Dale
Dale Bell is the owner of YoYoJam. He designs and brings to life all the amazing yo-yos that you see on this website and in players hands at contests. He was the first in the world to design a yo-yo with metal weight rings and also designed the longest spinning yo-yo in the world! He really knows his stuff.
When Dale isn’t working for YoYoJam he runs Advanced Air International which produces high quality fan blades for many major brands throughout the world. He is also an antique car enthusiast having raced in the Great American Race for nearly ten years!
Valerie
Valerie Aaron is the Vice-President of YoYoJam. She is in charge of running the business end of YoYoJam. She runs the Business Office and Distribution center in Georgia. If you would have told Valerie she was going to grow up and be a yo-yo salesman she would have told you that you were crazy. And there are times when she still has a hard time believing it!
When she isn’t at YYJ, Valerie enjoys riding horses with her husband, Danny. She also loves to travel! Valerie and Danny have founded a nonprofit organization called Truth Seekers Ministries. Currently, their largest project is a community center in Hone Creek, Costa Rica which seeks to reach out to the homeless and neglected children of the impoverished community. They travel to work on site at the Costa Rica project as often as possible. Valerie is also a first-responder for the Southern Baptist Association Disaster Relief Team and enjoys community service.
When she isn’t at YYJ, Valerie enjoys riding horses with her husband, Danny. She also loves to travel! Valerie shares Danny’s dedication to the student ministry at their church and serves as a sunday school teacher and as the choir director. She is also a first-responder for the Southern Baptist Association Disaster Relief Team and enjoys community service.
Danny
Danny Aaron is the corporate treasurer of YoYoJam, Inc. After nearly 30 years as a swimming pool contractor, Danny sold his company and is now semi-retired. He helps Valerie run YoYoJam as needed and oversees the assembly operations. Danny brings a wealth of business knowledge to the operation. A very outgoing individual, Danny enjoys working the booth at Nationals and Worlds and working on various YYJ events throughout the year.
When he’s not at YoYoJam, Danny stays very busy. A former body builder and power lifter, Danny continues to go to the gym daily. He also enjoys riding horses with Valerie, and is an avid hunter. In the past, Danny has served as a youth mentor in his church and even volunteered as a youth pastor for three years as he helped plant a new church. Danny is dedicated to serving wherever the Lord may lead. He has been actively involved with many community service projects but currently focuses most of his volunteer efforts on the projects of Truth Seekers Ministries. He is a first-responder for the Southern Baptist Association Disaster Relief Team.
André
André Boulay has been playing with yo-yos since 2000. He got his start at the A2Z Science and Learning Store in Northampton Massachusetts where he started teaching their yo-yo classes and competing. He has placed as high as 5th in the nation and has won both the Massachusetts State Contest and the Northeast Regional Competition. He no longer competes but you can find him at most competitions behind the judges table. In addition he has created one of the most popular yo-yo trick sites on the internet: MasterMagic.NET. After completing his BS in Biology and Psychology André and his wife Devon started YoYoExpert.com which has quickly become one of the most successful online yo-yo retailers on the web. He is now working on completing a Masters of Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. André continues to be a valuable member of our team as a design and marketing consultant.
Nathan Crissey
Nathan is the Captain of Team YoYoJam. He joined the team in 2004 and has been active in the yo-yo scene since 1999. Nathan is mostly retired from competitive yo-yoing and is primarily active as a contest organizer and judge. He is the Co-Chairman of the World Yo-Yo Contest, the founder and Contest Director of the Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championships, and the Co-Contest Director of the Bay Area Classic. Nathan also serves as a judge at contests around the World.
In his day job, Nathan works as a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin. He graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and from Santa Clara University with a MS in Engineering Management and Leadership. In his limited spare time Nathan is an avid sports fan (particularly the Washington Huskies, Oakland Athletics, and San Jose Sharks) and participates in Crossfit.
JD / Johnnie DelValle
JD is a web and graphic designer and has been yoyoing since 1999, he carries the 2003 regional, national and world yoyo championship titles. JD is retired from competition but gives back to yoyoing by judging contests and events. The three signature yoyo’s he plays with and endorses are the YoYoJam Lyn Fury, Hitman Pro and Xconvict Pro. To see his videos visit http://yoyofreaks.com.
JD is currently working as a Web and Brand Manager for a cancer diagnostics company in california and runs his own online yoyo store in the bay area: YoYoBESTBUY – JD is also the creative director and founder of STEELJOHN.
Mark Yoshi Mikamoto
Yoshi has been yo-yoing since 1998 and now provides technical product support for YoYoJam customers. He is best known in the yoyo community as the Iron Man of Yo – a title he earned after placing highest overall in all five divisions at the National YoYo Contest. Yoshi still competes, most recently concentrating on his 3A skills. He has also judged at regional and nationals contests as well as at the World YoYo Contest. Yoshi is studying at CA State Dominguez Hills to become a teacher. He puts those skills to use teaching a yoyo class in Redondo Beach, CA where he has helped champion players such as Grant Johnson and Alex Hattori build their yo-yoing foundations and where he continues to inspire the next generation of competitive yo-yoers.