You know that rare feeling when you meet someone whose energy just matches yours?
That's exactly how it was when Alex and Jamie met in college. Both were passionate athletes—Alex trained in Judo with the Japanese Olympic team and practiced Muay Thai in Thailand, while also expressing his creativity through large-scale murals. Jamie shared the same drive as a high school cross-country and track team captain.
But at 19, a tragic accident left Jamie paralyzed from the waist down, and everything changed. Over the next few years, Jamie navigated a new reality and began looking for hobbies that could support both mental and physical recovery. This journey led to scuba diving.
After that, Alex and Jamie headed to Catalina and became PADI® certified divers, and that's when the idea for what would become Smart Gum was born
