We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Spock Uquillas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Spock below.

Hi Spock, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

The life lessons we learn from the art of skateboarding are earned through dedication, perseverance and commitment. Dedication to ones craft. Perseverance through failure. Commitment to yourself and others. The skateboarding community is all inclusive, a fellowship. We help each up after a fall, we praise each other after our successes. We may not be perfect but we can be better than the day before.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2003, when I was a full-time snowboard instructor at Brighton Resort in Utah I was approached by a fellow snow sports instructor who worked for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation. He knew my background as a sponsored skateboarder in my hometown of San Francisco during the 1980s. His question to me was if I would be interested in running a Saturday skateboarding summer program for youths in Cottonwood Heights. I said no.

After a week or so of some back and forth I relented and put together a lesson plan based on what my training and experience at the Brighton Snowsports School had taught me. It worked beautifully and our student numbers grew each year. A friend suggested I reach out to another city park n rec. Proposing a slightly different business model, a weekly skate camp with a higher price point and a staff of 1 “employee” I moved forward and failed miserably. The Saturday camp continued to grow.

What was I to do with the weekday skate camp ambition? Using the model from my snow sports school I approached numerous park and rec depts along the Wasatch Front with skateparks that best fit our terrain-based teaching model. It blossomed. Mondays through Saturdays, six different locations, and our all-girl camp, Sisterhood of Shred, on Sundays.

19 years later, I couldn’t be more proud of my coaches and students. My personal measurement of success? If my students are still skateboarding after all these years, I did something right.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Word of mouth. Yes, the use of social media as a digital diary helps spread the stoke. Likes, follows and comments are just extrinsic fodder. A distraction. The quality of our training/coaching and terrain based education is what keeps our wheels spinning. Safety, Fun, Learning and Mindfulness has built our family.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I have more of a philosophy than strategy. “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Contact Info:

• Website: spocksskatecamp.com
• Instagram: @spocksskatecamp @sisterhood_of_shred_sk8