Burdened With ‘Two Mortgages, a Newborn, and Dropping Income’, Tony Hawk Thought His Skateboarding Career Was Done in the 90s

Tony Hawk is more than just a famous skateboarder. His fame in his sport challenged him to be on par with it even after retiring. Hawk’s will to stay in business was so extreme that today we know him as one of the finest entrepreneurs. With sheer determination, he successfully converted his skateboarding business, Birdhouse, into a multi-million company.

Hawk is the undisputed king of Summer X Games. In 1995, he won his first gold medal at Rhode Island. From 1997 to 2003, he consecutively won gold medals at different centers of the X Games.

Hawk, famously known as Birdman, is the founder of the Tony Hawk Foundation. It helps to build skateparks in underprivileged areas globally.

How did Tony Hawk think of starting a business?

Undoubtedly, Hawk singlehandedly promoted and spreaded the culture of skateboarding craze among people.

Although he received immense fame and earnings before retirement, all of that was perhaps not enough in the aftermath. It wasn’t much later that the skateboarder realized the responsibilities that were on his shoulders.

Hence, he wished to do something that would make him stay in the skateboarding industry for a longer period. In a recent interview, Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, Hawk expressed his urge to get into business in the starting days:

“Well in some ways I fell into it when in the early 90’s when skating was taking a dive in popularity. I found myself with two mortgages, a newborn, and my income just dropping every month like by half because it was all based on royalties and I wanted to do something to stay in the industry and I thought my days as a pro were over.. this is 90-1992.”

Tony revealed in the interview that he initially started his skateboard company, Birdhouse. For the first four years, the company struggled to achieve its goals, making it hard for Tony to make a living. Eventually, he learned the ways to run a business successfully, following which things started to work out for him.

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In the process, came the deal that changed his life forever. For the first time, he invested money in video games with Activision. Noticing the craze of video games, he created the Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™ video game. It earned him huge money, making him relatable in the skateboarding industry forever.

What more is Hawk looking forward to?

Sky is the limit for the ace skateboarder. After X Games and video games, Hawk has recently announced that he will take skateboarding into the metaverse.

He has envisioned partnering with an Ethereum blockchain-based online video game company, where players would buy virtual land for skateboarding using cryptocurrency. It will build the “largest virtual skatepark ever made.”

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Do you see Tony Hawk staying relevant as a celebrated figure in his upcoming metaverse partnerships, too?