Shawn hale — Full Story

Pro Skateboarder & Creator of AVOS

Shawn Hale grew up in Joplin, Missouri, surrounded by creativity. His father — a surfer, theater major, Navy radioman, and carpenter — helped build the set for The Goonies before an autoimmune illness, triggered by a black widow spider bite, forced him to leave California. In the 1960s, he built his own skateboards from roller-skate wheels and 2×4 lumber — a DIY mindset that later shaped Shawn’s approach to skating. His mom had a modeling career that took her around the world and was known for her artistic talent growing up. Before his parents met, she started an all-girls skate crew in Fukuoka, Japan, bringing a bold sense of style to her local scene. Creativity ran through the whole family — his sister Christine (aka Ohara Hale) was a constant creative force and actually opened his eyes to skateboarding by trying it out on her own first. Her first board was his first board. She’s continued to evolve in her own art and music-focused life, touring the world with her bands and becoming an award-winning children’s book artist and author, with her first young-adult illustrated novel set to release through Enchanted Lion Books.

By age 12, skateboarding had taken over Shawn’s life. He spent 8+ hours a day at local skateparks and skateshops in Joplin — watching skate videos and skating from opening to close. To his surprise, that obsession paid off. He started traveling to competitions, doing demonstrations for crowds, and helping build skateparks by hand — while tagging along with local pro Jud Heald on road trips across the country. In his late teens, Shawn quit most of his sponsors but kept skating nearly every day, while designing skateparks around the world at American Ramp Company — learning 3D modeling and building on the tech skills he grew up with. In 2010, his mix of work ethic and creativity led to an invitation to join Tony Hawk’s Birdhouse Skateboards. He’d design skateparks all night just to have the days free to film for new sponsors — suddenly on tour with the heroes he grew up watching, skating in front of thousands who came to see Tony Hawk live.

In early 2016, a year and a half before he would turn pro, Shawn suffered his worst ankle sprain yet — though his doctor explained that injuries in that area often go beyond the ankle itself. Even minor tweaks to the small ligaments, muscles, or tendons in the foot can take someone off their feet, but they’re usually just called sprains. A specialist traced Shawn’s injury back to reduced ankle mobility from years of constant motion and not spending enough time barefoot, with footwear being the root cause. The doctor suggested making tennis ball foot rolling a regular part of his routine to maintain flexibility — not just in the feet, but through the whole body. It was a common issue the doctor saw in patients dealing with foot, knee, hip, and back problems. Shawn gave it a real shot, but like most people, had trouble keeping up the routine — especially while constantly traveling.

Frustrated no one had made the therapy easier, he began modifying sandals to make his personal practice much more consistent. By summer 2016, he was testing early prototypes made with power tools, self-taught 3D modeling, and YouTube-guided 3D printing skills — bringing them on tour to get feedback from teammates like Aaron “Jaws” Homoki, Clive Dixon, David Loy, and Lizzie Armanto. With their insight and support, he doubled down on turning the idea into a product. Around that time, it hit him how much time he’d spent limping through injuries — and how different things might’ve been if he’d known about these recovery methods when his foot issues first showed up at 18. It became a clear frustration point: so many athletes and regular people lose years to foot problems without ever learning how to truly fix them. That deeper purpose started fueling the project just as his skate career hit a new high — after the release of Birdhouse’s film Saturdays, Tony Hawk surprised Shawn in 2017 with his first pro model skateboard, fulfilling the childhood dream he’d always shared with his dad.

By 2018, Shawn’s invention — AVOS — was refined enough to patent. He filed the provisional application himself, then worked with a specialized patent attorney to secure a strong utility patent. In 2019, fresh off his first factory visit with long time best friend and new business partner Jorge Hidalgo, he was invited on The Nine Club podcast, where he shared his story and publicly cemented the AVOS name by showing off a working prototype. That same night, they built the first AVOS website to take preorders — which helped fund the production molds.

The product was set to launch in 2020, but COVID shut down his partner factories. Still, Shawn refused to give up. He and his small team found new factories, and by January 2022, the first batch of AVOS shipped out to early supporters. AVOS now releases annual model updates and is preparing for a community-backed capital raise via WeFunder. Shawn continues to grow the company with support from mentors in the exclusive San Diego Sports Innovators community.

With a mission of “Proactive therapy for the next generation,” AVOS reflects Shawn’s belief that healing should build strength and resilience — not just mask pain. He’s far more likely to turn to tools like foam rollers, massage guns, yoga, reflexology, acupuncture, or traditional herbal remedies like Yin Chiao to stay ahead of illness, long before reaching for cold medicine or over-the-counter anti-inflammatories. His bigger goal: to help more people experience the often-overlooked power of the body’s natural ability to heal.

In 2024, Shawn joined the board of Make Life Skate Life, a nonprofit that builds skateparks — at zero cost — in underserved communities around the world, with all labor donated by volunteers. From Africa to the Philippines, he continues to lend his time and energy to causes like this both in the U.S. and abroad. His main focus remains on the future of AVOS — blending movement, design, and personal philosophy to help people live happier, healthier, freer lives, without ever compromising on personal taste.