Time flies, and it's been a year since I started BeyondYoyos. I never expected such great support from the community, especially from countries outside the United States. Before BYY, my work for Duncan switched from full-time to contractor since our kiosk was terminated by Disney. We were barely making sales since there was no foot traffic during that time. My contract with Western Union also ended simultaneously. Because of these changes, I began working as a pizza delivery driver, which paid well. However, my love for yo-yos—the reason I came to this beautiful country—led me to seek a more fulfilling life.
Fast forward, I entered TikTok and social media, providing tips to people worldwide. Eventually, I secured a job at Duncan as a Social Media Coordinator, later becoming an Assistant Team Leader—a testament to life's unpredictability. I started BeyondYoyos.com to assist Duncan with production, thinking it would be easy.
Running a business is challenging and stressful, but my love for yo-yos makes it worthwhile. We kicked off with the Freehand Mg last year, and it was enjoyable hearing community stories about the history of the yo-yo. From Freehand Mg , we pre-launched exclusive Butterfly and Freehand One. I also helped Duncan finish some projects such as Aluminum Butterfly 2.0, new Imperial Aluminum with the help of Hiroyuki Suzuki, Freebird AL by Hank Freeman. My favorite but much more challenging to navigate is our release for Worlds; I assisted Duncan in releasing Freehand PC, Freehand Delrin, Freehand II Aluminum, World Class, and Freehand Mini.
This year, I traveled to various contests like PNWR, US Nationals, and Worlds—quite a blast. However, it's non-stop work for me, so I had to take a few months off to stay grounded. I went to the Philippines right after WYYC to attend Bryan Jardin’s wedding—it was nice to do something outside yo-yo after grinding for a year. I extended my stay here in the Philippines to spend time with my family, whom I haven’t seen since before COVID-19. As I'm typing this, I'm heading to Malaysia and then to the US on November 21st.
Stay tuned for future deals and products we're producing in collaboration with your favorite brands. Thank you for supporting BeyondYoyos.com, and special thanks to those who helped me along the way, especially Bryan Jardin, Noel Vermillion, and Danny Licata.
For our Anniversary celebration, we are doing 25% OFF sitewide using the code BYY25
Much love,
Sean Perez