Jul 23, 2024
From a
young age, Azikiwee Anderson left
his heart in San Francisco.
In this episode, Azikiwee
(everyone calls him "Z"), the founder of Rize
Up Sourdough, shares the story of how he got here. His
dad was a famous drummer who got hooked on heroin while touring.
When he returned home from the tour, the problems at home began. He
started physically assaulting Z's mom.
And so she packed up her three
kids, all five and younger, and her things and split. The battered
wives' shelter helped get them out of New Orleans and to San
Francisco. Z has some memories of New Orleans, but they're coupled
with trauma.
When they landed here, they
didn't really have people. His mom and her kids stayed at the bus
station for weeks, and Z remembers a man giving them his lunch more
than once. There's a poignant story of the brown paper bags that
those meals came in and how Z has used similar bags for Rize Up
breads as an homage.
The family ended up at a
shelter and his mom started to imagine what her new life could be.
Z's mom got jobs and took classes. They lived in The City for six
years and then moved to Chico.
Z spent the rest of junior high
and high school in that northern Valley town. The day after he
graduated, he left for Santa Rosa to go to junior college. It was
close enough to San Francisco that he could come here easily and
often, which he did. In addition to school, he taught gymnastics,
something he'd begun in high school. But because of his height
(he's 6' 3") and relative inexperience, he decided that teaching
was a better route for him than competing.
He also rollerbladed. Like, a
lot. He says kids would come into his gymnastics classes asking Z
to teach them how to do flips on rollerblades. Never mind that he
didn't know how to do that ... yet. One of these kids brought in a
video of what he had in mind, and it was the first time Z saw
people doing all these incredible things on rollerblades.
Eventually, this led to Z getting sponsored to skate.
It took him on a journey he
never could've imagined. He started traveling, around the US,
around the world. It became his life. He built skate parks, for
roller blades, bikes, skateboards, whatever.
Looking back on his time as a
pro rollerblader, Z says that he owes the hardship of his young
years to the fact that it doesn't take a lot to make him happy.
When he started seeing the world, he didn't take it for granted. He
was grateful for the opportunities it afforded him.
Time spent traveling gave way
to more time running businesses. And with a little more income came
the opportunity to cash in on a life's dream—Z moved to San
Francisco. He found a place on Bush between Van Ness and Polk. And
he brought a small distribution company for rollerblading products
with him. But when the 2008 recession hit, the business started to
feel some serious pains.
Check back next week for Part 2
with Azikiwee Anderson.
We recorded this podcast at
Rize Up Bakery in the South of Market in June
2024.
Photography by Jeff
Hunt