Jamie Thomas is an American professional skateboarder and skateboard industry magnate from Dothan, Alabama

Dothan, Alabama

Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...

. He is the co-owner of Zero Skateboards

Zero Skateboards

Zero Skateboards is a skateboard company located in Carlsbad, California. It is part of the Black Box Distribution family. Zero decks are manufactured in Tijuana, Mexico, by Edieth and Osuna, which is owned by Jamie Thomas...

 and Fallen Footwear

Fallen Footwear

Fallen Footwear is a skateboarding footwear brand started by a professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas.-History:In 2003, it was announced that Fallen Footwear would be manufactured and distributed by DC Shoes under license from Thomas....

.

Skateboarding career

Thomas started skateboarding at the age of eleven. He was first sponsored in 1992 by Deluxe (Thunder trucks, Spitfire wheels and as a flow rider for Real Skateboards). This prompted him to move to San Francisco with his friends Sean Young and Hurley. While living in San Francisco, Thomas turned pro for a short-lived company, Experience Skateboards. Thomas then went on to ride for the San Diego based Invisible Skateboards. After relocating to Southern California in 1994, Thomas was featured on the cover of Transworld Skateboard magazine and had video parts in the Spitfire and Invisible videos. In 1995 Thomas joined Ed Templeton

Ed Templeton

Edward "Ed" Templeton is a professional skateboarder and a contemporary artist who resides in Huntington Beach, California. -Biography:...

's Toy Machine. He filmed and directed two Toy Machine videos, the second one being Welcome To Hell

Welcome to Hell

Welcome to Hell is the debut album by the English heavy metal band Venom, released in December 1981. Welcome to Hell is often described as speed metal, but it had a great influence on the then-emerging thrash metal style, and crystallized the elements of what later became known as death metal and...

. His section in "Welcome To Hell" is arguably the biggest milestone of his career.

Business career

In 1996 Thomas started a small clothing company through Toy Machine's distributor Tum Yeto

Tum Yeto

Tum Yeto is a skateboard distribution company that operates out of San Diego, California. Founded in 1989 by professional skateboarder Tod Swank, Tum Yeto manufactures, distributes, exports, and wholesales the Foundation, Toy Machine, Pig Wheels, Dekline, Ruckus Metal, and Deathbox brands....

. This company later became Zero Skateboards

Zero Skateboards

Zero Skateboards is a skateboard company located in Carlsbad, California. It is part of the Black Box Distribution family. Zero decks are manufactured in Tijuana, Mexico, by Edieth and Osuna, which is owned by Jamie Thomas...

.
Thomas is the owner and president of Black Box Distribution, which was created in 2000 and is the parent company of Mystery Skateboards, $lave Skateboards, Zero Skateboards, Threat By Zero, Insight Clothing, and Fallen Footwear

Fallen Footwear

Fallen Footwear is a skateboarding footwear brand started by a professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas.-History:In 2003, it was announced that Fallen Footwear would be manufactured and distributed by DC Shoes under license from Thomas....

. In 2006 he won a regional "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

.

Personal life

Thomas is married to Joanne and has three children (Julien Tiger born October 30, 2003, James Ruby born March 30, 2006, and Maximus Trey born June 11, 2008). They reside in Encinitas, California

Encinitas, California

Encinitas is a coastal beach city in San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego in North County and about south of Los Angeles. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 59,518, up from 58,014 at the 2000 census. Encinitas is...

. Thomas is also a Christian, with several board graphics featuring Christian imagery and scripture.

Select videography

The Zero video Thrill Of It All featured Thomas' attempt at what would be coined "The Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith (skate)

The Leap of Faith is an infamous location amongst skateboarders and rollerbladers. It is located at Point Loma High School in San Diego, California. Only a handful of people have attempted to land the drop but none were successful....

", an ollie melon down an 18-foot, 8-inch drop over a handrail at Point Loma High School

Point Loma High School

Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and Ocean Beach. In addition, students who live in Mission Hills may...

 in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. Although Thomas never successfully landed the trick, his attempt garnered him notoriety.

• Invisible Skateboards Invisible (1994)
• Spitfire Wheels (1994)
• Toy Machine Heavy Metal (1995)
• Etnies High Five (1995)
• Toy Machine Welcome to Hell (1996)
• Emerica Yellow (1996)
• Zero Thrill of it All (1997)
• Zero Misled Youth (1999)
• Landspeed:cKy (1999)
• Transworld VideoRadio (2001)
• Chomp on This (2002)
• Zero Dying to Live (2002)
• Zero New Blood (2005)
• Reason to Believe (2005)
• Thrasher King of the Road (2004)
• Thrasher King of the Road (2005)
• Thrasher King of the Road (2006)
• Zero Promo Video (2007)
• Fallen: Ride The Sky (2008)
• Zero Strange World (2009)
• Zero Cold War (2011) In progress