Filipino-American basketball player and model Cole Micek was only two when his dad put a basketball in his hands. “We have home videos of me as a toddler running around making shots on my Little Tikes hoop,” Micek tells us. “My dad was a college coach, and I remember going to all of his games. I wanted to be just like his players one day!” Micek did indeed fulfill his dream and went on to play basketball in college. He was also scouted soon thereafter by Wilhelmina Models, all while working toward his degree in psychology. “I graduated with honors,” he says proudly. “I believe that so much of athletic performance is reliant upon our ability to maintain a healthy state of mind.”

Marcos Montoya was raised in Broward County, Florida, one of the three counties that make up the expansive greater Miami-Dade area. Known for tropical year-round warmth, and plenty of smooth, flat, concrete surfaces to practice on, skateboarding culture was and is strong in those hot streets. “I got my first skateboard when I was eight,” Montoya says, “and I’ve been skating ever since.” A natural overachiever, Montoya was not content to be only an athlete, and got himself signed to Next Models to pursue his goals in fashion. But he still points to his sport and the years of training he’s undertaken to compete as he does, as the impetus for that reach for more than what he already knew. “Skating has opened so many doors for me,” he says. “So training doesn’t even feel like a regimen. It just feels like a lifestyle!”

Like many dancers, shades of David Bennett’s spirit for the art form appeared early on. “When I was a kid I loved watching dance movies, action movies, kung-fu movies. Superheroes,” he says. “I always thought about the way the actors and performers could move their bodies, the flips and spins they did…it always fascinated me.” Then, in high school, Bennett found breakdancing, the answer to his childhood aspirations. “I met a kid who took it as seriously as I did. I started taking the bus after school to his place to learn how to break properly,” he says. “Breaking took over my life pretty quickly, because I found something I was really good at.” After years of training, Bennett was chosen by the Harlem Globetrotters to be a main performer in their traveling halftime show.

The young dancer was quickly introduced to more of the world than he had ever known. “When I was young I thought being an airplane steward could be fun,” he says. “Because I would be able to see the world.” And after the tour ended, Bennett used the earnings he’d saved up and moved himself to Los Angeles, where he currently lives and works. Now signed to Next Models, thanks to his steamy good looks and fierce training schedule, Bennett is still highly aware of how important his fashion is to the dancing community. “Style is one of the most important things in breakdancing,” he explains. “The way you present yourself when you get on that floor says a lot about you as a dancer and an athlete. I see someone looking fresh and I can’t wait to see them get down! So I always make sure I look dope. You never know who’s going to be there and who might see you!”

Twin brothers Angel and Chavez Barrientes are a boxing duo taking the sport—and now fashion—by storm. Born in Hawaii, the pair grew up idolizing fighters like Manny Pacquaio and Julio César Chávez, fighters who the twins saw as athletic representatives of their Filipino and Latino heritages, respectively. “Not only was Pacquaio a champ in the ring, he is the people’s champ of the Philippines,” Angel relates. “A big inspiration.” At just two, the pair moved with their family to Las Vegas. “Our dad, who is also our coach, opened a gym soon after moving,” the twins say.

“He was always a boxing fan so he started us young. We were around seven years old when we first got into it. By the time we were eight, we were already in amateur competitions all over the place.” Having a twin compete in the same arena can be a challenge, but also a boon, according to the twins. “There’s a quote by British boxer Frank Bruno: ‘Boxing is the toughest and loneliest sport in the world,’” states Chavez. “Which is true. It’s not like football or baseball where you have team members to count on.

It is you alone in the ring up against your opponent.” “But,” Angel chimes in, “I love that we get to do everything together and that we can enjoy being on the same journey together.” “We are definitely competitive, though,” says Chavez. “And we push each other every day. But that’s likely why we are great at what we do!”