Hey, I'm Tibs. Most people know me now as the founder of CLAYER, but before I was mixing healing clay in my kitchen, I was just a kid from Nice, France, completely obsessed with skateboarding.
This is the story of how a French skater with big dreams and zero backup plan made it from the Mediterranean coast to the pro skateboarding scene in California. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't easy, but man, was it worth it.
Growing Up in Nice: Where It All Started
Nice is beautiful : azure waters, palm trees, that perfect Mediterranean vibe. But for a skater? Let's just say it wasn't exactly the epicenter of skateboarding culture in the late '90s. When I picked up my first board in 1999, I was maybe one of ten kids in the entire city who took it seriously.
The streets of Nice became my playground. The Promenade des Anglais, with its smooth concrete and endless coastline, was where I learned my first tricks. Local security guards knew me by name (not always a good thing), and I spent more time dodging tourists than landing kickflips.
But that isolation? It made me hungry. Really hungry.
The European Skate Scene: Cutting My Teeth
By the mid-2000s, I wasn't content being the only serious skater in Nice. I started traveling : Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam : anywhere the European skate scene was happening. These trips opened my eyes to what skateboarding could be: a community, a lifestyle, a legitimate career path.
That's when Sector9 came calling.
Getting hired by Sector9 to handle their European commercial operations in 2008 was my first real break in the industry. Suddenly, I wasn't just skating : I was living and breathing the business side of skateboarding. Sales, marketing, distribution, building relationships with shops across Europe.
The numbers speak for themselves: my European sales performance became top in the region. But here's what the spreadsheets couldn't show : I was learning the skateboarding industry from the inside out. Every conversation with a shop owner, every trade show, every product launch was building toward something bigger.
Riding the Sector9 bowl before an event, that day taught me something crucial: your body will quit before your mind does. Pain is temporary, but regret lasts forever. That mindset would later become essential when I faced even bigger challenges.
The Injury That Changed Everything
Speaking of challenges : 2007 brought the injury that would reshape my entire trajectory. It started in France, a knee injury that just wouldn't heal properly. Traditional treatments weren't cutting it. Rest, ice, anti-inflammatories : the usual suspects were failing me.
That's when I discovered green clay.
Not through any fancy sports medicine clinic or high-tech recovery protocol. Just an old-school French remedy that actually worked. The inflammation went down, the pain subsided, and I could skate again.
At the time, I thought it was just a lucky find. I had no idea this discovery would eventually become the foundation of a global business.
The $500 Dream: Moving to California
By 2013, I'd reached a crossroads. The commercial work was successful, but it wasn't fulfilling my original dream. I wanted to be a professional skateboarder, not just someone who sold skateboards.
So I did what any rational person would do: I quit my stable job and moved to San Diego with $500 and a three-month plan to make it as a pro.
Spoiler alert: three months wasn't enough.
San Diego's skate scene was intimidating. These weren't European weekend warriors : these were world-class athletes who'd been grinding since childhood. The level of skating, the competition, the sheer talent density was unlike anything I'd experienced.
But you know what I had that maybe some of them didn't? Pure desperation and European work ethic.
Making It Official: The Pro Athlete Visa
The breakthrough came in October 2013 when I secured my Professional Athlete Visa. That wasn't just a piece of paper : it was validation. The U.S. government officially recognized me as a professional skateboarder.
Around this time, Brand-X Skateboards approached me about creating a signature model. The "9″ × 40″ COMPLETE LONGBOARD – Tibs Parise '40 inches of Freedom'" became my calling card. That board represented everything I stood for: freedom, progression, and the relentless pursuit of your dreams.
Forty inches of freedom. That phrase still gives me chills.
The pro model opened doors I didn't even know existed. Suddenly, I was getting invited to contests across the country, featured in skateboarding magazines, and connected with riders who'd inspired me for years.
Building Something Bigger
Success in professional skateboarding taught me something unexpected: individual achievement is hollow without community impact. The same drive that pushed me to bomb hills at dangerous speeds started focusing on a different question:
How can I help other athletes push their limits safely?
Remember that green clay discovery back in France? It kept nagging at me. Here I was, training with elite athletes who were constantly dealing with injuries, soreness, and recovery challenges. Yet none of them had access to the natural healing methods that had saved my career multiple times.
The American sports recovery market was dominated by synthetic solutions, chemical-heavy products, and expensive treatments. Where were the natural alternatives that actually worked?
That gap became my next obsession.
The Foundation of What's Next
Looking back now, every part of my skateboarding journey was preparing me for something larger. The European business experience taught me how to build and scale operations. The competition circuit showed me what elite athletes really need. The injuries forced me to discover natural healing solutions.
And the move to California? That gave me the perspective to see opportunities that others missed.
The kid from Nice who started skating in 1999 had become a professional athlete with international recognition. But more importantly, I'd identified a problem that affected millions of active people worldwide.
Natural recovery solutions weren't just missing from American sports culture : they were desperately needed.
Moving Forward, Always
My skateboarding career gave me everything: discipline, resilience, global perspective, and a deep understanding of what drives athletes to push beyond their limits. But perhaps most importantly, it taught me that the best achievements come from solving real problems for real people.
The transition from professional skateboarder to entrepreneur wasn't a career change : it was evolution. Every hill I bombed, every contest I entered, every injury I recovered from was building toward something bigger.
That something bigger became CLAYER.
But this story : the skateboarding chapter : had to come first. You can't build something authentic without authentic experiences. You can't solve problems you've never faced. And you definitely can't earn the trust of elite athletes without proving yourself in their world first.
From Nice to California, from amateur to pro, from injured skater to natural healing advocate : it's been one hell of a ride. And honestly? We're just getting started.
Keep moving forward. Always.
This is part one of my story. Next time, I'll share how those early injuries and that green clay discovery led to building a global natural recovery brand trusted by professional athletes worldwide.