PADDO WAX: 13 - YEARS OLD AND RUNNING A SKATE BIZ
INTERVIEW: They are business owners, they are entrepreneurs, they are dedicated skaters – and they are only 13 years old. Zac Riley & Liam Winearls runs Paddo Wax, a Brisbane based skate wax company, and they have big plans for the future. We hit the boys up in the place where it all began, at Paddo Skatepark, to get some insights about their business plans, friendships and the supportive Brisbane skateboarding community.
The beginning
It all began with an apology. The idea for Paddo Wax was actually born because Zac was super annoyed with Liam, who was using all of his wax.
“I used a lot of Zac’s wax and he was quite annoyed with me, so I decided to make him a block of wax to say sorry for using all of his wax”, Liam says.
Of course, Zac forgave him straight away and then he got a brilliant idea: “We should make a business out of it, sell wax”.
Liam was instantly keen. He thought it was a great idea and just like that, Paddo Wax was born.
These boys are not messing around and they got straight to the point when they had to come up with the name for their new wax business.
Liam remembers he was saying to Zac: “We should probably get a name” - and straight away Zac was like, “what about something like Paddo Wax?”
Again, as the yeah-sayers they are, Liam thought it was a great name and the decision was made.
In fact, when meeting the duo behind Paddo Wax you quickly get the impression that they are pretty awesome at saying “YEAH!” to each other’s ideas and just make things happen.
From BMX to scooters to skateboarding
The two friends know each other from school and started skating about a year ago.
“I used to ride BMX and then everyone started skating – and they would catch the bus to various skateparks. I couldn’t bring my bike on the bus, so I brought my scooter for a while but didn’t really like it,” Liam says.
He slowly started cruising on his skateboard for about 5 months without doing tricks but then he got keen on skating. “When I started doing tricks I started progressing and Zac and I went skating together at Paddo all the time.”
Now they go skating around 4 times a week. As much as they can, really.
The two mates Zac & Liam hanging out at Paddington skatepark where they go skating a whole lot.
Snacks, drinks & bus tickets
All that skating isn’t cheap, and Liam and Zac think it’s quite cool to earn their own money, despite being this young.
“We are super young, and we can’t get jobs. You usually have to be 16 before people can employ you and we need money when we go skating, to get food and stuff,” Liam tells.
“We are super young, and we can’t get jobs. You usually have to be 16 before people can employ you and we need money when we go skating, to get food and stuff” - Liam, Paddo Wax
The magic formula!
When Liam made the very first wax for Zac, he just quickly melted some wax down - but since then, they’ve made quite a few changes to their recipe. They have kept improving it to get the best formula.
“We’ve found a good formula, so we keep making that one now,” he says.
When asked about what makes their wax so special, the answer comes promptly: “It’s buttery, it’s cheap, it’s hell slippery. And it also comes in a variety of colours.”
Since the launch, Paddo Wax has expanded from just being a wax company. They have expanded their product range and sell t-hirts, make stickers at their house and are building their very own skate team.
Skate team & friends
Liam and Zac have a great bunch of friends who help them spread the word about Paddo Wax and they both agree that there is a special vibe between skaters: “when you see someone skating, you just instantly become friends with them”.
“We’ve got lots of friends who share our stuff on instagram, also locals from Paddo”, Liam says.
“Some of our friends also post our skate clips, like our friends Luka and Andy. We share each other’s videos and stuff”.
“When you see someone skating, you just instantly become friends with them.” - Liam, Paddo Wax
Help from the established Brisbane skateboard community
Besides getting help from friends, Parliament Skateshop in Brisbane has been a huge support for the two boys.
“We showed Max (works at Parliament) our wax and he started helping us - he talked with the owners at Parliament to see if they could sell our wax in the shop,” Liam says.
They said yes!
“Parliament skate shop has been a big help to us, selling our wax, letting us sell it there without taking any profit themselves”.
What true skateboard-community-legends they are at Parliament!
Even local pro skateboarder, Tommy Fynn has been a help for the boys. “Tommy Fynn helped because he posted a picture and tagged us in it, where he was using our wax. That helped us quite a bit too.”
Max Well air’ing over the Paddo Wax range.
Studying business
Liam is in grade 9 next year and starting Paddo Wax has made him keen on knowing more about running a business. "I’m doing business economics as a main subject, hopefully that will help with Paddo Wax”, he says.
The boys each have their responsibility in the business so they can focus on what they’re good at. While Liam is a biz wiz, Zac is behind the graphic design of Paddo Wax. He made the graphic design, the logo.
“He’s good at designs, so he makes all the designs. It’s the tree from Paddo, the heart of Paddo,” Liam explains.
The future of Paddo Wax
Paddo Wax is slowly, but surely getting more and more established as one of the significant skate wax players on the market.
It has been an eventful and busy time since they launched earlier this year. The first few batches might not have been great, but they improved and they were stoked when they sold a whole batch of 12 x wax blocks in a week. Since then, sales has only picked up and Liam & Zac are happy their business is going well.
Any good advice to kids who wants to start a business?
“For sure! Do it, honestly just do it, see if it works out and then keep going. Also keep trying to get support from your friends, that helps a lot. Oh, and definitely do it with a friend and always remember to have fun with it.”
The two friends and founders of Paddo Wax, Zac Riley & Liam Wynearls.
Where do we buy Paddo Wax?
If you’re keen on getting your hands on their wax or t-shirts, “go visit Parliament skate shop or DM us on instagram”, Liam says.
Thanks Liam & Zac!
We loved getting behind the scenes insights from the Paddo Wax crew.
If you want to follow Paddo Wax’s business journey, support their skate team or just get your hands on some pretty damn good wax, check them out on instagram.
