你可以热爱滑板一辈子，但是滑板人的职业生涯终有年限，如何从职业滑手转型到其他方面确实是个值得考虑的问题，作为成功转型的代表型人物，KickerClub今天就带来Johnny Tang的专访，看看他对于职业滑板生涯和日常工作以及生活之间的看法
Interview for Johnny Tang on career transition, English scroll down please.
Q：你是什么时候开始滑板的，什么时候成为职业滑手的？
A：我开始滑板是在12，13岁左右，我的好朋友那时有一块非常垃圾的滑板，我想节省点儿回家的时间，便问他借来当交通工具，不过那真是个烂注意，因为我根本不能让它直着滑起来，我回家依旧靠走，而且还得拿着拿笨重的破板，于是回到家里我就把它仍在车库了。
几个月之后我看电视，正好看到了X Games直播，我想应该是Tony Hawk让我拾起对滑板的兴趣，他在Vert Ramp上做了一个Double McTwist之类的，那时我都不知道滑板可以这么玩！于是一个下午，我把车库里那块垃圾滑板拿出来开始自己琢磨。一位邻居看到我在研究滑板便过来给我指点指点，他上来就做了几个Ollie和抓板动作，高度差不多到我胸口了（我还是孩子），我看呆了，觉得帅极了。
他告诉我Ollie应该怎么做，然后我便开始自己练习，这时我感觉脚下有些不对劲，我跟Poser一样小心翼翼拿起滑板检查...
那家伙竟然把我的桥给跳断了
我又等到几个月后我过生日，终于得到了一块像样的双翘。
那天我觉得我是世界上最幸运的孩子，我放弃了别的所有爱好，包括曲棍球，棒球，山地车，轮滑，吉他，电子游戏...开始专研如何滑行。
直到我到了中国才成为了职业滑手，以前我在加拿大有赞助商，滑板4年之后我参加当地草根比赛获得第一，Perception滑板店就赞助了我，并且给了我很多帮助，他们让我大开眼界，让我知道滑板圈是怎样运转的。他们把我带到经销商那里，我看到了成山的新产品，也知道了店铺是如何进货。最后他们帮我拿到了iPath鞋子，Habitat，Alien Workshop和当地滑板场的赞助，我再也不需要担心板子断了怎么办了，这大大促进了我的滑板进步。
不过即使没有这些赞助商，我也会继续滑板的。我开始来到中国时，还是那些赞助商，一开始我也没打算呆多久，怕赞助商把我的赞助给了多伦多那些孩子。我在中国也很幸运，这里有很多好的Spot，我每天都和广州的Homies一起滑板，黑柴，安仔，屁股杨，A Xing，Wen Xi，田军等等Hero板店附近的滑手。
有一天我在滑板，A.T. Distribution问我是否愿意给他们滑板，他们可以提供产品和资金支持，我吓尿了！
后来有些事情并没有按照预期发展，我也很年轻没有搞清楚中国做生意的套路，我最终为Fly Streetwear效力，韩老板给了我很多帮助，今天我的一切都要归功于他，他就像大哥一样，他将我拉入Gift并且晋升为Pro，虽然我觉得我还不够Pro的格儿，我只是想每天滑板。
Johnny Tang早年比赛照片。
Q：你是什么时候开始做滑板周边的事情的？
A：我之前每天都会去滑板店，有一次滑板之后我来到店里，发现两个老板都很忙，没时间照顾顾客，于是我就充当工作人员来帮把手，他们每次都会说“你好，有什么需要帮助的？”。我负责了滑板鞋这块，也是我的专研项目，一个母亲带着儿子来想要买鞋，我用尽全力推销出了两双，一双在学校穿，一双用来滑板。老板非常高兴我能在这帮忙，于是我便成了这里的兼职人员，只要他们需要帮助，通常在周末。我也在那里去了不少经销商，帮忙进货之类。非常棒，我在那里学到了不少关于滑板产业的知识。
Q：你是什么时候去的NikeSB
A：是2006年吧，也许更早。那时NikeSB视频“Nothing but the Truth”快要面世，NikeSB的人来到中国拍视频，那时我算是唯一一个既知道各种滑板地形，又可以说中英文的人，于是我便成了NikeSB队伍的向导。我和他们一起玩，我猜他们的Team Manager(Kevin Immamura 和 Hunter Murraira)可能对成立NikeSB中国队伍很感兴趣。那时Nike里并没有人专门运营NikeSB部门，我那时的赞助商是Quiksilver Clothing，DC也不断地给我鞋子，差不多就要签下我了。一天我在拍视频，Kevin Immamura给我打了电话，我拿起电话就听他说“给你开$600工资如何？”我当时就答应了。我想NikeSB就是我要去的地方，Nike是个大公司，我对他们的滑板支线充满好奇，我很喜欢用高帮鞋子滑板，他们有Dunk High，这就是我去NikeSB的过程吧。
Q：你在NikeSB的工作是什么，每天都是怎样的？
A：我的职位是“品牌经理助理”，意思就是我代表NikeSB在中国的形象
让NikeSB适应中国，这绝对不是个简单的事情，你得时时刻刻想办法，就像滑手看着大街上各种东西都想着怎么去滑板一样，我看着各种活动，都会想着如何将它与滑板联系起来。
对我来说这是个全新的领域。我每天都在学习新知识，而且开始我缺少工作经验，相适应真的很困难。我打赌很多同事都对我有意见吧，哈哈！对不起啦各位！
每天的工作就是回复一堆邮件，按照时间日程表办事。在Nike里交流很重要，公司太大，每个人的想法也不一样，很多人都有着丰富的工作经验，有着非常棒的点子。
Johnny Tang和 NikeSB 滑手 Shane O'Neill在南京，老马是向导。
Q：你到Nike工作之后，从滑手转变成为一名员工，你是怎样处理这个关系变化的？
A：这真的太难了！！刚开始我根本不知道干嘛，我总是等着别人告诉我要去干什么，因为我从没在办公室工作过，这里也没有别的滑手，我们根本谈不到一块儿去，
这就是公司。每个人都争着晋级升官，拿到更多薪水。我只是想看看我能干什么，怎样可以在中国推广滑板。
我现在也在适应这种转变之中...
Q：你是怎样保持滑板和工作之间的平衡的？
A：这里面没有平衡可言，只要不工作，我就尽可能去滑板。我还是个滑手时天天滑，现在我有了工作，我就要尽量滑，幸运的话一星期可以滑1-2次。
千万别浪费滑板机会！
Q：在你去NikeSB之后，和朋友之间的关系是否有了变化？
A：有的，你进公司之后大家都会觉得你对立面的东西有着百分百的了解，当你不能给朋友解答时，就会被指责。一方面要维护Nike形象，一方面要满足滑手们的求知，实在太难了。我想让大家都高兴，不过这是不可能的，你所要做的就是做出正确的决定，如果你没有从错误决定中学到什么，那么下次一定要避免发生。
我和朋友之间的关系在我进了NikeSB之后确实疏远了，没有人再打电话叫我周末去滑板，有时候Jeremy会叫我，他滑得也很棒。
不过这并不是说我们并不一起滑板了，我们还是好哥们的。
Johnny Tang 10 Tricks 视频
Q：当某些事情涉及到滑板核心价值时，你是否会和高层产生摩擦？你是如何解决这些问题的？
A：无时无刻不在产生这些问题！我也不知道怎么说，我不太擅长争论，每次讨论我都会被压制，我不太会说谁对谁错，我会告诉你这个应该是怎样的，但是如果你不同意，那么就按你的来做，我也能学点儿新的。如果他们犯错了，他们便会从中学到新的东西。除非我知道这是完全错误的决定，我才会去举例证明那样是错的。
Q：你对大公司比如Nike进驻滑板世界是怎么看的？（若有不适可以跳过）
A：事情总有好坏两个方面，对中国来说，大公司进驻滑板帮助滑板发展无疑是件好事，他们可以让滑板在普通群众面前更加频繁地出现，滑板在中国还是具有相当的负面色彩，我带着滑板上地铁，70%的人会用异样的眼光来看我，他们不知道滑板这个看似“玩具”的东西给我生活带来的是什么。大公司比如Nike对这种“玩具运动”的支持可以起到一些帮助，滑手们也可以去更多的地方参加活动，我真希望年轻时有这么多活动！
Q：如果有滑手想要去Nike之类的公司，他们需要做什么准备？
A：看那里的工作职位了，Nike公司里就有适合普通人的职位，你只需要思想开放，有一定工作经验，准备结交新朋友进入新领域，那么就可以了。
Q：你对未来有什么打算，工作，滑板，生活都可以。
A：我想成立自己的公司，但是现在八字还没有一撇呢，我想做点为滑板人贡献的事情，让大家都高兴的事情。开个广东早茶馆，或者宠物店都可以，哈哈，噢！对了！渔夫！！！这是我最想做的！！
Johnny Tang和他调的鱼。
Q：你觉得除了成为Pro之外，滑手的理想工作是什么？
A：当然就是拥有自己的滑板店啦，你可以在滑板店里学到很多东西，这看你对滑板，对产品，对销售，营销之类的热爱程度了。
Q：在从滑手转变到工作人员的经历之中，你有什么特殊的经历？
A：没呢，我关心的只是滑板，非滑板不爱。如果让我选择其他工作，至少不要做办公室。我喜欢接地气的活儿。
Johnny Tang和他的狗狗Junior。
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Q：When did you start skateboarding and when did you become a Pro skateboarder?
A: I started skateboarding when I was 12 or 13 years old.
My best friend at the time had a old shitty skateboard in his closet, I asked him to barrow it so I could get home faster, That sucked cause I stilled walked home anyways but carrying this heavy ass board... Shit was hard to ride straight, pretty much after I got home I left it in my garage.
After a few months maybe even a year, I was watching TV one night and X games was on, I think who really got me intrigued with skateboarding was Tony Hawk, it was his run on the vert ramp and he did a double mctwist or something like that, at the time I didn't even know you could do tricks on a skateboard, So one afternoon I busted that shitty old school board out of the garage and started to experiment. An older neighbor from a few houses down saw me struggling and came over to give me a few pointers, he blasted a few flatground ollies that were like chest high to me at the time and all types of grabs, I didn't know what the hell he was doing, it just looked cool.
He gave me a few tips on how to ollie, I started to practice on my own and noticed that there was something really odd with my piece of shit... I picked it up off the ground like a poser and investigated what was wrong... Dude just broke my trucks.
I had to wait a few months for my birthday to get a updated version of a skateboard, one that had double kicktails.
I was the happiest kid alive when that day came, I gave up everything, hocky, baseball, biking, rollerblading, guitar, video games, everything... to just how to roll straight on my skateboard.
I didn't become pro until I came to China, I had sponsors in Canada when I was young, After my 4th year of skating I won a local grassroots contest, Perception skateshop sponsored me and helped me out a whole bunch, those guys really opened my eyes to how the skate industry kind of worked, they'd take me to the distributions and show me all types of cool new products and how shops get their invertory. They eventually helped me get on iPath shoes, Habitat and Alien workshop skateboards and some local skateparks, that really really helped out with my skating because I didn't have to worry about "what do I do if my board breaks?"... but even if i didn't have those sponsors I'd be skating regardless. So when I came to China I was still riding for those companies, I didn't plan on staying for so long so I guess my sposnsors and I had to part ways, give the opportunity for up and coming riders in Toronto a chance to ride for those really good companies. I ended up being really fortunate to be in China because this place has the best skate spots and everything was so new a fresh. I just skated everyday with the Guang Zhou homies, Blackie, An Zai, Pi Gu Yang, A Xing, Wen Xi, Tian Jun and anyone who was around Hero park.
One day I was skating and A.T. distribution asked me if i was interested in riding for them, they said they could give me product and pay me... I was down!
After sometime things weren't working out as planned, I was really immature at the time and didn't really understand how business in China worked, I ended up riding for Fly streetwear and Jeff Han helped me out tons... Everything I have today I owe a lot to him. He has helped me out like a big brother. It was him and his company GIFT that wanted to turn me pro... I still don't think I deserve a pro model, I just want to skate everyday.
Q:When did you start to do something related with skateboarding beside skateboarding itself?
A:I would go hang out at the skateshop everyday, one day after skating the local park I went to the shop and noticed that the 2 owners were more busy that usually, too busy to help with all the customers, so I pretended like I worked there to give a hand, I'd here them repeat the same thing everytime a customer would walk in, " Hey, how are you guys doing? If there's anything you need a hand with just let me know". I was in the shoe section (my specialty), a mom and her son wanted to buy some skate shoes, I busted my skate knowledge and they ended up buying 2 pairs of shoes, a pair for school and a pair to skate in. The owners were really pleased with my help and I ended up just working part-time whenever they needed an extra hand around the shop, usually on the weekends, and from there I'd go to the distributions and help with input on brands and models they should carry. It was definitely cool, because I got to some important stuff around skateboarding
Q:When and Why did you go to Nike?
A: I started to ride for Nike SB maybe in 2006? or earlier? It was around the Nike SB "Nothing but the truth" video was about to come out. A few of the Global Nike SB guys came out to China to film some tricks and at the time I was kinda the only one who knew the spots and spoke both Chinese and English so I was the go-to tour guide at the time, I skated a few spots with the guys and I guess the team managers (Kevin Immamura and Hunter Murraira) were interested in starting a China Nike SB team. At the time there was nobody at Nike that was specifically working for Nike SB and I was riding for Quiksilver clothing, so DC was consistently giving me shoes and they had an offer about 70% ready to give me, One day I was out skating and filming and I got a call from Kevin Immamura, When I picked up the phone all he said was -"How does $600 USD sound?" I said yes right on that spot. I guess I felt at the time that Nike SB was where I wanted to be, Nike is a big company and I was really curious about their skate line, I've always liked skating in high top shoes and they have the Dunk High, so I guess thats why I went to Nike SB.
Q:What’s your job in Nike, what’s your average days like?
A: My Job Title is "Assistant Brand Manager" meaning I help give Nike SB a face for China, what do I do to adapt Nike SB to China... Its not an easy job, your constantly thinking of ideas, and like how skaters look at the streets as a skate spot and how would that could be skated, I look at events and brands and think how can I evolve that to skateboarding. Its a whole new world for me. I'm something everyday, and with my lack of work experience in the past its really hard to adapt... I'm pretty sure most the people I work with hate me haha. Sorry guys.
But an average day is just replying a shit ton of emails, meetings all the time and power points. Communication is really important at Nike, the company is so big and not everyone is thinking on the same level, you have a lot of people with a lot of experience working with numbers and stuff and they always have some good advice.
Q:After you going to Nike, you turned yourself from a skateboarder to an employee, How did you handle this transition?
A: It was so hard man!!! I didn't know what to do... I was always waiting for someone to tell me what to do cause I never worked in an office environment, no one skates here so we don't speak the same language, its a company... Everyone just wants to climb the corporate ladder and get paid, I just wanted to see what I could do to help skateboarding in China. I'm still trying to deal with the transition...
Q:How did you keep the balance between Working and skateboarding?
A: There is no balance, I just try to skate as much as I can when I'm not working. I took advantage of skateboarding when I was a skater... now that I have a job, I skate as much as I can, when I do skate.. Which is about 1-2 times a week if I'm lucky. DON"T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SKATEBOARDING!
Q: Was there any change of your relationship with your friends when you switch yourself from skateboarder to a staff in Nike?
A: Yea, when you go into a company a lot of people think you have the answers, and when you can't fulfill their needs, you're the one who gets blamed. I was having a really hard time satisfying Nike and the skaters, I just want to make everyone happy, but its not possible, You just have to make the right decisions and if you don't you from them and try not to let them happen again.
I definitely have distanced myself from the homies after working for Nike SB, no one ever calls me to go skate during the weekends. Sometimes Jeremy Hu will, which is really rad.
But its not like we don't skate together or nothing we're all still good homies.
Q:Did you have any conflict with Nike’s higher manager when things coming to the core value of skateboarding? If you had this kinda experience how did you solve it?
A: All the time! I don't even know... I'm not very good at arguing, I will always lose an argument, I'm just not that type of person to tell you whats right and whats wrong, I just tell you why it should be like this and if you don't agree then lets try your way.. maybe I'll something new. And if they make a mistake, they'll something new. Unless I know its really gonna be wrong, then I'll show em examples and stuff like that.
Q:What’s your opinion on giant sport company like Nike going to the skateboarding industry? (you can skip this if it’s not comfortable to answer)
A: I means everything has good and bad things to it... For China, I think its great to have big companies coming in and supporting skateboarding, because they help give more exposure to the general public, skateboarding in China is still looked at as quite negatively, When I carry my board on the metro 70% of the people are giving me a bad look, they don't understand how much this "TOY" has given me in life. So for a huge brand like Nike to support his "TOY sport" it helps just a little more... and The skaters get to go to more events and gatherings. I wish I had these events when I was younger!
Q:If some skateboarder wanna go to Nike to find a job ,what they need to prepare?
A: Depends on what job title they want... there is something for everyone here at Nike, you just have to have an open mind, work experience and be ready to make some new friends that can help you on your journey.
Q:Do you have some specific plans for the future, no matter in skateboarding or working or in your life?
A: I want to start my own company, I don't know what it is yet, but I want to start something for skateboarders by skateboarders, something that people will be hyped on.
Either that or start a cantonese dessert spot or a doggy daycare haha... Oh a fisherman!!! Thats for sure what I want to be.
Q:What’s the most ideal job for a skateboarder in your opinion, beside to be a pro.
A: A skateshop for sure, you can somuch from working at a skateshop, just depends on how much you really love skateboarding, product, sales, digital, merchandising, communication... list goes on.
Q:Do you have some personal experience in the career transition from a skateboarder to other kind of jobs?
A: Nah, All I care about is skateboarding and all I know is skateboarding... If i was going to do any other job, it'd have to be something outside of an office. I like getting my hands dirty.
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