Paul Rodriguez on Why Skaters Are Broke

[@butwhytharum]

Bruuuuh i take the mentality that paul said about being stubborn and focused on something to alot of stuff in life. the whole dont be afraid of failure mentality. (of course be smart about it but who ultimately benefits, you? how risky is it to improve your life?) how many times you chuck yourself down a stair set? only to land it once...

[@josiahamaze]

Landing it once is all we need in life in any area or goal.

[@XGames]

Always such great wisdom from Paul. He was dropping knowledge bombs through the whole interview, but this one was pretty special. We all struggle to apply that same tenacity from skateboarding to other passions in our lives, yet we'll throw ourselves at concrete all day long to get a single make. Imagine flipping a switch and doing that with your school or job or family.

[@butwhytharum]

@@XGames I've failed college classes and didn't let the failure get me down, most often I went from 40-45% to high 80% because going in the 1st try I didn't know anything and 2nd try i had some experience...

[@comanchecreature]

​@@XGames The struggle to apply that tenacity to other parts of life is because of that unstructured "do whatever you want" that is the foundation of skateboarding and school, job, and family is known to be very structured and it's unlike music, and a piece of paper and pencil. Once you capture that flow from unstructured, creative things the sky is the limit.

[@comanchecreature]

Thanks Paul for sharing your view, insight, and feel on the skate industry, culture, and its change through time. Left lots of good knowledge.

[@JohnHill]

I feel like it can be so simple. P-rod's got a great channel, Tom Asta has a great channel. You might not pop off crazy on views, but i'm tuning in to any pro i like who just casually talks and skates to an iphone, and they're making extra money for just filming the thing they're doing anyways.

[@XGames]

We're right there with you John! Never going to hate on someone in the action sports community for feeding themselves, or their families. And especially not when the thing they're doing is putting a positive spotlight on our industry. It's the same stuff you've been talking about for years now, and it's awesome to hear it being talked about more and more by these pros. Thank you for going against the grain and speaking up about it, the industry needs more of it.

[@tron.world.777]

@@XGames 😏Nice !

[@GasGotti]

Absolutely. I love watching your content. You’re one of my favorite creators in the community.

[@Possiblechange]

I remember being a kid and loving skateboarding because you can do it even if you are broke…that was part of the reason. But you know, this world defines success by dollar bills and the next big contract that can make you famous… That’s why this world is going to stay broken

[@adrianhernandez215]

This is the truth I wish the skate community starts finding outlets to make everyone more money companies and skaters

[@googoo5922]

@@Possiblechange you should not care. I skate even blanco's and they are premium wood. Guess what. My blanco board is in fact the choice of enjoi. I usually do the art myself. Ef all elitist companies

[@Patrxck87]

Could you tho'? Maybe in the States. But where I'm from, it was pretty expensive to skate (board, shoes, trucks, wheels, grip). And the more you skated the more you damage your gears, the more you need to renew them. Let alone if you were injured and had to pay for hospital bills.

[@Rambo29]

This is a good one, I remember this part from the interview. P. Rod using music and the piano as an analogy was genius cause that's how it is - creativity vs soulless imitation

[@WiiSpords]

Prod is a big part of the reason pros are broke. He is the king of diluting brands with irrelevant collaborations, and uses ultra cheap fast fashion Chinese manufacturers to make infinite flavor of the month garbage. To create a thriving industry in any sector means owning manufacturing from top to bottom. Skateboard companies need to be owning tree farms and sawmills if they want to ultimately control costs of products. Paul just leverages his brand identity to get contracts with bigger marketing firms.

[@GardenStateNJ27]

Agree

[@jarrenjose6230]

how prod and gary gonna preach about skaters cannibalizing each other when they cannibalize jeff in the same video lol

[@sevynblanes]

Super wack huh lol

[@sootytern]

fr they did Jeff bold asf

[@Thisisdarkdata]

I mean at the end of the day no one chooses their style, it’s literally what you’re born with and while Jeff may not have the best god-given style I’ll never judge him for that. my only critique on him is that he never tries to enhance it slightly, it seems like he has zero interest in attempting to do a trick that’s pleasurable to watch as a viewer, he just leans into the doing himself no favors vs somebody who cares enough to learn how to make a trick look proper for those viewing it. I get the comparison.

[@MIKE2111ful]

@@Thisisdarkdata also he's very confrontational and defensive when somebody criticizes him

[@seepagemuck7793]

Gary basically said Jeff's crazy flip tricks were learned with money in mind. Rather than to express himself as an artist. P.Rod basically says learn your money makers, but stay true to the roots in skating.

[@Brant_Moore]

I wish people in the mainstream of BMX would start to have these conversations instead of just goofy ole me on my own youtube channel... This was all SPOT ON! Been saying so much of it for YEARS..especially the part about how much better of a spot people/the industry could be in if we had realized sooner that we could use youtube as a way to make money from google on top of whatever the industry can support. It goes so much bigger than just google with a larger youtube/social media presence too..

[@trillbill9378]

Big up Brant 👊

[@fougdloyd]

One weekend a local skate shop asked me to film. My first & only time getting paid to skate. A couple of these skaters relied on this getting paid from this footage to eat. Long story short, the grind never stops.

[@MechanicalRoosterGaming]

bro ive been saying ALLL this for so long. People gotta stop being so close minded. Just let everyone live how they wanna live bro. Times change, things change, people change, always gonna be that way

[@j.porter_dubz.4936]

Just like p-Rod Jess said we could take we work our asses off to learn one trick over and over again, then succeeded just to take it to a contest or something like that. I never did. I use it as a lesson skateboarding is a way of teaching you things never give up in life to keep on trying until you succeed and get right in any aspect of life is a way to treat it Godspeed

[@fjordan2345]

To some extent I agree with a lot of what Paul says. But to ignore the other side of the argument is kind of silly. A lot of skateboarding culture, is counter culture. That is what a lot of people like about it. So if things start to get really mainstream, a lot of those people are not going to like it. Yes you will make more money in the industry overall - generally that is good. But its going to push a lot of people away from it (maybe more regular people will come in, debatable if this is a net positive or negative). Now you can say, as Paul does, that it shouldn't be that way - but it is this way now. You're attempting to at least somewhat change the culture of the skateboarding industry - and in the very least that isn't easy. It shouldn't be easy, it means people care about it - which is a great thing.

[@damfunk.]

Because there’s only so many Nike and Monster contracts to go around.

[@johnjunior6650]

Ezzactly. Plus people forget that money all goes to the corperations. And they give. A drop too the riders

[@monkiskwl]

You know how many people that are on Nike that arent on the same level as Paul, Shane, ishod, Sean

[@FUCKWITsk8]

If selling low effort anime and dead celebrity collab skateboards and overpriced low quality clothes in zummiez is how you get rich then that's one thing, but going on podcasts every week and talking about the "hustler mindset" with a bunch of insufferable business bro podcast host typa people is not doing any favors to your legacy as a legendary status skateboarder. You can't be playing golf trading stocks with pretentious millionaires all day showing up on a random podcast everyday and night, and also expect the majority audience of skaters to still think you're cool TLTR: I can't stand seeing P-Rod on my time-line without cringing. Please don't hand him the microphone anymore he's said enough

[@manashieldworld]

PREACH

[@SuperDeucen]

I would buy a primitive board but I’m not gonna buy a wwe or a dodge collab sell out all you want get the bag I like you so much when your not bein a corporate drone tho it’s such a duality

[@UhohGundam]

They aren't great I've had a couple lose their pop fast, chip and break easy.

[@jonathanpham7397]

money money money has been working for paul you all...

[@monatomic]

Some of us won't eat anything from McDonald's no matter how much they pay. Health over Profits

[@TheKcXiV]

yeah, doubt that, thats like .9 percent of people if the bag is big enough.

[@manashieldworld]

Rich, successful, sponsor-backed since the beginning and notorious for being one of the earlier sellouts in skating (Prod) telling others it's not corporate greed....

[@Conor8urns]

Gifted Hater tap in with this one.

[@ImLaprasify]

think for yourself

[@FRIGIDBASTARDS]

GH gon rip this in two!

[@NoahCanFB]

"I need another man's opinion to tell me how to feel" 🤡

[@bombsquid6436]

I used to have dNA boards all the time when I was a kid. They had the crazy scientist cartoon graphics :)

[@finnessejets4231]

Yeah he switched all his sponsors to profit, but most skaters are not tripping on the financial part. They’re just happy to be doing what they love and getting paid for it. P-Rod, Sheckler, & nyjah are the 3 most making sure they profit the most off skating.

[@shawnellis5959]

Meanwhile I’m waiting on organized teams battle in a tournament on a stage platform brining worlds eye view into skating. Now that’s bread

[@joe.nail1]

Xgames kinda did this last month with the showdown, but it would be so hype to do it contest style

[@BayAreaBikeLife]

What about king of the road

[@matthunter565]

I very much Agree, As much as you wanna hate someone for trying to make money, They gotta live. You cant just do stuff for free all the time. Yes Enjoy Skateboarding but if its your job too you gotta be able to eat. Imo without these action made , skateboarding probably wouldnt have been as popular.

[@ifroob]

Shocking how people demonize trying to monetize their passions -- I guess life doesn't cost money to live, a business to support ventures and grow skating is selling out, and being able to provide for yourself and your family's lives is lame. Plus no matter who you are, the value of money goes down year by year.

[@comfykeegs]

I think the selling out criticism is legitimate with something like primitive who will do a brand collab with anything from Dora the explorer to toothpaste without any finesse or self identity to the moves and it comes across as soulless

[@meltingspot1064]

I’m sure pro skaters have enough to “eat”. It’s just some like Paul who need the luxury cars and luxury bullshit. Supreme takes care of their riders but most on the team don’t have the same mentality like Paul. Only Tyshawn would relate to paul.

[@AstronvutGangEnt]

That was kinda deep. Like skateboarders gate keeping their own, is the most detrimental thing to the sport. We are all guilty. shame

[@jim_carry]

Gary is clueless but speaking as if he went through it all

[@UTP_ENT]

Yeah can’t stand him just based on that. He’s been doing it for years. I catch myself doing the same if I’m drunk 😂 but I’m not doing it for x games

[@creasereese4204]

My bro is close with every one of these pros for years tho. His whole life is skating I was there during his shop days. Gary put in the proper work. Thrasher wouldn't hire him for nothing . Much respect to Gary

[@jim_carry]

​@@creasereese4204 yea, with his only board sponsor being Illegal Civ, the least reputable brand in the industry

[@Justsomeguyyyyyyy]

Time for a trip to the doctors. Turns out I'm P-Rodintolerant.

[@elorasurene]

This needed to be addressed 🏁🏁🏁🏴🏴🏴

[@TheYeaRdPr0jEcT]

I heard you mention typewriter, my dad used to work for Smith Corona. They went out of business because the owner of Smith Corona thought that computers were only going to be a fad and they wouldn’t last long. Well, he was wrong lol

[@jokerskateboardcompany]

What happened to the love of the game? What happened to the drive you had to get out and just skate without thinking about sponsorships but to just enjoy your talent and the love you created for skateboarding?

[@j.porter_dubz.4936]

Piano is skateboarding is a way for each was creative to express ourselves in way no other than any there is each one of us are different and each of us have different styles with skateboarding and give us away to express ourselves through it because we become one with the skateboard and the soul skateboarding trick you do in his own so this is what it's missing when people are saying they train for tricks to land in contest and stuff skateboarding, we need lean on each other and respect towards each other, specially to the great came before us and still do it today. Some of them they do today and they do it well still because they have heart to continue and push the pain in that they went through to get at skateboarding, it teaches you life lessons skateboarding is you expression of you?

[@patrickdenis909]

great convo!!

[@georgegraham4911]

Tricks to me are the way the trick looks the quality not the quantity 👌🏾 like tiago lemos is an example

[@giftedwrapzaz2559]

Bro the audio is off from your lips, kinda like those old kung fu movies.

[@diabolical1976]

Isnt P-rods main sponsor Nike? 🤔

[@marketingmasters3550]

A lot of cities and townships without skateparks in the 80s-90s enjoyed targeting skateboarders as “trouble.” Most are ran by morons who continue to boast their hierarchy because they always had to play team sports.

[@cheastbury9252]

was on the golden area skateboarding

[@euphoria1013]

Paul, you’re my hero

[@SirDersthe3rd]

KZbin is great i like watching skate content tune in always

[@ryanrowe1975]

Most professional skater aren't taking well on a industry to affording the company of paying more money

[@AxlRose-ug5db]

Paul is lucky he came up at the right time as far as making bank late 90s when tony hawk pro skater came out skateboarding was blowing up bigger than ever when they where all getting paid great 💯

[@leooswave]

Y’all couldn’t make sure there wasn’t echos all through the interview ?

[@ehhhhh491]

I grew up around people who are now professional skateboarders and are sponsored by some of the biggest names in the sport. Back when they were like 13-16 they would make KZbin videos. The videos were so pure and captured not only skateboarding, but the hometown I grew up in. They had stopped making videos and I always felt that if they kept going and never stopped, they could have reached a channel the size of braille burnt with actual skateboarding and not kick flipping a deck made of glass. I think the reasons they stopped making vids is because: 1. They were kids and didn’t understand what KZbin was and how talented they actually were 2. They didn’t know how big KZbin would end up becoming. The reason why gaming took off is because the only way you could show case your skills was by constantly recording yourself and uploading. And when you did get sponsored, part of the deal was you had to stay consistent with videos. Skateboarding was different because you can just make 1 good part and upload it or go to 1 contest and get sponsored. After that, there was really no need to upload anymore. My suggestion? If pros want to keep their spot have them produce at least 40 minutes worth of videos a month. Video creation should be apart of their deal to keep their sponsor. @prod84skate

[@ehhhhh491]

Unity, consistency, having fun, and taking things serious are key.

[@settaylor1325]

Why is the audio messed up?? Xgames can’t afford quality audio on a podcast talkin about money???🤣🤣

[@tjenahoj]

This turned into an a great deep talk about how a relative young artform can keep its creativity and still develop, especially in acommercial world! Westernkind is amazing and creative!

[@speedrunrants420]

I skate and im finacially stable. Its called stop being a skate rat and get a job and skate for fun and stop trying to chase the wrong thing who cares if u dont make it in skating.🤦🤷

[@notstandthatground]

What a Lie.

[@illegalciv]

Prod is the man 💯

[@amado7760]

Paul has displayed great business acumen. Nicely done Paul. Congratulations man :)

[@Miguelo1102]

Man..Prod has a great head of hair on him.

[@mutinyunderbite3941]

I find this level of narcissism impressive when people can’t even see how many contradictions they make

[@dinguscollective1872]

More skateparks are being built, yet a pro model board is about to cost $80 . Without the average skater , the consumers, skateboarding won't be alive.

[@Cliche10k]

I disagree. Skateboarding will never die.

[@MrGodforPresident]

They wanted about $200 last time I checked the price on a complete pro model so really it depends on the business... Some business know how to profit correct, some don't

[@Juliano_DJOL]

I hear people hate on gary sometimes smh bro now a dayz I tell people no, just no, gary is the closest thing or dude out here to replace phelps or step into a similar role! Like do a lil homework and learn that he is the face or media man of skating or i dunmo, yall know tho! U do something good gary gonna shout ya out bro and people gonna hear and see! Who else doing anything near this, not doing some bs cash grab streams and making VO vidz that are pretty stale but may have a bit of news or a laugh here or there... Gary show alwayz funny and entertaining and alwayz quick to get the top news out there! I also like gary on the x-games commentary....the Olympics needs commentary help bad but I know how they do and prolly got the commentators picked for the next 20 years already haha!

[@psydwayze]

Make money. Just don't be a Dyrdek. 'Nuff said.

[@jayroarias6176]

@@psydwayze what’s wrong with dyrdek?

[@josiahamaze]

MACHINE MINDSET!

[@FRIGIDBASTARDS]

Money is so cool Sucked the soul out of skateboarding.. Skateboarding owes us nothing, turn off these mics and do a trick or sum.

[@Live-ok2do]

Paul Rodriguez,my regards👍

[@AbstractHomosapien]

8:20 this is how I feel about Eminem

[@skippyskater]

Someone trying to sell you something isn't your friend, and prod is always trying to sell us something..

[@GIRLSDAD24]

Let’s go ! Prod is a goat

[@CatsAndDiesel]

Cuz it’s a hobby and probably don’t read the fine print when signing stuff. Lawyer up.

[@skateorbri]

Listen to me I’m important. Skateboarding needs to get rid of the word Judge. That word and skateboarding are mutually exclusive. Just like art it’s subjective. Not whoever is cooler and has more connections in the industry at the time. Bottom line fine lemon or a lime.

[@luisjesuspichardofuentes5639]

skaters are broke because skaters jock other skaters and forget about their skateboarding

[@Zuesmericai]

The skaters eat by going big and taking risk’s in the streets

[@UhohGundam]

Just like every other sport the top 1 percent make the real money. If i could make 50k a year free clothes, shoes, boards. Id be gravy. With it in the Olympics now this next generation is going to get paid stupid money.

[@losmuertos7444]

Keep skateboarding a crime fresh to me

[@creasereese4204]

Sup gary 😎

[@conorakapryrs]

Gary is reffering to jeffwonsong 😂

[@leeski152]

the Jeff hate is getting old now kids, let's get some new material, yall just being lazy

[@benburndred2226]

Old school here, who jeff?

[@HighSceneryJunkie]

skaters are broke cause people like p[ rod wont give up their skate careers and let other skaters move in that why theyre not making big money

[@JayOnThisDay]

Eat , eat, eat

[@LukeZ-go1cv]

That sneak diss on Jeff was lame af he got his own style and nobody putting down those tricks.

[@recession81]

Jeff is cringe and cries alot

[@robertbarrett8937]

@@recession81 I was going to say the same thing

[@davion_boss22]

we all hate jeff

[@gustavovergara1279]

Not a diss if it's true, Jeff's gets hated on so much cuz of his style

[@benburndred2226]

​@@recession81Jeff's last name?

[@lilscrappy50cent20]

stop interrupting

[@juanrojo268]

Can’t believe they didn’t bring up Dyrdek…… I kind of lost respect for him and I know I’m not the only one but dude is a cash cow……

[@finnessejets4231]

How did you not know the best skaters on the team get paid the most lol? They’re the ones generating the most revenue for the company. This common sense.😂😂

[@SeattleFlee]

Want anxiety watch this episode 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@fjordan2345]

without even seeing this I can already tell its going to be dumb af lol

[@butwhytharum]

and you're part of what they're talking about.

[@fjordan2345]

@@butwhytharum after 10 minutes my statement still stands😆

[@johnjunior6650]

Skters are broke because: NIKE

[@armchair_contrarian]

THIS IS REAL ---- if you guys don't do it, someone else will..... NOTE: you either need to offer a good or service - the service you offer is your talent. We LOVE to watch you. you need goods - but NOT SKATER goods, not shoes, not boards, not wheels, get it? you need to sell something of value to the network you have built because of your talent. This is what I do.... BTW. Stay away for MLM schemes...

[@humanothumqn659]

America is an MLM scheme and people like P Rod are proof

[@75YBA]

There’s real skaters and companies like Powell-Peralta and Andy Anderson, and then there’s Pee-Rod.

[@TheSalvation2027]

Motivation 100%

[@KarlLind]

“I’ve been hanging out a lot with Steve Berra…” 🫣yike