I understand that these people are all there to see me ride, that that's why they're in the building, and whether I have ten people, or a thousand people come out to see me, they still came out to see me, and I take that to heart.

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.

Through skateboarding, I have an open line of communication, some common ground and common ground is big man. That enables me to travel around the world and no matter where I am, or who I'm with, connect with other young people, and I can have an instant dialogue and an instant relationship based on the fact that we skateboard, and when I'm doing appearances and demos, that's not lost on me.

Where I'm coming from is that nothing I do is from a sense of obligation.

There's a lot of time when skaters think they know everything because they've seen videos of you, and seen you on TV or the internet, and there's ways of throwing jabs and being inconsiderate and not having your manners.

Through getting sponsored and becoming a part of the Bones Brigade and Powell Peralta, doors were being opened. The entire culture was shifting from ramps to street, and I sort of became a poster child for that.

We didn't call it a sport necessarily, and skaters definitely weren't thought of as athletes, we were thought of as misfits.