Work in Skateboarding, an interview with Lisa Whitaker

ne of the largest Advocates for the Girls Skateboarding industry, Lisa Whitaker has been skating for 30 years. Known for establishing the Girls Skate Network; a Youtube channel and website, she also has her own board company called Meow Skateboards which she created to enable some of the top female street skaters to be able to be part of a team and to be sponsored.

Her passion for growing Girls Skateboarding has been highly important to the industry as the projects she has created have all filled a void and if she hadn’t started them, there would still be a void.

When did you start skating, at what point did you realize you couldn’t stop and how did that make you feel?

I learned how to skate around 1985 when my parents got me an Action Sport Kamikaze from a big box store.

Then sometime around 1987 one of the older kids in the neighborhood built a launch ramp, as soon as I saw it I knew that is what I wanted to do.

I talked my Dad into getting me a Powell-Peralta Lance Mountain board, discovered skate videos/magazines and learned that it was possible to do tricks. That is when things really changed for me. I’ve been hooked ever since.

How did you start working in Skating?

I worked at a home improvement store while in high school/college and it just happened that my Manager’s wife was the Human Resource person at Vans when they were starting plans to open a skatepark. He recommended me to her and I was the first person hired for the park. Since then I’ve worked at Network 17 Board Supply, Giant Skateboard Distribution, Black Label and Destructo. Each job has lead to the next by the people I have met and things I learned along the way.

was in the position to make something similar happen for the next generation.

We weren’t setting out to make a “girl’s” skate company, just wanted to start a company for fun that would support a female team, give them something to be a part of and a platform to be seen.

Did you study, if so do you have a degree?

Just at a local Jr. College, AA in Business Management and AA in Marketing.

My husband had the initial idea to start a company after getting a tax refund. He grew up skateboarding as well and thought it would be a fun project we could work on together.

What do you do now?

I’ve been at Destructo for just about 10 years now. It is a small company so we wear many hats. I help with team, customer service, accounting, marketing, production, warehouse and anything else that is needed.

For me the spark was being at one of the biggest contests with some of the top female street skateboarders in the world and realizing a major of them didn’t have board sponsors and even the top three on the podium were only “flow” and not officially part of the team. I skated for Rookie Skateboards in the late 90’s, which was an awesome opportunity for me; now I

Tell us about Meow Skateboards and why you started it.

What are some of the main obstacles you’ve faced with establishing Meow Skateboards and how have you worked through them?

The main obstacles have been time and money. We agreed up front we weren’t going into debt doing this, so we started out slow with limited funds and letting to grow on its own over time. Every cent in makes goes right back into it. That being said we work our other jobs to pay the bills and squeeze in time when we can.

What are some of your favourite projects you’ve done with Meow Skateboards?

My favorite so far has been releasing Lacey Baker’s debut Pro Model. I’ve known her since she was 12 and she has been one of my favorites for years, so having the opportunity to make that happen was pretty special.

Tell us about the Girls Skate Network, what you do there and why you started it.

I started Girls Skate Network (formerly TheSideProject.com) in 2003 by mistake. I came across a website building program and wanted to learn, so I needed some sample content to play with. At the time I was traveling to all of the World Cup contests skating the women’s events and became friends with all the girls.

I would always film and take photos when I wasn’t skating; I was also a tour guide when any of them visited Los Angeles. So I used that content when building sample site. I didn’t think much of it and only showed close friends, but soon after I started getting e-mails from girls around the world that found and were inspired by the site. The Internet was still fairly new back then and not as saturated as it is now, this was pre-YouTube.

There wasn’t much content of girls skateboarding at the time.

I still remember an e-mail from a little girl who wanted a skateboard, but her parents told her it was only for boys.

Somehow she found my site. After showing it to them they agreed to get her a skateboard. E-mails like that have kept me motivated to do the site for the last 10+ years.

Up to this point I’ve done everything on my own, but since starting Meow Skateboards I haven’t been able to keep it as updated as I would like.

What’s ‘Blog Cam’ and how do people react to it?

I had a blog on the site to show some of the day in the life and behind the scenes stuff when we were out filming.

It started off as just photos to provide more frequent content while we held the video footage for bigger projects.

I got one of those pocket Flip cameras and started filming a lot of the random funny things that would happen in the car, out to eat and other places I didn’t have my “real” camera out at. I thought some of that footage would be good to post on the blog along with the photos, so we started calling in “Blog Cam” and just had fun.

At first I wasn’t sure if people would like watching them because most of the time they didn’t have much skating or if they did it was just skatepark footage, but I started getting request for more. Turns out people are really interested in seeing the personalities of the girls and what they do off their boards as well. Now I try to make sure each video has as much skating as possible mixed with personality and behind the scenes stuff.

I’ve been doing the site/videos for over 10 years, but I’ve seen the biggest change in the last 2 or so years since I started posting the “Blog Cam” videos to YouTube. Now the girls get recognized at almost every skatepark we go to and kids will quote lines from the videos. They are gaining fans because people feel they know them and have a connection. A few years ago it was only the people really interested and searching out the info, but now it is reaching a wider audience.

What are some of your favourite projects you’ve worked on with the Girls Skate network?

I love the road trips and traveling with my friends. I also like discovering new talent and giving them a platform to be seen.

How do you balance your time between the two companies, how does each one compliment the other?

The Girls Skate Network site has been neglected since starting Meow Skateboards. The company requires time sensitive stuff like shipping out orders, placing purchase orders, making sure team has product, coming up with graphics and contacting shops. Girls Skate Network gets updated whenever I can find some spare time, but I do make an

effort to get out and film new “Blog Cam” videos as often as I can...for the site, but also for my sanity because sometimes you have to get away from a computer screen!

There are other times where I really should be focusing my time on creating content for Meow Skateboards, but instead I’m on a road trip filming the Hoopla Skateboards team or out filming other girls. I’m constantly juggling my time.

Occasionally they compliment each other. Last year I went out to Texas for X Games and was available as team manager for the Meow Skateboards riders that were competing, but also able to film all the girls for Girls Skate Network.

What made you want to start filming skating?

My Dad always had gadgets and electronics around when I was a kid, including an over the shoulder VHS video camera. After watching PowellPeralta “Public Domain” and H- Street “Shackle Me Not” I started borrowing my Dad’s camera to film my friends and make my own videos.

Did you have any filming experience before that, if not how did you teach yourself?

No, I was only 14 years old and just

learned with practice.

Did you make any skate videos?

I made a couple with my friends over the years including “What” (1990), “911” (1994), and “The Wonder Years” (1995). I have a few old videos posted at YouTube.com/LisaWHTKR, but most of them are still sitting on tapes somewhere.

By the mid 90’s I had a car and was skating all over Long Beach and Los Angeles. A lot of the guys I was filming started getting sponsored and need footage for other videos, so I stopped making my own videos for awhile and submitted clips to Channel One, Milk, Black Label, New Deal, Neighborhood, On Video, 411VM and others.

I started entering skate contests in 1997 and for the first time started skating with other girls (other than 2 friends I had since high school). I noticed that most of the girls had a hard time finding anyone to film them, so I shifted my focus to filming girls.

All of my favorite skaters were guys, but there was something different and motivating about watching other girls skate. I always remember what an impact seeing Lori Rigsby and Annita Tennensohn in “Public Domain” had on me. I never thought I couldn’t do

anything the guys were doing, but once I saw Annita do a kickflip I knew I could do one too. That is why it became so important to me to make these girls more visible.

I helped film some of Gallaz “AKA: Girl Skater” (2002), then made Villa Villa Cola “Getting Nowhere Faster” (2004) with some friends. Since then I’ve just been making things for GirlsSkateNetwork.com and YouTube/ girlsskatenetwork.

Why is it important to initiate projects yourself?

Most of the projects I work on are filling a void; if I didn’t initiate things myself there would still be a void.

How do you think girls approach skating differently compared to guys?

I think each person approaches skateboarding differently. I know some girls who are cautious and others who put their body on the line until they get a trick or can’t walk. It is the same with guys, but I think it is safe to say the percentage of girls who are cautious and not wanting to take slams is much higher.

In what ways are the girls skateboarding industry growing these days and where do you see it going in the future?

In the past you were at the mercy of the major skate media to be seen, needed thousands of dollars for an ad in a magazine to get your message out or rely on shop buyers to give your brand/product a chance. Now with the internet/social media girls and smaller niche brands/ media can reach their target market directly. This has had the biggest impact on girls skateboarding being more visible and will continue to grow.

How are girls finding out about skating and being encouraged to participate?

Skateboarding is pretty visible these days with the amount of skateparks opening, big contests that are televised and TV shows based around professional skateboarders, but it can be intimidating to get started... especially if you are the only girl at a skatepark.

There are some really great groups who focus on encoring girls to skate and build confidence. Skate Like a Girl offers weekly Ladies Nights, which give an opportunity for women of all ages and abilities to skate together.

They also have instructors available to help guide beginners through the basics. Girl Riders Organization has skate crew popping up all over the Country offering free skate clinics and session as well.

Do you think it’s important for girls skating to be regarded in the same light and included in the mainstream industry?

It never made a difference to me; I love skateboarding and have always done it regardless of being seen in the same light or not. That being said, I’ve also seen periods of time when female skateboarders got a little more exposure/opportunities and saw how that fueled progression and participation. So it is important for the growth of girls skateboarding.

If you think it’s important, what do you think needs to happen in order for the mainstream industry to begin to recognize girls skating in the same way as they see the guys?

It seems to be a Catch 22. There needs to be more girls skating/buying skate products to get the industry support, however, there needs to be more industry support to get more girls skating/buying skate products.

What are some good resources for Girls who are passionate about skating?

GirlsSkateNetwork.com MeowSkateboards.com HooplaSkateboards.com Mahfia.tv SillyGirlSkateboards.com ActionSportsAlliance.com SkateLikeaGirl.com GirlsRiders.org OGbetty.com GirlsSkateAustralia.com GirlSkateUK.com ColorfulProject.com SunnySkateboard.blogspot.com RogueSkateboards.co.uk Asiplanchaba.com

GirlIsNotA4LetterWord.com NoLimitSkate.se DivasSkateras.com #ladiesofshred @metroskateboarding for #WomenCrushingWednesdays What would your advice be to the girl who loves skating but she’s in a small town where she’s the only girl skater?

From my experience, if she truly loves skateboarding most guys will be supportive. Find a group of friends (guys or girls) that share your passion and have fun!