Regardless of religious or any other spiritual beliefs, what happened in 2020 was a big call for everyone to look at our lives and reassess a couple of things. For Richie Valdez, it was a particularly tough year, dealing with delicate health issues on top of COVID. 

Richie Valdez is a photographer, a filmmaker, and a professional skateboarder. He filmed the documentary “Lyssophobia” in 2016. He also has a YouTube channel where he publishes “The Other Side,” a series of interviews with people from the skateboarding community sharing the other side of their lives. 

In this episode, Richie kindly shared his experiences as a professional skateboarder and mastering the sport helped him succeed in different areas of his life. We spoke about his challenging 2020 and what kept him going despite all the difficulties, the physical and emotional pain, the loneliness, and the isolation. 

Connect with Richie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richievaldez/

or visit his YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/richievaldez/videos

Lyssophobia – Documentary by Richie Valdez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJTN0kzVNHk

To follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/J0hnDavids0n

The DLC Drop Podcast is part of the Esports Futuri Podcast network. To see this show, and all of our other shows, visit: https://EsportsFPN.com

Full Episode Breakdown:

2:18 – Richie talks about how it was growing up in a dangerous but cool neighborhood, Watsonville.

5:21 – Richie speaks about his experience being hired at Hurley and how that job helped him develop a new set of abilities.

9:51 – Richie talks about his fantastic experiences skating with Bob Burnquist.

10:44 – Richie remembers a painful yet valuable lesson learned on a quarter pipe.

15:50 – Richie talks about his only trophy, the King of the Road tournament.

19:21 – John and Richie talk about how they met at Street League.

23:28 – Richie talks about what it means to him as a creative and the best space for them to create.

27:16 – Richie breaks down the health issue that tried to stop him last year.

31:52 – Living the experience. Richie talks about his decision to stop taking painkillers.

35:05 – Richie talks about the project that helped him realize that doing more and more things would help him forget his stressful situation.

39:38 – Richie offers an honest point of view about the skateboarding industry.

46:04 – Richie shares his takeaway from a rough year that he flawlessly overcome.