BALTIMORE — What started as a small interaction in Baltimore has turned into inspiration for people around the world.

In between showings in Federal Hill Sunday, realtor Alyssia Essig parked at the Museum of Industry to eat lunch.

It’s where 19-year-old Asen Gyenyame was practicing a tough skateboard trick.

“I probably sat there for a solid 20 minutes watching him continue to try,” said Essig. “I know the power of being told that someone believes in you, so I just thought I’m gonna hop out of the car real quick, give him a little love, and then be on my way.”

And that’s what she did, unknowingly on camera.

“Whatever you do in your life, you’re going to knock it out of the park. Only because you’re sitting here, busting your (expletive) to nail this one trick. You’ll do that the rest of your life,” Essig told him.

“I didn’t expect what she gave me,” said Gyenyame.

He was inspired. Minutes later, he nailed the trick. The next day, he decided to post the interaction on TikTok.

“It got a lot of traction,” said Gyenyame.

In just a few days, it has captured the hearts of millions of people.

“I think we made the world a little better just because of it,” said Gyenyame.

But Essig had no idea… until her husbands’ friend in California saw it on Reddit.

“I was crying reading these comments because it seems like people are so starved for love and attention and affection, “said Essig.

They hadn’t even exchanged names.

Scripps Baltimore station WMAR’s Abby Isaacs found them both on social media. It brought them together for a heartfelt reunion Thursday at the place they met, the Museum of Industry parking lot.

“I love your energy, so thank you so much for giving me that support,” said Gyenyame to Essig.

What they gave the world as inspiration, but they got something out of it too.

For Gyenyame, it was supporting.

“We can support each other, and everyone doesn’t have to stand alone and be by themselves. A lot of people have the mindset, even I do. That’s why I was skating alone, that you have to do it by yourself and that’s the only way, but you can reach out to other people, and it can be beneficial for the other person,” said Gyenyame.

For Essig, it was affirmation.

“I have a very big loud personality, and I struggle. Not everyone likes that. A lot of people think it’s too much or too loud or too in your face, but when a million people like it and 30,000 comments are like, ‘You’re amazing.’ ‘Your energy is 'awesome,' it’s very reaffirming like you know what no I’m actually pretty okay and I can be who I am,” said Essig.

The pair have vowed to stay connected and carry positivity into their everyday lives.

Essig wants to start sharing words of encouragement on her TikTok page @alyssiaessig_realtor, and Gyenyame hopes his newfound following on TikTok @skatevibes01 will help turn his passion into a business where he teaches kids how to skateboard.

Abby Isaacs at WMAR first reported this story.

CHICAGO — Courage and persistence are just two qualities that embody the grit and determination necessary for success. For the last 25 years, a youth development program has been teaching thousands of children these core values in a unique way.

With their safety pads strapped and bright green helmets in place, a group of 11 to 13-year-olds learn the basics of skateboarding.

But administrators say it’s more than just that.

“Our mission is to help kids overcome challenges through board sports,” said Spencer Cotton, a program coordinator for the Chill Foundation in Chicago. “So, we do skateboarding, we do surfing, stand up paddleboarding, and as well as snowboarding.”

Each year, 3,000 children around the world take part in the Chill Foundation’s unique youth development program.

“We have different youth that comes from all different backgrounds. So, this may be even their first time experiencing a board sport,” said Cotton.

The aim is to help them focus their energy positively and to find ways to overcome personal obstacles.

“A lot of the things I'll focus on with them is making sure that, A, the confidence is going to be present there and that that grit is also present,” said program mentor Karina Campos.

Chill currently offers programs in 24 cities in 10 countries throughout the world, including in Denver, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Grand Rapids and Chicago.

Through board sports, they focus on six core values.

“Respect, courage, persistence, patience, responsibility, and pride,” said Cotton.

A lot of times that means falling but not giving up.

“Having that courage is definitely vital to helping them get through the skateboarding program and also throughout life,” he said.

“That's super important for me that they understand that they are not failing,” said Campos. “They're overcoming that small little challenge and if they're falling, it's because they're progressing.”

Jalaya Williams has taken several tumbles on this day.

“From the ramps itself, probably four to five.”

But the rambunctious 11-year-old has no intention of yielding to the halfpipes or the boards, and she wants to learn more tricks.

“Definitely, learn more tricks. I learned how to do like the one you like, flip the skateboard over when you jump. I learned that one. Haven't done it in a while due to COVID and stuff.”

The program is also about cultivating camaraderie.

"Being with the other girls is fun because we all help each other out and none of us laugh at each other when we fall,” said 12-year-old participant Eryn Gibson. “So, if we do fall, it's not sad because we'll just pick each other up again.”

Noble life lessons we all could learn from.

While her kindergarten classmates spend their free time playing with blocks and running around outside, Paige Tobin has been busy dropping into 12-foot high skateboard ramps, amassing a burgeoning online fanbase, and challenging gender stereotypes.

Paige, 6, of Lake Macquarie, Australia, nabbed the world's attention last week after an Instagram video of her skating in a pink dress collected more than 1.4 million views. It featured Paige dropping into a skate ramp while a young boy looked on in amazement.

The video showcased skills that Paige has been honing since she discovered her mom's old skateboard roughly four years ago.

"When Paige was about 2, she picked up an old skateboard in the garage and started standing up on it," her mother, Emma, told CNN over Skype. "It kinda started there."

In that short period of time, Paige has won the King of Concrete skateboarding competition in Melbourne in the under-9 field and scored a handful of sponsorship deals with S1 Helmets, Pride Socks, and Fringe Skateboards, to name a few.

"Paige is definitely skating exceptionally well, not just for the age but for skateboarding in general," said Neftalie Williams, a lecturer at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism who studies race and diversity in the world of skateboarding. "Those kinds of moments are when people see that skateboarding is for any age and any background. It shows that skateboarding is globally accessible."

Paige, whose family lives along Australia's southeastern coast, said skateboarding makes her "really happy" and one trick she's been working to master is a move called a blunt to fakie. The trick involves riding the board up to the edge of a ramp, stalling the board on the ledge while balancing on it and then popping the board off the ramp to ride back down.

Related video: Man treks 4,000 kilometers along the Australian coast — on a skateboard

#girlswhocanskate

The skateboarding community has come a long way in encouraging females and non-gender conforming people to join the sport. Yet it still has farther to go.

Firm figures for the current number of females and non-gender conforming skateboarders across the U.S. are not available. But a 2017 study called "Beyond the Board: Skateboarding, Schools, and Society," co-authored by Williams of USC, cited figures from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which found that "male participants accounted for roughly 4.6 million skateboarders, while female participation was noted at approximately 1.7 million."

"In that same report, SFIA highlighted that 77.8% of males and 22.2% of females who completed the survey identified as core/frequent (more than 26 times a year) skateboarders," the study said.

One of the recent developments that helped change skateboarding's perception was the Olympics, Williams said.

In 2016, the International Olympic Committee added male and female skateboarding as a summer Olympic sport starting with the Tokyo games. This gave the sport a new level of legitimacy and exposure, Williams told CNN over the phone.

Popular Instagram hashtags like #girlswhocanskate and young skaters like Paige and Sky Brown, a British teenage skateboarding sensation, have also helped popularize the sport beyond males, Williams said.

"One of the most important things about seeing Paige skating is how it's a reminder that there has been an explosion in women, girls and gender non-conforming skaters as well," Williams said. "That has really shaped and changed the way people perceive skateboarding culture."

The threat of injury "goes through your mind"

Paige pointed to Brown, of England, as her biggest source of inspiration. But her skateboarding hero has also shown Paige -- and Paige's family -- that the sport isn't without risks.

Brown suffered severe injuries in June 2020 after she was filmed taking a bad fall during training.

The video shows Brown flying off the end of a half-pipe while traveling at high speed. She suffered skull fractures and broken bones in her left wrist and hand in her fall. She was taken to the hospital by helicopter.

Brown, who was 11 at the time, posted a video on her Instagram and YouTube channels with a clip of her spill and an emotional message from her hospital bed.

The sight of Brown's spill caused Emma to stop and think about Paige's skateboarding.

"It definitely goes through your mind, 'if anything were to happen to her, would I blame myself?'" Emma said. "I just have to hold my breath and keep rolling with it."

Paige and Emma rolled over to Sydney this weekend to put on a skateboard demonstration. The pair have plans to visit the U.S. this summer to do some photography, film work, and hopefully meet one of Paige's other skateboarding idols, Tony Hawk, Emma said.

For any young people thinking of getting into skateboarding, Paige had this piece of advice: "Never give up."