196 - From Hockey Player to Forbes 30 Under 30: Building Swift Hockey

196 - From Hockey Player to Forbes 30 Under 30: Building Swift Hockey

June 22, 2026 · 29 min · Season 1 · Episode 196

About this episode

Zechariah Thomas discusses his journey from competitive hockey player to founder of Swift Hockey, focusing on making the sport more accessible.

Today is my conversation with Zechariah Thomas, founder and CEO of Swift Hockey. A former competitive hockey player, Zechariah saw firsthand how expensive the sport had become for families. So at just 19 years old, he set out to challenge some of the biggest brands in hockey by building high-performance equipment at a more accessible price point. Since then, Swift Hockey has sold tens of thousands of sticks, generated millions in sales, secured a deal on Dragons' Den, expanded across North America, and earned Zechariah a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. In this episode, we discuss the rising cost of youth hockey, why participation is declining, what it takes to build a challenger brand in a category dominated by giants like Bauer and CCM, and how Zechariah is using entrepreneurship to make the game more accessible for the next g Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Adam Levinter

Guest: Zechariah Thomas

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Swift Hockey, Forbes, Dragons' Den, Bauer, CCM

Places: North America

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