Josh Malczyk is one of the most influential behind the scenes players in the world of skiing. His brands, Line and Full Tilt, have achieved cult status and are arguably reached the mainstream these days. Josh’s path to his desk job involved a lot of skiing and a lot of working for free. Nothing in life is handed to you and Josh’s story is a great example of how to make things happen in a world you are passionate about.
Read MoreMike Powell is me. Strange for me to have myself as a guest on the podcast…..But you’ve been asking and I’m going to deliver. High Fives Foundation Founder and good friend, Roy Tuscany takes my role as host as we walk you through my life from a 30,000-foot view. Roy did his homework and some good stories come out and more of my story will come out in future episodes.
Read MoreRyan Runke has an insane resume but his path to becoming a successful sports agent is as far from traditional as it gets. Runke looks different, acts different, and has done things his way for a long time and it seems to be working. On the podcast we talk his team sports days, transitioning to a dirtbag team manager and who morphed into a professional agent to the actin sports stars. They don’t make many like Runke...
Read MoreJon Julio has done so much throughout his career, maybe more than anyone else. Over the years he has built companies (Valo Skates, Dyna Wheels, Synergy Bearings, Runners Project, England Clothing), created and produced events (IMYTA, Blading Cup), and helped develop a video game. On top of all that, he had to deal with the bumps and bruises of his successful 20-year rollerblading career. Now, he’s controlling his own destiny, investing everything he and his family has into his new venture, Them Skates and the sport he loves.
Read MoreDerek Westerlund founded Freeride Entertainment and is known as an award-winning filmmaker who came up in the trailer parks of Kamloops, BC. His tough childhood that taught Derek the hustle that he still has in him and a passion for skiing and biking. He parlayed that passion into brief “pro” mountain bike career and then graduated to becoming the filmmaker who changed the look and feel of the mountain bike industry.
Read MoreAaron Grace’s career in wakeboarding had an auspicious start, working as the janitor for Rusty. One day after cleaning toilets, he was invited on the Rusty boat, they saw him ride and the rest is history. Aaron ended up a sponsored rider and had a 24-month pro career before it was time to manage the athletes and eventually the marketing at Liquid Force. I should also mention that he doesn’t hold back with his opinions on the podcast and the “Inappropriate Questions” are some of the best.
Read MoreDave Paine’s life started as a team sports kid from Philly who got into skateboarding through his brothers. When he got into rollerblading, he sent the equivalent of a “sponsor me” edit to a video magazine, his footage was used and Dave somehow ended up running the video company. He did that until the bottom dropped out and moved to Fuel TV where he launched a network.
Read MoreBased on his appearance, you may not guess that Chris Ortiz is the fixture that he is in the skateboard world. It all started with high school photography class projects that he based around his passion, skateboarding. Having a badass crew to skate and shoot with created opportunities for Chris to work in print when print mattered. As his career grew, he helped revolutionize the media world with 411 video magazine and eventually made his way to the contest scene running things at the Dew Tour. We talk about it all on the podcast.
Read MoreIf you are into the outdoors, you’ve most likely heard of Poler. Their unique take on camping and adventure made the brand instantly successful. All of it was started by Kharma Vella and his former best friend Benji. Kharma is my guest this week and we talk coming up in the world of snowboarding, starting a brand, building it and watching the same brand destroy both his personal and professional life. The podcast is Kharma’s side of a real-life tale that outlines what can happen when you do business with friends.
Read MoreScot Chrisman grew up with the dream of a pro skier and it never happened. He was close as a racer, then competed for a few years and nothing really materialized. Along the way there was drugs, alcohol, legal issues but things worked themselves out and today, Scot is an aspiring entrepreneur with his hands in just about everything. He’s of interest to me for one reason in particular, he has a podcast that went from zero to number 1 on itunes and I wanted to find out who he is and how he did it.
Read MoreMike Wilson is an athlete with elite ability and you can say he "made it" in the world of action sports. You can also say that Mike didn’t achieve his full potential. Mike has always marched to the beat of his own drummer and while some athletes choose to be team players, Mike was more of a lone wolf. People thought he was a loose cannon and maybe he is. On the podcast Mike tells his story and he has no filter.
Read MoreMatt Gerdes is not your typical adrenaline junkie. This BASE Jumper founded Squirrel Wingsuits, an innovative and disruptive brand in the world of human flight and has jumped all over the world. Like most professionals I speak with, Matt cut corners on his way to BASE Jumping and has not paid the price. Hear the whole story on the podcast.
Read MoreMikey LeBlanc is a legend in snowboarding . He’s known for teeth breaking ollies, high consequence rails and riding just about everything during his 25+ year snowboard career. His story starts in Maine and takes him on a tour of mountain towns as he navigates his way through the snowboard industry coming to find himself at the helm of one of the most stylish outerwear brands in the game. Mikey’s story is one of heart, he worked his ass off to create some lucky breaks and then took full advantage of the opportunities he was provided. He’s a cool dude and it’s a great story!
Read MoreMurray Wais was a punk rock kid who left Seattle for a community college that put him in the mountains. He fell in love with that life, became an instructor and then graduated to studying journalism at the University of Oregon. Fast forward to being laid off by Microsoft, he decided to work for free and follow his ski bum dreams. He ended up kitting gold with a lot of hard work, some amazing skiers and what was to become matchstick productions. Listen to Murray tell it how it is on the podcast.
Read MoreOlympic Judge Steele Spence has a storied history in the ski industry. He was part of the second wave of new school skiers and one who had a knack for greasing the burliest of rails. His urban game was top notch before most people knew that urban skiing was a thing. When pro skiing wasn’t an option anymore, Steele moved in-house and designed skis and products for 4FRNT. The life of a desk jockey was not for Steele and he quickly found himself in a new role, as a judge. Countless events later, Steele is an Olympic judge and with judging comes criticism. Listen to the podcast to hear Steel address everything around the scoring at the Olympic Games.
Read MoreTim Pogue is a visionary in the world of action sports, specifically the world of snow. When this 10 year non-alum of University of Minnesota, he also happened to be a sponsored windsurfer, moved west is his VW bus, the last place anyone would expect him to land was taking classes at Harvard or on Wall Street. Tim’s life has been the one of dreams for the action sports marketer turned executive and he maps out his long strange trip on the podcast.
Read MoreJeff Ament is known for being the bassist for Pearl Jam but his story goes much deeper than that. He doesn’t do many interviews, and none go this deep. From working on a farm in small town Montana, to turning down football scholarships as an all-state quarterback, to music, to charity, the dude has done a lot in his life and he’s remained as humble as they get. Hear it all on the podcast.
Read MoreRoy Tuscany was that cocky, aspiring pro skier that I’m sure everyone knew at one point. He had his life together, graduated from college and moved out west to pursue his ski dreams. When Roy overshot a jump and suffered a life altering injury, everything changed. He realized that there was more to life than himself and that it was time to give others the support he received when he had his accident. Through the High Fives Foundation, that punk kid has become a selfless adult who strives to make the world a more fun place, especially for people going through what he did.
Read MoreJaimeson Keegan’s professional life has been one that every high school kid, who’s not the best at what they do sports-wise, dreams of. He went from college to the music industry in Seattle when it was on fire and left that world for a company, RedBull, that no-one had really heard of yet. That career choice created countless opportunities, the latest of which is his decade old sports agency, Superheroes Management. For a desk jockey, he has a great story.
Read MoreKris “Jaymo” Jamieson is one of the nicest and unintentionally cool people you will ever meet. He doesn’t try to be the man, he just is and his passion is contagious. He’s done everything you can do in action sports at the highest level, from being an athlete, media personality, desk jockey and now, to start up partner. He’s never done anything soley for money, it’s always been about passion and the money has followed.
Read MoreWELCOME TO THE POWELL MOVEMENT! Every week I take a deep dive into the careers, history and psyche of the greatest athletes and behind the scenes players from the world of action sports. From humble beginnings to becoming supernovas, these talents have shaped the sports that we love and continue to PUSH IT- which is to say - if they PUSH IT they’re on THE POWELL MOVEMENT.
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