Peralta, Mullen, Caballero, Hawk, McGill, Mountain, Guerrero
MD: Whenever I hear about any of the old pros talking about the company, they talk about "when Stacy left" as though they were talking about
their attachment to the company itself. Did you ever take that personally? Any sense of "well what about me?" I mean…your name comes first
[in Powell•Peralta]!
GP: I always understood that they were Stacy’s "boys" if you will. That he was their surrogate big brother or in some cases maybe Dad.
He’s the one who’s had them sleep on his floor; who went to all the contests and coached them you know, and spent all the time with them. Totally,
they were one with Stacy.
I was the person who ran the company, who made the product, who interpreted their graphic needs and desires. They knew me, but only at a distance and
on occasion. So it’s kind of like this distant cousin versus your brother. And it was totally natural that when Stacy left that they felt a tremendous
sense of loss. Like " Whoah! It’s not the company that we knew because Stacy isn’t there for us".
MD: So is there any sense now on your part that maybe you need to or should want to be closer to the riders so there’s more of an attachment to you
and to the company?
GP: Two things have happened. The average age of the professional skater has gotten a lot older and as they get older they’re more mobile so
they’re able to come to the factory to meet me, to spend time up here. So we have reasonable relationships because as they’re older and more mature
now. It’s not like all your team riders are only 12 to 15 then you have very limited time and you’re having to go to them and spend time in their
backyard rather them spending time in our backyard. So it’s easier now. But yeah… I do. I try to spend as much time with them as I can.
MD: I still think it’s so funny that you talk about it as "up here" where I’m thinking HERE is so far south! [note I’m from Canada] [laughter]
GP: Yeah. I kind of think of LA as the epicenter and Santa Barbara as being 100 miles north.
Matt D and George Powell
MD: One last question before we have to go. You talk about a legacy. What would you like to see your legacy be within skateboarding?
GP: Our legacy is that we lasted a long time [Laughter] We’ve been here 35 years. You know what? Our legacy is just what it is. We’ve been here
for skateboarding. We build the best product we know how to build and we try to do what’s good for skateboarding and the skaters; both. Sometimes
I think the industry has gone one way or the other. It’s important that both function and harmonize together, and when only pros run the industry it
isn’t necessarily any better than when only businessmen run the industry. And so I think it takes harmony between all the people that you need to design
and build a product that’s appropriate for skaters, promote the sport through professional skaters, and try to create an environment in which everyone
is feeling good about skating and loving it. In other words, today’s skateboard company needs to be a harmonious blend of skaters, engineers, artists,
designers, marketing people, sales people, accountants, production workers, shippers, and so on. You can’t succeed just being a team of one in the
enormous market we have created through 35 years of hard work.
If I leave for some reason, someday, I hope that it will be said that while I was in charge of our company we always provided the highest
performance skate products, best quality and value, behaved with the highest integrity, and never did something unworthy, just to make a buck.
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