You're listening to the Impact Theory Podcast, your source of empowering ideas and actionable techniques from the world's highest achievers.

Join host Tom Billio, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of the billion dollar brand Quest Nutrition, on a journey to unlock your potential and realize your vision of success.

Welcome to Impact Theory.

Welcome to Impact Theory. You would hear my friends because you believe that human potential is nearly limitless, but you know that having potential is not the same as actually doing something with it.

So our goal with this show and company is to introduce you to the people and ideas that will help you actually execute on your dreams.

Today's guest is widely considered the greatest skateboarder of all time, often referred to as the Godfather of the sport itself.

He started skating when he was just nine, turned pro at 14, and by his senior year he was making more money than his teachers.

By the age of 25, he had competed in 103 pro contests, winning 73 of them, and coming in second in an additional 19, giving him a top two finish rate of almost 90%.

But skateboarding remained a fringe, often disrespected sport that Tom routinely mocked and picked on.

Many told him that he should grow up and get a real job, and despite being named World Champion of Vert skateboarding 12 years in a row, in the early 90s that look like the Naseyers might be right.

The popularity of skateboarding seemed to disappear overnight, and not long after that, he and his business partner had to seriously contemplate shutting down their fledgling skateboard company, bird house projects multiple times.

But instead, he sold his house, tightened his belt, lived off cheap sandwiches, and a $5 a day Taco Bell allowance, and did anything he could to make ends meet, including skateboard demos in the Six Flags parking lot.

His commitment in sane work ethic and a love of progression finally paid off, however, in the late 90s when skateboarding had massive resurgence in popularity due to the X Games.

He once again rose to prominence dominated the sport, winning 9 X Game Gold medals and landing the first ever 900 on live TV.

Just two months before the launch of what would ultimately make him one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet.

The billion dollar video game franchise Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

Additionally, his one countless awards appeared on the Simpsons, and his foundation has helped create roughly 600 skate parks across all 50 states.

So please, help me in welcoming the man whose first skateboard now hangs in the Smithsonian, the New York Times best-selling author of Hawk, Occupation Skateboarder, the Goat Himself, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.

Thank you for being here, man.

So as I was saying before we started rolling, as a kid and then quite frankly into my early 20s, I really wanted to be good at skateboarding.

So I had a skateboard. I was my mode of transportation all through college, but I was really bad at it.

And so watching you, I was way into the bones brigade and just really wanted to emulate that was really terrible.

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