Stephen Hill (entrepreneur) | |
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Born | 1962 (age 54–55) Melbourne, Australia |
Residence | Melbourne, Australia, Fiji |
Occupation | Skateboarder, Executive Director & Founder, Globe International |
Website | globecorporate |
Stephen Hill (born 1962 in Melbourne, Australia) is a former champion Australian skateboarder and the co-founder of Globe International, a multinational, youth culture, branded footwear, apparel and skate/surf business with his brother Peter Hill. Stephen Hill has also acted as an executive producer on over 30 media projects including feature films and television specials.
Stephen Hill started skateboarding at age 8 with his brother Peter in Melbourne in the early 1970s. In their teenage years, they put together one of the early Australian sponsored skate teams, Sparx, were in the Nike skateboard team in 1979 and competed successfully in Australian skate titles.
Along with their younger brother, Matt Hill, they began to import skateboards and associated equipment, eventually forming Hardcore Distribution, a company that later grew into Globe International. In the 1980s, the brothers promoted skateboarding in Australia, running demonstrations and tours featuring local and American skateboarders including Allen Losi, Mark Gonzales, Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Jeff Phillips and Jason Lee. They also distributed Vision Streetwear and Airwalk shoes.
Stephen and Peter wrote two books on skateboarding, The Skateboard Book: Blast! (1986) and Skate Hard (1988). The design plans from those two books influenced the construction of Australian skateparks and ramps for the following decade. In 1987 the brothers were profiled on a segment on Australian skateboarding on 60 Minutes. In that same year, they co-founded an Australian skateboarding magazine, 540. Stephen and his brother were also early snowboarders in Australia and successfully lobbied for snowboarders’ access to Australian snow fields.