Hometown Humility: An Alum’s Illustrious Career Leads Him Back to Temple

Jimmy’s story starts back in 2000, when he graduated from Norristown Area High School and chose to attend Temple for his college education. He excitedly shares that it was the only school he applied to, mostly due to its proximity to LOVE Park. At that time, there was a very prolific skateboarding scene in the area and in Philadelphia in general, especially near Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Jimmy was already a part of that world even before enrolling at Temple. “Those areas always offered that hangout feeling for us; a place where kids could just get together and skate.” He jokes that he didn’t even need to attend orientation his freshman year, since he already knew the area so well.

Despite his love for skateboarding and the potential to turn that into his sole career, he remained steadfast in making sure he would still get himself a proper education. His mom was a driving force: “She was like, I support the skateboarding stuff, but you have to maintain your education too.” Initially planning to study education and become a teacher, Jimmy found himself intimidated by the course schedule and decided to pursue marketing, as he found his worlds in and outside the classroom were beginning to collide. His skating career was taking off, and now he was able to better understand the business world that went alongside it. “As a skateboarder and the marketing chip of a company, it helped me understand how it all connected. With the classes I was taking, all the chips really came together.”

After being graduated from Temple for a few years, enjoying stints with Disney and Pharrell, as well as starting a family, Jimmy found that what he learned from Temple was still resonating with him in a big way. He received an offer to become Gourmet Footwear’s director of marketing, a position he says he didn’t necessarily have experience for but was given because the owner really took faith in him. “I began to really take in all the information and utilize it from internships and classes from over six years prior.” The company was run by a gentleman who was a designer at two of the skateboard companies where Jimmy had previously skated. This is another aspect where Jimmy says his professors’ insights stayed with him: It’s all about connections. “Creating those relationships, maintaining them and understanding how valuable they were is something teachers would tell you back in the day. In the moment it may not click, but as time goes on, it absolutely does.”

Around the same time, he decided that he wanted to set foot into the fashion realm on his own. He and his work partner began developing JSP, a line of sweatpants. The line became hugely successful, leading the company to wade into all different types of clothing styles. It also got a boost in 2017, as his partner launched Standard Issue, an essentials brand, with JSP becoming its own division underneath the Standard Issue umbrella. During this time, he also spent time as marketing director for Pink Dolphin Clothing and No.One Footwear. Gorecki and his partner have now created collaborations with numerous high-profile brands and celebrities over the years, including LeBron James, the NBA, DC Shoes, Reebok, Vans, and our very own Philadelphia Eagles.

With all that success under his belt, the time was finally ripe for Jimmy to return to his roots and launch a collaboration with his alma mater, which had already been in the works for some time. He recalls the idea goes back about five or six years to when Jared Wheeler, a fellow Temple alum who he had met about a decade earlier, had sent him a graphic of an owl on a skateboard. They sat on it for a few years, but eventually Jared found a company in North Philly, Boathouse, that had been making clothing for decades, and would be the perfect partner to help create the line. They visited their location and were impressed with everyone they encountered. “I really value the people that make this stuff. I could see the same humbleness and skill in them in North Philly as our facility out in downtown Los Angeles.” They were eventually able to connect with Temple’s branding department who Jimmy says also saw the value in what he was propositioning.

Cut to 2024, and Temple Skateboard Owls were born. The collaborative collection of clothes, featuring the original design that Jimmy loved of the owl on a skateboard, will release Thursday, April 4, in the Temple University Bookstore and on the JSP and Boathouse websites. You can see more below from the launch video on how the line pays homage to Temple’s relationship to the Philadelphia skateboard community.

As he returns to the nest for a huge new venture, what advice does Jimmy have for current students? “Relationships are particularly important. Anybody that opens the door for you, do everything you can to make them feel happy with their decision to do so for you, because there are a million people out there that they could be doing that for.” Primarily though, he says that staying authentic is key. “Do what’s genuine and authentic to you. Do what you really feel. That’s what you’re going to put the most passion into.”

His relationship with the Temple community has never wavered, even after so much success. He’s always looking to work with alumni in whatever capacity he can. He adds his favorite thing to do is being able to come back and work with students and kids in the area. The lookbook photographer for the new line is a senior at Temple, while the videographer just graduated. “Every project I do, I try and circle back and work with kids from within the city. I had great mentors that took me under their wing, so I always feel a real obligation to give back.”

Temple alumni bravely pursue their biggest ideas and transform them into Temple Made businesses that defy expectations and shake up the rules of the game. To learn more about Temple Made businesses or list your own business, visit the Alumni Owned Business Directory today!