FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 16 | Page 72

© Robbie Maddison / DC Shoes

As a freestyle rider and someone who
loves the sport, I can honestly say I’ve
stopped following contest results. It’s
sad to say that I don’t watch Red Bull
X Fighters or follow them any more; I
love the sport and I want to see it be
the best if can, but I’ve been furious
at some of the results over the years.
I think the situation can be turned
around, but it’s hard because
someone needs to pay smart people
to be involved and the industry has
no money.
It’s a tricky situation for sure. What
about you, though? Is your career
on track?
It’s been a tough year for me. I closed
down my production company RME,
and I really wanted to make that work.
I had a producer and director who
were relying on me to go out and do
stuff to keep the doors open, and I
didn’t want the pressure to have to
ride my arse off like that.
I also fired my management IMG.
Everyone in their right mind would
say “why would you leave the biggest
management company in the world?”
There’s no bad blood there, but they
said, “Dude, you’ve got too much shit
going on for us to help you!” They
didn’t have the manpower to do what
I was asking of them, so I’ve decided
to do it myself.

72 | FreestyleXtreme.com

It’s made me dig deep and build a
structure of people around me, but
over the past month I feel like I’m
making headway. The day after I
finished in Morocco I flew out and
scouted another job, did some emails,
tied up the deal for Pipeline 2, all while
accumulating a team and producers
and directors and I actually thought
“holy shit, man, you’re f**king doing
this shit right now!” I’m organising the
event, shooting it, directing it, calling
the shots and everything. It’s taken
all this work to get the composure,
professionalism, mindset and people’s
belief to function with confidence
when I walk into a room.
On top of that, my memory’s
improving every day. I feel like I’ve
been blessed by circumstance; I’ve
been in the right place at the right
time and that comes down to listening
to yourself and what your intuition is
saying to you. t
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