Arin Lester: 20 Year Issue

Photos by Jerry Hsu.

This interview appears in the 20th-anniversary Issue (buy a copy here) and is apart of the Analog To Digital: 20 Years of Culture and Change Podcast Series (listen to it here).

To make it in skateboarding, you have to be at least kind of good at skateboarding. 

Arin Lester is shockingly good at skateboarding. Devastatingly good. Gooder than anyone who works at this magazine and even more good than we are in our dreams. That in mind, it’s no wonder she’s racking up dream sponsors and putting out footage like it’s nobody’s business. Somehow, she’s also sort of delightful. A good person, which matters. Any dumb dick can practice for years and get good, but to remain humble and grateful and inspired and kind while being talented is a remarkable thing. 

Top to bottom, skating to speaking, Arin is undeniable, and we adore her for it. 

So, as you know, this is an interview because Monster Children is turning 20. The magazine started in 2003. Where were you in 2003? What were you up to?

I lived in Tucson, Arizona, and that's where I started skating. That's when a lot of good skate videos came out like This Is Skateboarding, and I had all those videos. You know, ‘Yeah Right!’ and everything came out around that time, too. Yeah, I was just like, skating, living in Tucson, that’s kind of it really.

You started skating in 2003?

I started skating in 2001 or 2002. My first Transworld was dated January 2001 which was still in stores. So even if it was, like, old and out of place, it was pretty recent. I still have that issue somewhere even though the cover of it is all messed up and gross.

What was your first board? Do you remember?

It was the blue camo Wet Willy World Industries board. He was like firing guns to the side. I don't know. It was really cheesy, but it was cool. My mom ran it over like a week later. It was left in the driveway, and she backed up and snapped it. I was so upset, and she got me another board, so technically, my first and second came pretty close back to back. It was an Alien Workshop, an 8.32 which was like, so big at the time because the World Industries one was like a 7.5 or something crazy. 

What do you think has been the biggest change in skateboarding culture in the last 20 years? Like from 2003 to now?

Culture? Wow. I mean, a lot. I think just like the way we receive media in general. Back then skating was special in the sense that it was untouchable. You'd hear all these legends about certain skaters you see in magazines. It wasn't so accessible. If you want to watch your favorite video, you’d have to have a physical copy. You’d have to wait. You wouldn't know what skaters are up to in between magazines, shoots, or videos coming out. So your favorite skater, you might not see a clip from them for, like, three, four years. It was definitely different. I think the skating was very magical, and I think I'm lucky to have experienced that because it's very saturated now.

I think skating is amazing now, too, like the progress in skating, trick-wise, is pretty sick. It’s just more that it’s easy to get lost in the sea of all the media. It’s easy to forget a video part now whereas back then you would know every trick by the part of the song. The people in skating have definitely changed too. The acceptance of different types of people in skating, I think that's definitely evolved. Especially women in skateboarding. I think the progress there is amazing. I mean, it's still obviously progressing but that's a big difference from when I was younger. 

Do you think that's in some part due to the accessibility? That people are more exposed to skating?

Yes. Absolutely. I think social media has its ups and downs but I think a big plus for social media is that it has brought a lot of different people into skating. Because now you can see somebody and you’re like “Wow, I can do it too.” Also femininity and skateboarding, that was something that didn’t really exist when I was younger, you know? You don’t have to adhere to any type of style to fit in or be a part of some kind of circle in skating. You can find your crew, I guess, which is cool. 

What do you think has been the biggest adaptation for you? Not necessarily a challenge as a skater in the industry, but the biggest thing that made you realize things are not the way they used to be. 

I think getting hooked up with sponsors and stuff. The way this whole skating thing happened for me and how I got a career in skating is something I’d never think was going to happen. As a kid, I would try to make sponsor-me tapes with my friends. We would all just try to make tapes for the local shop, you know? It was the fun thing to do. Now I understand that there are so many good skaters everywhere. I get that companies don’t look at skating the same anymore. It’s not always about what tricks you can do. I think style has always been a factor in skating but now they look at social media and I think they pay attention to followers and things like that. I mean, it's always been about what you can get out of a skater, the potential to sell product and stuff, but with social media it's different. I don’t think I would’ve been hooked up as easily without a following. 

Are we cool with that though? What if you made a sponsor tape today but you don’t have any Instagram followers? 

I think it’s very rare but I think people can still be hooked up in the same way they used to be. 

What keeps you skating? 

I’ve been doing this since like 2002 or 2003 but I gave up trying to go pro around when I was like sixteen or seventeen. I stopped trying to skate like that a long time ago. A lot of things happen, you know? I had responsibilities to take care of and I had to work and I had to do all this stuff. I got a house and I got a career at the hospital and I went to college and got a degree. I did all this stuff and I was skating, like, once every couple of months at one point. I was thinking of skating like I didn’t want to get hurt too much. Then 2020 came around and I was just kind of living. I had just recently come out as Trans and I was transitioning, and I think I just wanted to live a quiet life. My profile was on private for a reason and that clip was for my friends. It went public and people in the skate world discovered me without asking. I was on this weird thing where tricks were coming to me that I never had before and I think maybe everyone was locked indoors on Instagram because of the pandemic so a lot of people saw it. People didn’t care that I was trans at all and I got a lot of support and I was like, ‘Cool maybe this is something I can do and I don't know if I can make a career out of this.’ That was really what I was doing and I guess people liked it so I kept doing that. 

Looking at your career so far in skateboarding, especially considering that you did stop for a while and were doing another thing, what advice would you give to yourself in 2003? 

I mean, nothing honestly. I think I was doing everything a 2003 skater kid would typically do. I don't really know that I could prepare that kid for the future of today. Like, really? I don't think that kid would understand.

You wouldn’t be like, buy Apple stock or something? 

I guess. I mean, I don't know. I don't think I would change the trajectory. I think though, with my personal life outside skating, I definitely would recommend a lot more. 

Are there any nuggets of wisdom that you want to impart to whoever happens to be reading or listening?

I mean, I don't know. As far as skating goes I’ll just say the typical cliché: have fun. That’s really what it’s there for, I think. I don’t think you should try to do it for money or anything like that. Once you start to not enjoy skating I think that’s when it’s time to take a break. I definitely had moments where skating wasn’t fun and I wasn’t having fun doing it. I think I was caught up socially and with other things. Then I took a break and I was starting to miss it and then I came back and it was the best thing ever, you know? Ultimately, you can’t escape it if you really love it and I think that passion for skating has never really left. I think it maybe went for a bit but it always comes back. If you love it just keep doing it because eventually you get old and you can’t really do it anymore and you might wish you did it more. 

To make it in skateboarding, you have to be at least kind of good at skateboarding. 

Arin Lester is shockingly good at skateboarding. Devastatingly good. Gooder than anyone who works at this magazine and even more good than we are in our dreams. That in mind, it’s no wonder she’s racking up dream sponsors and putting out footage like it’s nobody’s business. Somehow, she’s also sort of delightful. A good person, which matters. Any dumb dick can practice for years and get good, but to remain humble and grateful and inspired and kind while being talented is a remarkable thing. 

Top to bottom, skating to speaking, Arin is undeniable, and we adore her for it. 

So, as you know, this is an interview because Monster Children is turning 20. The magazine started in 2003. Where were you in 2003? What were you up to?

I lived in Tucson, Arizona, and that's where I started skating. That's when a lot of good skate videos came out like This Is Skateboarding, and I had all those videos. You know, ‘Yeah Right!’ and everything came out around that time, too. Yeah, I was just like, skating, living in Tucson, that’s kind of it really.

You started skating in 2003?

I started skating in 2001 or 2002. My first Transworld was dated January 2001 which was still in stores. So even if it was, like, old and out of place, it was pretty recent. I still have that issue somewhere even though the cover of it is all messed up and gross.

What was your first board? Do you remember?

It was the blue camo Wet Willy World Industries board. He was like firing guns to the side. I don't know. It was really cheesy, but it was cool. My mom ran it over like a week later. It was left in the driveway, and she backed up and snapped it. I was so upset, and she got me another board, so technically, my first and second came pretty close back to back. It was an Alien Workshop, an 8.32 which was like, so big at the time because the World Industries one was like a 7.5 or something crazy. 

What do you think has been the biggest change in skateboarding culture in the last 20 years? Like from 2003 to now?

Culture? Wow. I mean, a lot. I think just like the way we receive media in general. Back then skating was special in the sense that it was untouchable. You'd hear all these legends about certain skaters you see in magazines. It wasn't so accessible. If you want to watch your favorite video, you’d have to have a physical copy. You’d have to wait. You wouldn't know what skaters are up to in between magazines, shoots, or videos coming out. So your favorite skater, you might not see a clip from them for, like, three, four years. It was definitely different. I think the skating was very magical, and I think I'm lucky to have experienced that because it's very saturated now.

I think skating is amazing now, too, like the progress in skating, trick-wise, is pretty sick. It’s just more that it’s easy to get lost in the sea of all the media. It’s easy to forget a video part now whereas back then you would know every trick by the part of the song. The people in skating have definitely changed too. The acceptance of different types of people in skating, I think that's definitely evolved. Especially women in skateboarding. I think the progress there is amazing. I mean, it's still obviously progressing but that's a big difference from when I was younger. 

Do you think that's in some part due to the accessibility? That people are more exposed to skating?

Yes. Absolutely. I think social media has its ups and downs but I think a big plus for social media is that it has brought a lot of different people into skating. Because now you can see somebody and you’re like “Wow, I can do it too.” Also femininity and skateboarding, that was something that didn’t really exist when I was younger, you know? You don’t have to adhere to any type of style to fit in or be a part of some kind of circle in skating. You can find your crew, I guess, which is cool. 

What do you think has been the biggest adaptation for you? Not necessarily a challenge as a skater in the industry, but the biggest thing that made you realize things are not the way they used to be. 

I think getting hooked up with sponsors and stuff. The way this whole skating thing happened for me and how I got a career in skating is something I’d never think was going to happen. As a kid, I would try to make sponsor-me tapes with my friends. We would all just try to make tapes for the local shop, you know? It was the fun thing to do. Now I understand that there are so many good skaters everywhere. I get that companies don’t look at skating the same anymore. It’s not always about what tricks you can do. I think style has always been a factor in skating but now they look at social media and I think they pay attention to followers and things like that. I mean, it's always been about what you can get out of a skater, the potential to sell product and stuff, but with social media it's different. I don’t think I would’ve been hooked up as easily without a following. 

Are we cool with that though? What if you made a sponsor tape today but you don’t have any Instagram followers? 

I think it’s very rare but I think people can still be hooked up in the same way they used to be. 

What keeps you skating? 

I’ve been doing this since like 2002 or 2003 but I gave up trying to go pro around when I was like sixteen or seventeen. I stopped trying to skate like that a long time ago. A lot of things happen, you know? I had responsibilities to take care of and I had to work and I had to do all this stuff. I got a house and I got a career at the hospital and I went to college and got a degree. I did all this stuff and I was skating, like, once every couple of months at one point. I was thinking of skating like I didn’t want to get hurt too much. Then 2020 came around and I was just kind of living. I had just recently come out as Trans and I was transitioning, and I think I just wanted to live a quiet life. My profile was on private for a reason and that clip was for my friends. It went public and people in the skate world discovered me without asking. I was on this weird thing where tricks were coming to me that I never had before and I think maybe everyone was locked indoors on Instagram because of the pandemic so a lot of people saw it. People didn’t care that I was trans at all and I got a lot of support and I was like, ‘Cool maybe this is something I can do and I don't know if I can make a career out of this.’ That was really what I was doing and I guess people liked it so I kept doing that. 

Looking at your career so far in skateboarding, especially considering that you did stop for a while and were doing another thing, what advice would you give to yourself in 2003? 

I mean, nothing honestly. I think I was doing everything a 2003 skater kid would typically do. I don't really know that I could prepare that kid for the future of today. Like, really? I don't think that kid would understand.

You wouldn’t be like, buy Apple stock or something? 

I guess. I mean, I don't know. I don't think I would change the trajectory. I think though, with my personal life outside skating, I definitely would recommend a lot more. 

Are there any nuggets of wisdom that you want to impart to whoever happens to be reading or listening?

I mean, I don't know. As far as skating goes I’ll just say the typical cliché: have fun. That’s really what it’s there for, I think. I don’t think you should try to do it for money or anything like that. Once you start to not enjoy skating I think that’s when it’s time to take a break. I definitely had moments where skating wasn’t fun and I wasn’t having fun doing it. I think I was caught up socially and with other things. Then I took a break and I was starting to miss it and then I came back and it was the best thing ever, you know? Ultimately, you can’t escape it if you really love it and I think that passion for skating has never really left. I think it maybe went for a bit but it always comes back. If you love it just keep doing it because eventually you get old and you can’t really do it anymore and you might wish you did it more. 

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