When University of South Carolina Retailing student Chase Barclay talks about her future, her eyes light up: not just with ambition, but with purpose. She’s chasing something more than success. She’s chasing confidence, and she’s already teaching others to do the same.

Barclay, a junior in the USC College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management, has already turned her lifelong passions for surfing, skateboarding, and fashion into a growing entrepreneurial venture called “Chase Confidence.” The business offers skateboarding and surfing lessons for children, especially young girls, with a mission centered on building courage, self-belief and joy.

“I grew up going to skate camp every summer — it was my favorite part of the year,” Barclay says. “I learned so much about who I was and what I could do. I wanted to give that same feeling to other girls — that moment when you realize, ‘I can do this.’”

Skate Parks to Surfboards

Barclay’s journey started in Rhode Island and Virginia, where she spent her childhood on skateboards and surfboards. She competed nationally in skateboarding competitions and surfed along the Atlantic coast, discovering not just a sport, but a community that empowered her.

When the pandemic slowed life down, Barclay used the time to reflect — and relaunch her passions with purpose. She designed flyers, reached out to local families through her father’s school and started teaching. Her first student was a seven-year-old girl who had never stood on a skateboard before.

“I remember bringing a board without wheels just so she could get used to the stance,” Barclay recalls with a smile. “By the end of the lesson, she went down a ramp by herself. The look on her face — that’s why I do it.”

Over time, “Chase Confidence” grew through word of mouth, drawing both girls and boys who wanted to learn the basics of balance, bravery, and fun. For Barclay, it’s more than just a business. It’s a philosophy.

“Falling is part of it,” she says. “In skating and in life. You fall, you get back up, and you realize you’re stronger for it.”

Surf Lessons to Streetwear

While Chase Confidence began as a lesson-based business, Barclay dreams of expanding it into a full lifestyle and clothing brand,  one that blends her love of streetwear and surf culture with empowerment at its core.

“I think about how cool it would be to grow Chase Confidence into something bigger — maybe even just ‘Chase,’” she says. “You could make it mean anything: Chase Dreams, Chase Growth, Chase Strength. I love the idea of building something that inspires people to chase whatever matters to them.”

Her first dream product? A sweatshirt — oversized, cozy, and universal.

“I live in sweatshirts,” she says. “They’re for everyone — guys, girls, anyone. I want it to be the kind of thing you wear because it makes you feel good.”

Finding Her Place at USC HRSM

Barclay’s passion for retail and entrepreneurship found the perfect home at USC. After transferring, she immediately felt at home in HRSM’s retailing program, drawn by its blend of creativity, technology, and hands-on learning.

“I just love the HRSM college,” she says. “It’s smaller and more personal, and the professors really care. I’ve had so much support, especially from Mike Watson. He and others have helped me see how what I love can actually become a career.”

Barclay says her classes in e-commerce, digital marketing and fashion merchandising have opened her eyes to the future of retail — one that combines creativity with innovation.

“It’s all about the future, about trends and technology. I love that,” she said. “It’s exactly what I want to be part of.”

Riding the Wave Forward

As Barclay looks ahead to graduation, she’s focused on taking Chase Confidence to the next level, merging her skills in retailing with her entrepreneurial drive and her mission to empower others.

“Whether it’s through fashion, surfing, or business, I want to keep helping people feel confident in who they are,” she says. “That’s what Chase Confidence is really about — believing in yourself enough to take the first step, even if it’s scary.”

After all, as Barclay teaches her students, the first drop-in — whether on a skateboard ramp or in life — is always the hardest. But once you do it, you’re unstoppable.