Meet Tommie Zam | co-owner of TSM MEDIA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tommie Zam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tommie, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?

13yrs ago (July 11th, 2010), Carl Carpentier was a photographer shooting photos of skateboarders & etc., he would submit photos of upcoming / known skateboarders, but the skateboard media showed him no love. I just closed my skate shop after 5yrs due to the economy & trying to figure out my life.

Carl Carpentier & I talked about starting a business together & we decided to start a Skateboard Magazine. He wanted to do a printed zine, but I told him that print is going to die & online zine is going to be the way to go. Plus, there were not any dedicated online zines 13yrs ago.

We agreed & went out to start ‘True Skateboard Mag’, I found a guy that builds websites for a side job from his military job. He started to build ours, right before the launch of TSM. They found out & had him close down his side job. He basically handed me everything & said good luck. One thing you got remember is that I only had a high school diploma & no college experience.

True Skateboard Mag went live & our success began. Our vision is to help grow the skateboard scene worldwide & skater owned businesses.

We wanted to give up-coming photographers, filmers, writers, etc. a chance to achieve their dream.

We wanted to do something outside of the box of the skateboard media.

Our focus is not to be the next massive thing in the skateboard media, our focus is for all of us to work together because we are doing what we love, ‘SKATEBOARDING.’

There is not any money in skateboarding unless you signed on with corporation (Nike, Red Bull, & etc.). I will say, there use to be money in skateboarding back in the mid 80’s – early 2000’s, which was when skateboarding was run by skaters. Do not get me wrong, skateboarding has its ups & downs like everything else, but we know how to survive it. Once skateboarding let Nike, Red Bull & etc. come in, our industry changed dramatically. Skater owned brands started disappearing because they could not stand up to the giants. That is why it is important for skaters to support skater owned business.

6yrs ago, we took a huge risk doing skateboard talk shows. The CEO of a streaming network company ‘e360tv” got in contact with Carl & I. We all had a meeting & he asked us ‘Have you guys ever thought of doing a talk show?’, Carl & I looked at each other & said ‘Let’s do it”. We had no experience on how to do talk shows at all, but we did it.

TSM “LIVE SHOW” – we used the format of David Letterman. We would interview up-coming skaters, musicians with a live performance & Pro skater / skateboard industry. We would film live on location (skateparks, breweries, skate shops & etc.) & with a live audience.

Roast Beef – we take skaters before or after a session to their favorite restaurant.

If we did not take a risk on this opportunity, we would be wondering.

When we started TSM, I was living in St. Petersburg, Fl & Carl was living in California. I would run TSM out of Florida & it was hard. The reason I say that is cause of going to events & showing face. It was difficult for Carl because he was married & the kids were super young at that time. Do not get me wrong TSM was growing but we were missing that one thing ‘showing face’. In 2013 – 2014, I decided to move back to San Diego to help grow TSM. Once I did, business started to grow & it was the best choice I made.

I will have to say finding the right krew to help make TSM successful. Carl & I went through a lot of people to help build the walls. We have stories to tell, lol. The krew we have now ‘Tyler Stewart, Aaron Lopez, Steve Connerton, Jon Kushner, Micheal Bell, Piss Skate, & Michelle Storm ‘, these guys are one of the reasons why we have been successful for 13yrs.

Honestly, I do not think I ever had a difficult decision in my personal & business life to make. If I had something really important to talk about in my personal & business life, I would talk with Carl. Carl & my communication skills are on point, do not get me wrong we do bump heads (we are humans) here & there.

Every day I try to balance out my work & personal life. Some months, I will be on a roll on balancing out & next month I will slack, lol. I think balancing out your life (Business or Personal) is very important cause you have to make time for your sanity.

The only way that I am going to be successful is if you are successful. If you are on my boat, we are going to be successful but that is up to you. If you do not want to be successful, you are going to be standing on the dock watching my boat sail away.

Basically, means what it says, you with me or not.

I have a creative mind & I’m just pursuing my dream. One thing, I love having fun on this journey I am on

Wow, that is something I never thought of because I do not think about my legacy. I will say talk to me in 10yrs.

I just want people to remember who I am & what I have done for the skateboard community

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

On July 11th, 2010, we launched a vision that would help grow the skateboard scene worldwide & skater owned businesses.

We wanted to give up-coming photographers, filmers, writers, etc. a chance to achieve their dream.

We wanted to do something outside of the box of the skateboard media.

Our focus is not to be the next massive thing in the skateboard media, our focus is for all of us to work together because we are doing what we love, ‘SKATEBOARDING.’

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

If you came to visit me in San Diego:

We would wake up & head down to the beach to grab some breakfast at Kona’s.

Grab our boards & go shred at Poods Plaza in Encinitas

Go take a dip in the ocean at Swamis.

Drive down the PCH for the scenery on the way back to PB.

Grab some sushi from PB Sushi & then go watch the sunset at Tower 24

Stop in at Open Bar grab some drinks & then bar hop.

Next few days, we would do the same thing but maybe change up the restaurants, watch a ball game at Petco Park, Party DTSD, or just go with the flow

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

My shout goes out to: My mom & dad for believing in me, Arthur Adams for getting me into skateboarding, Jason Coley for teaching me the streets, The BB krew for the skateboard adventures, Mirko Mangum for taking care of my skateboard dreams, Mike at Innerlight, Mike / Lee at Beach Plus ( Plus Skate shop ) & Jim at Pacific Drive for giving me a home, Brian Schafer from Skatepark of Tampa for all the support over the years, all the skaters that supported The Finest Skate shop, Pensacola Skateboard Community, My ex-wives for letting me live my dream, Neal & Jennifer Zam for being in my life, San Diego Skateboard Community, TSM MEIDA Krew for being part of this success, Israel Skateboard Scene, & Carl Carpentier for being a homie / business partner for 30+ years

I personally want to say “Thank You’ to the world skateboard community for the support & love. TSM MEDIA would not be here without you guys. I want to thank the skateboard industry for the all the support & let us keep growing together.

Last of my ‘Thank You’ is to the haters, thank you for my success!!

Website: https://truesk8boardmag.com

Instagram: @tsm__media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trueskateboardmag

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TSMMEDIACHANNEL

Image Credits
I own all the photos, they was taken by my iphone