What would you say to a kid in a similar situation?

Just try. Do what you love, but do it for the right reasons and give it 110%. I found what I liked. With the business part, it was a lot of luck and putting 110% into it. You can put that into anything, it doesn’t have to be a company. You can’t wait around for everyone else.

Are there any other stories that stand out in your memory?

I was 20, the first summer I went to Hood. My aunt asked me if I wanted to work at where my mom and dad worked. It was an aerospace company out of Windsor Locks, Connecticut. You just don’t say no to this, but I took off and went to Mt. Hood. It wasn’t what I wanted. I saw them; they make money, they aren’t happy. She was so bummed. Almost everyone in the family has worked for them, and some still do.

Were you bummed too?

No, I knew I wanted more. And at that age, I knew I had to make snowboarding work. I said no to what would have been a huge opportunity for other people. At that point, I had no clue if I would make it. Now I’m really freakin’ psyched that I said no to that.

What about any mentors?

My grandma, definitely. Just having the support. She backed me through it all. It’s probably going to suck because my aunt is going to read this. I remember when I first started traveling for K2, they were fully helping me out. She thought my grandma was paying for me. She wasn’t, and my aunt didn’t believe her. There was a big fight. When I bought the Subaru, the house, that was the proof. I was doing it on my own. Nobody in my family followed what I had been doing, they weren’t seeing the DVDs or anything like that. I would show my grandma, but she would have a hard time following what was happening, especially since it was Think Thank.

My dad has only seen me snowboard one time in my life. He went up to a contest at Okemo. I actually won it, a little rail jam. He wouldn’t hang out and watch when I was a kid. My grandma would. When I first started she would bring me up, then just read a book in the lodge.