Carson Kropfl

At age 11, Locker Board founder and inventor, Carson Kropfl, faced the "Sharks" in the season 9 premiere of ABC's hit business reality show Shark Tank and struck a deal for his innovative skateboard company. The show's celebrity investors heard the young entrepreneur's pitch and fought to partner with Locker Board, the first non-folding, compact and sustainable skateboard designed to fit in a locker or backpack. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, outbid Mark Cuban, billionaire businessman and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, as well as Robert Herjavec, tech entrepreneur and investor, for the opportunity to invest in Locker Board. Branson told Carson that the reason he invested in the 7th grader was because he reminded him of himself. Carson began his career as an entrepreneur at the age of seven. He has developed two patented products (Streetubez and Locker Board), four trademarks, appeared on Shark Tank, landed Sir Richard Branson (Founder of the Virgin Group) as his investor and is collaborating with the lead of Sustainable Innovation at Nike (Noah Murphy Reinhertz) on new ideas. In addition, Carson loves sharing his story and inspiring others to go after their dreams. He's become a public speaker and recently did his first TEDx Talk in front of an audience of 1,000 people. In addition to his TEDx Talk he has presented to undergrads at USC Marshall School of Business on how to give a pitch, spoke at Chapman University to students on how to become a successful entrepreneur and presented his story at IMPACT 18 in Las Vegas at the Aria Hotel. He's created an inspiring and hilarious talk with slides and videos titled "Gromazon - How to Become a Successful, Young Entrepreneur" and shares how he created his company, got on Shark Tank and landed Richard Branson as his investor. His three secrets to success: Seize the moment, never give up and believe in yourself. His goal is to eventually turn this talk into a book. Carson has been featured in over 30 publications and shows including Shark Tank, The Harry Show, iHeart Radio's Bill Handle Show, iHeart Radio's Tim Conway Show, Radio Disney with Alexa Curtis, GrindTV, Channel 5 News, Channel 7 News, Forbes, Time Magazine for Kids, BuzzFeed, INC Magazine and more. The ocean inspired Carson's business. He created Streetubez so he would be able to surf anywhere, anytime and he started Locker Board to pay for his surf lessons and surf contests. That's why Carson donates a portion of his proceeds from his company, Locker Board, to Ocean Unite, because they focus on ocean conservation issues. He also helped found the #SaveSanO Movement with his friends and donates his time to help get 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste being dumped at his favorite surf break in Southern California called SanO, stored in safer canisters and moved to a safe location.