Ariana Spencer — One Rad Mom - Closer Skateboarding

Ariana Spencer spoke about her midwest roots, motherhood and making it as skateboarder in California for Closer Issue #4. Ahead of her part in Converse’s Evergreen, here’s the full story featuring an introduction from the esteemed Alex White.

Ariana Spencer stood in front of a blue tiled wall whilst playfully lifting up her daughter.

Ariana Spencer, her daughter, and some matching Chuck Taylors | Jaime Owens

Introduction by Alex White

Interview by Jaime Owens

Graphics by Sammy Spiteri

Ariana Spencer is a cool mom. Although, she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a T-shirt that said “Cool Mom” because real cool moms do not need to advertise as such. What makes Ariana Spencer so undeniably cool is she believed in herself enough to pack up her life in Chicago and move to California to pursue her dream of being a pro skater.

At her core, Ariana is a Midwest skate rat who is hungry to explore the world on her skateboard. She possesses a casual style reminiscent of Elissa Steamer and a trick selection that would make both Marisa Dal Santo and Jordan Taylor proud. With her natural gifts, determination and loving community of friends and family, it is easy to predict that Ariana Spencer will one day be a bonafide professional the likes of which have never been seen before.

Alex White — Chair of the Board, Skate Like A Girl

When did you fall in love with skateboarding?

My first skateboard, I remember, was in second grade. I got a board from Toys “R” Us and would ride it around a lot. My older brother skated too. I’ve always wanted to skate after that. He was just always saying I should go out and skate with him. My first real skate set-up wasn’t until fifth grade. I got a Bam [Margera] board, which I still have! I got the Bam deck and it came with the Element DVD, Elementality.

Oh yeah, you told me you saw him at the Long Beach Hellbomb. Did you freak out?

Yeah, that was so cool. I got my daughter to take a selfie with him because I was too nervous.

That’s so funny, he randomly popped back up out here at events. Going back to your brother. Was he a big influence on your pursuing skating?

I’d say both of my older brothers were a pretty big influence for sure. My oldest brother would always sit in the garage and watch me try tricks and stuff. My older brother was just always trying to learn tricks and it made me want to as well.

When did you really get into skating?

Back in Ohio. It was just pretty much me skating at my elementary school and in my garage setting up ramps and stuff like that. I wasn’t allowed to go to the skate park until I was in middle school.

Your parents didn’t want you around that insanity just yet.

My brother never wanted me to go to the skatepark with him. I never knew why [laughs].

Ariana Spencer bean plants off of an alcove in Los Angeles, California.

Ariana Spencer, beanplant | Los Angeles, California | Ben Karpinski

Were you getting flowed and sponsored while you were still skating in Ohio? Or did that not happen until you moved to Chicago?

Yeah, not until I moved to Chicago. I started to get hooked up by this skate shop called Fargo. It’s in DeKalb, Illinois. The lady who runs the shop, Ariel, would let me grab whatever I wanted when I needed it. Ariel is the best. So, I’d say that was my first sponsor. That was around 2015.

Did your family move to Chicago or were you old enough to go solo and skate?

After my mom and dad split in the early 2000s, my dad moved to Chicago so I would end up going there during the summer through the years. He would take me to skate parks and show me around to skate wherever I wanted. I remember he took me to Woodward in 2010 because he was just all about me skating. If I had a passion for anything, he was super supportive. So, my passion was skating, and he took me everywhere for it, which was pretty cool.

How was it getting into the Chicago skate scene at that time? Or were you still just a kid going to the skateparks at this time?

I was just a skate rat at the time going to all the parks when I would spend summers there with my dad. So, not until I moved there in 2015 did I start going out and really skate street.

“My footage was pretty much done for the “Pilot” part, and Thomas was sending it around to people. He even suggested that I should ride for Foundation“

— Ariana Spencer on getting sponsored

When did you realize you wanted to take the sponsorship life further and push your skating harder?

Seeing so many skateboarders in Chicago and skating the loop every night and just having so much fun with it while progressing made me want to push harder for sure. I remember going to my first video premiere seeing Deep Dish. It definitely inspired me. I’ve met some of my best friends out there skating, so I’d say Chicago skateboarding as a whole influenced my skating big time.

Rad, so tell me how things started to fall into place during this time.

Following the Fargo skate shop hook up, one of my friends got me into Fancy Lad skateboards who started to hook me up soon after. I went out to Boston and skated with that crew, which was a lot of fun. All while that was happening, Alex White started hooking me up with Krux and wanted me to film a part, so I would fly back and forth a lot to film my “Pilot” part. My friend Thomas [Hawver] was filming the part, and he knew a lot of people out here. He’s the one that hooked me up with Don Luong. Then eventually Mike Sinclair hit me up to ride for Foundation.

Were you sending out links to your footage before that or was it just that day with Don sealed the deal?

My footage was pretty much done for the Pilot part, and Thomas was sending it around to people [laughs]. He even suggested that I should ride for Foundation and that it would be a perfect fit and I thought the same.

Ariana Spencer in “Pilot” by Thomas Hawver, 2022

Along with Sinclair being fun to be around, that actual team is not too shabby as well.

Yeah, everyone is super nice and really good at skateboarding.

That’s an easy crew to get down with. I bet it was easy to integrate yourself into that.

Totally, everyone is close, and it’s chill when I do skate with them.

And then how did Converse come about?

I was riding for éS at the time, and Lee Berman [Cons team manager] hit me up. I had just got done skating and was checking my messages on Instagram and I saw that he messaged me and I kind of screamed out loud to my friend and was like, “Look, Converse just hit me up!” [laughs].

Then I talked to Don Brown about it since he was the one hooking me up with éS, and he just gave me good advice and wished me the best. It still feels surreal. Converse is one of my dream sponsors. I can’t believe it sometimes.

Did Lee hit you after the “Pilot” part came out or was all of this before?

It was probably about four months before that part came out, but I had a link that I sent to him to check out after he initially hit me up. He was stoked on it.

So, the sponsorship stuff started happening for you pretty quickly around this time. And all of this while you were a new mom. How were you balancing that part of your life with skating?

I had my daughter while I was living in Chicago. It wasn’t that hard to keep pursuing skating because I lived about five minutes away from my fiancé’s mom, and she was always down to watch her when we needed her to or wanted to go skating. But living out here in California, we don’t have any family close by so we’ve been figuring it out as we go. My fiancé skates so sometimes we just Rochambeau [rock-paper-scissors] to see who is going to skate and who is on parent duty [laughs].

He knows if I need to get stuff done for my sponsors then I go out. So, he goes to skate early in the morning a lot of times at Cherry [Park] or something. It’s not that hard, though. We’ve got it pretty figured out at this point to make it work and we have lots of support from our parents. Our parents help us out with things and that helps take some of the stress away for sure. We only have one kid, and I don’t plan on having another [laughs.]

“My fiancé skates so sometimes we just Rochambeau to see who is going to skate and who is on parent duty”

— Ariana Spencer on parental duties

Yeah, it can be tough not having family around to help during those early years. We went through that with our kids. But it’s awesome that you guys have found a way to get that support.

I can’t wait until she’s in school. She was in daycare for a little bit but my schedule got so busy I had to take her out. If I go on a trip or something, it just messes that all up. Like, I’m going on a Cons trip to Puerto Rico this week, so I have to fly with her to Ohio so she can stay with my mom.

Aren’t you working too right now, and skating and being a mom?

I was working for about two weeks at this job, and I realized that I didn’t need to do it right now so I quit [laughs].

Yeah, with things going so good with your skating right now, that would be really hard to add that layer to everything.

It’s impossible to commit to a real job right now. And that’s the way it’s been for a while. Anytime I did start working somewhere, something would pop up with my skateboarding and I would just quit.

I saw your Krux ‘Day in the Life’ video and you had a LYFT sticker in your window for like four years after you quit [laughs]

I just took it off recently too. But it came in handy whenever I had to pick up a friend at the airport or something.

Ariana Spencer, frontside boardslide on a scuffed white barrier in Los Angeles, California.

Frontside boardslide | Los Angeles, California | Jaime Owens

Did you finish school recently as well?

Yeah, I got my degree in early childhood education. I just want to have a backup plan after skating. I’ve always babysat kids and been around kids, so I feel really comfortable in that environment. I just thought I’d get a degree in that field so if all else fails I can just work in a daycare or something.

That’s smart to go ahead and prepare for the post-skate career. It can sneak up on folks really quick!

I don’t want to have to use it because I would love to keep working in skateboarding in some fashion but if that doesn’t work out, then I have something to fall back on.

How surprised were you to have first part in your first team video in Foundation’s Splendor?

I definitely wasn’t expecting to have first part, and half of those clips I wasn’t expecting to be in there. I was pretty shocked and stoked to see it on the big screen like that.

Oh, the Cons trip you’re going on will be with Alexis Sablone, who’s one of your favorite skaters. How do you feel about that?

So crazy [laughs]. Lee called me a few weeks ago and said, “So, you’re going to be rooming with Alexis,” all nonchalant and I was like, “What!” I was freaking out on the inside because I used to watch them religiously. Yeah, I’m super excited and can’t wait to skate with them [laughs].

Just be cool. Just be cool [laughs].

Yep. To me, Alexis is literally the best.

Ariana Spencer, ollieing from a loading bay into to 5050 grind on a metal-edged slope.

Gap to 5050 | Norwalk, California | Jaime Owens

Beyond Alexis, who are some influential skaters for you? And skate videos that you love?

Well, going back to Elementality being the first video I saw, Vanessa Torres had a part in it and she was the first girl skater I ever saw. She influenced me so much in general and to learn flip tricks. Leo Baker influenced me a lot. But right now, Jordan Taylor is one of my faves. His spot selection is insane. He makes skating look so fun.

I can see the similarities in both your spot selections. That’s cool.

Yeah, he just makes spots that aren’t spots. I love watching him skate.

What are some goals for you in skating?

Definitely more street footage. I don’t know why but when I skate with people I don’t know, I get super shy. So, I want to work on that and get more comfortable skating around groups of people. I don’t know when that started because I used to never be like that.

Well, it’s gotta be intimidating coming out to California, jumping right into the mix and trying to feel comfortable.

Yeah, because everyone is so good. But you know what, I’m on TikTok so much that I think it messed up my social skills. I have social anxiety so bad because of it. I’m a super talkative person on social media but in person, I’m not unless I know you [laughs].

“I always show her the same video, Toy Machine’s Good & Evil, until she falls asleep.”

— Ariana Spencer on good (and evil) parenting

When we went out to shoot your portraits, your daughter was all about skating and kept trying to skate everywhere. How fun is it that she’s into your thing?

I definitely don’t force it because I don’t have enough patience. If we go on a walk, I’ll ask her if she wants to bring her board and she always says yes. But I don’t tell her what to do because I was never told what to do. I just want her to figure it out like I did. If she wants to do it, I’ll definitely support that. Before she goes to bed, if she can’t fall asleep at night she’ll ask, “Can I watch a skate video?” [laughs] I always show her the same video, Toy Machine’s Good & Evil, until she falls asleep.

Ha, I thought you were going to say, “I just show her my video parts.” Just to let her know what’s up [laughs].

Yeah, I’ll show her some of my video clips, but she doesn’t even acknowledge me.

I feel ya! I show my wife and kids my clips and they are so unimpressed [laughs].

Yeah, my daughter will just say, “That’s nice.” And then talk about Roblox or something.