Founder

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Where did you grow up and why are you passionate about skating?

I grew up in Sacramento and started skating when I was in the second grade, about thirty-six years ago. I saw some guy on my street bombing a hill, he fell and got a lot of road rash. I thought it was really cool and wanted to do it too. Since then, skateboarding has been my passion. It helped me get my life back on track and balanced after I was shot in an attempted car jacking in Sacramento.

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Had you worked in the skateboard industry prior to the site?

Yeah, I was a team manager for Public Skateboards when I was in high school. Before that, I was a sponsored skateboarder. I was a sponsored amateur by X21 Skate Shop, Vision Street Wear Shoes, Entity Skateboards and Wheels, Gullwing Trucks, and Focus Skateboards. I was also featured in a couple of videos and magazines. I skated and snowboarded for The Shop in Roseville, CA and even did a local commercial. I was in Vapors magazine skateboarding in Vancouver, Canada- and I was also in an X21 shop commercial.

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When and why did you start SacramentoSkateboarding.com?

I wanted to bring the Sacramento skateboarding community closer together. The goal of my site is to keep the community better informed about local events, skate parks, skate shops, etc. As a lifelong Sacramento proud skater and local real estate broker, I felt I had the knowledge and skills to get the word out by building a site to provide the local skateboarding community a place to get relevant information.

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Where do you see skateboard media going in the future?  

I think online video content is an incredibly valuable tool. We plan to have skate competitions setup online through our site. Online is the future. We also plan to focus on showcasing our local talent, organization and skateboarding legends that have made and continue to make a mark in the skate world. Especially with skateboarding in the Olympics! That's going to be huge media wise. 

 

Tell us more about your injury and how it affected you. 

When I was twenty-nine, I was shot in the head and neck during an attempted car jacking. The trauma caused me to have a stroke, which paralyzed one side of my body.  I was shot a block away from the hospital, so I was able to get help in time. Afterwards, I was unable to walk for  a year and I had to completely relearn how to skate. I  had all of the tricks in my head but my muscle memory and balance were off. Skateboarding is all about facing challenges and obstacles and not backing down. I use what I've learned  from skating in all aspect of my life. Here we are 14 years later and I'm still skating. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.