The year was 1997.

My little tight-knit group of skate rat friends were loosely beefing with another local trendy-skater. Once they referred to us as “the dirty skaters.” Rather than being insulted, we wore it like a badge of honor. We took on that moniker with pride and just decided to own it. Do you know what? You’re right, we ARE dirty skaters. The D.S.C. (Dirty Skate Crew) was born. We started making our own brand called Dirty Skateboards that same year.

Fast forward nearly 25 years, with Covid Quarantine locking everyone down, and skateboarding still in our hearts, we started seeing the next generation of local skate rats coming up. I looked around and realized, there was not a sense of community and belonging like the one that I felt when I found the world of skateboarding, and my family. 

Especially for girls who were interested but just felt excluded. I thought, man that is not right. Skateboarding is specifically FOR the “outcast” types.

And while there are a million sources of skate information online, it is a jumbled mess of those who do not know what they’re talking about, sharing opinions with newcomers hoping to learn. We were lucky to have a local shop, N.A.G.’s Skatehouse when we were coming up skating in the 90’s. But the local kids today did not have that. It was a place to hang out or meet up, to talk shop and pick up tips.

I am still very passionate about skateboarding. Skating has given me so much, including these lifelong friends that I love like brothers, the Dirty Skate Crew. So, in hoping to give back to skateboarding the love and support it has given me, I decided to open a skate shop. What better name for it than Dirty Skate Co (The DSC).

So, I took every cent out of my retirement fund that I could, and my oldest friend Josh (the guy who got me into skateboarding in the first place) and just launched it. Just forced it into existence during the middle of a pandemic.

It was such a terrible investment strategy; skate shops do not make any money. But it is not about the money. I know there will be months where I am covering payroll and the rent out of my own pocket. And I am all right with that. I am not money motivated. I just want to share skateboarding, with as many people as possible. I want to give back to the community. I want to help those kids in the next generation see and feel all the wonderful things that skateboarding has shown and given me.

And to just do it for as long as I can. Reinvesting as much as possible into growing the shop, growing the local skate community, hopefully spreading joy far and wide. Paying it forward, for skaters.

“One love, through which all are united” Enter The D.S.C.