I WANT, I CAN, I DO
"Хочу, Могу, Буду" or "I WANT, I CAN, I DO" is a brand that was founded with the mission of providing access to hockey for children with limited physical abilities who may not have been able to afford it otherwise.
why
This brand was founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia by a few friends and I that strongly believed that playing sports should be accessible and available for anybody who wanted to participate, hence the brand's name: "I want, I can, and I do".
Our big eye opening moment happened during a sledge hockey game that we accidentally witnessed (just stayed a little longer after our own beer league game). The game was insane: it was exciting, loud, and every face that we saw on and off the ice gleamed with happiness. Hell, not every professional hockey game has this kind of energy. It was contagious.
In a country like Russia, ice hockey is an extremly expensive sport... not to mention sledge hockey. It is simply financially unattainable for most families for obvious reasons. After a few days of brainstorming on how we could help, we decided to create a very personal capsule project that would focus on bringing attention to sledge hockey in Russia, which is greatly underfunded and technically non-existent as a team sport.
Our assortment plan consisted of simple things that any player and/or parent that spends hours around or on the ice must have to stay warm: hoodies, t-shirts, pants, track suits and beanies.
Our products went through rigorous testing... mostly in our own bathtubs and clothes washing machines. We wanted to make sure that peeling and fading wouldn't be a factor in our line.
We made sure that hoods were "cold proof" with dual colored double layering. Also, authentic hockey laces were used as drawstrings to keep the clothing "very hockey" (that's how some of the customers categorized our gear).
It took us a few weeks to get our ducks in a row: narrowing down the design, securing fabrics from Turkey, and finding a local factory that was willing to take our project on.
We started simple. There was no store and no website. We released a few targeted Instagram campaigns that have created curiosity for the brand. That's when people started calling, texting, emailing. Most of the time we sold our stuff out of the trunk of my car near the rinks, rain or shine. AND, to our complete surprise, it only took a couple of weeks to completely sell out our first batch.
I believe that having a positive message... message with attitude that would apply to everyday life is why the brand resonated with a lot of people. It became a secret club of sorts, where people recognized each other on the streets. They smiled and pointed to a t-shirt or a hat, and they knew that the money they spent on this piece of clothing would directly go towards helping a kid realize his or her dream in playing hockey.
All of the money that were made from sales were used in purchasing hockey gear for the kids in need.
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