How it all began:

The short and sweet:

Well, I had an idea, made a few prototypes, rode it, fell in love with it, patented the idea, then made some real boards and here we are.

The full expose:

My professional background is in Sports Medicine. In 1999 I graduated from Linfield College with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and obtained certification from the National Athletic Trainers' Association. In 2001, I worked in a physical therapy clinic in the mornings and at a high school in the afternoons in Southern California. I covered the after school sports programs. At the physical therapy clinic we had a Vew-Do Balance Board and an Extreme Balance Board. This was back in the day when Vew-Do was getting started and had not developed their fitness line. With two great products to play on, I put our physical therapy patients on the balance boards and they would progress very quickly regaining strength, balance and overall function.

At physical therapy clinic I met Sandy, a post-operative ACL reconstruction. Sandy had a history of several knee operations and repairs for both knees. Although she called herself "middle aged", she was still one heck of an athlete. Sandy learned to balance and ride the balance boards very quickly. I even had her standing on an exercise ball doing squats- you know the big stability balls. Did I mention, squats on a big round ball without holding onto anything? Her progress was phenomenal!

I thought if our post-operative and post-injury patients could handle the balance boards, then I had to have one for the high school. At the high school, there was absolutely no budget for supplies let alone new gadgets. So I took a round water cooler lid (the cooler was missing and to this day I blame the incredibly strong cockroaches) and put it on top of an old ragged softball. My very own made up balance board using some things around the office. I thought it was great; my athletes didn’t. My healthy uninjured teenage athletes thought it was too hard to do. Bingo! Too hard- I had to develop my idea and see how far I could go. My dad thought I should pursue the idea also. There was just one small roadblock.

After nine months at the physical therapy clinic and high school, I was off on a long road trip. In 2002, I started a graduate program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Two years later I had a Master of Education in Sport Psychology and a rescued cat from the humane society. Kelso, my new cat, and I packed up the car and quickly moved back to the California warmth and sunshine. By the way, if you have any personal questions and need advice- we have a special feature on this site called Kelso's Korner, he is a great listener and will get back to you with answers for your most pressing concerns.

As I returned to California I settled into an athletic training position at an elite private high school. My dad asked if I still wanted to pursue my balance board idea. He gave me a book on patents and strongly encouraged me to develop my invention. I looked in the United States Patent database and saw all the previous balance boards and the wheel of inspiration was let loose. My brothers and I cut a big old disk out of plywood, glued and nailed it and rode it on an old basketball. It worked, but not too well. We then went to a local skate shop and bought some used skateboard decks for $5 and modified them. That worked, but really not too well. So then I made a big rectangle and rode it on a bowling ball coated with the rubber skin of a four square ball. Now we were getting closer...

Sandy’s son, a talented Indo Board rider, snowboarder and engineering student had some ideas for new board shapes. He cut out an elliptical shape and it rode like no other. Sandy's son rode our board until he drenched his shirt in sweat. His friends thought he was nuts and would crack his head open. He quickly proved them wrong. He has test ridden our prototypes from the beginning and constantly gives us feedback. The most encouraging was our board kept him in shape for snowboarding and helped develop his soft landing from jumps.

So after a few attempts we had a functional board shape and ball, sort of. At first we pursued a skateboard sized model. After a few less successful attempts we decided to put that on the back burner and develop our largest board. We met with our fantastic engineer from CCM Design and he helped pull the design together. A few long months and year later we were off to a great final product. Making small changes along the way, rail shapes, board sizes, rail blocks...

We were introduced to a manufacturer who was interested in producing our boards. He made skateboards and skimboards for 30 years and had great ideas and high energy. He produced our board tops and kept the outpouring of inspiration to follow the dream. I even learned how to keep all 10 fingers!

After endless searching for a suitable ball, three years to be exact, we knew the only option was to manufacture our own. We have a local urethane manufacturer who took a big leap with us. Creating a solid urethane ball is much more difficult than it seems. He kept pursuing a complex item with complex material. After a lot of trial and error we had a great triumph and a solid urethane ball.

Three years of hair pulling meetings and enough protypes to fill the garage we had our Originall models- three sizes to choose from. We started sales and attended trade shows / events in the summer of 2007. Sandy and I loaded the car to the top and traveled the states. She's been there from the beginning, whether she wanted to or not.

After three years I stopped working at the high school and put all my energy in Si-Boards. At this time we decided to create an economical version of our boards. We also popped out with the Ultimate Fitness board, the Resistance Band System and our Creator Kits. Sandy sometimes plugged my ears as the steam billowed out from grandiose ideas spinning at warp speeds.

Since Ryan is an engineer we also stimulate his expertise with technical issues and designs. He did the final engineering for our urethane rails / Creator Kits and End-Stops. He's also super handy with the tape dispenser and up for any old crazy stunt- like throwing balls off the roof.

My Athletic Training colleagues are a tremendous help with exercises, training ideas, events and video highlights. We met lots of great professional athletes, coaches, Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists and balance board nuts along the way who think we're a little crazy yet they continue to be fantastic supporters. I am very thankful for the support of my family and friends- a smile and wink to you all.

Within this last year we put on seminars for Athletic Training classes. Hauling our big boards and balls around so students can get a sweat in during class. I returned to Athletic Training when local friends need a vacation or some help with sport events. One of the most enjoyable is working for the United States Soccer Federation and traveling with the National Youth Teams. I also teach for Code Pink Boot Camp in the morning at Huntington Beach and at Compete Performance in Lake Forest. I love coming up with unique exercises and moves with our products.

Our philosophy as a business, from the beginning, is to provide a high quality product- use it forever and never get board. We give you a training device that simulates your sport movements, makes you sweat, and provides lots of entertaining fun. We manufacture and assemble in the United States. Our standard for quality and humane working conditions is put into all of our products. We also believe in exceptional customer service with detailed responses to accommodate our customers. You are the reason why Si-Boards exists!

We hope you enjoy our products as much as we do- that's a lot.