Planters made out of basketballs are Filipino-Vietnamese Canadian Olivia Ho’s specialty, which earned her a spot in the Toronto Tempo’s inaugural merchandise launch.
Under Ho’s business The Give and Grow, she aims to empower women in sport and believes that the establishment of Canada’s first WNBA team aligns with her message.
“Having a team here in Canada, having a team here in Toronto is going to show a lot of those young girls that it is possible to be somewhere,” Ho said.
The Give and Grow business is something Ho grew during the pandemic while she was working as a cardiac sonographer and sports program lead at MLSE Launchpad.
Ho started by recreating planters she saw online and saw an opportunity to use this to help young girls in the sports program.
“I thought to myself, how could I make an experience for them where maybe they could customize their own basketball planters, we could put some plants in, but then at the same time, curate these conversations about the power of sport,” she said.
She started hosting workshops and eventually got noticed by the Toronto Raptors who commissioned her to make custom planters that they gifted to the athletes.
From here, opportunities poured in, allowing Ho to leave her hospital job to work full-time on The Give and Grow business. Ho hopes to be able to share the power of sports with others.
“There’s so much happening adjacent to the court when it comes to fashion, culture, music, art, and so if you can be engaged in one way or another, it’s going to be another, I think, beautiful wave of women’s sports that isn’t going anywhere.”
