My Story presents: Leeroy (@kickcycle)

Could you share a bit about your secret origin story?

My secret origin story will have to remain a secret for the most part, but I’ll give you a little
preview. I came to Australia at a young age and currently reside in the Western Sydney
area. I came to love sneakers from an old friend from Church. He gave me a pair of Jordan 6 Sport Blues he copped from Footlocker. A little after I first saw him rock them and asked him a million questions, because I hadn’t seen Jordan’s on someone I knew then. I was into basketball from a young age and liked Jordan and Kobe so naturally I was into sneakers. I couldn’t afford sneakers like Jordans, so when he gave me that shoe it felt like I was given a bar of gold!!!

That fueled my passion for sneakers and later led me down the art of reselling when I couldn’t fit them, which in turn laid the foundations of my business mindset.

Hence this chapter in my life came from a pair of Jordan 6 Retro Sport blues.

What’s your current favourite pair of sneakers?

My favourite sneakers are definitely Jordans so if I had to choose my favourite pairs it
would have to be the Jordan 1 Chicago’s and the Jordan 5 Retro Wings (IYKYK).

What drew you to this particular pair of sneakers? What’s your personal sneaker
collecting philosophy?

The Jordan 1 Chicago has always been that love at first site type of love and the
sneaker that really got me into Jordan’s many years ago. The simplicity of the
silhouette, the contrast of colours and the history speaks enough volume to why its my
favourite. The Jordan 5 Wings come second place, because if you know the story behind
the shoe and naming, then nothing else needs to be said.
My personal sneaker collecting philosophy has always been stick to 3 shoes. I like to
keep a variety of shoes for different situations (outdoors, formal, etc.), but when it comes
to my sneakers, I’ve always had a 3 pair rule. Coming from a country where people
struggle to have 1 pair of shoes, that always spoke volumes to me and humbled me to
never excessively collect shoes. I like to switch up the rotation, rock 3 for summer then
come winter sell those and rock another 3. Sometimes I’d buy Jays and not really feel
them so I’d sell those and cop another, so I’d never have a shoe unworn. Each to their
own on sneaker collecting, but me personally I’m good with my 3 rotations.

Could you tell us more about what inspired you to build Kickcycle?

That’s honestly a multi-layed question because for me Kickcycle is just a name.

In its physical presence, it is just a face to a product I sell. What inspired me to build Kickcycle was what that face represented, it represented what drew me to love sneakers in the first place. For me sneakers represented identity, community and expression which is all Kickcycle represents under the physical layer.

If you had a passion for sneakers before 2017, you’d know exactly what I’m talking about here. For those who don’t, I’d recommend listening to Macklemore’s song WINGS and to meditate on the deep the lyrics.

Kickcycle’s physical side is there to keep your sneakers fresh and cared for, while underneath it’s connecting the sneaker community and connecting it to streetball. Most of us grew up on streetball and for most of us it became our gateway to sneakers.

To answer the question what inspired me to build Kickcyle? I guess the (sneaker) game
did. Just doing my part to revive a dead art.

What are your plans for your company/brand in the future?

My plans would be like any business, which is to grow the brand to its highest physical
level. The ultimate goal is difficult to answer because I don’t even know what that
physically looks like. But for me the ultimate goal is for people to be able to go back to
enjoying sneakers and what it represents. Whatever form that manifests itself into, would
be my ultimate reasoning for starting the brand and doing what I do. If you know me, you
know I don’t like to speak on what I’m going to do, but rather speak on what I’ve done. So
check up in a years time and see where we at and let that speak for itself.

Any advice for the younger generation that might want to follow your footsteps?

My advice is: don’t follow in my footsteps, create your own. I got to where I am by
trusting in my abilities and trusting in God who gave them. Best thing about sneakers,
people may have the same sneakers but the way you rock them with your own twist is what will always make them unique, so keep that philosophy in life. My only advice which
transcends past sneakers is: wear your kicks, don’t let them wear you and most
importantly your words your rep, protect it.

Where can people find you on social media?

You can find Kickcycle on Instagram @kickcycle_au and on Facebook @kickcycle. Show us some love and subscribe to our YouTube channel where we post basketball content
which is under the brand name Kickcycle. You can also find our webstore here.

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