Some skaters, they live for skating, and they are home-schooled. I'm very lucky my parents let me go to school and have a normal life.
You can be a great skater, you can have really good puck skills, but the ability to problem-solve is, to me, key.
I'm just excited to be in the fashion business. With my son, we did Trukfit, and I think that's been super innovative for the people that bought it and his lifestyle and how he comes across with the skater look. We just excited.
Plus the public's attention span is so short right now, if a skater doesn't strike while the iron is hot... well it's not like people will forget you, but they just won't care anymore.
I live with fellow speed skaters and National Team members Heather Richardson, Sugar Todd and Mitch Whitmore, and Sugar lives up to her name. She spoils our household with baked goods, and not just at Christmastime.
I know that I am the kind of person that gets a little bit more nervous than other skaters, but that's because I care for my skating very much. I take all my emotions with me. I can't go out and say 'Now, this is just my job.' I really care.
I was a serious competitive figure skater and still ice-skate as much as I can. Anyway, I once brought a date to the rink to have him experience what I was into. So all is going fine, and then - bam! - he bit it extremely hard! Skate time was over. His bruises were scary. I felt so bad.
For me, the first thing I do when I know I have to do the fastest skater is check my edges and make sure there's no nicks or anything like that.
If you skate with an Olympic level skater, they make you so much better because you're skating behind them, and you're trying to imitate their stride and their stance. It's like having the world's greatest training wheels.
That's what really makes great skating competitions. When you have two top skaters in good form giving superb performances.
