Past President Tim McKinney introduced today's guest speaker, Aidan Girduckis who he has known for a year and a half, described as a top scoring entrepreneur. Aidan earned a 'C' rating in the 2017 NHL Central Scouting evaluations, part of a promising junior career spent mostly with the Central Canada Hockey League's Carleton Place Canadians. In the CCHL, Girduckis scored 73 points (21 goals) in 137 games, playoffs included. He helped Carleton Place to the CCHL title in 2016-17, then collected all-league third-team honors in 2017-18. Girduckis went on to receive a full ride scholarship to play Division 1 NCAA hockey at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA, beginning in the 2018-2019 season. Internationally, Girduckis represented his country twice in hockey - playing for Team Canada East at the 2016 World Junior A Challenge in Bonnyville, Alberta, where he earned an IIHF silver medal and again at the 2017 World Junior A Challenge in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Outside of hockey, Aidan achieved distinction all throughout high school, and studied Actuarial Science at Robert Morris University, where he maintained a 4.0 GPA and was named to the Dean’s list for his entire academic duration at RMU. He was also inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (USA). Additionally, he was recognized as an NCAA “All American Scholar” in 2019 for “recognition of outstanding academic performance, along with on-ice contributions”. Aidan has also received verification certificates for online academic micro-programs: “The Iterative Innovation Process” with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and “Introduction to Engineering and Design” with Brown University.
More recently, Aidan founded (Est. May of 2019 and has been the acting CEO since) of Ducky Brand Apparel Inc., an apparel company that donates 30% of profits from sales to different mental healthcare initiatives. With the company being just over a year old, they have been featured in numerous media publications, including the “Toronto Star”, “CBC: The National”, “The Athletic”, and the “NHLPA”. In February of 2020, Aidan engineered and embarked on a month-long mental health awareness speaking tour with Daniel Carcillo (two-time stanley cup champion, mental health advocate) which took the duo across Ontario speaking to universities, high schools, first responders and even the Royal Canadian Armed Forces. Ducky Brand is now represented (and advocated for) by numerous NHLer’s, olympians and other individuals of stature in the hockey community, including individuals like Andrew Shaw, Nick Cousins, Jennifer Wakefield, Bryan Bickell, and Haley Irwin. Most recently, Girduckis has launched the “Ducky Brand Podcast” in collaboration with podcast hosts Brock Tufts and Jenn Quigley, which has since featured Ducky Brand Ambassadors (mentioned previously) among other special guests like Michael Landsberg and Brock McGillis, which releases new episodes every Tuesday. Girduckis has primarily been focused on developing the “Second Annual Ducky Brand Golf Tournament for Mental Health” which is set to take place on August 20, 2020, with over 50 organizations involved and over 160 confirmed participants, with stanley cup champions and olympic gold medalists among them. Ducky Brand has now amassed a collective social media following of over 20,000 people, and has seen an average monthly growth of over 50% in its first fiscal year.
Aidan provided a glimpse into his younger years, playing hockey and although he was very successful in the sport as well as a top student, he struggled with feeling down, lacking satisfaction and sought help from mental health professionals. A sports psychologist in Ottawa provided support and guidance to Aidan and he found out what he needed to do. The sessions were expensive though and that is when Aidan started thinking about the costs that a lot of people just simply couldn't afford and his goal to create a funding avenue for others to get the help they needed. Now the Ducky Brand Foundation allows people to apply for funding through a screening process facilitated by a Board of Directors. Aidan recognizes and promotes that mental health goes beyond psychological issues and includes nutrition, life style, exercise and creating a health life style overall. Ducky Brand Apparel's slogan "let the clothes you wear mean something" is simple yet far reaching through Aidan and his team. For more information, Aidan can be reached by email at aidan@duckybrandapparel.com
Rotarians Jeanette Minaker and Chris Finkle shared stories about how Aidan has helped their family member, more specifically Jeanette's daughter and Chris' son Adam who suffered an acquired brain injury. Chris thanked Aidan for his presentation today and described him as a valuable asset to the community in bringing mental health to the forefront. Chris's son Adam thanked Aidan as well for his friendship and the significant help he provided. Definitely living proof.