Mike McDermott

Conventional wisdom holds that there are two kinds of people in life, those who dream, and those who do. Then there is Mike McDermott, who does both.

“Anyone can be successful if you take something you want and actually go out and do it, success is there for everyone to grab,” said the thirty-year-old skateboarder who went professional in 2008 with Ohio based Habitat International.

After living in Vancouver for several years and working for major skateboard companies like Supra Distributions, McDermott returned to Winnipeg last year to open Green Apple Skateboard Shop. While he calls this the logical next step on his “skateboarding odyssey”, McDermott admits that he didn’t always see himself ending up on this path.

He says he started skating at age 11 to copy his older brother, who gave him his first board. While the learning curve was steep, McDermott soon developed a deep infatuation with the sport.

“When I first started, I just wanted to learn how to ollie. I could barely stand up on the thing. I took small steps but eventually I realized I had a pretty heavy passion for it.”

The love affair was almost cut off once McDermott turned 18 though as he worked in a mailroom while taking classes in marketing.

“I kind of quit skateboarding to try and move up the ladder, I didn’t think I could take it any further,” he says.

 

After a while, he realized that playing it safe in formal education wasn’t his thing and made the decision that changed his life.

“I sold everything I had and decided that I had a goal. I wanted to try and become a pro skater,” he said with a grin.

McDermott says the process of becoming a professional in skateboarding is much like it is in any business, a lot of work.

“It’s all about making yourself known and building a resume. You have to get out there and meet people,” said McDermott, who added that it was a crazy ride, with skating basically becoming his whole life.

“I just kept skating and skating until the right people knew who I was. I mean, let’s just say there wasn’t a lot of sleeping. Lots of partying, but no sleeping,” he said, as if to confirm it wasn’t all work and no play.

On returning to Winnipeg to open the shop, McDermott says it wasn’t something he had always planned to do but rather it had manifested itself out of another one of his dreams.

“Sometime when I close up I just think ‘wow that’s really cool that I created this’ but then I realize it really created itself because I wanted to do it. I set a goal and now here it is. It’s that simple.”