Jason Strubing
Skateworks Manager
Date: 3/19/18
Second Interview
00:03
Mahika: Ok, so what is your name and what is your profession?
Jason: Uh, my name is Jason Strubing, I run skateworks, uh, that has been my profession since I was a senior in high school.
00:13
Mahika: So, when did you first start skating?
Jason: I started skating, well, first board was 1976, uh, got it at a QFI in San Bruno, uh, just on a grocery mission and just begged my mom and got it. And then, first legit board was 1980, so I guess my 9th birthday, pretty much game on ever since then.
00:33
Mahika: What was your best experience with skating?
Jason: Uh, gosh they change every year. So it’s uh, best experience skateboarding… learning how to ollie was definitely a big breakthrough so that was awesome. I’d say that was the most glorious day.
00:55
Mahika: How about your worst experience?
Jason: Worst experience… probably a broken humerus, and it wasn’t actually– the first break was normal, it wasn’t that bad, but then my mom asked if I would take my brother to Santa Rosa with his friends for his birthday and be their chaperone, and I was hesitant to do it because I didn’t want to skate cause it wasn’t fully healed, and I skated anyways and rebroke it, so first day back, rebroke it. And that one sucked.
01:25
Mahika: So what do you love most about your job?
Jason: Just sharing the stoke and getting kids and adults both just hyped on skateboarding, um, all genders, and just seeing that, you know, when you put together a board for them and hand it to them, and, ah, the look in their eye, so that’s super rewarding, um, that’s probably it.
01:50
Mahika: What would you suggest to youth about following their skateboarding passion? Do you have any advice to young kids about how they should follow their passion?
Jason: You know, skateboarding is uh, it’s not easy, well it does come easy to some people, but um, you know you gotta give it some work, you know, so just uh, don’t get frustrated, keep trying, it’s like learning to play an instrument, so you’re not just gonna be like, right out the gate good at it but just, you know, enjoy the experience of learning.
02:28
Mahika: How did you first meet Andrew?
Jason: Andrew, uh, he came in the shop, just, you know, like most kids that start skating, who just came in the shop, got a board, um, I’d see him around at the park out in Redwood City. He was just, you know, he probably remembers it a lot more than I do.
02:55
Mahika: What do you think of him as a person?
Jason: Andrew? Uh, you know, lovable dipshit. Or um, lovable miswit. Whatever, you know, PG rated, say that.
03:07
Mahika: What do you think of him as a skater?
Jason: Uh, so, he as a skateboarder, he’s actually one of the more talented dudes I’ve ever known. I’ve been around skateboarding my entire life and, my brother’s a pro skater, and, you know, I’ve certainly been to many contests and, you know, have I think a good sense of just natural ability, and he is definitely like one of the most consistent, able-bodied skateboarders I’ve ever known, so, surprising for his size, you know, looks amazingly light on his feet despite the large package of body fat (laughs).
03:55
Mahika: How do you see Andrew influencing kid’s views on skating, or like encouraging them to skate?
Jason: He’s actually, he’s a real good cheerleader. He’s a super positive guy so that’s actually pretty unique. He’s like, very encouraging for kids, always gets them hyped up to learn new stuff and, kinda keeps them in kinda their comfort zone but, kinda pushes them just a little bit outside what they normally do which is awesome, he’s just– he’s basically a seven year old child trapped in a twenty-five year old body, and uh, so he can relate to them pretty easily, you know. He’s a good, positive role model.
05:57
Mahika: So there are a lot of stereotypes that follow today’s skating culture and link it with today’s conceptions of hip-hop culture. What’s your experience with skating culture in general?
Jason: Skating culture is like no other, I would say in that it is super nurturing, it is super uncompetitive, um, and, you know, it’s, it’s just sorta like, uh, I don’t know. I guess it sounds cliche to say a brotherhood of man, but it uh, it is really, um, kind of a unifying thing, a unifying love I guess and that’s why you could travel just about anywhere in the world, and go to a skatepark or see some other skaters, and just sorta be like ‘hey what’s up’ like, chances are you’re probably gonna know people, it’s just like– super accepting, I guess would be the way to say it, so I don’t think, I mean skateboarding kinda had a stigma when I was growing up in the 80s it was a very like, oh if you’re a skater you’re not educated and probably do drugs, listen to crazy music, like blah blah blah, it just had this like, negative stereotype that I feel like has kinda slowly been taken off the shoulders of the sport over the last couple decades, so it’s uh, I think a little more positively viewed which is great, because it is a great thing.
07:22
Mahika: Do you have any strong feelings towards how skateboarding has become more popular?
Jason: Well, uh, from a business perspective, obviously, you know the more popular the better, you know we’re in the business of selling skateboards, so that’s uh, definitely a positive, um, I can understand, you know, there’s definitely some dudes that are a little jaded, you know, just upset but they feel like their culture is being exploited a little bit, uh for profit, uh I think that’s where the angst is in the popularity of skateboarding when people are, you know, hating on it, but uh, you know, I can see both sides of the coin for sure, but generally speaking, you know, I think, you know, like I said sharing the stoke is good so the more kids that get into skateboarding the better.
08:16
Mahika: What kind of impact has skating had on your life?
Jason: Gosh, it’s– it’s pretty much been everything in my life from the time I was ten years old so, uh, it’s shaped me as a human, and, you know, it’s taught me a lot, it’s brought me all over the world and in the pursuit of finding new spots and its pretty much just opened my eyes to a lot of things I would have never seen if it weren’t through the skateboarding goggles. So, uh, its impacted quite a bit on my life, you know, everything in my life has been somehow based around skateboarding, so.
08:56
Mahika: Through your perspective, what kind of an impact has skateboarding had on Andrew’s life?
Jason: Well, he’s a one trick pony for sure. And so, without skateboarding he probably would just, I don’t know, sit down and look at the stars, because, I don’t think he’s really got anything else going (laughs). No, skateboarding has definitely helped Andrew a lot. I mean, he was, when I first met him, kinda scrawny, hoodrat, you know, if it weren’t for skateboarding I’m sure there would have been– he would have been more susceptible to negative influences, but skateboarding kinda kept him aligned with something that was positive and that really helped shape him as a person, so it’s good to see him now kinda in that role of like, helping mentor young kids and kinda being an older, you know, not– I wouldn’t say father figure, brother figure, older brother figure, in their lives.