Chris Cole hit the pavement at the age of eight, signed his first corporate sponsorship with World Industries at 16, and hasnât looked back since. A San Diego transplant, raised in Levittown, Pa., Cole has risen from his modest Northeast routes to become one of the biggest names in the global skateboarding game. Heâs already accomplished more on a board than most skaters could ever dream of, and if he were to hang it up tomorrow citing the desire to spend more time with his young family, or pursue other career endeavours, there are few who could admonish his decision. Extreme sports, and skateboarding in particular, has always held a certain stigma that itâs a live fast and die young mentality among the sportsâ elite, but for Cole that couldnât be further from the truth. Chris has adopted the personal credo of âlive rad and die proud,â words that he says guides him both personally and professionally. This is not to say that he plays it safe on a skateboard, all you have to do is watch a few of his highlights to know that. It speaks to the fact that more important than winning trophies, Cole is trying to take the most from each experience his career gifts him.
Cole earned the prestigious honor of being named Thrasher Skater of the Year in 2005, and when he received the acclaim again in 2009 he became just the second skater to do this after Danny Way. Â 2013 was a tremendous year for Cole, he took home several second place finishes in Street League competitions around the country, and bagged top spot at the Street League Super Crown World Championships as well as the Street League X Games in Munich, Germany. Now, on the heels of his fourth signature shoe drop with DC since signing with their elite skate team in 2011, Cole is looking to make this year is his biggest to date. Check out our interview with Chris below as we talk signature shoe drops, what it means to "live rad and die proud," and the backbone of skateboarding.
Last year you won the Street League Super Crown and the Street League X Games in Munich, how are you going to top that in 2014?                                        Â
Iâm working to keep pushing and keep doing the things Iâve been doing, but itâs also off to a really good start already, and thatâs how I think itâs going to be better. I have a video part dropping in March. I have a new shoe coming out in March as well, and then Iâm just grinding away to skate as much as humanly possible. But also be involved with as many other things as humanly possible, be out there doing stuff instead of just lying dormant doing nothing.
What Iâve always grown up thinking is that itâs really important to be proud of what youâve done at the end of your life. Itâs the only way to truly be okay with dying, right?
You mentioned the shoe launch in March, how many signature shoes do you have with DC?
Itâs actually my fourth signature shoe with them, believe it or not. Itâs pretty crazy how time flies. Itâs the updated version of my lite shoe, which was pretty successful, and itâs the Cole Lite shoe. It basically has every single bit of technology that we make all in one shoe.
Your motto is, âlive rad, and die proud,â what does that mean, and how did it come about?    I kind of just made it up, because I see a lot of people in the media that we follow, who make a ton of money, kind of being assholes. They suck at living a normal life, and they suck at kind of being a person. What Iâve always grown up thinking is that itâs really important to be proud of what youâve done at the end of your life. Itâs the only way to truly be okay with dying, right? At the end of the line, the only way youâre going to be okay with it is if you have no deep feelings of regret. That deep feeling of, I should have done this, I should have done that. The worst regret I think that I could have, is that I shouldâve been a better person. I shouldnât have been lame, I shouldnât have done that, because then youâre actually affecting other people in a negative way. I think the worldâs built with people who are effecting others in a negative way, and there needs to be a whole lot of positive influence.Â
You talked about how you want to leave it in the end, but letâs go back to the beginning. What made you pick up a skateboard in the first place?
I saw these kids skate by my grandmotherâs house when I was a little kid, and I was looking out the bay windows just being a bored kid as usual, and those kids looked so cool. It was that moment where I was like, that dude looks awesome, that board looks awesome, heâs doing something that I want to do. I started asking my mom for a board, and she was an ICU nurse, so she saw people come in straight after being hit by a car. So she didnât want to give me a board, and it took two years of begging before she finally gave me one. The first day I stepped on it, actually even before I stepped on it, I was completely addicted to skateboarding. I looked at all the magazines, and I used to make sentences on the blackboard and in my homework, and all of them had to do with skateboarding. It was pretty much a dead ringer that I was going to continue that path.
But I know up until this point, deep down inside, without being full of myself and without thinking Iâm the shit, that I did it. I actually accomplished my goals that I never even knew where obtainable.
What did it mean to win Thrasher Magazineâs Skateboarder of the Year, and then take home the honor again?
Thatâs the one. It was heavy. It was kind of like the moment when you say, âI did it, like I really did it.â Essentially, after that you could quit. You set your name in stone, you accomplished what a very, very, very low percentage of skateboarders will ever accomplish. Youâre among that elite, and you can now just quit. But I love skating, and if you get to be the Skater of the Year, you love skateboarding, youâre not going to quit. You donât get there if youâre not 100 percent all about it. Then to win it again, I couldnât believe it. Itâs hard to believe that they would ever even give it to me twice, because it comes down to their decision, and whether they want to give it to you twice or not.
When they gave it to me a second time it was too much, I donât even know how to describe that. Iâll continue to try to live rad and die proud forever, and thatâs always what Iâll try to do. But I know up until this point, deep down inside, without being full of myself and without thinking Iâm the shit, that I did it. I actually accomplished my goals that I never even knew where obtainable.
How do you juggle traveling and competing all over the world, while being a dad and a husband?
Itâs so tricky, itâs super duper hard. I really rely on my wife, my kids, and my family. Everybody thatâs around me picks up a lot in order for me to do what I do. From answering emails that Iâm not going to be able to get to, to planning my schedule for me. Once I go into skate brain, Iâm in skate brain, and the hardest part Iâve found about juggling it all is to go from skate brain, to business guy, to dad. It doesnât work, I canât do it. The skateboarding mind takes over 100 percent, and then I can skate, and thatâs about all I can do. Then I have to break out of it and get back into being a dad. When I come home from trips I have no idea what the hell Iâm doing. I forget what you feed the kids for breakfast. Itâs that bad. My wifeâs like, âwhy donât you make them eggs,â and Iâm like, âeggs! Great idea.'
Whatâs the best and worst about about travelling and competing all over the world?
The best part is itâs exciting. Itâs exciting to see other places, and see our world. There are little differences that you pick up, especially because my A.D.D. is crazy and I pick up a bunch of little things, just kind of the lay of the land. Itâs the subtle changes to the culture that are really different and really interesting. Thatâs a great thing, to go around the world and see other people, and see other places. It goes back to the no regrets. If I see all the places I want to see, then Iâm not going to have any regret about not travelling. The worst part is to be away from home, and to be away from my family. I know that itâs hard on each individual in the family.
When I come home from trips I have no idea what the hell Iâm doing. I forget what you feed the kids for breakfast. Itâs that bad. My wifeâs like, âwhy donât you make them eggs,â and Iâm like, âeggs! Great idea.'
Itâs also tough to know that that the kids are going to grow up while Iâm gone, and theyâre going to have life experiences. I donât ever want a different job, ever, but I do envy those who have a consistent schedule, and are home at this time, and gone at this time. Their family relies on them to be home at those times, and they can schedule their lives around that, and I definitely envy that.
I want to be there for every single football practice, and I want to be there for every single ballet class, and all the moments in between. But that eventually ends up being an impossibility.
Whatâs the mission of your foundation, Chris Coleâs Excellent Adventure? How did you get that started?
It came about because I was just thinking, what can I do that gives back that actually means something to me? You canât go bad with the charity route, but what would I actually be passionate about? Weâve got a really great relationship with the people over at Woodward, and theyâre just such a good family over there. We proposed this idea of bringing kids from my hometown to come to Woodward to skate, those who normally wouldnât be able to afford it. They said that sounded like a great idea, and theyâll open up a camp for them and make sure they were taken care of. And that was me, that kid who was looking at the brochure wishing he could skate at Woodward. Itâs pretty excellent to be able to bring a bunch of âmeâ to Woodward.
How much are you trying to promote your name and your brand versus being an ambassador for extreme sports?
With those two, one hand washes the other. If youâre a good dude, and you speak well, and you genuinely have your head on your shoulders, you can break through, and you can do a lot more than what youâre expected to be able to do as a skateboarder. If you think youâre just a skateboarder, then you have the wrong way of looking at it. Thereâs a bunch of famous people who are famous for absolutely nothing, but everyone knows their name. Why canât we? Thereâs definitely room for us, and thereâs room for us to get out there and be a positive influence. If youâre out there, and youâre giving your all doing skateboarding the way that you want to do it, it comes through to other people, and theyâll want to do it like that too.
Who are the innovators of skateboarding that really made the public pay attention?
Rodney Mullen, he invented everything that I do. All the tricks I do, he made them up. Heâs huge. There are tons of dudes, itâs tough to think about all of them. Rodney Mullen is the clutch dude, though. Danny Way is definitely a good one, and Pat Duffy. All the skateboarding in the '90s drove what I do, and thatâs where I gained all my inspiration. Thatâs what I started watching, those were my formative years. Luckily for me, that was also a time when they started pushing the limits of what they were doing. They figured out what they could do with a skateboard, but then they said, âif I can do this, then I can do that. I donât need to find little tiny rails, I can go bigger than that.â
Iâm hoping to have my confidence up, and my abilities firing on all cylinders.
How pumped are you for X Games Austin this June, and what are your goals there?
My goal is probably just to do as good as I can. Austin is a really cool city, and I canât wait to go and do what Iâm doing over there. The fan base is great, and the crowd is going to be sick. Itâs one of the first events of our season, so to speak, so itâs kind of going to be like getting into the groove of it. Iâm hoping to have my confidence up, and my abilities firing on all cylinders.
Whatâs on rotation on your iPod right now?
Oh, thatâs a good one. Itâs funny, you caught me at a pretty metal moment. Iâve been listening to the new Children of Bodom album, a lot. Then my top rated stuff is Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road was today. Gabrielle by Cradle of Filth was today, and Lolita by Lana Del Rey. It definitely gets weird. And then Candle in the Wind by Elton John is everyday. I had to explain it to my son yesterday, he wanted to know all about it.
What would you tell the next generation of young aspiring skaters?
Enjoy it. Enjoy that time. Donât think about what itâs going to bring you, whoâs better than who, whoâs good who isnât good. These are the years that youâre never going to forget, so enjoy them and try and have some sort of clarity, as hard as it is. Try to think about it as, Iâm going to look back on this right here, this moment. Be proud that youâre a skateboarder. Hone your craft and be the best skater you can be, and skateboarding will always have a place for you. You donât have to be a pro, you donât have to be sponsored, you donât have to be a superstar, you donât have to make money being a physical skateboarder. Thereâs always a place for someone. Whether it be a filmer, who gets a chance to travel and skate, or a team manager, who gets to travel and skate.
You can be a photographer who travels and skates, or a marketing dude who gets to do that. You can just work in a warehouse and skate with all of your buddies who work there. Skateboarding is a huge world, and we as pros rely on those people so heavily. The backbone of skateboarding. Itâs all about enjoying your time on a skateboard, and not worrying about what itâs going to bring you.
Whatâs the endgame for you by the time you step off a board for good? Whatâs the legacy youâre trying to leave?
I do want to be a household name. I would love that, because I want to skateboard for the rest of my life. I donât ever want to quit, and that would be the way to do that, by becoming a household name. When people look back at my skateboarding, I want them to look at it the way that they see Eric Koston skateboarding, somebody who is still active, still doing it. Not that Iâm like, âI want to be a living legend,â but these dudes are living legends. I would love to be looked at like that by someone, that would make me happy.