. Um, well, first of all, who it was? Um, first of all, my dad. My dad was probably my biggest um, but there is a skater named heather turley. Now her name was heather menard. Um, she was also an artistic roller skater, so it wasn't really like a michelle kwan type of thing or like an ice skating like big name. It was a roller skater that I got to watch growing up and she's not that much older than me. So it's kind of funny that it's like she was the one, like she was my idol and she's an awesome person that I actually know very well now. So it's very funny because the first time I shared the skating floor with her was, I think, my second year, like competing at the world level, so like 2008, and I could not practice Like I was just starstruck, like on the skating floor. I didn't want to like get in her way, I didn't want to like all this stuff, but she was my top idol.

Speaker 2: 50:46

Very cool. So now, what I like to ask people is their hardware. So what kind of skates do you use? Bearings Wheels, what's your?

Speaker 3: 50:56

preference and Harlech is top-notch. It's when people ask me that they don't like they don't know boots or artistic boots, I say it's like the Rolex of boots. That is my number one. And then number two would be my plate, which is the Rolline dance plate. I, that plate changed my life. I used to be on gold skates. Those are Harlech boots. They're in my background, but on those skates what I wore for the world championships for years was an Atlas plate which if you have felt an Atlas plate and a roll line plate, it is like it's. The Atlas is so much heavier than the roll line, um, so I was lifting very heavy skates. So when I switched to the roll line dance play I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing, my foot's so light. I tell it to go left and it just goes left. I don't have to like force it. So that is my top two. If I had any other surrounding wheels toe stops I could live with it as long as I had the Harlech boot and the Roll-Line dance plate. But I do love other Roll-Line wheels For outdoor. I love Adam Pulse. Those are my top wheels. Second would be Roll-Line Helium for outdoor.

Speaker 3: 52:24

I am so bad with my bearings. I have a bag. This is not an exaggeration. I have a bag full of bearings from I don't know 70s, the 80s, that my grandpa, who also used to skate, my grandpa would treat his bearings so well. He would take care of them, he would oil them correctly. He was an engineer, he was all into it. I wish he was still here with us because I could really use his help now figuring out what to do, but I have all of his bearings, so he has a bag full, and so I just replaced my bearings.

Speaker 3: 52:59

whenever I need new ones, I just pull that bag out and replace them.

Speaker 2: 53:04

Yeah, I, actually for bearings. I like to use it. It's called monkey lube, so I've heard of that yeah. Yeah, it works really well because I have ceramic bearings in my skates. So like once a month and you take it and I just drop it in the container and let it sit there for 20 minutes and if you could hear my wheels right now.

Speaker 3: 53:22

I need to do that.

Speaker 2: 53:24

I mean skate maintenance is important, especially when you do it all the time and it is, it is.

Speaker 3: 53:30

I think that's why I'm such a strong skater, though, because I really don't take care of my skates as much as I should, so I am pushing on wheels that do not want to roll.

Speaker 2: 53:41

There you go so.

Speaker 3: 53:43

I don't recommend that.

Speaker 2: 53:45

I don't either, especially when the bearings get kind of dried up. But one of the kids at the roller rink, his bearings completely seized and I'm like when was the last time you cleaned them or oiled them? He goes I don't, I'm like okay yeah, I need.

Speaker 3: 53:59

I need to take a few pointers from from you. I'm not. Yeah, don't practice what I preach on that well, that'll be a future episode.

Speaker 2: 54:07

We're actually planning on having an episode on skate maintenance.

Speaker 3: 54:10

That would be wonderful.

Speaker 2: 54:12

But now, other than taking your course, what is advice you have for people that want to start skating?

Speaker 3: 54:22

Start, just start. Tighten up your wheels, start on a carpet, start on grass, anything for you to get used to the weight of the skate. You don't need to learn how to roll right away. Take your time and definitely play with the weight of the skate. So lots of leg lifts, lifting your knee, practicing where your toe stop or your break is, before you're actually needing to use it, and then, when you do use it, start slow, don't go too fast. Work on bending your knees, work on your core. Those are the two things that will be repeated to you nonstop is bend your knees, tighten up your core, and that doesn't mean like freezing your entire body. To tighten your core, you have to figure out exactly where your core is, and if you say you don't have muscles in your core, to tighten your core, you have to figure out exactly where your core is, and if you say you don't have muscles in your core, you are a liar. They might be hiding, but they are there and you need to find them.

Speaker 2: 55:20

It's how we stay upright. If we didn't have core muscles, we would not be able to stand straight.

Speaker 3: 55:24

Exactly. Your coach, pushing you over, taught you that right away. I'm sure of it.

Speaker 2: 55:28

Definitely. Now to the people that want to get into artistic skating. What advice do you have?

Speaker 3: 55:35

Find a roller skating rink that you are close to. If you can't do that, come to my website and send me an email, but definitely find somewhere where you can skate, because artistic skating is. It's very, not very, easy. It's much easier, uh, indoors in a roller skating rink. So, yes, you can learn out at a park or wherever in your home, um, but you will want a large surface to skate on. So, find a skating rink. Find classes, like Saturday morning classes, even if you're an adult, do not worry, like they do push the classes toward kids, but you can also do them. A lot of the times I've only heard of one rink that was like no, no adults, and I think that's ridiculous. So, no matter how old or young you are, no matter where you are in life, give it a shot.

Speaker 2: 56:33

Yeah Well, they have to remember. The adults are the ones paying for the kids to be there. So if you want the money Exactly.

Speaker 3: 56:40

We're lucky out here. You're giving adults.

Speaker 2: 56:42

Exactly. We're lucky out here because Devin actually teaches artistic skating classes. That's perfect, yeah, and I mean four-time national champion. It's a pretty good coach to have, or you five four-time world champion.

Speaker 3: 56:56

So yeah, I mean I teach like I teach at my local rank holiday skate in orange, um, one day a week. And then I have another place, backbeat skates in Huntington beach, that I skate and teach at once a week. But everything else is online and you can actually learn a lot online, whether it's a private lesson over zoom or if it's a video, um, I saw someone in person, uh, just a few weeks ago and they were like, oh my gosh, this is so weird, because I was literally taking a lesson from you yesterday, like I was communicating to you even though you weren't communicating back to me, like we were having a conversation yesterday and now I'm actually with you in person. And I was like, yeah, like it should feel that way and it is that way, like you can actually learn a lot online or over zoom and in person, like you can have a full, well-rounded experience with that.

Speaker 2: 57:52

So now, how do people get in contact with you to get your lessons or follow you on social media?

Speaker 3: 57:59

Everything is that, nicole Fiorecom, so you can email me. I always tell people you're not bothering me. If you have a question, please send it my way. But the course is on my website. The membership is on my website, private lessons are on the website and on Instagram TikTok. I have a discord channel. All of it is there on that, nicole Fiorecom.

Speaker 2: 58:22

I mean, that's how I found you on I think it was Instagram first and emailed you and you responded back, so it worked out and emailed you and you responded back.

Speaker 3: 58:33

So it worked out. Yeah, I'm like you you're not bothering someone If their email is there. Don't be afraid to send an email. If you have a question or you want to say something like, definitely do it. That's how anything comes to be. So, in anything you want to do, if there's an email there, send an email.

Speaker 2: 58:47

I mean, what's the worst that's going to happen? Is you either not respond or say no?

Speaker 3: 58:51

Exactly, that's it.

Speaker 2: 58:52

So well. I appreciate having you on the show.

Speaker 3: 58:55

Thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 2: 58:57

I hope you have many, much success and get many more clients.

Speaker 3: 59:01

Thank you, thank you. I want everyone to be skating. I want to be able to teach everyone.

Speaker 2: 59:05

Definitely. Then we wouldn't have any wars.

Speaker 3: 59:08

Exactly, if we were all busy roller skating, everything would be fine.

Speaker 2: 59:12

Exactly Well, thank you next time. Thank you, thank you.