Roller derby and MBA? No way!

November 14th, 2009, 12:00 pm · 11 Comments · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

Here’s a combination you don’t find every day: MBA student and roller derby skater.

Suzy Dancisin, left, and Bethany Semeiks

That’s Bethany Semeiks who skates under the name “B-Train” for the Orange County Roller Girls and who expects to complete her masters at UCI in the spring.

She and Suzy “Strychnine” Dancisin own Wicked Skatewear in Costa Mesa. The company supplies clothing and accessories for — you guessed it - roller derby skaters. They team up with Iron Doll Clothing to provide custom uniforms for entire teams.

In fact she has used the business for some of her MBA work. Semeiks gives new meaning to the phrase “skating through college.”

“There are six people in my small group,” Semeiks says. “They actually present the project to me as the business owner, which is cute.”

With Wicked Skatewear and their membership on roller derby teams, the pair are doing what they love with both their leisure and work time.

Apparently a growing number of derby skaters are doing the same. The web site Derby Owned lists businesses from graphic design to promotional products that are owned by “derby girls.”

Semeiks is in Philadelphia this weekend for the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s National Championships, not as a competitor but a vendor. She said in a phone interview she is seeing more competition in this niche market “but competition makes me stronger, it makes me think strategically.”

Wicked Skatewear sets itself apart from other uniform and gear suppliers by sponsoring women’s amateur roller derby leagues. It sponsors 175 of the 300 (and growing) leagues and ships products all over the world. Here’s a sampling of the product line (click on an image for a larger view):

“These leagues are growing because there’s not much for women after college whee they can work their corporate life by day and be who they really are on the track on weekends,” Semeiks says.

Semeiks and Dancisin get along well in business even though they smack each other around on the track. “We hit each other for fun,” Semeiks says. In business, “I handle sales and marketing and Suzy is vendor relations, accounting and finance. I don’t know how I’d do without her.”

Both are 29 and figure they can skate until they’re 40. “the business will continue regardless of whether we skate,” Semeiks adds.

They’re all ready thinking about moving into uniforms and accessories for other sports under the Wicked brand.

Other entrepreneur stories…

Share this post:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Categories

Tex says:

November 14, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Hope they continue to “skate” through difficult times…….
California braces for new state budget gap
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Economy/idUSTRE5AB5ON20091112
(excerpt - last para): The Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Sacramento areas led the nation in the third quarter in small-business bankruptcy filings, which also rose significantly during the quarter in San Diego, Santa Ana and Anaheim, according to information and data services company Equifax Inc.

Parker says:

November 14, 2009 at 4:23 pm

Why is it such a surprise that a woman is geting an MBA? This isn’t the 1950s any longer. lol

Dan says:

November 14, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Actually this is not only a combination you find every day in roller derby and every other amateur (unpaid, people-doing-it-in-their-spare-time) sport, but it’s a running joke that pretty much all press coverage of the modern roller derby revival consists these kinds of clichés. “Button-down businesswoman or unassuming college student by day, rough-and-tumble bruiser on skates by night” - not clever, not news.

bpsqwerty says:

November 14, 2009 at 10:20 pm

plus, the OCR just ran one of these stories on this exact league within the last month. just saying (for the record).

it’s interesting, if they’re gaining practical knowledge or using any of their curriculum to help further their hobby. but beyond that it’s just another “hey look women’s roller derby” piece that emerge like clockwork every 5 years.

Jan Norman, small-business columnist says:

November 14, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Gee Dan, you must follow the sport pretty closely. I did a google search and didn’t find such cliches.

Jan Norman

Violet says:

November 14, 2009 at 10:06 pm

It’s actually a running joke in the derby world that any story done on a skater will consist of _______-by-day-hell-on-wheels-by-night angle. I’m glad you featured B-Train and Wicked, but it’s a shame you had to go with the same angle. The article itself is good, even if the headline is condescending.

Elle says:

November 14, 2009 at 11:53 pm

What’s not cliche about this is how successful Wicked is. You can find girls on nearly every league with a Wicked Skatewear sticker on their helmet.
Probably, the only “more” successful derby-owned business would have to be Atom wheels.

The whole business-woman/mother by day, superhero derby girl by night thing is overdone.
I think my league is one of the oddest out there because most of us are pursuing degrees full-time rather than working full-time, single, childless, etc . . .

Heather says:

November 15, 2009 at 11:36 am

The clichés are there as with any group. It is still news that a reporter uncovers that league members are “perfectly respectable” and do roller derby. Those that follow the news would have seen several articles about OC Roller Girls and know that many on the league are college educated and many with graduate level degrees.

It is no surprise for those of us around the derby world to know that there are amazing and intelligent women branching out into their own businesses that support derby. Passive news gathers might not have seen this day/night comparison story and we are grateful as the story needs to still get out there.

Roller derby leagues are typically run by volunteers that manage 60-100 (opinionated and educated) women, run sports practices, develop marketing, bout production, safety, accounting, boards, volunteer management, event management, crowd control and on and on…without any financial backing or large sponsorship. This is all done in our “spare time” as most have fulltime jobs, families and other responsibilities.

OC Roller Girls was founded 3.5 years ago— and we are doing great in a tough environment- we must be doing something right. Smart women are attracted to the league as they find a place to exercise, develop friendships and have some fun.

Wicked prospers not because they are involved in some kind of fad that is getting attention right now, Bethany delivers great customer service and reaches out to her international market and develops relationships. Suzy responds quickly to client requests and helps leagues select products that fit in their (usually small) budgets. Big businesses that would be competitors do not have the insider’s knowledge or compassion for small volume orders to respond to our niche market. Wicked has taken a hobby and turned it in to a profitable small business- that is news for any sport or hobby.

Thank you so much to the reporter and those commenting that are aware that derby leagues (and derby support businesses) are run by smart women. When that story isn’t news anymore … we will see other angles.

Heather Shelton, aka Disco
Founder, OC Roller Girls and Roll For A Cure
Client of Wicked
& MPA

Michael J Swassing says:

November 15, 2009 at 1:09 pm

So many of the real life heros of the contemporary roller derby movement have amazing life stories. It is really great to see these young women get some recognition in the press. Most roller derby players are reluctant to give out their real names and life stories, but the ones I have met and gotten to know are some of the most amazing women EVER. Whip-smart, professionally accomplished, athletically aggressive when the jam is on, sweet as pie when the jam is off, and hot, hot, HOT!

Retox Fox says:

November 15, 2009 at 2:00 pm

Thank you for the article. Less than the “X at day, Y at night” story, this is more about wow, what a busy woman. Non-derby players really have no idea how much time goes into roller derby. As an amateur sport, it’s not just 6-10/hrs a week of practice, it’s also meetings and committee work and community service and promotions and fundraisers and flyering and supporting other teams. A lot of the girls on our team easily spend 20 hours a week doing derby-related labor. So, yes, the fact that anyone has the time to fit this kind of commitment in a normal life in is an accomplishment.

The fact that B-Train gets this done as one of the premier skaters on her team, a student, and a business owner is remarkable. As a roller derby player, team blogger, and grad student working on my PhD at Stanford, I am always heartened by hearing that other derby women are also surviving the 100 hour workweeks required to get it all done. The fact that she is also running a successful business with very happy customers is amazing. Thanks for the coverage, and thanks for B-train for running such a great company that is so supportive of the derby community.

Retox Fox, 90 proof
Silicon Valley Roller Girls

San Deigo Bankruptcy Attorney says:

November 17, 2009 at 11:30 pm

What’s not cliche about this is how successful Wicked is. You can find girls on nearly every league with a Wicked Skatewear sticker on their helmet.

Orange County Register