Explain the first moment or interaction that sparked your interest to try skateboarding?
— It was a couple of different moments when I was kid flipping threw the channels on tv and seeing skateboarding in the x games and having a tony hawk pro skater video game that I played all the time. I also saw the Lincoln city skatepark being built and watching people skating it looked like something I had to do and I was really stoked on it.
What was your first skateboard setup and how did you get it?
— Saved all of my money from chores and birthdays. I had a piggy bank with like $200 in it. My parents didn’t want me to spend the money I was saving so I took it to school and gave it to one of my friends and asked him to buy a set up for me at the local skate shop. Then his mom found out and called my mom she then told me that she would buy me a set up and to save my money and never go behind her back and lie about something like that again. So I ended up putting my money back in the piggy bank and got a new complete at the local skate shop that didn’t have that big of a variety but I picked out a blind deck with venture trucks and blank wheels and reds bearings.
Where was your favorite place to skate when you first started and why?
— I loved going to the Lincoln city skatepark. It was my favorite. I lived on a gravel road out of town and would build ramps in my garage and backyard to mess around on when I couldn’t get a ride to town.
Do you remember where you were when you saw your first pro? What was that interaction like?
— I remember going to a competition that was in Oregon at the time. May have been one of the first “Trifecta’s”. My friends and I were so stoked to see some of our favorite skaters like Rune Glifberg, Omar Hassan, Jimmy the Greek and seeing Mark Scott who built the parks and was a pro skater was a huge inspiration.
Do you feel like that interaction motivated you to learn certain tricks or made you want to skate more like that guy/girl?
— Yes, for sure because I would see them in videos and magazines and basically studied the way they skated and wanted to be like that for sure.
How old were you when you first got sponsored? And how long had you been skating at that point?
— I was probably 13 or 14 years old when I first got sponsored by my local skate shop and I had been skating for probably 5 years or more before that.
Was the goal to get sponsored or did you not have those expectations?
— I’d say I just wanted to skate and have fun but then I started going through more set ups and completes and my local shop said they could give me free boards and discounts at the shop. That helped and got me motivated to get more sponsors.
How did you afford a skatepark in your backyard? Please explain that conversation with the builder etc.
— So I started making some money at contest and from a couple of my sponsors and kept saving up. Then one year I got a bronze medal at x games and placed high at some other contest that year. I made more money then I ever had before and decided I wanted to spend it on making my dream come true and building a skatepark in my backyard with dreamland skateparks.
I called Mark Scott and he was down with the idea and we just started building what ever I could think of and a afford at the moment. A few years later I ended up putting all of my savings into it. I had a skatepark in my backyard. I still think that’s the best thing I could have ever done with the money.
When you’re not skating, how do you pass time?
— I like fishing, hiking, camping and spending time with friends and family.
What is your all around favorite wheel? shape, size and formula.
— I like the 54 mm SPF P5 and STF V5 aka side cuts.
Favorite crew to skate with and why?
— I’d’ say everybody on Blood Wizard and Bones is a solid crew to skate with. We have all been friends for a long while and it’s always a good time.
If I could be a fly on the wall I’d like to….
— See what it was like in the 80’s.
If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?
— I don’t think I’d change a thing because I’m happy where I am today and that’s what got me here.
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