Chris is from Los Angeles and has been passionately skateboarding for 24 years. Skateboarding has been a constant companion through his life. He attributes many of his successes to the concepts used in skateboarding and has put them into Pacific Skate School’s program curriculum.

Growing up, Chris was an athletic child. Captain of the high school wrestling team and sponsored skateboarder. He spent his youth outdoors, exploring trails and creating on a skateboard. He noticed during this time, there was a lack of support for skaters and a poor reputation for skateboarding. Not having access to a skatepark to practice the sport, his friends would find safe schoolyards or empty parking lots to practice. They would come up with creative combinations of tricks, spending many hours under the hot sun perfecting their movements and challenging their balance. But this was often met with resistance and reprimands, as a skater would be unintentionally trespassing onto the smooth cement or vandalizing from skating on objects. This is a familiar feeling for a skateboarder and a clear disconnect that would continue.

Being exposed to travel at a young age, he recognized a passion for people, cultures and communications. It motivated him to apply out of state for university and Chris landed at the University of Colorado at Boulder to receive a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2011, with an emphasis in Marketing. Marketing brought a human element to business and he was fascinated by the consumer’s phycology and excelled at operation systems. In his final year at University, he joined an Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Program in South Africa to work as a business consultant abroad. It was here that he feel in love with the art of an entrepreneur.

Chris started work for Park West Gallery, an International Art Gallery, onboard cruise ships. Over the next couple of years, while sailing around, he would run the onboard art department for several cruise lines, working his way up from an Associate, to Gallery Director, to an Art Auctioneer. Here he was able to get full exposure to every aspect of running a small business while working with a large corporation. Moving laterally in the company, he spent few more years as a National Recruitment Manager to teach the skills he had crafted to new hires and then up to an elite team of International VIP Art Consultants to work with the company’s top customers. This opportunity exposed him to more than 65 countries, thousands of clients, and tens of millions of dollars in sales revenue. Though proud of these early professional successes, there was an element missing from his work/life balance. He dreamed for the small business environment, the life of an entrepreneur, and skateboarding.

He first recognized the need for skateboard lessons when giving his friend’s 3yr old boy some tips on how to stand on a skateboard. On a beautiful sunny day, they met at the Santa Monica Bike Campus near the beach bike path. He noticed that with a little bit of instruction and few adjustments, the little skater was rolling correctly and safely in no time. Then looking around, he saw that people were smiling at what he was doing. It was a positive and healthy addition to the community and the athletic lifestyle. They were learning and playing in a way that was respectful to everyone around them. He was reminded of the gap between skateboarders and society that he grew up with. And looking at a harmless happy 3yr playing on a skateboard, he recognized a need.

Chris came to the realization in 2018 to pair his passion for skateboarding with the profession dream of running a small business. A mission to have skateboarding be accepted by communities and accessible to youth, teen, and adults who want to practice their sport in a safe and respected place. To progress the sport of skateboarding by building more skateparks, creating more programs, and share the physical education of a skater athlete.

Chris’s dreams are to have PSS Skateboard Programs across all of the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, have a flagship PSS location, work with communities to improve old and build new skateparks, and create a Youth Skateboarding League.