Pivotal Moves—The JJ Collier Adventure

By Steve York

It was a warm spring evening in May of 1985. John Joseph Collier (or “JJ,” as he’s commonly known) and friends were gathered at the former Chalet movie theater in the Boone Heights Shopping Center. It was just after JJ’s 14th birthday and the guys were celebrating at the movies. The film was “A View to a Kill,” a James Bond film featuring Roger Moore’s last performance as the fictional Ian Fleming MI6 British secret agent. And it was that movie that marked one of the two most pivotal decisions in JJ’s life.

In the opening scene Bond’s mission was to retrieve a microchip from a fellow agent frozen beneath the Siberian snows. Recovering the microchip would prevent movie villain, Max Zorin, from using it to destroy California’s Silicon Valley and building a worldwide microchip monopoly. Bond narrowly escaped with the microchip amidst a barrage of heavy artillery fire, fleeing on a single snowmobile ski blade and racing snowboard-style down treacherous slopes and into the arms of a beautiful, blonde submarine pilot.

So, why was a Bond movie pivotal in JJ’s life? To answer that, we need to back up a little. JJ comes from a very dynamic family. They moved to Banner Elk when JJ was about six. His father “Big John”— as the family often calls him—is a retired, highly-decorated and heroic Lieutenant Colonel in the Airborne Ranger Special Forces/Green Berets. His mom Katherine is a retired and highly-respected “RN” with years in both the ER and OR at Cannon Memorial Hospital. Then there’s his younger brother Dave, who runs a Charlotte screen-printing business, and his younger sister Kristan, a professional private caterer in Massachusetts. All are successful, very creative, competitive and athletic. Given that family chemistry, it’s not surprising that during high school JJ became a tri-athlete and a formidable competitor. Both JJ and younger brother Dave were also avid trail bike enthusiasts in the early 1980s, tearing across rugged mountain terrains around home. JJ steered his BMX Mongoose California bike and Dave road atop a Vector model. Back then both were sporting the trendy ‘80s west coast skateboarder “look” and emulating daredevil feats of world-renowned bikers pictured in BMX magazine. As fate would have things, it was in one of those BMX magazines that JJ first saw an ad for Burton snowboards.

Back to the original question: Why did that Bond movie so impact JJ’s life? It was that opening scene when Bond used a single snowmobile ski as a makeshift snowboard and careened down those shear Siberian slopes. That scene pivoted JJ’s focus from trail bikes to snowboards. “That’s what I want to do!” he declared. “After all, we don’t have waves and skate parks like California,” JJ thought to himself. “But we do have these mountains!”

By November of 1986, both JJ and Dave had begun blazing down snowy Beech Mountain slopes on their Burton Elite 140 snowboards. And, to hear JJ tell it, “Dave was not only a great competitive snowboarder, he was also right on my heels and always driving me to excel.” Within two years, and with “Big John” behind the wheel, JJ and Dave were on their way to the 1988 U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships in Stratton Mountain, Vermont. There, JJ won first place in the Junior Moguls competition defeating 67 riders from around the nation and even landing a sponsorship from Burton Snowboards.

Throughout the next decade JJ became a snowboarding star. He reached national ranking in the U.S. Open, went on to finish third and fourth in the 1995 half pipe and then achieved an overall second half pipe champion placement during the 1997 U.S. Pro Snowboard Tour. It was also during those late 1990s while in Breckenridge, Colorado, that he met his future wife, Shannon. Yes, JJ was living his dream, a dream first inspired by 007 when he was only 14. But wait! There’s more.

Since his youth, JJ had a talent for drawing and pulling design ideas together with an original twist. He also had a keen eye for well-tailored, superfunctional fashion, a knack inspired by his mom and dad. “I credit my parents

for my ‘innate’ fashion sense. My dad’s building one-off garments for several Along the way, JJ and Shannon sharp uniforms, his appreciation for clients throughout that summer. Then in brought two sons into the world—Curquality clothing and my mom’s eclectic October, he got a life-changing call from ran, 18, and Jenson, 16. The brothers are, style, along with her vision for what’s Salomon ski gear of France and was naturally, avid mountain outdoorsmen coming next, all made a big impact on hired to design their first ski apparel col- who enjoy snowboarding, rock climbme,” says JJ. lection. “Salomon was my first full-time ing, cycling and camping. “Both are

Turns out that his drawing talents professional job, and I was their first full- also very creative,” says JJ. “Curran loves and fashion design savvy fed perfectly time apparel designer. So, Shannon and photography while Jenson is into digital into the next phase of his life. During I moved to Boulder and—working with art. They both get it in terms of knowing his travels around the world, compet- a great team there—launched Salomon’s what good work looks like,” JJ proudly ing and donning the sportswear fashion first apparel line in Fall 2001,” JJ notes. notes. of the times, he became deeply schooled A mere two years later, after locat- With all his successes, living out his in what looks good, feels good and actu- ing to Salomon’s French headquarters, dreams, having a wonderful wife and ally functions under the stress of com- Ralph Lauren recruited JJ as Outerwear sons and cherishing his Porsche passion petition. So while still at the peak of his Design Director for their RLX Black (since age 7), 49-year-old JJ still harsnowboarding fame, JJ began a second Label designs. RLX then led to Spyder kens back to his Banner Elk roots. For pivot towards outdoor sporting apparel Active Sports in 2010, where he helped him it all started with growing up in the design. reinvent their product line and greatly High Country and receiving abundant boost their market position. After Spy- encouragement from family and homePivot #2 der came design work for Triple Aught town supporters.

In 1997 he bought a sewing machine Design, VF Corp, and more until estab- Then, of course, there’s his spirit of and, during his downtime from touring, lishing his own collierbrands firm in 2016 adventure inspired by that 1985 James began crafting his own designs. Before (collierbrands.com). Bond opening scene. And it’s that spirit long JJ had stopped competitive snow- Today, his progressive design com- which is built into everything he’s ever boarding and in 1998, he and Shannon pany works primarily on apparel and done, whether as a top pro snowboard left Colorado and made a bold move accessories in the outdoor and lifestyle competitor, a top sporting apparel deexceptional to Charlotte, North Carolina, where JJ launched a small custom apparel design business. Later that year, he delivered a successful 34-piece johncollier brand fashion show in Charlotte, and ultimately established his professional designer credentials. “Somehow, I knew I was born to do this,” he recalls. JJ and Shannon were married in January 1999, and while she worked for market specifically for ski, nautical, cycling, running and even some auto racing. They contract directly with various brand partners offering concept, design, product launch, aesthetic product reinvention and line expansion. At the same time, JJ and his team are in the business of “giving back” to help inspire and mentor future designers to achieve their dreams. signer or a grateful husband and father. To bring it all back home, JJ likes to acknowledge, “I wouldn’t be me without BE (Banner Elk)!” Footnote: In snowboarding, certain critical moves require a strategic “pivot turn” shifting weight towards the front leg. Successful pivots require skill and timing. But they can also help achieve a win. So far, life decision pivots have scored big wins for JJ. ESPN, he was putting in long hours

The original Historical Marker for Appalachian State was erected on King Street in 1950. This marker replaced that one in 1990. (Michael C. Hardy)

Capt. Edward F. Lovill, whom B.B. Dougherty considered the “Father of Appalachian State.” (Internet Archive)

The task of establishing what became Appalachian State University was the work of many groups and individuals. One name, however, stands out: Edward Lovill.

Born in Surry County, Lovill came to Watauga County following service during the Civil War. He first settled in Todd, then, after attaining his law license, moved to Boone. Lovill was a major supporter of education, and on several occasions, while serving in either the state house or senate, advanced bills to support higher education. One of the first came in 1883. Lovill introduced legislation to establish a “normal school,” a school to educate teachers, in Boone. The bill would eventually pass, and for two years, starting in 1885, Boone would have a school to train teachers, but the General Assembly moved the school to Sparta, where it eventually folded.

Two brothers, Dauphin and Blanford Dougherty, opened the Watauga Academy in Boone in 1899. Following an address in Boone by Gov. Charles Aycock, the Doughertys believed that the area still needed a school to train local teachers. They turned to Lovill, who drafted the legislation. Blanford Dougherty and Lovill made their way to Raleigh where they lobbied for the bill. There was a lot of opposition, but the bill passed by one vote in March 1903. The Watauga Academy was changed to the Appalachian Training School, which opened in October, with Lovill serving as chairman of the board, Blanford as the superintendent and teacher for Latin and pedagogics, and Dauphin as principal and teacher for mathematics and science. High school students were taught in the fall and spring, and teachers in the summer. When Lovill died in 1925, Blanford considered him the “Father of Appalachian State.”

In 1929, the school became a fouryear college, and the name was changed to the Appalachian State Teachers College; in 1948, the school became the first teachers’ school in the South to grant graduate degrees. In 1967, the name was changed again to Appalachian State University, joining the University of North Carolina system five years later. As of 2020, Appalachian State University has more than 20,000 students in more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

The original State Historic Marker denoting the Appalachian State Teachers College was erected in 1950 on King Street. It read “Established in 1899 as Watauga Academy. State-supported since 1903. A 4-year college, 1929.” This marker was replaced in 2009 with a marker changing the title to Appalachian State University. It now reads “Est. 1899 as Watauga Academy by B.B. and D.D. Dougherty. A campus of North Carolina since 1972.” As mentioned, at the time of Lovill’s death in 1925, Blanford had considered him the “Father of Appalachian State.” Yet today, there is nothing on campus denoting his huge role in establishing Appalachian State University.