I would dream of being a pro skater, but I never dreamt I'd be discovered by Lance Mountain and Stacey Peralta, who were two major heroes of mine, and be asked to skate for that team and be a part of their company.

If someone told me I had to give back, or I'm supposed to give back, or I'm supposed to do these things, I would reject that. My actions are those of valuing and caring.

I desire to have a dialogue that's positive, and communicative and moves forward, and is about something real, not just consumption.

What I do is I take action because I value the position I have, the career I have, the life I live, the people I interact with, my fanbase, my friends, however you want to say that. I value those relationships and I use the opportunities they present to me.

They'll try to apply the rules of the day to the game, where you can't touch your board with your hands, or you can't step off your board, etc and I want nothing to do with it. It's like a game from a different planet or something and it's hard for me to relate to anybody who would think of skateboarding in such a narrow way.

I grew up on the Bones Brigade as well. The very first skateboard video I saw was the Bones Brigade Video Show and I'd always valued the Bones Brigade and Powell Peralta as the ultimate in skateboarding.

When I got sponsored, it symbolized a major change and a major shift in skateboarding.