NHS has announced the promotion of Jeff Kendall to the position of president and CMO.
Kendall has been an instrumental part of NHS for over two decades. Starting as a professional skateboarder for Santa Cruz Skateboards and Independent Truck Company in 1986, he quickly transitioned into the business after retiring as a pro in 1992.
As a self-educated, self-taught and extremely motivated person, he has held several key positions at NHS. Jeff will move into a senior executive role as President, will continue to oversee sales, marketing and branding, and develop and initiate long-term strategies and shorter-term operating plans. Jeff has earned and deserves the new CMO title, as he successfully led a complete reinvention and modernization of our marketing and demand creation approach.
“This is a great move for the long-term future of NHS,” said Bob Denike, CEO of NHS. “I have been impressed with Jeff’s consistent growth, drive and focus over the years. The skateboard business goes through dramatic changes each decade and it’s time again for new ideas and a growth mindset to take NHS into the future. Jeff has the energy, talent, intelligence and desire to bring our company to new levels.”
Richard Novak, chairman, founder and consigliere of NHS says, “I always enjoyed watching Jeff skate when he rode for us; he was super focused and very competitive. He brings that same intensity to his role at NHS. I look at this promotion as another NHS success story of taking a skateboarder and moving him into the business and industry, all the way to the senior levels of our company. I want NHS to continue long into the future, and I am confident Jeff will help us remain a reliable and solid backbone of skateboarding for many years to come.”
“I’m so grateful to have grown with NHS over the last 27 years,” said Jeff Kendall. “We are a company with a culture that encourages and nurtures those with an intense passion for skateboarding (and sometimes little else) to learn and develop themselves; to take risks, make mistakes as long as you learn from them, and to constantly strive to innovate and improve in all aspects of our company. I am very proud to have helped grow and evolve these principles and our company over the last 12 years as Vice President. I’m looking forward to continued collaboration with the amazing people we have at and involved with NHS and develop and realize a future that is good for the company and skateboarding as a whole.”
