BCBusiness
Claudia Sjoberg, founder Pedalheads, is a winner in the Entrepreneurial Leader category of the 2025 Women of the Year Awards
At 25, Claudia Sjoberg wanted to make swimming lessons better for kids.
Fresh out of her physical education degree at the University of British Columbia, Sjoberg was working as a swimming instructor at a Vancouver pool. There, she quickly recognized that the existing programs lacked the quality she believed children deserved. “I felt the programs could be so much better, but I felt limited by what I could do,” she shares. “There wasn’t enough emphasis on excellence or going the extra mile, and customer service wasn’t a thing.”
She became inspired to develop Pedalheads, a set of kids’ swimming, biking and soccer programs that have fundamentally changed how children engage in physical education.
A competitive swimmer and avid sports enthusiast herself, she’d been coaching and teaching kids since she was 15. Sjoberg built the Pedalheads programming to not only teach children how to progress in a sport, but also to inspire them to believe in themselves. The program’s success lies in thorough instructor training, a commitment to ongoing curriculum refinement based on feedback, and small-group instruction—averaging five students per instructor.
Above all, Sjoberg says, “the children are the crux of the business.”
“We want kids to be happy, and we want to inspire children to believe in themselves,” she shares. “Ultimately, we’re helping kids build life skills, like confidence and independence.”
Since the company’s launch in 1986, Pedalheads has become a multinational organization offering programs in over 270 locations. Last year, Pedalheads generated $36.6 million in revenue with over 96,000 registrations, 65 full-time staff and 2,700 seasonal employees. It also built a second pool, which is nearing completion, in Port Coquitlam.
Sjoberg was raised in Duncan by parents who “were involved in everything” and who taught her the importance of giving back to the community. Their influence is reflected in the company’s approach to employee care; Pedalheads offers its instructors two paid days annually for community volunteer work, 80 percent maternity and short-term disability top-ups, fertility treatment coverage, RRSP matching, educational funding and profit-sharing participation. Further, Pedalheads has awarded more than 200 scholarships to ensure children with geographical and economic barriers can attend a camp.
Reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Sjoberg believes that focusing on building your business helps you to become entrenched in your local community and give back: “As a founder-led business, you can keep your connection to the grassroots—which is really important.”
Discover our full list of 21 BCBusiness 2025 Women of the Year award winners here.