I'm not going to beat somebody up for talking smack to me, especially another skater.

I don't talk down to kids. Usually someone my age who's talking to a ten or twelve year old is yelling at them.

I don't see masses, I don't see it like, oh there's hundreds of people here and I'm overwhelmed. I just try to think, well I could be a kid in that crowd, or my daughters could be in that crowd, and no one wants to feel like they're just part of the masses.

I'm not going to beat somebody up for talking smack to me, especially another skater.

I'm not out here on the front lines trying to create clones, or consumers, or worshippers of who I am, and what I do. I'm trying to nurture the idea that you should do your own thing, which is really powerful.

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.

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.