Hi Jason, what’s up man?
Doing great, thanks for asking. Right now we are getting O-matic ready for the trade shows here in the North America and Germany.
How would you describe your activities at O-matic?
Hmm, good question... I often ask myself that everyday.
What’s the whole idea and reason behind O-matic snowboards?
I have spent the past 15 to 20 years building snowboards here in the US, traveling the world visiting snowboard factories and purchasing snowboard materials. So I thought now would be a good time for a change, and time to give it a shot doing my own thing. Years before starting O-Matic I always had a dream about starting a snowboard company. But I also realized that there was no way I wanted to start “just another snowboard company”. If I was going to do this, I wanted to make sure that there was a niche to fill and something unique to offer since there are so many brands out there that are very similar to each other. The limited shelf space in retail shops makes it very hard to get your foot in the door, so I knew that we had to come out with something different. O-Matic is that something, and after a few meetings with Todd (Richards) and a few other great pros (at the time) we came up with the idea to build a high-end, quality product for an affordable price.
How do you think snowboarding has evolved in the years, besides tricks getting bigger and burlier?
I feel snowboarding has evolved in so many ways over the past 5-10 years. From the quality of the boards getting better, to the way pro athletes are conditioning themselves, to the end consumers being more educated on equipment technology. This evolution translates not only to pro athletes going huge, but also the average snowboarder trying 10’s and hucking themselves farther and farther each year. This competitive push is good because without this type of evolution, our industry would be as stale as Todd’s burps.
What about contests?
As for contests, I think it’s good for the sport as it gains some sort of mainstream exposure, which I hope gets more people into snowboarding to see what this cool snow sliding thing is all about. But I think we can do without this boardercross thing. If they do decide to keep it, then it should be like a MMA contest (Ed note: MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts), where it's a free-for-all with no rules and weapons are mandatory. The first one to the finish line wins, like in that movie Hot Dog. Come on now, that would be fun to watch!
What does a regular "day-in-the-life" look like for you?
Well, I get my usual early wake-up “knock in the head” by my 5-year old daughter Mia telling me to get up, which especially sucks when you have a hangover, and then take her to school. Then it's off to work, from around 8am to the wee hours of the night, since some of our factories are located in Asia and their day starts around 8am Asia time (which is 5pm our time). So yeah, I'm up working till 10-11pm at night... Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but during the summer time I sneak out during my lunch break for a surf session when the waves are good (our office is within walking distance from the beach). For the rest of the time, it's designing the board specifications, overseeing production and product R&D, helping design graphics from snowboards to shirt designs, hat designs, helping out with the marketing, promotions, taking out the trash, working with the team, balancing the budgets, snowboarding, helping Tanya Otero (our Sales Director) with the worldwide sales domination and mopping the floors...
Do you still get stoked on a day of riding and how do you keep enjoying it?
Hell yeah, that’s why we're doing what we do! Shit, all I need to do to stay stoked is jump on a chairlift and take some runs, pretty simple. Just being up on the hill hanging with your bros and seeing other people get stoked on riding is all I need.
Why should people buy an O-Matic board?
The price and quality, and of course they ride insane. If you're not sure, all I would say is grab one and go ride it, I can guarantee that you’ll love them. If not, just ask anyone who has ridden one.
You’ve got quite a history in the snowboard industry, what would be your all-time career high?
That I get to ride everyday! But to be honest, one of the best days in my life was taking runs with my (at the time 4-year old) daughter, I have to say that was insane...
Anyone to thank, any shout outs?
Thanks to everyone who has kept it real by supporting our O-matic dream, now and into the future...
Interview by: Edgar Lanting
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