Thirteen-year-old Ricardo Guerrero stood in his family’s ransacked living room, holding back tears. The robbers had been thorough – most of the families’ valuables had been carried off, but it was one of the smallest things missing that devastated Ricardo most: a single white envelope labeled “Boleto para Japón.” “Ticket for Japan.”

Ricardo was a skilled karate competitor. Just recently, he was selected to compete in an elite international tournament in Japan. Coming from a middle-class Venezuelan family, he couldn’t just ask his parents to buy him a ticket. Money was too tight. But he had worked so hard to qualify for the tournament, and he wasn’t about to give up. For weeks, Ricardo did whatever a 13-year-old could to make money: he washed cars, held raffles, and did chores around the neighborhood. Scraping and saving, he was able to gather the money he needed. As you can imagine, he was ecstatic!

Then, two days before he would have visited a travel agent, the robbery happened. There was no way for Ricardo to get enough money – again – and so he dropped out of the tournament.

Although this was a terrible experience for Ricardo at the time, it was also inspiring. He decided that he wanted to make a difference in helping other young karate athletes achieve their dreams, even if his had been taken.

However, there is a happy ending to this story! Although he faced other ups and downs throughout life, 30 years later, Ricardo founded Punok. This karate gear company has a simple goal: to craft and sell high-quality karate gear for less, so more kids and families can afford nice training equipment. The company does this by only offering a few items and focusing on quality over quantity.