PJ Ladd

PJ Ladd
PJ Ladd in June 2007 in Saffron Walden, England for the Plan B demo
Born	January 11, 1983 (age 34) Rockland, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Occupation	Skateboarder

Patrick John Ladd, professionally referred to as PJ Ladd, (born January 11, 1983) is an American professional skateboarder whose stance is regular. Ladd was labelled an "east coast legend" by fellow professional skateboarder and team manager John Rattray in May 2013.

Ladd was born in Rockland, Massachusetts, United States (U.S.) and grew up in the capital city of Boston. Ladd revealed in a 2013 interview that skateboarding was a prominent aspect of his childhood in Boston: "I would skate my box and flatbar in the warehouse next to my father's auto parts store and then take the train into downtown to skate. Before that I skated this concrete stage in the high school parking lot. And before that, just in front of my house. It was good." Also in the 2013 interview, Ladd explained that his upbringing strengthened his character and stated that he is "grateful" for his upbringing, even though it was difficult, "because it made me [Ladd] who I am."

Although Ladd was well known in the local Boston skateboarding scene before he headlined the Coliseum Skateshop's video PJ Ladd's Wonderful Horrible Life, it was his part in the 2002 shop video that catapulted him to the attention of the skateboard industry.

Before he joined the Flip Skateboards brand, where he became a professional rider, Ladd was an amateur for Element Skateboards through the assistance of professional skateboarder Donny Barley. In Flip's second film of the Sorry trilogy Really Sorry, Ladd's video part does not feature an accompanying soundtrack and a title card that reads "Silence is Golden" prefaces the part.

Alongside professional skateboarders such as Paul Rodriguez, Ryan Gallant, and Pat Duffy, Ladd joined the reformed Plan B Skateboards company. Ladd can be seen in the Plan B promotional video Superfuture.

In addition to professional skateboarders Arto Saari, Levi Brown, and Tom Karangelov, Ladd is a team member of the inaugural "NB#" ("New Balance Numeric") skateboard team that is owned by the New Balance shoe company. With American origins in the capital city of Boston, Massachusetts, New Balance was considered an appropriate fit for Ladd, as he is a native of the state. Ladd stated following the announcement of the brand's team: "I believe in New Balance being a no bullshit shoe brand from Boston that successful and makes great shoes. I think it has a lot to add."