When did you start skating?
Spring 1989 right after seeing Frankie Hills part in “Ban This” at my cousin Hectors house. He got me in skating.
What was your first skateboard?
My first pro board was the second Gonz. The one with the mermaid smoking a cigarette. You can color in all of the sea creatures. My cousin Hector got me stoked on the Gonz. Gonz looked like he was having so much fun.
When did you stop or slow down significantly?
1994-95. I got into video games (I.E. Secret of Mana, Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat) and other shenanigans.
What do you do for a living?
I am a coder and have a web/mobile development company called Kronos Technologies with my wife Emily in Merchantville, New Jersey. This is Street Fighters fault.
When you are not skating, how often do you think about skateboarding?
All the time. I love me some skateboarding. When I see ledges, banks, stairs, rails and random street sculptures my mind thinks of tricks to do on them. I will also fingerboard at my desk. I can’t help it.
How did skateboarding affect the direction of your life?
It made me tough Yo! Skateboarding taught me how to follow through and never give up. For the past 28 years I have applied this invaluable lesson to reach for any goal I set for myself. When you are used to falling down on concrete and getting back up everything else becomes easy. It taught me planning and problem solving. This thought process helps me land my tricks first try. It’s also showed me if my original plan does not work out, to go with the flow, be creative and design another plan in order to land the trick. This helps me with coding and life in general.
Skateboarding is a melting pot of cultures. I have had so much fun meeting new friends from all over the world when at home or while traveling. It has exposed me to music and art that I may have otherwise missed out on.
What is the connection between skateboarding and creativity?
Skateboarding for me is about thinking outside of the box to grind a box and land with enough speed to tail slide a quarter pipe–all with style. It makes me come up with new ideas to keep having fun and flowing. Skateboarding for me is the creative process in action.
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