In 1984, Don left his home town of Brighton, England, and headed to the USA on a one-way plane ticket. With only his skateboard and not enough money for a return ticket home, Don quickly absorbed into the American skate scene. Winning the majority of the Amateur contests, he was eventually turned professional in 1986 and won the Freestyle world championships during skateboarding's peak in 1989. After the great skate recession in 1990, Don handed in his professional career to helping his friend launch etnies skate footwear in the USA, which eventually leads to creating and launching additional brands éS, Sheep, Emerica footwear brands, Thirtytwo Snowboarding, and Altamont apparel. In 2003, Don was voted in by the skateboard industry to be on the IASC (International Assc Skateboard Companies) board, where for the past six years, he has been Chairman of the Board. IASC is a non-profit association that helps to Promote skateboarding, Increase Participation, and Educate the industry and has created events such as Go Skateboarding Day, Skateboarding Hall of Fame Ceremony, and Skateboarding Industry summits.