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on Julio is currently getting his new backpack company on the market. The company is called Runner's Project, and they make bags for everyday living. He is also working on a video, designing a skate for 
USD and working on the new England line, not to mention skating. He is one of the most respected and admired skaters in the industry and still remains very quiet and reserved. All of these reasons have made Jon Julio the ideal candidate to profile for the first online issue of SESSION.
Jon has lived in Northern California most of his life. He was born in Milpitas, California and currently resides there. This is very unusual for someone who grew up around the armed forces. Jon's father, Victor, joined the Navy after moving to California from Manila, Philippines. He met Jon's mother, Flor, while he was in the Navy and they had two sons. Victor, and Jon- who was born on March 6th, 1977. He is unable to recall anything from that time period "although," he mentions, "there wasn’t much of a hip-hop scene going on right then."
Jon moved to Japan while he was two, and lived there for three years. It is surprising Jon didn't start developing any vert skills over in Japan. Still, Jon didn't find skating in Japan or even when he moved back to California at the age of five (although you'd think he had). From five to ten, he basically did what his parents asked and went to school -just for the record. He was an average kid in an average town, living day to day. If anything happened while he was little -alien abduction or crop circles or anything -he doesn't talk about it. 
At ten, he moved to Hawaii where he began to develop some of his fluid motions and style, although not on skates. Jon got into karate and went to the beach quite a bit while hanging with his friends. "Hawaii was just a different place, different accents, it was warmer and people were always at the beach." Karate and being in the ocean helped develop his balance and unique style that would later shift to his skating ability.
When he moved back to California at the age of fifteen, his skating future began to take shape. "I just hung with my friends. We went through a phase of skating," Jon said (It may have been a phase for some of his friends, but I think Jon kept skating -he didn't say. Wait, yeah he did, and he became really good, for all of you that may not know that). Jon randomly watched television when he was home. One day he saw a show on MTV featuring East Coast kids sessioning the Brooklyn banks that really sparked his interest. "I consider that one of the turning points, it really got me into skating," Jon said. (Like I always said to my mother, watching television can have a profound impact on life. I wanted to be a rockstar, though).
When Jon began high school, his friends skated with him all the time. He skated with Ted Simpson and met Jess Dyrenforth while the skate industry was small. Jess and Ted were throwing the idea of Fifty/50 around. They finally started the company in early 1994 and knew Jon would be a great addition to the team. "His outlook on life and skating and his unique style made him a great person to represent our company," Jess says. So Jon began to skate for Fifty/50 and helped "form the image from the companies inception."
Soon Jon began taking skating very seriously. He was on flow from Roces and went to competitions and began to turn more heads as he placed well and won. This became an issue for Jon's parents. Their son Victor had graduated from college and taken a traditional job in the computer industry. "My parents are very traditional," says Jon. "They wanted me to graduate college and get a job."
"Jon's parents have always been strict," says longtime friend, Azikiwee Anderson. "They used to require him to be home at a decent hour, leave phone numbers and tell them where he was going."
Jess Dyrenforth got to know Jon well over the years. They even went to London to tour the underground drum and bass scene for a few days. " Jon has come to me a few times regarding his parents and skating" Jess says. When he decided to drop out of college and pursue skating full time, his parents objected. "But," continues Jess, "that was all he really wanted." Jon had only one job outside of skating. "I worked at a mall bakery for a year, but when Roces turned me pro, I quit," Jon said. From then, Jon was one hundred percent skater. He kept competing and winning. He came out on videos, in magazines and in ads as the skate industry blew up around him. Instead of just riding the wave, Jon decided to grab the reins and create a future.
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