Art Eddy and Ryan Hamilton bring on the one and only Mike Vallely to chat about fatherhood, skateboarding, wearing a helmet for safety, how his iconic boards came to be, and how his family gave him strength when he needed it the most.
The hot shoe, glue footed, street scoundrel from New Jersey himself. In 3 decades as a professional skater Mike Vallely has made his name by changing the way people skate, and built his reputation on his passionate advocacy for individuality and creativity in skateboarding. You've all heard the stories. The realities are even gnarlier. At the bottom of it all, though, Vallely has always fought to put skateboarding and skaters first.
With Street Plant, For the first time in his career, Vallely has cut all the strings that come with the title "pro skater". No sponsors, no corporations, no limits, no boundaries. Street Plant: 100% skateboarding from 100% skateboarders.
Mike has recently surprised many skaters by choosing to wear a helmet every time he skates, after decades of skating without one. The culture of street skating, which he helped to define, largely rejects helmets. After some soul-searching, Mike decided it was time for him to make a personal change.
Triple Eight and Mike Vallely are teamed up for the video Get Used To It, which is a project to provide a different perspective on helmets.
For more on Mike Vallely, go to StreetPlantBrand.com.