Kind: captions
Language: en
everybody Welcome to impact Theory
you're here because like me my friends
you believe that human potential is
nearly Limitless but you know that
having potential is not the same as
actually doing something with it so our
goal with this show and Company is to
introduce you to the people and ideas
that are going to help you actually
execute on your dreams all right today's
guest was born with a heart defect that
required two open heart surgeries to
correct but he refused to let that slow
him down and proving that you can
overcome any obstacle through hard ass
work he is now the most decorated
snowboarder on the planet intensely
driven he turned Pro in snowboarding at
the rip old age of 13 and turned Pro in
skateboarding by 17 he's the youngest
Rider to ever win the US Open is the
only Rider to ever score a perfect 100
on the super pipe in the X Games he's
won two Olympic gold medals and a
record-breaking 15 xgame gold medals
he's won 10 SV Awards is the only
athlete to win gold medals in both the
Summer and Winter X Games and he reached
number two on business week's list of
the 100 most powerful athletes which
honestly isn't too surprising giving
that he's partnered with some of the
biggest brands around and he's designed
massively successful apparel lines and
other goodies for the likes of Burton
Oakley and Target he's also an
accomplished musician whose band bad
things has played the main stage at laa
palooza and toured the world with 30
Seconds to Mars and to Pro he has
relevance well beyond Sports he's also
established himself as a topshelf
entrepreneur he now owns a stake in
Mammoth Resorts is the majority
shareholder of 20-year-old snowboarding
and music festival erir and style he's
launched a men's fashion line with
Macy's called whites space and wound up
on the cover of Forbes 30 under 30 list
in
2016 please help me in welcoming the
passionate philanthropist who works
extensively with Charities including the
Make A Wish Foundation the man who has
his own snowboards skateboards clothing
lines and video game the sh
contrepreneur
himself the Unstoppable Shawn
White thanks for having me absolutely
that's a pleasure what an intro all
right hey the good news is with you it
was about trimming down I was like God I
can't even begin to fit all the things
that you've done busy guys sometimes
which is actually a perfect place start
so give us a sense why not uh just focus
on one thing so not only do you do
multiple sports but you're really really
active as an entrepreneur you know it's
strange I've always just kind of like
had my eyes open to what was around me
you know and things would just like come
in and out of my life and it was up to
me to really um dig deeper on those if
it felt right or just kind of you know
pass and move on to the next thing um
you know like music for example that was
something that just kind of came to me I
was uh competing at the X Games I won
the slope style event and the halfpipe
which made me the athlete of the games
you know which they called me you and
you you win a you win a guitar and you
win a car as the prize and I remember
thinking like sick let's drive the car
not thinking about this guitar and you
know randomly you know I'd won this
guitar and then my brother was like I'm
going to start playing Guitar that'd be
cool and and then some kids in my
neighborhood and I'm thinking to myself
wait a minute I have a guitar and it was
a great guitar it was a a Fender Strat
Americade and um I called my buddy who
actually brought the guitar home from
from uh Colorado for me and uh picked it
up started playing and fell in love with
playing and then the competitor in me
was like you know what I want to do this
like no one knows and I'm not going to
tell anybody I'm going to train just as
hard as I would train on a snowboard or
something else cuz maybe one day in the
future I could actually be in a band and
wouldn't it be cool to pick up a guitar
and be able to really play like a a true
musician and so that was kind of my
long-term goal and I I would play and
play and play and then the time came
where actually made friends in music I
joined a band and we put out an album
and toured yeah wow talk to me about a
using competition but then B like what
it looks like to train the way that you
train like stretching your fingers on
Long flights and picking the seam of
your Jee I mean it's incredible story
it's a very simple thing in my mind when
I look at it it's kind of like you just
I mean it sounds lame but it's like you
just do what's hard hard until it's not
hard anymore I mean I I remember playing
guitar and I couldn't up pick you know I
could only play like you know punk rock
songs because you just down P the chords
and whatnot and so um I would sit on the
airplane like you said and I would up
stroke the seam of my pant and like
listen to the music that was playing and
kind of like play along with it with the
pick in my hand and then it became easy
to do it and I slowly got past that
hurdle and then a whole another genre of
music opened up for me and and that was
it
um you know even even when it came to
snowboarding there were certain things
that were very difficult to get past and
um I just remember doing it until it
became easy you know it's like if you
broke your hand and you weren't used to
riding with that hand and then you're
forced to you know ride or to use
chopsticks or to do something once you
do it enough it becomes you know a
casual thing to do so here's what I find
fascinating though and I hope that
people will hear in your story so
there's a whole genre of medicine to
deal with people who let's say they hurt
their back yeah um and I remember I one
time I had a neck virus which where you
get a cold or something and then the
virus settles into the muscle this is
how they explained it to me I'm actually
tempted to believe this is but
nonetheless the effect of it was I was
like this for like a week and a half
right and every time I try to move I'd
get this massive spasm in my neck and
the doctor said okay here's what's crazy
if you don't force yourself to fight
through that and like ultimately get
your neck back upright he's like there
are people who have lived you know 20 30
years and they never get out of that
position because they become so afraid
of the pain so it doesn't it's not most
people don't break their hand and get
good at the left right they just stop
and they wait until they heal or they
may never get that good again when did
you realize like that you could do that
when did you fall in love with pushing
yourself to do that yeah uh I I would
say through Sports you know at a young
age I was like you know a lot of angst
and I wanted to to do things and uh and
that's where snowbo came along and it
gave me that outlet and um you know it
was fun it was cool in the beginning and
then my parents were like oh maybe he
you know he's pretty good at it people
around the mountain are telling them I
was pretty good and so they put me into
a competition and it was a race and I
won you know I just I was pretty fast
and so this is like at 7 yeah like 67
and um and I had skied at 4:00 if you
call it skiing I basically like I wasn't
allowed polls cuz I would hit people
it's like really into the Ninja Turtles
and I was just like I had had moves I
thought I had moves and uh so yeah I
ended up not allowed polls and then I
would just like go into the trees and
they'd lose me and they'd be all worried
about where I was and what would happen
and and so they're like oh we'll put him
on a snowboard he'll be falling we'll
keep track of him it'll be great and so
obviously I figured it out pretty
quickly um and then they put me in a
competition at the local Resort up at at
Snow Summit and um you know I I won and
that gave me this like wow I can win
something and and then it and then it
gave me the you know the passion to to
work hard at something to keep winning
you know once you get that taste of
Victory and you're like wow well maybe
well I want to keep going on this path I
think that was where it it it it stemmed
from and then the other huge component
which I'm sure if you read any other
sports book or anything it was I have an
older brother seven years older than me
so a lot bigger a lot stronger a lot
smarter you know and he was always
beating me at everything I did
everything Monopoly C like anything the
video games the snowboarding like
everything he was just always winning
and I just couldn't beat him and you
know I just kept at it and I finally
like you know crossed that barrier where
I was actually learning the tricks he
was learning at the time but he's seven
years older so you know in my age
division it was just you know no contest
and so that's what kind of stemmed that
whole me me turning pro at 13 cuz I was
already ready for you know the next
level do you think about the birth order
of you and your brother and sisters at
all in sort of your what ends up
becoming your persona in snowboarding
and just that you got as good as you did
um I don't know I just I think I got to
learn from them like so even with my
brother and sister it was like oh wow
well my you know my brother chose this
path like I'm going to do this that's
interesting and I think one of the most
fascinating things about you is how
uniquely you have carved your way
through it and if you don't mind it's
obviously a very famous story in your
lore but just quickly um when all the
guys decided they' gone partying and
they wanted to just split the winnings
from the race but that didn't make sense
for you because of you had to pay your
own way yeah I was uh I was 15 years old
and um I flew to Japan to do this big
competition called the Toyota big air
and um I remember getting there I'm
pretty sure the way it worked out is
like the specific invited Riders got a
little bit of money to show up and then
obviously there's great prize money and
you had maybe 3 or four days of practice
and um I was 15 so my mom's there and um
and I was paying out of my own travel to
like get the flights to get the food to
get the hotel and all these things I
remember sitting there and it's the game
day you know we're supposed to hit the
jump and everyone's complaining which is
like music to my ears cuz I'm having the
best day ever and and you know yeah the
guys had gone out we're in we're in
Japan there's a lot of fun things to do
and I was like in my room with my mom
like doing my algebra or whatever I'm
like all right well you you guys go have
fun I'm going to you know do my school
workor and so anyways long story short
um they all got together and we like
we're going to split the prize money for
the
competition and I'm sitting there
thinking wow like doing the the quick
math I'm like this doesn't even cover
the flights out once you split it up
among all the writers and and whatnot
and and I said no I 15 I was like no I
want to compete and they just sat there
and hazed me and there was like this
this board of like all the writers faces
for who was at the competition and they
took turns like drawing dollar signs on
my eyes and doing whatnot and I just
remember being like I'm not going to
succumb to the like pure pressure of
this like I came here to compete I'm
feeling great and I I I stuck to my you
know gut feeling there and I won I won I
won $50,000 in a car but yeah it was it
was time where I just kind of like stuck
to it and that was a big win for me and
that was kind of the first realization
that I didn't have to follow the pack I
didn't have to do what everyone else
said because it's what they want or what
they should do or what is you're
supposed to do I just kind I just kind
of felt like you know what this is this
is a point where I should make a stand I
should really be me and own it and and I
did and I won it was pretty wild so that
was amazing the the reason I really
wanted you to share that story is no un
certain terms when I was 15 I would have
crumbled I'd have been like I would have
so wanted them to like me that even if I
had said no what first about the time
they start drawing the dollar signs on
my eyes like what what gave you was it
having one in the past was it fights
with your brother like what gave you the
ability to go I idolize these guys
they're now really um being mean yeah
and so how did you stay the course at
that point
um I don't know I I remember remember I
remember being harsh and they were
lighthearted joking in a way but I know
that deep down they were like pretty
pissed that was the only one like no
we're going to ride
so I I just remember thinking like this
could be my chance to win and I'm not
going to let these guys take that from
me and um and I just stuck to it and I
remember just putting my headphones on
or doing anything to distract myself cuz
nothing's going to slow down the clock
on when we need to do the competition
but um it was definitely like a a
defining moment for me to stand up for
myself and and what I wanted to
accomplish what's the nature of
competition for you like what does
competition mean it's it's a multiple of
things I mean it's
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um it's a chance
to I guess go out and show you know the
hard work that's been put in and to kind
of display it for everyone your chance
to show off in a way and and uh in
another way it's it's a chance to
access some deep part of yourself that
is going to do something you never
thought you could do or would want to do
you know and I I have trouble now that
I'm you know I'm I'm gotten a little bit
older I've just turned 30 um and uh and
you know unfortunately you think more I
feel like you know I'm like it's pretty
icy today it's a little windy I feel
like tomorrow and now I got the weather
report I'm like it's going to be better
tomorrow we should definitely come back
tomorrow you know and like procrastinate
ating but like you know it's it's your
chance to do something great and and um
I strive for those moments and I and I
wish I could recreate them in the normal
life setting because um it changes from
a I want to do this new trick to I have
to do this new trick and it's the best
because it takes that seed of Doubt out
of your mind and and once that that
doubt is gone like you know if I asked
you to jump over the table or something
and and you know you were like going to
practice it and then we're like all
we're going to film this one I better
make it you know I mean like and you're
expected to jump over the table and and
there's so that's it's going to happen
so what are you going to do to best
prepare yourself and that's kind of that
motivation of like getting to the
contest and throwing the big tricks and
seeing your competition and that
motivation and and I've always loved
that where interesting enough the
dynamic in my family was my brother
extremely talented guy amazing on his
snork could do any trick he could think
of
but you put a camera on him or you put
him in a contest scenario he couldn't do
it he just like the pressure and the
kind of awkwardness of like all right go
sort of thing and I remember I was
slightly the opposite where I would do
all right in practice and then they're
like all right it's Contest time and I
would do better and so I know that like
I have that in me so you
cultivate um I think over time it just
became so you know you you you get used
to like if you um um hate speaking in
public and you got to talk and make
speeches all the time you're going to
get comfortable at it you know just like
us talking now like I used to look back
at my interviews and I was terrified and
I was like well why like why was that
such a bad interview well cuz you're
you're not thinking about your answer
you're talking and then trying to steer
it where you want to go and I learned
from that and then try it again the next
time and um you know in an interview you
realize you're in the driver's seat of
where you want to go with the answers
you could kind of ask anything but I
could kind of tell what I want to say in
a way you know but that's the funny
thing but you learn these things over
time so if you can imagine obviously
I've been competing since I was six
years old and um you know you develop
these these rhythms and the way you go
about it and so I know that when I get
to the contest like this is going to
happen and and you can Bank on those
moments but that's that's really what
competition is for me it's a way to
really tap something in me that I don't
normally get you know I uh I I was at um
the X Games and I did in my run I did I
broke a old record and I went 24 feet
out of the 22ft half pipe so I was up
there and it was funny cuz I wasn't
going that big all day but it was the
contest time and I was jacked up and I
dropped in and I hit that marker and I
recently broke that record at the US
Open of snowboarding Veil last season I
went 26 ft it just kind of comes out of
you and you and you do better so that's
that's what comp comptition is for me
for sure all right so if your brother
Jesse came to you and said all right so
I really do feel like I'm gifted
talented but I I don't do as well with
the pressure teach me uhuh what would be
like a couple things that you would know
right away I've got to get him to
understand this do this pre-visualize
like whatever yeah visualize definitely
that's kind of the thing for me it's
always been like what's my what's it
going to look like and what's it going
to feel like and what am I going to be
wearing and what every little detail um
and and and visualize yourself winning
you know like what are you going to do
after you know you just project it and
it and it happens and I've always kind
of like set goals for myself that's a
huge one set the goal of like what do
you really want to do like what's what
is it in the end for me I would always
set up like a fun goal and then like a
serious goal so one year um one of the
goals was like how many cars can I win
cuz like the snowboard contest would
give out cars if you won the series so
you know obviously like yeah winning the
series is amazing you know that's a feat
of its own but I broke it down to like I
just got to win the cars I mean it's it
it made it into this stupid sort of game
where it it dumbed it down slightly you
know um does that help alleviate the
pressure a little bit yeah I mean you
obviously you have serious goals of like
I want to win the Olympics and then I
want to see how many cars I can win you
know and it made it this fun thing of
like you know taking taking a little bit
of the edge off because it's such a
daunting task when you look at it from
like wow I'm going to try to win the
Olympics like it it's such a big thing
and then you really kind of break it
down into these small things it's more
edible that way and um did you come to
stuff like that naturally or was it like
you knew I need to manage my mind which
is what I hear as you talk through this
stuff yeah I don't know if I if I knew
what I was doing I mean now that I'm a
bit older I kind of see the the you know
I can break it down for what was
happening but it just felt like there
was so much pressure like man like you
got to do this you got to do that and it
just felt like there was so much weight
on it and I would always kind of turn it
to my favor so any any which way you
spin it I'm winning in a in a way like
if you look at a competition like this
last X Games I went to like I didn't win
but I really feel like I won because I
know exactly what I need to work on now
I know exactly what happened and I did
wrong and I got to go back you know and
that's why it's still winning to me
where if I did win
you know I think about it like wow well
I'm exactly on the path I'm supposed to
be going the training and the ideas I've
had before working and this is where you
go so it's not
like you know even those slight step
backs are actually you know to Leap
Forward in a way you know cuz how are
you going to know where you lay in the
whole you know field of things and
what's going on is to take a step back
and then go okay you reassess refocus
and um you even I was talking to some
some people in the green room and they
you're talking about Russia calling I
watched that and I was like man okay
like that wasn't right like it didn't
normally play out that way I'm going to
change that for this next time or I'm
going to do this and that so if you're
always kind of looking to better the
situation you know and I've been to
contests before where I really wanted to
win and I put everything on the line for
that event and I didn't win and I went
like man you put too much pressure on it
you know you did this you did that I you
know there's such thing is over
practicing too you know a lot of guys
show up at the competitions and they you
know there's 2 hours to ride they ride
from they're the first one there at the
gate they ride two hours and then you
know they landed their run you know um
you 15 perfect runs and then they get to
the contest and they fall I'm like yeah
cuz you've been you just nailed it 15
time you know it's like rolling dice
you're going to hit seven like you're
going to crap out and and you know like
save it for the for the real contest
like you know you got it you got to you
know be your own friend in that that
scenario I really hope dear listeners
that you paid attention to that because
here's what's powerful in that and
here's why I think that you're going to
have unprecedented success for an
athlete in your after career as an
entrepreneur because all the mental
tricks that you're using in sport are
exactly what you're going to have to do
in business so in business you're going
to get your ass handed to I'm sure you
already have and that's only going to
keep Contin it's the natural part of it
right but you learn ex exactly what well
that didn't work 100% And so when you're
saying that you know I went to the X
Games I didn't win but I feel like I did
win because I know how to frame that in
my mind and I know how to look at that
as okay now I'm going to assess and if
you had said and I was actually really
afraid you were going to say if I had
won it wouldn't have been as good but
you didn't you said if I had won then I
would know okay cool you're on the right
path like you're going to make a win out
of it either way right so there's a
great book called sometimes you win
sometimes you learn and if that's your
mentality right then you can never
really lose because you're playing a
much longer game than everybody else
it's like I always people think of life
as practice so I came into competition
very late so my sister was really good
at basketball MH she's really good at
every sport un like you who got better
than your brother I did not get better
than my sister okay um so I tried to do
all the things that she was good at I
was terrible at them because I had a
fixed mindset I didn't believe that I
could go practice and get better like
that never it never occurred to me
practice time was just facing my
inadequacies over and over and over so I
wasn't able to compute that hey if I do
this then I'll actually progress and get
better and then I can really so as an
adult though I found that and and
business became that for me that hey if
I treated this like practice that I'm
really just trying to get good and that
over a long enough timeline this will
add up to something yeah then while
other people are freaking out about a
lost deal about blowing a meeting about
not getting hired or fired or whatever
the case may be they're not looking at
it on a long enough timeline cuz I'm
thinking ah I totally screwed that
meeting up but what did I learn I
learned this now I have that skill set I
can go on and get better and the reason
I was asking you to Define competition
for me competition is being tested I
want to be tested now I didn't when I
was younger cuz I just assumed I would
fail but once you believe you're in
control of whether or not you win then
competition becomes intoxicating cuz
it's it's a moment where now it isn't
just practicing snowboarding down the
mountain over and over like there's
something real that this is working
towards there going to be a moment of
immense pressure yeah and I get to see
am I better than everybody yeah of
course no it's true though and that in
that in that moment of like well I put
in the work and it's the actual like
that's what you're going for and yeah
you said in business you can fail here
and there and it's the same idea of like
trying something over and over and just
finally cracking the code on it and then
once you get that win you get that
experience and know that you can succeed
it's it's that that like I said in
competition that seed of Doubt goes away
and you show up to win every time it
just that's the only option you know and
and and once that's the only option it's
even more obtainable say that again it's
it's even more obtainable what do you
mean by that cuz that's so true yeah you
just it's just in the air you put it out
there it's just like you just feel it
and you're like wow well I know it's you
know um back to the
table thank God
this a lot of metaphors um you know but
if if if I asked you to do a feat and
you you actually accomplished it you
have that knowledge now going back to do
it again well oh I've already you know
jumped over this or I've already done
this thing in business and and it's old
news and you go in with with even more
confidence than you had that it took to
win the first time so you know um you
know you have that in you and and
projecting that positive thing always
just leads to better outcomes either way
you know and and and even with pressure
as well when when people say like how do
you deal with the pressure and I'm just
so thankful for the pressure you know
like they're like everybody thinks
you're going to win the Olympics and I
go well if everybody thinks I'm going to
win that's great like that's that's a
lot of people believing in me thinking
that I can do it hey maybe I just might
be able to do it you know if if you
instead of letting it weigh me down like
oh my God all these people are expecting
this from me and and I'm expecting this
from myself and it's just too I can't
like no it's such a a it's a blessing
it's a great thing to to have people
counting on you and needing that and
it's all kind of leading up to that sort
of like you know you can win you've felt
it before you you know what's obtainable
everybody else believes in you it's like
your team rather than letting it weigh
you down so if you can kind of put that
subtle spin on things and and use it to
your advantage is always a better
scenario you know and and I've let the
pressure get to me before and it just
well that didn't work you know like I
was terrified this to happen and you
know and you learn from that and you go
on um but yeah there's always lessons to
be learned even learning tricks it's the
basic thing it's like a math problem
you're throwing Solutions at it and you
finally it the numbers work and it
clicks and it works out you know same
with snowboarding and jumps and learning
a new trick you learn the very important
lesson and simple lesson of what not to
do and you know you hey I tried this you
know you watch the video oh I didn't I
took off wrong I'm going to try it again
and again and again and again and you
get to a point where you get the
confidence you get the muscle memory you
get the ability to then do that trick
and uh and now it's yours and then you
can do it at a competition when it
really matters the you know the practice
like you said um you know it's something
you kind of get over
time so when you were doing the um
buildup for the Sochi Olympics and you
were trying to learn the new trick and
obviously in the documentary was so cool
which by the way like I don't know how
you felt about making that available to
the public like you were so raw and so
vulnerable admitting that I've never had
a roadblock like this I've never been
afraid to try something like this as
somebody watching the documentary that
was so powerful for me to know that a
somebody who you look up to and admire
and think they just done something
inhuman that it's more interesting to me
that you had to overcome that than if
you just H you know if it was just easy
for you like that's not inspiring here's
the winning run exactly to to see the
fight so how do you how did you in that
specific example how did you deal with
the fear because when you had
crashed D that look like it was
going to break you in half yeah um yeah
I took a bad spill I mean I I basically
if that were a competition I would have
land landed it because I had to I
dropped in and I went to do that trick
and I I was doing a I don't know if
you've seen there's a video of me
attempting the first triple uh flip in
the halfpipe and you can watch the video
and I slowly I do the one rotation
everything's great I do the second
rotation and then halfway through the
third I decide that I don't want to do a
third flip and I open up and that's kind
of like it slows your rotation down it
it changes things and that mindset got
in there and I decided like oh I'm I'm
nervous about this I opened up and I and
I caught the lip of the halfpipe now the
Wall's 22 feet tall so I then bounced
off of the lip and flew to the bottom of
the halfpipe my helmet came off it's
actually pretty spectacular crash like
the goggles come off of my helmet and
then the lenses come out of the goggles
like you know is bad and so you know
there's all my stuff everywhere and
and I don't know if you've ever been
concussed for uh but it's it's a very
surreal thing like I wasn't in any pain
I was just sitting there like wow this
is that
moment that I dreamt about like it's
like a Deja Vu sort of feeling of like
I've been here before i' like I this is
I swear and I just remember going wow
this is that moment like this sucks like
you know like okay and I I remember
going to the hospital getting all
checked out and I had slightly separated
my my shoulder and um my pelvis was all
been out of shape and uh I had a bit of
a concussion from it um but yeah I mean
going going back to to doing that again
yeah I had to I had to look at the video
and think about what I did and what I
could have done differently and um
something happened though that kind of
saved me right in the middle of it is
that and I don't know if it was a good
thing or a bad thing because it kind of
steered me from my path but another
competitor of mine created a new trick
um he deemed it the YOLO flip
uh uh you only live once flip I guess
and so uh he created this new trick and
I'm like oh well I have to do this trick
and it really inspired me I learned his
trick first try um like three days later
wow I was that motivated to do it
because I saw a competitor and he was
you know and I knew it could be done cuz
he did it and well why can't I do you
know and it really kind of paved the way
for it
rather than doing something that had
never been done before and so you know
to create that excitement that pressure
and and you know to look at it like this
year I've decided to do every single
competition that I can enter just
because I know that getting to that
pressure scenario when I was younger I
didn't think as much I would just throw
my tricks and that was it but nowadays I
need that extra motivation that coaxing
into it and to get rid of that seed of
doubt I show up at contest now so it's
kind of like knowing yourself as well
knowing your strength and your
weaknesses and and kind of sticking to
that like what are you really good at
and what are you not and and and being
real and honest with yourself about it
there's a difference between like
working hard at something that that
you're not good at and forcing it and
you and that's kind of the inner
question you have to ask but um I've
always found that to be kind of a truth
for me you know what drives you now
you've accomplished so much it's absurd
I mean writing your intro was it was it
was a matter of how do you trim things
out right cuz just your list of
accomplishments is ridiculous
so it's dangerous dude like what you do
is dangerous so how do you push yourself
to like keep pushing stay relevant to to
Really progress the sport when it's like
I'm Sean white like you know
what I mean like how do you what it says
on my
car yeah you saw me pull in
huh um how do I stay motivated you know
um
man it's a it's a mixture of things it's
like you know there's always new goals
there's always new things to do
obviously you know when it comes to
snowboarding going to an
Olympics um and not doing well obviously
at Sochi not getting the gold and and
all that like man extremely motivating
extremely eye openening to I'd never
gone to an Olympics and not won it was
the first time for me I was like wow how
do I feel about this what happens after
and and it was amazing for me to to
realize that people were still like oh
you're the champ you're the guy you know
and and I I don't know for some reason I
just like in my mind I just assume that
if you don't win they immediately strip
all the other metals and you're just
some guy you're like the superpowers are
gone and you're just like the dude and
the glasses at work like I was like oh
no you know and I I I just remember
feeling like this overwhelming like wow
I'm still alive I'm still here like the
worst thing I could have imagined happen
and I was still here I was still
considered you know the great in the
sport and um it did a lot for me
personally I was like wow I can actually
like I can lose and and I hadn't lost I
mean this this like reign of like me
winning it's it been a a long long thing
and obviously that was just like one
night one contest but the world was
watching so it was pretty rough to lose
but you realize that yeah it's just that
one moment and you got to get back up
and that's the true Spirit of the sport
is to come back and it's like Rocky you
didn't even win the first movie you know
it's like the thrill of the fight to get
there and and you become you know part
of the US team the Olympics and all that
it's such an amazing and memorable thing
and then to actually could and compete
um but the balance back from that was
amazing and I and I remember sitting
there thinking instead of like curling
up and like all right maybe I should you
know yeah they're saying I'm getting old
or maybe I should quit or maybe I you
know and I didn't want to quit I was
just like put in my head so many times
by the media that I was like they're
comparing me to like a 14-year-old I'm
like of course I'm going to look a lot
older this kid's 14 you know um but you
start hearing it so much you you kind of
believe it and
um and I remember sitting there thinking
wow like well I don't feel that way and
I'm not done and I don't want to be done
and and obviously there's other things
in my life that were capturing my
attention at that time but um I didn't
know the thrill was still there and I
had new found motivation from not
winning and um and I remember
thinking you know from our our wins and
lessons sort of scenario I was like wow
what's to learn from this and and how do
I how do I better myself and I sat there
thinking I actually probably said it out
loud to some friends I'm like I'm gonna
do more than I've ever done after an
Olympics this time around because
normally what happens is you get this
kind of flood of like hey you know this
company wants to endorse you you're the
Olympic gold medalist and blah blah blah
and you totally deserve to do that you
won and it's it's kind of like the quick
money that comes your way and before the
world turns around it's off to the next
thing and um I wasn't getting those
floods of uh offers I was getting offers
still but it wasn't like the quick you
know Gold Rush sort of scenario and um I
was like well what do I want to do what
do I truly want to do and since since
that Olympics I mean in business man
I've I'm I no longer ride for a mountain
I'm a part owner in a a mountain resort
big bear Snow Summit and Mammoth
Mountain and uh I yeah I still compete
but I now own my own competition series
Music Festival series I've changed um my
boy clothing line to a men's clothing
line because it fits my um you know Vibe
of who I am today not who I was before
do you know Michael Strahan NFL Hall of
Famer Good Morning America yeah of
course he um he talked about that that
like if you want to have longevity in a
career at some point you have to get
really serious about your training and a
lot of NFL guys have talked about you
don't bulk up as you go longer in the
NFL you actually start getting leaner
meaner tighter wow um Jerry Rice who had
one of the most uh unbelievably high
performance long-lasting careers worked
out like a demon his whole thing Terell
Owens who we've had on the show um same
thing right work ethic like really
treating your body like a tool like
that's the weapon with which you're
going to win the war so it'll be really
fascinating I'll put a chip that if you
keep up with that like that'll magnify
your and you love Agy I do
yeah interesting to see um his I read
his book open which was amazing um but
yeah it was funny to see in his career
because I was always comparing obviously
you read the book I'm like comparing my
life to his and you know the one thing
is is that he never really
enjoyed tennis because like everything
was tennis for him and and once he found
that his life wasn't tennis it was his
wife and his foundation his family like
and then he would go out on the court he
was more dangerous because he had that
slight bit of like well I don't care
like I'm you know like that feeling I
got after losing like wow I'm still here
I'm still alive I still my dog still
likes me like my you know my house isn't
taken away like you know what I mean and
and so he became you know even greater
tennis player than he was I felt like at
least maybe my recollection of the book
but I was comparing that to my life and
I always felt like snowb has been a part
of it's not me it's not my life like
it's it's what I do for fun and it's
what I do competitively but it's not who
I am and so I've always felt that way I
mean certainly answers the question of
why you've done so many diverse things
in your career from music which I mean
you take it seriously man like you're
not a dabbler like you're a full-blown
rock guitar player I mean it's crazy so
when I I cuz I didn't know a lot about
the music side of you when I was
researching so when you were like and uh
yeah I went on tour with 30 seconds
tomorrows I was like the like
that's for real yeah it was heavy and
I've always loved that about music that
there wasn't really a competition it was
more you just create and and you know
you keep doing that and you keep trying
to better your craft and um and then
within that there was a team element CU
I remember standing there and I was like
man I got to uh I got it was our first
show and uh I got on stage and I was
like okay I got to do this I was like
talking to myself and everyone laughed
looked at me they're like no we got to
do this you know cuz like you can play
that all you play the guitar all you
want butless I'm on time and you know
everybody else does their thing and it
really kind of was an amazing thing that
we were all there together and that's
something I never really had in
snowboarding because it was always like
I'm going to practice today and this and
that and and whatnot but um but yeah a
really amazing time with with the music
you know it gave me a lot of
appreciation for that lifestyle and and
the amount of work that goes into it I
mean even Jared gosh to see the levels
of like we were playing dive bars to
like a festival to seeing a guy like
sellout in Arena was just
incredible and the amount of effort that
goes into it and night after night doing
the same show and bettering it and like
I mean the guy's learning you know bits
and pieces of every language from
whatever you know part of the the world
he's playing and it was just incredible
to see uh very inspiring so yeah it's
interesting so having been to his house
the way that he has everything laid out
so that he can maximize his time he's
got like three companies operating out
of his house which tells you something
about the size of his house which is an
old military base it's old which is
crazy he's on another level he oh very
much so it's incredible I thought I
worked a lot I was like man this guy you
do work a lot though I do how do you
think about time
management that's been a real tough one
for me cuz
um you know I guess going to Traditional
School setting um you know you learn to
manage your time from this class and oh
I want to go to the mall tonight so I'm
going to you know I never really had
that I was always just like in a van
with my parents like going to the next
competition and doing whatnot and so as
I got older that was something that took
a lot of time and I'm still pretty
terrible at it I have I have a uh a
really great assistant you know it's
it's that's when you realize um you know
to any great person you see there are
people around helping because you can't
do it all it's just too much and and you
got to know your strengths and your
weaknesses and I'm like I'm terrible at
scheduling and I can't accomplish all
this all these things I want to do
without somebody coming into help and so
that's where you got to rely on people
around you in that sense it's
interesting cuz for somebody who has so
many things going on usually the first
thing to go are details but you're
actually super focused on the details I
know for the white space you hand
painted
150 motorcycle jackets why was that
important enough for you to to put the
it was like 5 days locked in
Warehouse yeah
um I think well what's funny is and And
when everybody looks at the thing well
he's you know if you you broke up my
time you would think that I'm like well
he's 50% this and then 10% that and what
whatnot no I'm 100% everything so it's
like it's gets my full attention and the
jackets for example like we came up with
this great idea to you know I I was
sitting around with some friends and I
was like man we should like do really
cool custom painted leather jackets and
we'll do kind of like a you know if you
you're the right person on the right day
and you you show up to a Macy's um
you'll be one of 150 that will get the
chance to buy these like leather jackets
that that we that I hand painted um the
details that I missed is that I don't
paint I don't paint that that's worth
considering I was like you know and I
was like this is a great idea and then
it dawned on me that like I didn't
really have a concept
of you know what I wanted the visuals on
the jacket to look like and what not and
so I started calling some artist friends
of mine I'm like okay it'll be a mixture
of this and that and then the
perfectionist in me was like you know we
started painting some jackets and I
stumbled upon a design that I really
liked and um and then I was like this is
it we this is the aesthetic I want to do
and then I we I went back and like with
a couple uh friends that helped just
kind of help fan and dry the jackets and
hang them up around the studio that we
had um I painted all those jackets
myself um we spent about yeah five days
and nights in the in the warehouse there
in Downtown LA and so every single thing
that has brought me to this place has
been like a long play I just kind of
like I mentioned in the beginning I was
just like my eyes were open enough to
see the opportunities at hand your eyes
were open enough to see the
opportunities which is incredible that
notion of I'm going to put the word in
your mouth flow that you're almost
moving through these business
opportunities with the grace that you
show you know when you're skating or
snowboarding which is pretty incredible
but you also the balls to pull the
trigger and that's where a lot of people
fall down they maybe see the opportunity
but they don't actually have the vision
of what they want to do with it or the
guts to do it to actually buy into it or
if they buy into it they don't spend the
5 days locked in you know the warehouse
painting on the jacket though and that
really to me through yeah that's where
that's where so many entrepreneurs fall
apart is the end of the day only action
matters right all right I've got one
more question for you but first tell
these guys where they can find you and
definitely tell them about Aon style cuz
we're like right around the corner Aaron
style it is happening this February 18th
and 19th at the coliseum in Downtown LA
uh really amazing bands are coming we
got Flume major laser Vince staple YG TV
on the radio um and then we're building
a 16 story snowboard jump where the
world's best are going to come and
compete um all happening this February
you go to Aon style.com and get your
tickets and uh I'll see you there nice
it's the next one all right cool so my
last question what is the impact that
you want to have on the world impact you
know like I touched on in the beginning
is that like yeah snowboarding is a part
of my life but it's definitely not my
life and all that I am and so I feel
like my thing that I would leave is that
I hope to be looked at as someone that
that really didn't you know see the
boundaries of what you should and
shouldn't do that I just kind of you
know uh I did I did The Road Less
Traveled you know I did I did the things
that people said couldn't be done it's
kind of the goal for me it's a pretty
damn good thing to leave behind so
that's it so Sean thank you so much for
coming on incredible thanks for having
me so guys I hope that you took away
from this man what I took away from him
which is it really doesn't matter what
anybody tells you you can be what you're
up against where you start with double
open heart surgery it's all about what
you're trying to become and how hard
you're willing to work to get there it
is absolutely incredible the way that
this man has totally bucked pure
pressure he does not around with
that he has stayed true to who he is
what he wants to accomplish and in doing
that he really has defined a totally new
path from athlete to entrepreneur that I
think is really inspiring and seeing the
way that he dives into the details
seeing the way that he pushes himself to
grow and get better that he looks at
competition as a way to actually feel
the pressure and to deal with his mind
that is the thing I found so fascinating
about him is he understands what he's
doing with his mind and that's reason
that I think he's going to become an
incredible entrepreneur and he's going
to have an even more impactful um career
as an entrepreneur so be sure to go
check him out he's going to blow you
away it's absolutely incredible guys
this a weekly show so if you haven't
already be sure to subscribe and until
next time my friends be legendary take
care you Sean man thank you so much that
was awesome awesome really fun
hey everybody thanks so much for joining
us for another episode of impact theory
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[Music]