April 25th 2009
30 under 30—John Minns
Published: April 23, 2009 4:00 PM
Updated: April 23, 2009 4:37 PM
What started with a group of high school students skimboarding at Boundary Bay has evolved into a full fledged business featuring skim boards designed by the riders and sold throughout North America.
John Minns was a student at South Delta Secondary when he tried skimboarding. As he improved and began to take it more seriously as a competitive sport, he tried and failed to find a corporate sponsor.
Now those companies are his competitors.
“I had a need to go bigger with the actual boards and make something more high performance,” says Minns, now 26.
Kayotics Skimboards Inc. (www.kayotics.com) started as a garage-type operation nine years ago, and was incorporated a year later.
“We just kept manufacturing more and more boards . . . We slowly pushed into the Vancouver area market like Spanish Banks, Kits(ilano),” he says.
Today his skimboards are sold in a number of U.S. states as well as Germany, and he’s currently looking for distributers to enter New Zealand and Australian markets. He makes a point of sponsoring talented up and coming skimboarders to give them the support he’d hoped for when he was getting started.
Part of the company’s mission is to remain rider-owned and operated. Minns believes it’s important for the boards to be backed by riders like himself, people who are passionate about the sport.
To pass on that passion, Minns runs Tydle Magazine, an online and print magazine dedicated to flatland skimboarding (www.tydlemag.com).
And as Minns grows his business, he continues to compete. He’ll be taking part in the upcoming Canadian Open in White Rock in July.
He also launched Kayotics skimboarding camps for youth at Boundary Bay through Delta Parks and Recreation, which has expanded to White Rock, Comox Valley, Victoria and Spanish Banks.
Minns says the camps help him refocus on why he enjoys the sport.
“Just the fun of it—kids aren’t stressed about landing tricks and winning contests and stuff like that. It’s basically riding around and having fun.”
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