People often asked when and why I started evo. The reality is that the inspiration for evo existed long before I launched evogear.com out of my garage while living between Whistler and Seattle in 2001.
 
My Uncle Jack introduced me to skiing in Oregon at Mt. Ashland in the 5th grade. He paid for rentals and lift ticket, a huge sum of money at that time, right around $40. After that first day, I was forever inspired to figure out how to spend as much time possible on the mountain and outside throughout the the rest of my life.
 
Baseball cards and whatever else I could buy low and sell high, eventually turned into gear. This provided me with the means to buy lift tickets as a kid, eventually leading me to chase winters, trails, surfing and what is today, evo. My love for the outdoors has opened my eyes to a world of sport and culture that I could have never imagined back in grade 5.
 
Central to my/evo’s story is that I grew up in a small, blue-collar town, Roseburg, Oregon, and had close friends that experienced a very different childhood than my own. My eyes were opened to abuse, addiction and homelessness at the age of seven. I started to wrestle with how, by chance, I was dealt such a different hand than kids that I was close to. These experiences planted the early seeds that have evolved into our commitment to give back through volunteer-work and philanthropy, positively changing the trajectory of kids’ lives.
 
Over twenty years in, the desire has never been stronger to share our love for the sport and culture, bringing people together and helping provide the inspiration that we know makes life better.  We are doing that through our global offering of evo stores in the US and Whistler, evo.com, Rhythm Japan, our evo Hotels, The Callaghan outside of Whistler, evoTrip, Rhythm Rides and All Together Skateparks in Seattle and SLC —and, we are just getting started.
 
We are endlessly thankful for your support. Not only has this amazing journey provide opportunities for our 1,000+ global team member, but it also has enabled us to invest our communities, volunteering tens of thousands of hours and providing millions of dollars in funding with a focus on organizations that work to get under-served kids into the outdoors, providing the life-changing inspiration that I felt as a child.
 
Again, thank you all!
 
Bryce