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Batten House Podcast
Batten House Podcast
Batten House Podcast
Ep 16 The Edge Masters: Precision Skate Sharpening in Ottawa
What does true craftsmanship look like in today's world? Joe Baker of b-sharp Ottawa provides a compelling answer with his approach to skate sharpening that has customers traveling across provinces—and even flying in from the West Coast—just to experience his service.
Baker's journey from competitive figure skater to sought-after skate sharpening expert reveals how specialized knowledge, uncompromising standards, and a mechanical engineer's precision combine to create something extraordinary. "It's got to be right and it's got to be always so," he explains, capturing the philosophy that has built his reputation throughout Canada's skating community. When people are willing to drive hours or even board planes for your service, you know you're offering something special.
The conversation delves into fascinating aspects of skate maintenance that most people never consider, including the surprising truth about rubber mats at ice rinks and why your freshly sharpened skates might dull faster than expected. Beyond technical expertise, Baker shares his evolution as a business owner, from operating out of his garage to managing a thriving shop with multiple technicians servicing hundreds of skates daily during peak season. His story of finding work-life balance while maintaining his exacting standards offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs in any field.
Whether you're a hockey parent, figure skater, recreational ice enthusiast, or simply appreciate stories of passion-driven excellence, this episode demonstrates how specialized craftsmanship still thrives in our mass-produced world. Connect with b-sharp Ottawa at bsharpottawa.com or through their social media channels to experience their exceptional service firsthand.
It's got to be right and it's got to be always so. When we have people driving from Kingston or Montreal or flying in from Vancouver to get their skate sharpened here, if it's not done right, that word gets out really quick. So yeah, it's all about being precise and the same every time.
Speaker 2:This is the Batten House Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbours come together. Here's your host, Sean Batten.
Speaker 3:Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Batten House Podcast. Today on the show we have Joe Baker. He is a former competitive figure skater and now owns a very successful skate sharpening store here in Ottawa. How you doing, joe? Let's get right into it. Thanks for having me Tell me about your business.
Speaker 1:So we're B-Sharp Ottawa and we sharpen skates. Here we do lots of hockey and figure repair. I come from the figure world, so figure is kind of my bread and butter. And then we kind of roll over into the hockey world because my OCD is a little bit off the charts when it comes to the skate sharpening. So, uh, yeah, that's. That's like the quick and easy of what we do.
Speaker 3:Here is we kind of we keep your skates on the ice as best we can and and keep you going yeah nice and you've become quite the the go-to right, because there are lots of um big big box store places doing sharpening skates and such right. But like you've really gone through um the transition of, you know, of covid and all this, all this stuff right um. But tell us, I know a little bit about your journey, tell us about your journey and how you got into sharpening skates, because I kind of feel it would be a dying art, um art form yeah, so I got into skate sharpening because I came from the competitive side of the figure skating world.
Speaker 1:So my dad became a skate sharpener. So he was blades and things for many years in Ottawa, but we came from Nova Scotia where there was basically nothing. The guy was retiring and my dad took training. He came up to Ontario. He did some training through the figure people to learn how to sharpen, uh, and then I started skating internationally. So I wanted to learn.
Speaker 1:My background, uh, like from schooling is mechanical engineering, so I'm kind of hands-on, I want to learn that kind of stuff. So I learned from my dad how to sharpen and then I started taking training courses with other people in the world to sharpen and then that kind of got me into this when he retired so he retired 14 years ago now and so we've been, you know, running since we started I started in my garage because he was like, yeah, I'm out. And so then you know 40 people a day through my house with a 65 pound dog and a baby. My wife's like, like, get a retail location, and so we did that, uh, and yeah, here we are. So, yeah, good for you.
Speaker 1:So how long you been in business then, uh, so 2013 is technically when we started uh b sharp ottawa, uh. And then, yeah, we spent five years off, craig henry, behind the dome, and then I've been here in Barhaven Like a lunatic. We opened on Boxing Day and we opened on Boxing Day six years ago, so we're six and a bit years here in Barhaven. When they opened this mall in the Costco, and so, yeah, Well, good for you.
Speaker 3:Well, it's no small feat to be growing a business and staying in business and being the go-to, because you've made quite the reputation for yourself in a good way yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:So, um, as people kind of get to talk to me, sometimes I come across a little bit, um, uh, chafey I guess, because I have, you know, it's either it's black or white really when it comes to the skate sharpening world.
Speaker 1:Like, I'm not going to beat around the bush, like you, you do it right or you don't do it, and that's kind of my world of it, right. So that does get out as a reputation and that's why people come back, because it has to be done 100 every time. Uh, we don't rush through it, even though we might be doing like 400 pair of skates a day during the crazy season of, like you know, canal and everybody being on the odrs and everything else, and that's, you know, four of us running skate sharpening. So basically, 100 pair of skates a guy per day, um, you know, but yeah, it's got to be right and it's got to be always so. When we have people driving from Kingston or Montreal or flying in from Vancouver to get their skate sharpened here, if it's not done right, that word gets out really quick. And so, yeah, it's all about being precise and the same every time.
Speaker 3:Well, it's truly an art, an art form. Like you really need to know what to do, which actually rolls into my next question. Like uh, now you know well, you've known the industry for a long time. Um, what are some myths or misconceptions?
Speaker 1:um, you, you would say uh, are in your industry well, I mean, the biggest thing is that everybody kind of assumes that the skate sharpening is some sort of like heirloom item. So so you know. So, especially in the wonderful world that we are, here in Canada, we're lucky to have rubber mats everywhere in our rinks, but then a lot of the people will just walk across the mat with no skate guards and jump on the ice and go, hey, I just got my skate sharpened, why don't I have any edges? Well, you walk to the door, and I walked to the door and the coaches walked to the door, and everybody walks to the same spot and basically you're just walking through a track of dirt and then they wonder, like how did I step on something? There was, like there was nothing, it was rubber. Well, rubber's dirty too. Right, like those rink guys are only probably cleaning the mats at the beginning of the day and the end of the day, and so, so then we get yelled at next day, going like what happened to my skate sharpening.
Speaker 1:Uh well, uh, all kinds of things can have happened. So that's kind of the biggest misconception is that you know there's nothing there and that rubber is going to save your life.
Speaker 3:Well, unfortunately, yeah, that's great. I never would have excuse me, I never would have even thought of that. Um, so that's uh, it's good for all of our hockey players in the minor leagues major leagues to consider that it's a big deal. Oh, that's really cool. So you are a fascinating guy. I've talked to you for 10 minutes now, like as a business owner, entrepreneur, a dad. What do you do for fun?
Speaker 1:So I play Xbox. That is my thing. It's been a thing since we were in the skating world. So we owned a house next door to the Sportsplex. So, as a guy in skating, not very many guys, so Saturday mornings usually come really early, so most of the guys that would skate would come to my house and stay over, and so they bought us an Xbox way back in the day. So we started playing with like Halo and those kinds of things, and so then my like my best friends through the skating world are still sort of my best friends of the today. And then we live across the country and we still get together at least once a week just to play some Xbox. That's how we kind of communicate.
Speaker 3:So that's cool still so much and and well, now it's also a lot easier to do that right. You can be anywhere and to where 20 years ago it was. It was just harder, you could do it, but it was yeah, there was no.
Speaker 1:Like you know, this is kind of like it's like our zoom meeting now, right like everything now is is super easy to do and you know you don't have to have long distance phone calls anymore because that's kind of like built in. But that was kind of our way to communicate, right, like you just got online and you did whatever was going on, and many late nights and lots of fun, absolutely.
Speaker 3:That's great, I love it. I love it. So, as you've grown as a business owner and obviously a dad and such, can you describe a hardship or a hardship or a life challenge that you rose above? And now you kind of look back and say, hey, you know what it's that really taught me this or really kind of pushed me to be better here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I guess the biggest thing that we've done through this is growing is been open as a small business.
Speaker 1:One person show kind of seven days a week. Covid was kind of a blessing in disguise where I cut back my hours, especially during the original portion, like we were super lucky. We were only closed for 19 days. Then we started working with the Ottawa Senators but that meant that I went down to six days a week because we stopped working Sundays and now, even though I'm not necessarily here six days a week, I'm usually only here five, I still work from home on Wednesdays to be my management stuff. So it was kind of like that how do I step away from the business as the owner and operator, which most people as a business owner don't do both they don't operate it while owning it. So that's kind of been my thing is how do I step away a little bit? You know I've got a six year old and a 14 year old at home, so you know there's an age gap and so, like the, what they're doing is completely different.
Speaker 1:So having some time away is kind of been nice.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, absolutely Well. I mean it's the balance of trying to work in your business, because you're hands-on working in your business, because you care so much, clearly, but also you have to work on your business. That's that management piece, right. But, you can very quickly work six days a week without realizing that because you're so invested into it, right? So, like, good on you for recognizing that and hitting the reset button during COVID, like I don't want to be that guy you know. So good for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to take that step has been really hard, especially even when you're not here, like hey, what's going on there? Whatever's happening, I mean, social media never ends. So you know, you still get that three o'clock in the morning message because somebody's messaging you going like hey, I had a problem. Um, and then you're like hey, I want to get in there and fix it. But really you know it's sunday and it's like no, I've got to take that day.
Speaker 3:It's yeah, it's my day off, so, yeah, good for Absolutely. So what's one thing you wish our listeners knew about your business? We're getting a lot of people listening from Ottawa all the time, and so now more people will know that you're here in Barhaven, the south end of Ottawa. For those who aren't in Ottawa, yeah, tell our listeners what you want them to know.
Speaker 1:So the biggest thing this is funny, that's a good question uh, the biggest thing that we get is uh, we, we book, we do online appointments and the biggest thing when we get people coming in and he's going like ah, like I couldn't book an appointment so obviously I can't come.
Speaker 1:No walk-ins all day long. Like you can walk, can walk in get your skate sharpened. Now we are a busy shop so it won't necessarily be right away but you can always walk in. My dad's business taught me that. You know, chaos is good, I guess. But I come from the skating world again. Coaching is like a 10-minute thing. You book a lesson, right? So we booked appointments. So that know.
Speaker 1:I know that it takes me, let's say, five minutes to sharpen a skate, which means that in my 10 minute appointment for your skates I can fit somebody else in or an extra. So I guess that's the biggest thing I want people to know is like walk in, come, say hi. Like, uh, we have a sharpening room with a door that's closed but we sharpen behind a big glass wall. Um, you can always walk in and say hi to us. Like people are super scared of the door. The door is to keep the dust down, because it's a really loud and really dusty room. So I'm trying to keep, you know, the skate laces and the gloves and you know, not dirty and that that's why there's a door. But you can always walk in and say hi to us, have a conversation me and call in. My manager or braden is here, like we'll chat with you while we sharpen skates. Zero problems, it's nice.
Speaker 1:It makes the monotony go away too. I'm not just a robot standing in a corner.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Yeah, no, that's, that's great. So so how can listeners learn more? Contact you? I know you're in bar Haven, but, yeah, give us a number, because the readers or the listeners right now your phone number, your website so we are.
Speaker 1:B sharp ottawacom is our website. Uh, 613-825-9110 is our phone number. Here we are at b sharp ottawa on pretty much everything social, so youtube and facebook and instagrams, and that's where we show a lot of stuff. Um, you know, we've got lots of people that will ask a question. I try to answer those things through Instagram reels and but yeah, that's, that's where we're at. We're at everything. That's great.
Speaker 3:Well, listen, I know you're busy as a business owner, everything. I just really appreciate your time getting to know be sharp a little bit more and to peel back the curtain a little bit. So if you're local or even if you're not, definitely check out Joe and the be sharp team and we really appreciate your time today. Brother, Take care. Thank you for having me, yeah.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to the batting house podcast to nominate a favorite local business to be featured on the show. Go to batting house podcastca. That's battingpodcastca. That's battenhousepodcastca.
