“I was selling snapback hats in high school and I was mowing lawns at a young age just to make any extra cash that I could,” said Ciavarella. He was also always fond of hockey, growing up a huge Buffalo Sabres fan and even playing in amateur leagues. When he realized he could combine these two passions, Ciavarella jumped on the opportunity to do so. In the process of doing this, Ciavarella has been on a mission to find a sustainable niche in the world of entrepreneurship while pushing the boundaries of traditional hockey culture.

Ciavarella graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2020 with a degree in Communications. His time at UB provided him with a lot of valuable connections and experience that has helped him run his businesses. “UB is truly a great place for anyone who wants to start a business. If I can give any student advice, it’s to get involved and don’t be afraid to try new things. There’s over 28,000 people who go there and you’re bound to find something that works for you,” said Ciavarella. “There is a way you can monetize your passion and do what you love through your connections at UB.” During his time in college, he made a lot of these connections through interacting with the Blackstone Launchpad community.  “When I was a sophomore, I was going to a lot of their events which allowed me to connect with a lot of people I wouldn’t necessarily have access to if I wasn’t involved with Blackstone,” said Ciavarella. 

One of these connections he made during his time at UB was Matthew Keeler, founder of hockey streetwear company JustDishin. After coming back from New Hampshire so he could go to UB and having made some preliminary interactions through social media, the two met up in Buffalo and instantly hit it off. “I just told him straight up ‘I want to help you grow this thing’, and he was open to it. We had a really similar vision to a lot of the things we’re doing now and it’s kind of been history from there,” said Ciavarella. “We’ve been able to do a lot of cool things with athletes and different brands and really just grow this thing organically.” At JustDishin, Ciavarella is a self-proclaimed “man of many hats,” with his tasks including but not limited to editing content, brand development, and connecting with prospective clients. Working with JustDishin has given Ciavarella the perfect opportunity to hone his craft as a content creator and become an even better entrepreneur.

Ciavarella's role within JustDishin evolved into him also being a co-founder of SkateSkins, a company that allows people to easily customize their hockey skates. Ciavarella feels “It’s a product that the hockey market hasn’t seen before, especially with hockey being a traditional sport. It’s so different and new so it kind of took some time to catch fire,” said Ciavarella. “But as of recently, it really caught wind after we had went viral with a concept that we had come out with. It happened super randomly and we didn’t plan on it with the concept we came out with, it just kind of happened.” 

This level of autonomy that Ciavarella has been able to achieve in his time in the realm of entrepreneurship has been very important to him. “You don’t always have to go that route where you have to work for someone,” said Ciavarella. You can monetize your passion as long as you have the right people in your corner.” This independence has been a key factor in his ability to find success as an entrepreneur and is reflected in his trailblazing businesses in the world of hockey. With these two brands and this strong entrepreneurial spirit, Ciavarella is sure to be a major force in both the hockey and content creation industries for years to come."