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Key Takeaways Robins and Dave Katz got the idea for their eye-protection brand after a doubles match gone wrong.
Robins connected with a friend whose military engineering background helped in product development.
Now, Kitchen Blockers boasts high-profile partnerships and millions in annual revenue.
About two years ago, Brad Robins was comfortably retired and competing in an event put on by the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) in Cincinnati, Ohio, when an injury on the court sparked a big idea.
Image Credit: Anna Carrington. Brad Robins at the USA Pickleball Golden Ticket Tournament National Qualifier at Center Court Pickleball Club on January 23rd, 2026, in Glendale, Arizona.
“[Dave Katz and I] were playing men’s 50-plus doubles,” Robins tells Entrepreneur, “and I got hit in the eye. It started to swell up. I put ice on it. We were driving back to Toronto, and I said, ‘This sport is amazing. Look at all the people and how much fun they’re having just playing the game. But the levels of coordination are so different. The chances to get hit are significant.’”
Before retirement, the Ontario, Canada-based entrepreneur spent four decades building a successful advertising career.
Robins helped introduce Apple and Facebook to Canada and ran his own sports agency, experiences that honed his ability to “zig while everybody else zags” — and got him and Katz thinking about the wide-open opportunity in front of them.
The pickleball market had no shortage of paddles and balls, but eye protection remained scarce, despite the risks.
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