Invited, Welcomed, and Happy We Came

I attended an intimate House of Beautiful Business x Dwell Dinner where we each got to share about a meaningful space.

I chose my parent’s backyard.
In the photo are my Dad and my son, Robert, looking out over the space.

This spot shaped my life and our business at SecretPenguin.

Growing up as a skateboarder in the 90s, I got picked on a lot. Especially in high school.
I was jumped multiple times, I was spit on often… It was all too common for my friends and me.
Even at the grocery store, I remember getting thrown into a cereal box display and shamefully trying to clean it up while the other kids ran off laughing.

This backyard served as a refuge for my friends and me.

• We always felt invited to come,

• we always felt welcomed when there,

• and we were always happy we came.

We would gather there to ideate about creating our own space to feel this way.

Many meetings were held in this backyard on what and how a public skatepark could come to be.
A skatepark could be that place where we could find community.

Over the course of five years, a lot of progress and a lot of setbacks happened.

• A city council member called us cockroaches and said we’d never contribute to society.

• A teacher asked my friends and I if we’d ever get our acts together and contribute to society.

Times when we felt like giving up, we’d regroup in this backyard.
Sometimes not even to talk about skateparks - but to simply feel invited, welcomed, and happy we came.

Finally, in October of 2000, Roberts Skatepark opened.
It wasn’t just my friends and me. It took a whole team of people who believed in the vision of finding community.

It changed our lives.
For the first time, we felt like we contributed to society.
Everyone felt invited, welcomed, and happy they came.

This very thought shaped how we approach designing brands at SecretPenguin.
We create an experience strategy so everyone can feel:

• invited,

• welcomed,

• and happy they came.

My hope is that everyone can experience that feeling.

I often wonder what life would be like if we weren’t first shown how it feels to be invited, welcomed, and happy we came.
I’m grateful for this space and the people who made/make it so meaningful.