Be-mag Issue 12: Jon Julio

Tags: be-mag, issue 12, jon julio, valo

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Michael Bayr: What would you tell a skater who never heard of you and randomly walks up to you and asks you who you are? Jon Julio: I guess I'd just be like.. Hi my name is Jon Julio. Have you heard of Valo?...

Michael Bayr: What would you tell a skater who never heard of you and randomly walks up to you and asks you who you are?
Jon Julio: I guess I'd just be like.. Hi my name is Jon Julio. Have you heard of Valo? Ha.
MB: So now the kid says, nope I’ve never heard of Valo and who is Jon Julio?
JJ: Then I would show him my skates and say: "Peep them valos" and give him the 411 on rollerblading. Then I would tell him it was nice to meet him.
MB: So how does Valo explain who Jon Julio is? Is Valo Jon Julio for you right now? The thing you've always wanted to do, the ultimate fullfillment of your dreams?
JJ: Yes it is. It’s every skater’s dream to own a skate brand. Skaters running “skate” brands are a big step for our industry. I've learned a lot from my past experiences with companies. Valo is the product of them all.
MB: How would you describe this learning process? You've been involved with a lot of companies and some of them don’t exist anymore. You have chosen to work on several companies whereas many pros were happy to launch one company. What's your drive and your plan on this?
JJ: I’m thankful for the opportunities that have been offered to me. Ya know what I mean? I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of shit and I’ve never passed anything up. People wanted to work with me and I wanted to work on whatever I could get my hands on. Which obviously wasn’t the best thing to do. On the overall I lacked focus for sure. I have no regrets with any of the relationships that I’ve made and any of the experiences that I have shared. Unfortunately at times there are communication breakdowns. Business is crazy and sometimes shit doesn’t work out.
MB: So how did this equation work out for you previously? What were the lessons learned and when did you realize that something wasn't the way it was supposed to be?
JJ: The people backing Runners and Dyna were super cool but they didn't see the longevity in the scene. They were involved in other projects besides rolling, plus getting into it all we made a lot of mistakes.”Poor decision making”. There were too many employees making decisions. It was chaotic for a little while and we spent a lot of money where we shouldn’t have.

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