Earth Veins began after several years of Tom carving out a corner for himself in the whitewater community as a river boarder on the Ottawa River. He initially began his whitewater journey rafting and kayaking until Martin Bertrand introduced him to river boarding in 2012, which he quickly fell in love with. In 2013, he bought a camera and began documenting his river boarding and river adventures, which began generating a lot of attention online. His videos frequently generate thousands of views, and for good reason, what he does is very unique.

Tom started to translate tricks from other sports into tricks he could preform on a river board and on river waves, coining the name "Freestyle Riverboarding". The problem? No board on the market would allow him to progress as fast as he was. The solution? Doing only what a carpenter's son & creative genius could, build his own. In 2013, he was modifying boards and by 2015 he was riding his own boards. After teaming up with his two best friends, Regan Ho & Sage Karson, they began building & selling boards across North America in 2016. Along with friend and roommate Mike Pearce, the boys had a ton of fun and some successes but life took them all in different directions (and to different countries). After a few years, and a lot of changes, Tom now runs the company with his partner, Rachel. Over the years the boards' design & build process has continued to evolve and improve, along with Tom's commitment to introduce people to this sport and whitewater. Tom firmly believes there is no better way to experience nature and whitewater than on one of his boards.

In 2015, Tom introduced his brother Jon to the sport and the two have become known as “The Paterson Bros” – the best in the sport, they can be frequently seen with professional kayakers, pursuing big wave surfing. The two brothers now build boards together as well. Over the years they have shared their love of river boarding with others and have developed a crew of fellow Freestyle River boarders.