My name is Hedda Royce. I have been asked to write my story. Since I don’t consider myself a writer, let me begin with an apology for any dangling participle or worse that may be contained herein. With that expressed I submit the following and hope that you find the read both interesting and enjoyable. This is my “so far but much more to come” journey.
I consider myself to possess an ample amount of self-esteem and confidence. This is probably because my parents were nurturing people who showered lots of love on both me and my sibling, an older brother. I guess you could say that I idolized my brother. He was good at everything, and I wanted to be just like him. If he played tennis, then I did too. If he could do 10 pull-ups and 30 sit ups, I was determined to do the same. Sports were very important in our family…football, baseball, hockey. My brother excelled at it all and I followed suit. When it came to school and my education, I was also extremely motivated and worked long and hard to excel there also.
Dad always told us to follow our passion and that true success was the ability to earn a living doing that about which you are passionate. It becomes confusing when you are passionate about many different things. It takes a while to focus on your true calling and filter out your lesser passions. You just have to figure out how to combine all your dreams and create your answer.
I always loved tennis, working out, fitness, art, music, cooking and business. I wasn’t like many of my friends who knew early on what field they wanted to pursue.
I started playing tennis at a very early age. Maybe I was 6 or 7 years old. After a couple of years, my tennis coach suggested that I start lifting weights. (This is a natural progression. You must work out to balance your body because tennis is a very “one sided” sport.)
I loved the weightlifting so much so that many years later I eventually became a Personal Trainer, which propelled me towards my certifications in aerobics, kickboxing, spinning, pilates, kettlebells, and pre and post-natal fitness. After many years of working out, I found that although I enjoyed it immensely, I was frustrated by the lack of fitness gloves on the market for women. Constantly I was searching for a glove that was not only protective and effective but fashionable as well.
In college, I still played tennis and still worked out and was still frustrated with my hand/glove situation. After graduating from college, I worked in investment banking for a short time and then returned to school for my MBA.
One day while visiting my parents in Connecticut, I was complaining to my mother about my hands and the fact that I can’t ever find a decent pair of workout gloves. She turned to me and said that I had been whining about that very fact for over 20 years and to stop complaining and do something about it.
That was the beginning of a company called g-loves. I eventually moved to Los Angeles and began shopping for a seamstress. After meeting many naysayers and refusing to listen to their negative chatter, I began the research and development process, giving birth to my first prototype pair of g-loves in 2011.
When I bumped into a friend and told him that I have my prototype made, he dared me to sell 50 pairs within one month. I walked away from that meeting somewhat energized and somewhat frightened. I wondered if I could do it. Five weeks later I had orders for 75 pairs of gloves and was secretly giddy over my business endeavor.
Dreams take time to manifest. I live my passion every day.
Someone very wise once said: When you love your job you never work a day in your life. I am a firm believer in putting my dreams out into the universe. This has worked for me.
.
Connect with Hedda Royce via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Youtube and her website.
.
