At the age of 12, he picked up a skateboard for the first time and within a month won his first competition. People took notice of his raw talent and he soon became the youngest member of the G&S skateboard team. He turned professional at the age of 16, joining the legendary Ohio-based Alien Workshop team and forgoing his senior year of high school. He reached fourth place at the 1991 World Championships, the first contest he competed in as a professional.
As a teenager, Dyrdek attracted a growing number of sponsors, appeared in skate movies and on magazine covers, signature skateboards and other merchandise. One of his best known sponsorship deals developed after he befriended the founders of the Droors Clothing line. He not only began promoting their clothing, but was given the opportunity to design a signature line of the first athletic skate shoe. The nearly 30 shoes designed by Dyrdek helped establish what became DC Shoes. This exposure to the business side of skateboarding awakened his entrepreneurial instincts and inspired him to venture into other projects. Like other first-time businessmen, he had his share of successes, such as the world-famous...
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