The biggest lesson I learned from my dad is to support children even if they're doing something that is unorthodox.

Some of the spins he has learned on his skateboard had never been done before, because we, as skaters, didn't have a frame of reference to try them for the first time. For instance, nobody had attempted a 1080 in skating until Shaun tried it last year. He wasn't scared because he's done it plenty of times in the snow.

I believe that people should take pride in what they do, even if it is scorned or misunderstood by the public at large.

The biggest lesson we have to give our children is truth.

You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous.

My youngest son's pre-school class was recently asked what their dads do for work. The responses were things like, my dad sells money, and my dad figures stuff out. My son said, 'I've never seen my dad do work.' It's true. Skateboarding doesn't seem like real work, but I'm proud of what I do.