Brandon, Mark, and Rachel, the family behind Ch*lk U
Our Story

Climbing changed our lives. One dumb joke named the brand.

Ch*lk U is a family-run climbing brand I started with my dad, Mark, and my mom, Rachel.

The story began when I was depressed, doom scrolling through YouTube, and stopped on one very weird thumbnail.

An older candid photo of Brandon before discovering climbing

Before colored rocks took over my life.

Before Ch*lk U

I was in a bad place.

Howdy, I'm Brandon, and I had no drive. I barely wanted to leave the house, and like what any self-respecting depressed person does in their free time, spent most of my free time doom scrolling through YouTube.

Then I saw a thumbnail of a guy sitting on a dirty mat, covered in white powder, smiling like he had just won the lottery.

I honestly thought the powder might be crack.

It was chalk.

Brandon and his dad Mark during an early climbing session

We had no clue what we were doing.

The First Step

“Let’s try rock climbing.”

The video was by climbing commentator Matt Groom. He talked about climbing with so much joy that I could not stop watching.

So the next time my dad, Mark, asked, “Want to go do something?” I finally had an answer.

“Let’s try rock climbing.”

We went to The Pad Henderson, rented shoes and a chalk bag, read the whole waiver like the responsible nerds we are, and got humbled by the beginner wall.

We also loved every second of it.

Soon we had memberships, our own gear, torn hands, sore arms, and plans built around the next climbing day.

Brandon climbing high on an indoor climbing wall
The Moment Everything Clicked

Halfway up, I remembered I was scared of heights.

My hands shook. My body wanted to quit. Every part of me told me to climb back down.

Instead, I kept going.

When I finally grabbed the last hold, a huge smile took over my face. That was when I understood why Matt had looked so happy in that video.

“For the first time in a long time, I felt truly happy.”
Brandon with his parents Mark and Rachel during the early days of Ch*lk U

Two words. One very patient mom.

The Name

Then my dad said, “Chalk you.”

One day, I was making fun of my dad for not finishing a route.

He looked at me and said:

“Chalk you, man.”

I laughed and said it should be on a shirt.

Later, back at home, we kept repeating the joke. My mom, Rachel, heard us and stopped us.

“That just gave me goosebumps. We have to put that on a shirt.”

So we did.

Chalk You Ch*lk You Ch*lk U

The asterisk works like a bleep in a swear word because Ch*lk U is a climber’s way of saying something a little stronger.

It is what you say to the route that keeps shutting you down, to anyone who thinks you cannot do something, and sometimes to the voice in your own head.

An early Ch*lk U logo or shirt design
A behind-the-scenes Ch*lk U website or design screenshot
An early Ch*lk U shirt sample or package
Making It Real

We thought the hard part was making the shirts.

Later, we saw a climber wearing a shirt covered in chalk drawings from his friend, including a giant smiley face on the back.

That was it. We wanted Ch*lk U to feel hand-drawn, messy, fun, and right at home in a climbing gym.

I thought I could build the whole site in a week.

I was very wrong.

We spent months learning, designing, testing shirts, changing our minds, and ignoring my mom when she correctly told us to stop thinking about Ch*lk U pantyhose and focus on the shirts.

Then we launched.

Almost nobody noticed.

Matt Groom wearing a Ch*lk U shirt
Full Circle

The person who helped start my story came back into ours.

We made weird videos, sent a lot of messages, and asked real climbers to take a chance on a brand they had never heard of.

One of them was Matt Groom, the same person whose video introduced me to climbing in the first place.

Going from watching Matt’s video while depressed to sending him shirts we designed still feels a little unreal.

“The perfect combo of soft and breathable.”
Why We Make Shirts

You do not need a special shirt to climb.

You can wear whatever was clean that morning.

But climbing has a funny way of becoming more than a workout. It becomes your schedule, your group chat, your second home, and the place where strangers cheer for you like they have known you for years.

We wanted to make shirts that felt like they belonged in that life. Soft enough for the wall, the ride home, the food run after, and again the next day because you still have not done laundry.

Friends wearing Ch*lk U shirts together at a climbing gym
A climber wearing Ch*lk U during a climbing session
Climbers laughing together on the mats
Friends wearing Ch*lk U after climbing

Ch*lk U is for the people who fall, laugh, chalk up, and try again.

This Is Ch*lk U

Come for the wall. Stay for the people. Say Ch*lk U to anyone who says you can’t.

Shop Ch*lk U
The Humans Behind It

Meet the family behind Ch*lk U.

We are climbers, family, and the people behind every strange idea you see here.

Brandon, co-founder of Ch*lk U

Brandon

Brandon found climbing when he needed it most. Now he runs Ch*lk U and tries to turn nearly every gym joke into a shirt.

Mark, co-founder of Ch*lk U

Mark

Mark was just looking for something he and Brandon could do together. He got humbled by the wall and accidentally named the company.

Rachel, co-founder of Ch*lk U

Rachel

Rachel was the first person to know “Chalk you” was more than a dumb family joke. She helped turn it into something real and still keeps the rest of us from making terrible business choices.

Thanks for being part of the story.

Roles in Ch*lk U:

Brandon Kasminoff

Web, Social Media, & Influencer Relations Manager, Designer, Co-Founder, V4 Climber

The man, the myth, the legend– oh wait that's someone else. Anyhow if you’ve been on our social media, perused the website, or been DMed on IG it was probably Brandon managing it. Is that all he does? Yep. But "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future".

Mark Kasminoff

Marketing, Finance, & Creative Director, Community Outreach Manager, Designer, Co-Founder, V5 Climber

Own a climbing gym? Welp you just got contacted by the most handsome guy on this–very small–side of Las Vegas. If you own a climbing gym and haven’t been contacted yet about the amazing perks for your climbers that cost you NOTHING, feel free to contact us!

Rachel Kasminoff

Head of Innovation & Strategy, Designer, Co-Founder, V10 Climber

Our worst mistakes? When we don’t listen to Rachel. We can neither confirm or deny if she holds this whole brand together… She does. We often ask: Without her, where would we be? Probably out dirtbagging without the world’s softest shirts. *shivers* Oh– And yes, she on-sighted that route you couldn’t send.

The Artist

Sketcher, Lead Designer, Co-Founder, V2 Climber

Did you really think we'd reveal the ONE and ONLY person who's the WHOLE reason we've even made it this far? You're not going to take him away by offering him a six-figure salary AND dental! We have to stop; we’ve already said too much.

To Anyone Who Says You Can't...Ch*lk U!

Believe it or not, we climb,
and even more surprising, we crack jokes while doing it.

One day, mid-climb, one of us blurted out, 'Chalk you!'. A playful twist on the infamous phrase we’ve all heard (yes, we’ve spared you the full version). Combine that with a hearty, chalk-covered slap on the back, and that's how Ch*lk U was born.

After all, can you really call yourself a true belay buddy if you don’t leave a few chalk doodles on your shirt?

Four Climbers and a Dream

We are an awesome rock climbing apparel brand based in Las Vegas, NV.

When we first started climbing, we quickly noticed a major issue (aside from only being able to tackle V0s):
Quality climbing T-shirts was nowhere to be found. It felt like searching for the holy grail would be easier.

That’s when it hit us--Why not create it ourselves?

And just like that, we became the answer to the climbing community’s call for the shirts it truly deserves!

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