During his early high school years, Daiquan began his journey with Gearin’ Up Bicycles as a youth volunteer. At the time, he didn’t know much about bicycle mechanics but he had always had a knack for fixing just about anything with his hands. His challenge was the lack of bicycle programming in DC for youth who want to work in the bicycle industry. Daiquan quickly took to working with his hands in the bike shop and now he is the assistant shop manager and senior mechanic at Gearin’ Up. What’s more, he led his peers and was the right-hand man leading our shop through the bicycle boom of this summer. Daiquan and the team stepped up and worked late hours to meet demand. He came in early and stayed late without breaks to assist our shop manager in running the shop, helping customers and, keeping up with 30+ customer tickets as well as refurbishing 15 bikes a week.
A focused and humble young professional, Daiquan doesn't readily talk about himself. But when we sat down together and asked how he’d like to use his skills to bring more youth into the bicycle space and give back to his community, he shared:
“Some of our customers have been treated poorly at bicycle shops in the past. At Gearin’ Up Bicycles, we focus on teaching people how to work on their bikes, being fair to everyone and creating a community “home'' for cyclists. I want to develop my ability to lead by example and mentor youth at Gearin’ Up Bicycles and beyond. I want to show our youth mechanics and customers that anything can be fixed to an extent. It is just a matter of being willing to take the mechanical steps to achieve the goal while allowing youth to develop their skills.”
