We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brad Vigorito a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brad , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I turned a passion of mine (figure skating) into my career. I trained and competed as a skater for 18 years and now I’m thankful enough to do 45 hours a week as a coach and choreographer.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Like many, I was drawn to the sport in 1994 with the Tonya Harding/ Nancy Kerrigan story. One silver lining to that story was the amount of attention it brought to the sport. I remember coming home from school and being glued to the television to hear the latest in the case. And of course, what made that story inspiring was Nancy’s comeback performance in the Olympics Games to capture the silver medal. It showed the sport in a whole new light and I fell in love with its athleticism, competitiveness and its’ art form.

Like so many , I asked for my own pair of skates and dreamed of being the next Olympic skater. My 8 year old self had no idea what I was getting into (commitment and financial costs for my middle class family). After two years of begging and trying every sport known to man, my parents signed me up for lessons at age 10 and from there it was history. I was hooked and soon I was training as much as 5 days a week, threes hours a day after school. It was a huge commitment to my family. My dad worked three jobs to support skating, my mom gave up her afternoons driving me from rink to rink. My sister also gave up having my parents and I home most nights for dinner and we went with out family vacations most years all to support my skating. Did I make sacrifices along the way? Yes, certainly but it was my family who really did to support my dream. To them they were investing into my future because all the while I was training I was preparing myself to become a coach.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

By far the most rewarding thing in my career is seeing the joy on the faces of the skaters I work with each day when they accomplish something that they’ve dreamed about, or some thing they didn’t think was possible. We all measure success differently. Success for a skater can be their first national title, their Gold test, or landing their first waltz jump. Everyone has a different journey and a different goal and it’s crucial as a coach to value each and everyone’s personal goal and celebrate that with your skater.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I started figure skating much later than the average skater. I was the last one to land jumps or master a skill among all my peers. Coaches would come up to me and say, maybe it’s time you focus on school only, maybe it’s time you only coach, or they would say I can’t believe you’re still skating. I knew I had an inner drive and determination to succeed and accomplish my dreams. I never wanted to leave the sport with unfinished business and take that into my own coaching career. I tell all my skaters everyone has a different timeline. Everyone has a different journey and never let anyone tell you you’re too old for that you’ll never be able to accomplish your dreams.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.bvskating.com
• Instagram: Bv_skating

Image Credits
@skatingphoto