Rodney Mullen (real name, Johnny Rodney Mullen) is ahead of his time, all the time.

From 1980 until the last professional freestyle contest in 1991, he lost only once. Even though Rodney was the world champion and was obviously light years ahead of other skaters in technicality, as a youth, his father always severely disapproved of his "hobby." It became more than Rodney could handle and he ended up suffering a nervous breakdown.

He studied biomedical engineering at the University of Florida. But the stress he put on himself was more than he could handle. In the middle of the night in 1988, during his fourth year of college, he left for California and moved in with a fellow freestyler and friend, Steve Rocco. Together, they started World Industries, a controversial company that turned skateboarding on its head. Since then, Rodney has gone on to be a part of Plan B, the A-Team and, Globe, most recently, Enjoi.

He is also CEO of Dwindle Distribution, under which World, Blind, and a bunch of other companies take shelter.