Getting to the Bell Bottom of it: The Laura Greene, Skate Mom Interview

As with most of my interviews, I get drawn to a person because they have something intriguing and slightly out of the norm about them, its the initial hook that piques my interest. What often happens though, as we dig deeper they become even more fascinating, often exposing vulnerabilities or insights which adds breadth to the original reason I was curious. 

Despite having never met in real life, Laura Greene has that special brand of warmth that makes you feel like you've been friends for years. Her email exchanges have been infused with enthusiasm, self deprecation and humour and that's before we even get onto the headline grabbing stuff of, skateboarder in her 40's, photographer, mom, all around badass. There is a LOT to like. I first encountered Laura through a tenuous link with a skating friend (hi Jo) and a BBC report which explored her being a mom and skating in her 40s. I may be getting my surf/skate lingo mixed up here but from what I can tell, Laura shreds. Its hard not to be impressed watching her skate videos (@jaffaskates), making something that we all know is pretty perilous look easy is absolutely a skill. What kept me hooked though is her ability to laugh at herself, she includes in her social media handles the videos where she falls and the hours of practice she puts into perfecting a move. Laura is also part of @girlsskateoxford, an inspirational initiative encouraging girls and non binary people into skating. I knew I liked Laura before we did the interview, but reading her honest answers has made me absolutely want to meet IRL! 

Mom, skater, photographer and inspirational woman. 

Here is Laura Greene in her own words. 

Question one: We don't do death row meals here, we do death row outfits...so. If you could only wear one outfit, an outfit that defines your style to end your days in, what would it be and why? 

OMG awesome question.. ha ha. I love clothes! I think it would probably have to be
baggy jeans, massive white chavy trainers, a black t-shirt, hoop earrings and my hair as
big and curly as I can get it. This is what I used to wear in school and it hasn’t changed
much since. Although I wish I looked like one of those amazing 70s girl skateboarders
with the long flowy hair, shorts and longs socks… but I’m afraid that is just not the case
in real life ha ha.. as when I skate I like to pad up as much as possible including hip and
coccyx protectors, flat sweaty hair under my helmet, glasses on, knee pads, elbow pads,
wrist guards.. the lot! I'm terrified of hurting myself because once I fell off my board in a
skate bowl and bruised my butt cheek so badly that I couldn’t walk for months without
pain, it has never been the same since and there is a massive lump in there! Ha ha!
Schexy!!

Question two: We first came across you via a BBC Oxford report about
skateboarding at 40. Can you tell us about the catalyst that inspired you to
start skateboarding in your 40's? 

Awww actually the age thing was a bit wrong in that report. Doh!!! I started at 36 and I'm now 40. I first started skating back when I was a teenager and I'd follow my big brother Scott Alexander around who is the coolest person I know! And I would hide around the corner from him and his friends and skate on my own because I was too embarrassed to let anyone see me. I loved it though; I learned to ollie and I could do a little board slide on a small broken away kerb at Toys R Us in Oxford, and I could push along… one day though we were skating in a school (where we weren’t supposed to be!) and I fell off trying to ollie over these two cones I had set up, I hurt my ankle and cried!) and then didn't skate again until 36 when two other mums I knew had started skating. I was so excited. I messaged my brother to ask what size deck I needed, what trucks and what wheels and I went and spent £120 on my skateboard. I felt so self-conscious carrying it around though thinking christ people might think I know how to skate holding this, I didn’t want anyone to see me and when I went to the skate park it took so much courage to walk through the gates at our local park. I'd sit down and slowly put my pads on and when I would get to the last pad I was scared to actually skate with other people in the park as I was worried what people would think of me, and that I might get in their way and they would think what the hell is she doing, she doesn’t belong here. It has taken me 4 years to feel like yes I am allowed in a skate park and I belong here. This is mainly because more and more girls are getting into it. I love when I walk into a skatepark and there’s another girl there and we say hello to each other and support each other. Sometimes people won't say hello to me and rather than be upset I try and remember how scary it is and that they might be feeling nervous about being there too, so I always aim to be the first person to say hello and break the ice. 

Question three: What context do we need to know about you, or perhaps an important
event in your life in order to understand the Laura of 2023? 

An important event in my life is that I quit drinking alcohol 4 years ago. I was a big
party animal, ever since I was a teenager but becoming a mum and re-discovering
skateboarding I realised that alcohol was making me utterly miserable. It gave me such
anxiety and depression that I just thought there is more to life so I quit. Although I
make it sound like it was easy, it wasn’t. I did a lot of reading, joined blogs and
secretly spoke to other people about it online and I came up against a lot of people and
family who thought I couldn’t do it and that it was just a phase and that I was weird,
and just a raging alcoholic. People would even still buy me alcohol for Christmas and
birthdays thinking that it was ok to do that, not realising how much I didn’t want to
drink anymore and how anxious and sad it made me. And still people think there’s
something wrong with me for not drinking. I don’t see myself as an alcoholic since I
only drank a few times a week like most people. 

I’m so happy with my decision not to drink and I now spend my time skating instead and doing things that bring me joy and I've never looked back. Alcohol steals happiness from tomorrow. I read this line on a blog and it totally changed my life. I just wish that everyone knew the benefits of quitting alcohol because people don’t realise how much it can affect your life, even just drinking a few times a week like me, the effect lingers in your system for days.

Question four: Beginning skateboarding, especially as an older woman (*can I just say, I think 40 is soooo young, but society makes you think it isn't) must have been really daunting, what advice do you have for people about exceeding expectation and being a beginner at something?

Another great question. Being a beginner at something is hard! I want to be good at
tricks and look natural and confident, but I'm not and I'm scared and look awkward as
anything, and I'm not cool in the slightest and never have been, but the joy that
skateboarding brings is addictive and I'm sure one day I'll look cool on my board, like
these fantastic 70 year women who I see on Instagram who are just so inspiring.
I would encourage everyone to give it a go. It is a total form of escapism from all your
worries. When I'm skating I forget about everything. I often say to people that they don’t
have to try any scary stuff because just pushing along is so much fun. That’s the thing
with skating each fear you face whether it is going down a new bank at the skatepark,
pushing along a little bit faster, or mastering a kick turn it all brings you such a sense of
achievement and joy.

Being older as well shouldn’t be an obstacle. We are stronger and fitter than we give
ourselves credit for. The human body is tough and we will heal if we hurt ourselves; this
is what I tell myself all the time when I'm scared. Also I wear all the pads that are
available!! Especially a helmet! It’s time to make helmets cool!!
So everyone!! Get skating, just give it a try, you wont regret it. Also I think that the best
skateboarder is the one having the most fun.

Question five: I'm aware that you're also a mother of two (seriously how do
you do it)?! What has motherhood taught you about yourself? 

Oooh another good question. Being a mum has taught me that I am massive stress
head and have major anxiety!! Ha ha.. true story!!

Although it has also taught me that life is about enjoying those little moments of joy
when everyone is enjoying themselves and smiling… before it all turns to chaos again!
It’s also taught me that life is not about being the absolute best at something but
enjoying what you do. With skateboarding I believe that the one having the most fun is
the winner. When I see someone's face light up from something they’ve just learned and
they're smiling and laughing… that’s what it’s all about.

I was never the best at anything.. I was always in the bottom sets at school, I was a bit
shit at Uni, Although I was pretty good at college so that’s something! But things don’t
come easily to me, I have to try really hard. Honestly those people who got straight A’s
without even trying!! My husband is one of those.. how do they do it? They're so
annoying! Motherhood has also taught me that time to yourself is so important to be a good mum.
And its ok to do this, although I still feel massively guilty whenever I skate as though I
should be doing something for my family instead. It’s a real mental battle every day.

Question six: Tell us about your Instagram handle Jaffaskates (where did the
name come from)?

Aww thanks for asking this! @Jaffaskates is an important name to me because it came to
me in Scotland when visiting my Gran and Grandad. My Grandad always had Jaffa cakes
in the cupboard and when I was eating some Jaffa cakes in their sitting room and I was
trying to think of an Instagram name and I came up with Jaffa Skates. My grandad
passed away a few years ago and it was one of the hardest things I've gone through, so
this name is super special to me and I have my grandad and his brilliant biscuit
cupboard to thank for it.

Question seven: What brings you balance on days when your head is on
backwards or nothing is quite working? 

OMG that’s every day!! The stuff that brings me balance is skateboarding, listening to
podcasts, meditation, essential oils, Netflix, chocolate, reading self-help books, they’re
my total therapy, journaling, editing photos and getting creative.

Question eight: One of the many reasons we think you're fantastic is your
sense of humour and being able to poke fun at your skating mishaps. What
advice do you have for people about self confidence and not getting in your
own way? 

I do like to poke fun at myself because I want to remind people that it’s all about having fun and not always about looking cool… although I'd like to look cool but that’s a long shot! Ha ha! I am self conscious though and I do get in my own way… but I do hope that other people will see my posts and not feel so self conscious about themselves. I follow a girl on Instagram who posts fun and silly tricks, she's a great skater and she's always having a good laugh and each time I see a post of hers I want to go out and skate. @am_cormack_ she rules. 

You can get totally bogged down in getting a trick that you can forget to enjoy the process and when I start to get annoyed with myself I realise that I've lost my way and I need to get back on the fun track. @sparkmatott has taught me that. My self-consciousness mostly comes from when someone at the skatepark said to me that I didn’t know how to skate. The person that said it is a very good, well known
skater and I thought I'd just ask for some advice and I asked the question, “you know how you have to keep your shoulders parallel to the board? How come some people face forwards?” and the response was, “that’s because they know how to skate and you don’t." Needless to say we ended up in a massive argument in the middle of the park which resulted in me crying and leaving.

Stupidly I have been battling with this negative comment for quite some time and unfortunately we meet idiots in our lives and these hurdles come to teach us lessons to make us stronger. I believe this event was brought to me ,to teach my daughters to be strong, and to not listen to negative people, and as long as they’re having fun that’s all I want for them. I've met some lovely people and some mean ones along the way … and actually another of my new mantras for my children is, ‘if someone does not bring you joy then walk away’. Why is it that when we are growing up we want the mean kids to like us? It blows my mind. I want my children to learn this lesson fast! Stick with the people that
bring you joy.

Question nine: What is a day in the life like for you? 

I get up and try and get the kids and myself ready for school while desperately trying
not to shout at everyone for being annoying! My husband does a great job of helping in
the morning and walking the dog, amongst other things, I do the school run, come back
do some work, I’m a photographer so this might be editing or preparing for a
photoshoot or replying to quotes or doing some training. I will flit between doing
housework, shopping, cooking, cleaning, dog walks, and work until I realise that it is
school pick up then I'll run out the door.
Some days I'll try and have a little skate in the sitting room or garden or I'll head to a
skatepark if I decide to sack off all my work because I'm about to lose the plot if I don’t
get some me time.

Some days I'll do several school runs and take the children to all their activities and
clubs, I'm a Beaver Scout assistant so I do that once a week and I coach basketball to
the minis on the weekends as well and then when all the day time stuff is done it is
dinner, bath and bed for the children and I'll sit up and watch tv, eat choccy, read and I'll
try and journal about the day or things I'm grateful for and that’s sort of like puking up
my brain onto a page to make sense of the day.

Question ten: What trick or technique are you currently trying to learn at the
moment skateboarding? 

A finger flip!!! I've been on it for about 2 years!!! Lets see if 2023 is the year of me Vs
the finger flip. I'm so scared of everything and such a slow learner! But I really want to
get this one!!

Bonus Question: What's your favourite music to jam to? 

Oooh I love music.. and I like all sorts of weird shit that is maybe not considered that cool.. I like folk music, 90s, R&B, Pop music that my children listen to, Christian rock, Disney classics, hip hop, a tribe called quest, country, classical, punk pop, rave music, particularly happy Hardcore, my husbands band underbelly which is shouty heavy metal, reggae, My current fav is Afro Pop, it actually makes me get up from my seat to dance. Oh and I like 60s, and 80’s too!
 

Thank you Laura Greene! 

You can find her skate content @jaffaskates and @girlsskateoxford