Page 93 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

CHAPTER 11
They put foam on the landing strip. Mercifully, we landed, and they got us a new plane. Then, I flew to Vancouver to go to the contest. It was indeed a ter- rifying experience.
At the contest, there were some excellent skaters. I could only supplement my poor four months of skateboarding by adding martial arts to my routine. I had a friend throw swords at me while doing my freestyle routine, and then I grabbed my nunchakus. I distracted everybody about my bad skateboarding, and people still clapped. I beat these same skaters in a freestyle skateboard competition a few years later.
Right after high school, I moved to Vancouver and started working for North- west Skateboards. I didn’t want to do what all my friends were doing. I didn’t see myself in university. My friends, the 3 Steves, all went to UBC. I didn’t have the money for school and felt it wasn’t for me.
Interestingly enough, I still got to UBC. I went to all the parties. I even had a dorm room there because I partied with them on weekends. The establishment on cam- pus didn’t realize there was an empty room. So, I had my dorm room and my own parking space. I got to party with all my friends all the time. Everybody at UBC knew me but never saw me in a class. I still have my UBC friends from that time.
I knew I wanted to open a skate shop, but rents back then were $300 a month, and I was making $6 an hour. It was really hard. There was a local 7-Eleven near where I lived and a dress shop beside it. I talked to the lady who ran the dress shop and asked if I could rent just her window.
I was able to buy some stuff from work and display it there. I started to get some traction and made a few sales. I started making money that way until I found out she didn’t like that I made more money than her. At one point, she started taking my stuff and my money, and so I had to go and say, “Well, I’m never going to do this again!” She was stealing right off me.
I was lucky to meet a guy named Len Churchill. He was a Canadian vet, who owned a retail property. He was retired, and he’d sit there smoking his
87