Perry Gladstone

Perry Adam Gladstone (born December 23, 1968) aka Prince Perry is a Canadian entrepreneur, advisor, author, strategic consultant, and recording artist. He is a coach and advisor to successful entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, NGOs, and governments. Gladstone is the founder of Limited Snowboards, Fishlips Skateboards, and co-founder of Fundación Somos de Costa Rica.

Early life and education

Gladstone grew up in Toronto, Ontario, navigating garage sales and flea market tables with his father, who mentored him in buying and selling. He attended Northern Secondary School in Toronto, Ontario.

Gladstone started selling comic books at 8 and opened his first skateboard shop at 15. Making friends with Tony Hawk and members of the Bones Brigade, he ended up in front of and behind the camera on the feature film Police Academy 4. At 18, he appeared in episodes of Night Heat, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents as a stand-in for Mark Hamill. At 19, he opened the first commercial indoor skateboard park in Eastern Canada, Toronto Skateworks, and began manufacturing and selling skateboards internationally. By the time he reached 25, he had created the largest Canadian snowboard brand in the world, which he later sold.

Career

Entrepreneur

On the heels of his retail stores and skatepark, Gladstone established his first international brand, Fishlips Skateboards, at 19. At 22, he founded a national action sports magazine, and by 24, he was the owner and operator of the Canadian snowboard brand, Limited Snowboards. Gladstone founded Limited Snowboards in 1993 with Ricardo Camargo.

After selling his snowboard company to the Volant Ski Company in 1998, Gladstone entered the entertainment industry. He produced music videos for LEN, Lindy, and other Canadian artists, radio and television commercials, and wrote and directed radio documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He spent the next several years traveling the world as an advisor, musician, and freediving world-record judge. In 2002, he studied under Richard J. Lewis as Director’s Apprentice on the feature film K-9: P.I. In 2005, Gladstone co-founded the branding agency Brand & Tonic Inc. In 2010, he began an exclusive coaching practice for industry leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and rock stars. Later, he moved to Costa Rica and became an advisor to NGOs, agencies, and central American governments.

His institutional clients include the BMW Foundation, United Nations Development Program, Central American Integration System (SICA), Costa Rica Ministries of Security and Tourism, Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC), Fundación SOMOS, School for Social Entrepreneurs, Snowsports Industries America, League of Intrapreneurs, Salvation Army, Humber Institute for Technology and Advanced Learning.

Gladstone has founded ten successful companies in the action sports, entertainment, and media industries, including Brand & Tonic Inc., Four Ways Films, Vehicle Magazine, and Limited Snowboards Inc.

Recording artist

Gladstone has recorded three full-length albums and performs under the stage name Prince Perry. He is a Ska, Punk, and Rock-Reggae artist. He was coached by Rolando Alphonso of The Skatalites in the early 90s and dubbed Little Prince by The Selecter’s Pauline Black.

His backing band has featured a number of notable musicians, including Joel Cassady, Meher Steinberg, Mike Gasseldorfer, Mitch Girio, and Stefan Babcock.

Speaker

Gladstone is a sought-after coach and speaker. His sessions are full of timely advice, big-picture vision, and insights from his career as a serial entrepreneur. His popular seminars and workshops have helped people worldwide.

Gladstone is the host of the podcast, The Prince Perry Show.

Freediving

Gladstone completed an attempt on the Canadian National Static Apnea record on September 26, 2002, at the Dover Recreation Association pool in Ottawa, ON. He achieved a breath-hold time of 6:01 minutes successfully within the Canadian Association of Freediving and Apnea (CAFA) Regulation for The Recognition of Canadian Records guidelines.

Book

Gladstone is the author of FAST & HOT: How to Open Hearts, Win Minds and Create a Better Life in Business.

Volunteer work

Gladstone has served on numerous non-profit and NGO boards, including Fundación SOMOS de Costa Rica, Snowsports Industries America, and has been a member of the BMW Foundation’s World Responsible Leader Network since 2015, serving as a mentor for its RESPOND Accelerator and RISE Cities programs.