Skateboarder recalls life of risky moves

The Life: Tony Hawk's life as a businessman has been like his life on a half-pipe - full of ups and downs.

Q&A:Skateboarding is often seen as a sport for children or adolescents.

How long has Tony Hawk made a living from the industry? More than 25 years. Throughout his career, there has been one essential constant, he says: "I skate."

Isn't the sport quite risky? Yes. Mr Hawk says he has lost teeth, endured concussions, fractured his pelvis and flayed the skin of his shins so many times that some doctors thought he was a burns victim. But he still tries to skate every day, even though he's well past 40 now.

Why continue skating at that age? Mr Hawk advocates to "do what you love. I now make a very good living doing something that I would gladly do for free (and for many years, I did just that)."

But how popular is skating, and what are the sport's business prospects? Mr Hawk contends that more kids ride skateboards in North America than play little league baseball. He also cites data that show the combined annual sales of the skate industry has grown to more than US$4 billion (Dh14.69bn) last year, up from about $300 million in 1986.

Book review: How Did I Get Here by Tony Hawk

Somehow perpetually youthful, Tony Hawk became a professional skateboarder nearly three decades ago. He was at an amateur contest in California when his sponsor suggested he start competing professionally, so on the registration form Mr Hawk simply marked the box "pro". Thus began the journey of a 14-year-old who became a businessman and eventually the founder, and chief executive of Tony Hawk Inc.

Mr Hawk's autobiography, How Did I Get Here?, touches on his skateboarding but focuses more on his successes and failures with various businesses that promoted the sport at large and himself as a brand. The catalyst for his rise to becoming a celebrity, which won him the title of favourite male athlete over Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Tiger Woods back in 2003, was a televised boarding manoeuvre he mastered with two-and-a-half mid-air spins.

But it is the numerous tales that Mr Hawk shares about his various business ventures that is likely to resonate most with professionals. At 24, he spent months secretly drawing up a business plan with a friend and refinancing his house to help start a skateboarding company. They also established an incubator for smaller brands, although their practice of borrowing corporate logos resulted in their being sued a number of times. He digs into some of the legal potshots taken against his firm and offers helpful advice for aspiring brand creators, such as the need for an "ironclad release for artists' work".

The birth of Hawk Clothing provides plenty of lessons for those considering a start in the apparel business.

This particular line had a good start but was on track to earn real profits only after a decade or more, which led to the sale to a much bigger company and the one piece of advice Mr Hawk says he now shares all the time: "Never sell full ownership of your name to anyone for any reason, no matter what the price."

Top 5: Top 5 US executives within the boarding industry.

1 Steve Rocco, World Industries (skateboarding).

2 Tod Swank, Tod Yeto (skateboarding).

3 Jamie Thomas, Zero (skateboarding).

4 Richard Woolcott, Volcom (surfboarding).

5 Conan Hayes, RVCA (surfboarding).

Source: How Did I Get Here? by Tony Hawk with Pat Hawk

The Quote: Even now, businessmen on airplanes frown when they see me carry a skateboard into first class. Tony Hawk, the chief executive of Tony Hawk Inc and founder of the Tony Hawk Foundation