SHREDDING IT
Former police officer passes along love of skateboarding to Novato’s youth
Things might have gone differently for Jared Hermosillo if he didn’t find skateboarding at a young age. It kept him out of the “trouble and riffraff” growing up in the Los Angeles area. Instead, he spent his youth skateboarding around and mowing lawns to earn money to fund his passion. Unknown at the time, he was learning life lessons.
Skateboarding took a backseat in his life when he became a police officer before getting his master’s degree in cyber security and transitioning to work as a cyber security analyst. But a desire to get back into Marin’s skate culture prompted the 40-year-old Novato resident to open Matt’s Board Shop in December in downtown Novato, named after his 6-year-old skateboarding son as well as an uncle. Hermosillo also organizes skateboarding events in the community.
Q
What did skateboarding do for you?
A
It kept me in shape. It kept me motivated. It kept me looking forward to something after school. A lot of my good friends still skate and they’ll be like, “Remember you used to have a good backside heel flip?”
Q
What has your career been like?
AI was a police officer for about 11 years. I was a gang cop in Los Angeles and then I transferred up to Sacramento and got into a specialized unit surrounding and monitoring sex offenders. I later moved to Novato, where my family originated from, and settled here. I’ve been off and on in Marin for like 16 years. My uncle is a retired
Central Marin police officer, and my mom was also a cop, so we bounced around all over California. When my parents split up, my dad moved to Novato and I would come and visit him and in the summer I would do Pop Warner football for Novato. I feel connected to this community.
Q
Did your family inspire you to become a police officer?
A
Yes. It was following their footsteps and having their guidance and connections. When I went through my divorce, I ended up resigning being a police officer because of the stress. I decided to go back to school and get my master’s degree in cyber security, which is the best thing I ever did. I’ve always wanted to protect people. I like making sure people are safe. Identity theft is huge right now; I was a victim of it.
Q
Did you feel like you were fulfilling a need by opening the shop?
A
Definitely. Before I opened the shop, I was thinking of opening up a thousand different businesses. I was having lunch near where the shop is now and there were a few moms in there with kids and I asked, “What do you think if I opened up a skate board shop in Novato?” Their eyes lit up. “Please do it, we need that. Both my sons are skateboarders and we have to drive farther away to get our stuff. We would love that.” It hit a spark in me: My son likes to skateboard, I like to skateboard, kids have nowhere to go up here, there’s a skate park down the street, I’m going to do it.
Q
How did the skateboarding bond begin with you and your son?
A
I go to San Luis Obispo to visit my son and I took him to a surf and skate shop. I said, “Son, go inside and pick whatever you want, clothes, shoes, whatever, and I’ll get it for you.” He ran inside and grabbed a skateboard. He picked it up and he said, “I want this,” and that was it. My main goal is to keep this shop open for as long as I can to and then have him come run it and we can hopefully expand and keep impacting the community. I support a lot of local skateboarders and people who are trying to get into the skate community.
Q
What do you want youths get from it?
A
It’s getting kids in shape and getting them off the computer screen and phones. It combats laziness. They get out there and mingle and connect with people, like the old days. … That’s how it should be.