Garret & Dakota Porter

Garret and Dakota Porter both attended and graduated from Traverse City Central High School, Dakota in 2013 and Garret in 2016.

In 2011, they conceived an idea that would soon flip the action sports industry on its head. The idea to put LED lights on their snowboards came to them one evening when they were about to drop in on a dark ski slope. They wondered what it would feel like to shred through fresh powder or launch a hanging 360 with LED snowboards and dreamed about being the inventors of a product that would allow just that for every action sport enthusiast. That evening, they made the biggest decision of their lives: to double-down and make that dream a reality. The next two years were spent on designing and engineering this product – now known worldwide as ActionGlow.

Being only 13 and 16 years old at the time, they were faced with quite the learning curve. However, one thing they were excellent at was not being afraid to reach out for help when we needed it. With assistance and guidance from anyone in the area who was willing to give them the time of day, they created their first iteration of ActionGlow; an aftermarket, low profile, and lightweight lighting system for the action sport enthusiast looking to create their own path and separate themselves from the pack.

ActionGlow was launched in 2013 and they were amazed at how quickly their LED lighting systems were flying off the shelves. They sold out of their initial inventory within 48 hours. As requests for different applications poured in and new ideas kept manifesting, they continued to add to our product line offering every rider the opportunity to light up their sport.

Today, they continue to follow their vision of building 45th Parallel Lighting into the empire they know it can be by constantly researching and developing new products.