Jobs In Skateboarding - Brand Operations

Looking from the outside in it may seem as if jobs in skateboarding are few and far between, but once you delve deeper into the possibilities there's a plethora of careers surrounding our favourite toy. We hit up as many people as possible to investigate deeper to ask ‘What do you even do?’, so hopefully you’ll learn something new and find helpful ways to get into our so-called skateboarding industry.

Read below to find out what it takes to run one of the largest skateboard distribution companies in the world and still be a skate rat, thanks for your time Mike!

What's your name?
Michael Halls

What is your current role and who do you work for?
Operations for Polar, Last Resort & Keen

What is it that you actually do? / What takes up a majority of your work time?
It's so mixed. I oversee the global operations for Polar & Last Resort, mostly in sales & logistics/warehousing. That links in with making sure everything is running smoothly in our direct warehouses in the UK, EU & USA, this is mainly supporting the guys running each office, as well as giving them input.

Did you have any roles in the skate industry before this?
No, I worked a handful of days in Reskue in Southampton whilst it was there, lurked a lot in SS20 understanding how everything worked between distributors and retailers.

What’s the best thing about your job?
There’s a bunch of amazing things. The people I work with and have met along the way. Working with some of the guys I grew up watching on repeat is pretty amazing.

I still love seeing the product actually come through the door. We see a lot of future samples, catalogues and pre books but actually checking them out in person on the day they come through the door still stokes me out.

What’s the worst thing about your job?
It never stops. It is 24/7 with texts, WhatsApp, email, Insta DM etc

Any advice for skateboarders out there who want to pursue your line of work?
Just be nice and have a hard work ethic, it goes a very long way. There’s more opportunities and roles than you think, just get your foot in the door and go from there.