By Ariyana Griffin
AFRO Staff Writer
agriffin@afro.com
Louisville, Ky. native Paden Sickles officially became a veteran in February of this year, honorably concluding 11 years of service. And while she has hung up her boots for good- she still has her fellow soldiers in mind.
Paden Sickles uses the pain of the past to inspire her purpose today. After 11 years in the United States Army for 11 years, she officially became a veteran and took on the issue of poor-quality socks by founding SickFit, an apparel company with a mission to give back to the community. (Courtesy photo)
After years of dedicated service, Sickles realized there was a painful issue within the military community – the lack of comfortable socks to help protect her feet after a long day of hard training. This problem and her resilience led to Sickles founding her apparel company, SickFit, in 2021.
SickFit offers a range of streetwear apparel, but its focus is on specialized socks that provide comfort and support for service members, athletes, fashion lovers and anyone who is left in pain after standing on their feet all day.
The brand has recently partnered with Olympic track and field athlete Jorinde van Klinken and Paralympic track and field athlete Brittni Mason.
Sickles’ dedication to service and giving back is a cornerstone of her brand’s mission. The company recently launched its innovative SickFit World Tour, a unique initiative that partners with corporate organizations and local community members to give back “one sock at a time.”
The first stop of the SickFit World Tour took place at the Military Influencer Conference in Atlanta from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. During the convention, in its first year, SickFit and its partners announced that over 250 pairs of socks would be donated to the victims of Hurricane Helene.
This week, the AFRO spoke with Sickles about veteran-owned businesses and entrepreneurship after time in the U.S. military.
AFRO: Growing up, was the military a part of your upbringing? If not, how were you introduced to the idea of serving for our country?
SICKLES: Growing up, I was not exposed to a lot of the military within my immediate family – I’m actually the first one who went to the military.
We would travel through airports, I would see soldiers in uniform and think, “Wow, they’re like heroes, and I wanna become a hero one day.”
I wanted to emulate that – my parents told me, “You have to go to college, but you can definitely join the Army or the branch you want.”
AFRO: Would you say joining the military had an impact on your journey?
SICKLES: It shaped me and moved me to who I am today, it had a huge influence in the aspects of my life.
From leadership traits, to creating routines and having structure all around are some traits that I took away from the military. Seeing the amount of diversity, culture and interacting with different partners shaped me in all aspects of my life.
Paden Sickles is now CEO of her own company, SickFit, a role she took on after discharging from the U.S. Army in February 2024. (Courtesy photo)
AFRO: What is the importance of having a support system and people to lean on while serving in the Armed Forces?
SICKLES: My family is the most amazing thing that I’ve ever experienced – I have a super supportive family. My mother and my father support everything that I do and my two brothers and my sister continually support me.
Even when I was in the military overseas, I looked forward to those 6 a.m. calls. Now that I’ve transitioned, every Sunday I eat breakfast with them– even though we’re not all in the same state.
That’s our routine – continually having those routines and being intentional about surrounding yourself with people that keep you grounded and stay positive.
Taking it one step further within the military space, the entrepreneurship space, can be very lonely. Relying upon my veteran community has been the most amazing thing ever because they want to see you win and support you, and you do the same. You continue to show up for each other – I don’t know what I would do without my communities: my family, the veteran community and my friends.
AFRO: If you were to give advice to someone who may be thinking about joining the military what would you tell them?
SICKLES: Do your research and know where you best align. Take advantage of all the opportunities that the organization presents to you. I was very fortunate enough to not have to have any debt from college, and I was able to get a lot of the certifications as a professional.
There’s so many opportunities and ways to grow personally and professionally. Take advantage of all the opportunities that are presented to you – it is what you put into it. It shaped me , it formed me to be this entrepreneur that I am. It’s tough, just like anything else in life, but if it’s easy everybody would do it. Do your research and go for it.
AFRO: After serving 11 years in the Army, how would you say the transition period has been for you?
SICKLES: The transition came to me naturally because I was at a place in my life where things were falling into place professionally and falling out of place physically.
As the company, SickFit, was starting to take off, my body was falling apart. I had one ACL surgery, and then I had another – on the second ACL surgery, they hit a nerve in my leg and now, I don’t really have feeling there. It’s like little spiders crawling all over you. And with that, there were some other complications.
I now have two herniated discs and two bulging discs in my back. I was listening to God, essentially – but I was also being pulled in that direction. I knew I trusted God and he kept leading me to the path of entrepreneurship. Ever since I made that transition, I continue to lean on my North Star, and it’s been great and very rewarding.
AFRO: What pushed you to create your apparel brand, SickFit?
SICKLES: It was a simple solution to a problem within the military. As I was going through the military, I was receiving these accolades, which we love to call “chest candy.” I was receiving the badges and doing the physical part of it– 12-mile ruck marches– but I didn’t even want to go to the graduations because my feet always had blisters. My feet were bleeding, and it hurt to put the boots back on. It was initially just a solution to a problem.
AFRO: There are so many designs and variations of the socks and apparel, what made you want to use the socks as a way of expression?
SICKLES: I’m a big sneakerhead, I started it to align the socks with shoes that were being released in the sneaker community. As I continually kept growing the company, I noticed that people resonated well with the messages that we were putting on the socks. For us, it’s the impact that we’re able to make within the socks.
It’s really just overcoming adversity, building positivity and then celebrating the diversity within our organization. Showing the power and resilience and creating communities that uplift each other.
To learn more about Paden Sickles and the work she is doing within her brand SickFit, visit Sickfitofficial.com.
