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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Everything that I'm really about is being an individualist. I believe in individuality.

I feel like the best thing, as far as what I do with kids, is I treat them like human beings.

Kids at skate parks will step up and challenge me to a game of Skate, but I'm over that, I really don't care. I'm all about participating, and I'm all about being a part of this scene, but there's certain vibes I just don't get along with.

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.

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.

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

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 don't want to be an object of consumption. I like to get out there and participate because I care about it. It's not because I've gotten filthy rich off the hides of young skaters that I feel some sickening obligation to act on, and make myself look like I'm not that bad of a guy. It's because I actually care.

If I signed a contract that meant someone else wouldn't be playing.