After relocating from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to California, US at the age of seventeen, Howard began his skateboarding career with Blockhead Skateboards and Gullwing Trucks. Howard lived with the owner of Blockhead in San Diego and stated in 2011, "It was really fun living there and a lot of fun sessions, lot of different people coming through there, like Chris Miller that was awesome." Following Blockhead, Howard skated for Plan B Skateboards in 1991 and, during his time with Plan B, he left Gullwing and switched to Independent Trucks. His part in the second Plan B video, Virtual Reality, is well known for his advancement of "switch-stance" skating. The "fakie frontside big spin heelflip" is named the "Rick Flip" or "Howard Heel"—the invention of this trick has been credited to Howard; however, Howard has publicly stated that he does not appreciate the recognition, as he does not believe that he is the trick's inventor. While Howard was filmed performing in skits for the 2012 Girl/Chocolate co-production Pretty Sweet, he is not featured in the actual film.
Sponsors
As of December 2014, Howard is sponsored by Spitfire, Girl, Fourstar Clothing, Lakai Limited Footwear, Independent Trucks Glassy Sunhaters and Diamond Supply Co.
Company owner
Girl
After leaving Plan B, Howard formed a new company named Girl Skateboards with Spike Jonze, Carroll, and Megan Baltimore in 1993. When asked in a 2011 interview about what he sought to make different with the formation of Girl, in comparison to other companies, Howard replied:
Everyone has a say. Efforts on everyone's part, so just a team effort. There was a lot of things going on at that time that it was the natural thing to do. It's not like people had plans and strategies and stuff like that. It's like these were the people we skated with that were good at the time... It was just all a group thing, it still is. We all still put in the same efforts as we did the day we started. That was the main idea, that it's kind of a cooperative effort. Everyone has a say on the matter.
Lakai Limited Footwear
Howard was sponsored by DC Shoes, where he had a signature model shoe, but left DC to form his own shoe company with Carroll, Lakai Limited Footwear.
2013 Howard Lakai shoe
In March 2013, Howard and Carroll conducted a video interview with the Active mail order company's YouTube channel, explaining the innovation of Howard signature model shoe that had been manufactured with a cup sole, as opposed to the vulcanized sole that Howard had preferred over the preceding five years. Howard explained that Carroll had managed to design a cup sole akin to a vulcanized sole, in addition to other technical aspects, and had therefore proceeded with the release of the design. Johnston stated in a March 2013 interview for the Independent Truck Company that the shoe design was his favorite Lakai design since working for the company.
Personal life
As of 2011, Howard resides in California, US, after relocating there from Canada as a teenager. Howard's personal life is not covered in the skateboard media and his role in the industry has not been publicized—the Lakai website provides the following description of Howard: "His role behind the scenes at Girl has been equally as important as his time on the board."
