

In 2016, Kittredge appeared on “Shark Tank” - alongside NFL receiver Antonio Brown - to pitch his company.
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ISlide kept growing, partnering with professional sports leagues to deliver licensed products. Over time, he added more interns and they eventually became full-time employees. Like, I had never even done it before.”Įarly, Kittredge said he figured he could either run back to Reebok “with my tail between my legs” or figure it out. “And I realized it was really freaking hard. “And then I started to do it,” Kittredge said. Researching the competition, Kittredge saw the opportunity for a custom slides company that could produce comfortable footwear quickly, one pair at a time. At first, the entire staff included just Kittredge and a single intern. After growing disgruntled as the head of the basketball division at Reebok in 2012, when the company was shifting away from the sport, he turned his sights toward creating ISlide. The Celtics connection, which helped ISlide gain footing in the industry, emerged again as an asset when the company – like so many others these days – encountered tough times. Once laid off - ultimately, temporarily - from a previous job at Reebok, Kittredge vowed never to push anyone into the same fate. It’s a promise he kept until the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to shift into survival mode in an attempt to right a business that had never wobbled like this before. The former Celtics players marveled at Kittredge’s work ethic and spirit, believing that his energy – as much as the unique concept – served as the foundation for his business’s success. Olynyk continued to show love from his new professional home in Miami. Turner and Crowder joined the company as investors. Until recently, ISlide thrived, capitalizing on its unique vision and quality slides. Visitors at his house can see his many pairs of sandals. As ISlide continued to expand, Olynyk emerged as one of the key supporters, hawking the products at every turn. He supplied a different design to all of the instructors at his summer basketball camp. Among his favorites were a pair with a silhouette of him in a snapback hat with his hair flowing through. Olynyk, drawn to Kittredge’s enthusiasm, visited the company’s Hyde Park headquarters several times and developed relationships with a number of people throughout the business. The Celtics were rising, business was booming and ISlide was carving out a place in the market. The players were eager to flash their footwear through social media and other channels, Olynyk believes, because the sandals revealed a part of them. Jae Crowder wore a pair that read “99 problems,” a play on Crowder’s number and the Jay-Z song by that name. Isaiah Thomas owned a slew of different pairs, including one stamped with his nickname: The King in the Fourth. Evan Turner proudly showed off his slides with the famous bicycle logo from the film “E.T.” superimposed on a basketball. Since then, several players have supported the company in their own ways. That was near the start of the Celtics’ infatuation with ISlide. From everybody’s reaction, Olynyk knew he had smacked a home run. Avery Bradley’s shouted out his hometown, Tacoma, Wash. Jonas Jerebko’s featured the logo of the eSports team he owned. Marcus Smart’s highlighted the guard’s haircut at the time – a dyed mohawk. Through ISlide, Olynyk designed a pair for each of his teammates. NBA players could get just about anything by themselves, but they couldn’t personalize such comfortable sandals elsewhere. Olynyk even memorized the motto: Stand in what you stand for. He appreciated everything about the business, from the people who worked there to the idea for the customizable footwear. Prabhu talks to students at various venues and encourages them to join the movement against cyberbullying.After meeting Justin Kittredge, the owner of ISlide, Olynyk fell in love with the company’s customized sandals. The company is on a path to end digital hate and has extended its reach to over 1,500 schools! The award-winning tech program has already helped over 2.5 million students and increased awareness. The program (created by then-16-year-old inventor, Trisha Prabhu) delayed the posting of potentially-harmful messages and allows the user to reconsider sending it.
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ReThink, the first software of its kind to counteract cyberbullying before the damage it causes, won over the sharks and viewers for its carefully-thought idea. For them, the exposure was everything! ReThink Keeps Reinventing Spoonful of Comfort even adopted the sharks’ advice on scalability to add more convenient-sized packages in their services. They also include special packages, according to the seasons and holidays. The company is still running and has now expanded its range of products.
