As professional skateboarder Sky Siljeg started earning money at contests and on tours, his mom, Pam Miller, knew it was time to pay the bank a visit.
Siljeg was only 13.
“He had to go open a business account at the bank and start keeping receipts and paying attention to the income and outgo — and that was an educational opportunity as far as just learning about life,” said Miller, who brought her longtime certified public accountant, Jim Gall of Bothell, on board soon after.
Now at age 16, the Bothell resident — when he’s not traveling the world with his skateboard — has also made income teaching camps and selling his art (he uses spray paint and stencils to adorn old skateboards and sheets of grip tape). Add sponsorships and photo incentives into the mix, and he’s a prime candidate to be featured in an upcoming episode of Biz Kid$, an Emmy Award-winning national public television series that teaches school-aged kids about money and business.
The episode, “A World Without Taxes,” is scheduled to air at 10:30 a.m. April 17 on KCTS and coincides with tax day April 18. Gall will appear with Siljeg, who skated around and jumped over the accountant during the episode shoot on a cold Sunday morning in January, Gall said.
“He’s right on the brink … if he starts making (big) money, he can owe some significant taxes. I help him keep organized, make sure he gets all of his deductions,” Gall said. “He realizes his position — he knows he needs to learn what he can to avoid any tax problems.”
Miller befriended Gall when he used to coach her older son Josh’s Little League team many years ago. When Siljeg grew up and started generating a cash flow, Miller introduced the skater and accountant, “who’s sort of made taxes unscary — (Gall) takes all the pain out of it,” mom said.
Siljeg weighed in on the tax experience: “At first, I was really nervous about it. I always heard people freaking out about taxes and stuff like that, and I kind of believed that it had to be a dreadful thing. Talking to Jim and working with him, he’s a very funny guy.
“He’ll help you through it,” the skater added. “You don’t need to be a tax expert yourself, you just need to hold responsibilities of keeping good records, holding onto receipts, where you made money, how much you made.”
Currently, Siljeg is ranked second in the men’s Pro World Bowl series; he finished second overall in 2009-10. He recently took second in a contest in New Zealand and competed in Australia and Florida. Last week, he was in southern California filming some skating sessions.
His sponsors include Vans shoes, Quiksilver clothing, Tracker trucks, Bones wheels, Khiro skateboard products, Black Flys sunglasses and Seattle’s Lib Tech skateboards and Sno Con.
“It’s kind of crazy. It started out being a passion and it still is to this day,” said Siljeg, who’s learned to balance the adult and teen worlds well. “It is kind of strange to think about it as a living. I pay taxes and I keep records and I still skate and have fun and kind of act childish on my little wooden skateboard.”
Added Miller: “He knows how to book travel, he knows how to get Visas to other countries, he knows how to go through immigration, he knows how to deal with all that because it’s a lifestyle.”
While Miller enjoys watching her son succeed in skate contests all over the world, she equally likes having him home — just being a 16-year-old Bothell kid. She’s proud to note that Siljeg sports a 3.93 grade-point average in his homeschool studies: he’s currently working on high-school credits, and as a Running Start student, he’s taking online classes via Cascadia Community College.
With the wealth of activities in his life, Siljeg said there’s nothing like turning to skating for a break: “Skating is peaceful, it’s a distraction from all the stress in your life. It’s kind of cool to have it as a job because of those qualities of it. Competing or skating a supercharged session with all my friends — it’s just a blast.”
