Pauly On The Pod

Your favorite skater’s favorite skater usually has the best stories, and Tim Johnson is exactly that kind of name in Jacksonville skateboarding. We pulled up to talk about where it all started: growing up just over the Georgia line, getting hooked on skateboarding at 10, and learning style the hard way on rough terrain, homemade ramps, and whatever spots the Southeast could offer. The result is a conversation packed with real skate history, Kona Skatepark memories, and the kind of details you only get from someone who lived it.

We nerd out on the stuff skaters actually argue about, too: goofy vs regular, frontside vs backside, why some tricks feel impossible until one tiny foot angle changes everything, and how pool skating teaches control you can’t fake. Tim also connects the dots between martial arts and skateboarding, from balance and timing to the ability to make small adjustments under pressure. If you’re into progression, vert ramp technique, or the DIY skatepark mindset, you’ll hear a lot to steal for your next session.

Then the lens widens to travel and culture: Australia bowls on the beach, tattoos as life bookmarks, and multiple trips through Scandinavia where the summer sun barely sets and the skate community goes all-in. We close with the real talk about getting older in skateboarding: pads, helmets, injuries we’ve seen up close, and how protecting yourself doesn’t dull your skating, it keeps you in the game.

Hit play for Part One with Tim Johnson, then subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. If you like it, share it with a friend and leave a review. What’s the gnarliest place you’ve ever skated?

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A hurricane rolls through, the doctor fights pneumonia, and we’re still determined to get back to what we love: talking skateboarding, surfing, and the people who keep the culture alive. We link up with Florida’s own Drew Hoffman, a transition skater with deep surf roots and a timeline that runs from Orlando to the Gulf Coast to Jacksonville. Drew breaks down how getting a surfboard at six quietly shaped his entire approach to skating, and why the ocean taught him patience long before a skatepark ever did.

We dig into the Florida skate scene the right way: the long waits for Gulf Coast swell, the parks that changed everything, and the mentors who pull you into bigger terrain when you’re ready. Drew shares stories about skating legendary spots, learning vert and transition, chasing that pool-skating feeling, and how being around the right sessions can light a fire for years. Along the way we talk sponsors and community, including how relationships with brands like Catch Surf and Catalyst are built on real-life connections, not just clips.

Then it gets personal in the best way. Drew talks about being engaged, having a new baby, and what it takes to keep skating and surfing when dad mode is in full effect. We also get into Jacksonville living, travel range for waves, and the not-so-small detail of sharks showing up exactly where the waves get good. And to close it out, we run our “Is It A Sport” game, where the criteria is simple: sweat, broken bones, and the dreaded groin pull.

If you’re into skateboarding podcasts, Florida skate history, transition skating, surf culture, and the real-life balance of family and board time, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who rips, and leave a review so we can keep bringing more voices from the scene into the mix.

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A cracked rib that punctures a liver. A pro-era contest scene where the most technical skating didn’t always win. A Virginia Beach style that still shows up every time the board hits smooth concrete. We’re sitting down with legendary East Coast skateboarder Julian Etheridge, and the stories go way deeper than a trick list.

We talk about where Julian comes from, how he started skating back in 1988, and what it was like growing up in the mini ramp and vert-heavy days before today’s million-dollar skateparks. From first shop sponsors to traveling footage, we connect the dots between Virginia Beach, Florida trips, and eventually landing in Jacksonville. If you care about skateboarding history, East Coast skate culture, and how local scenes actually get built, you’ll feel right at home here.

Then we get into the big questions: how competition skateboarding evolved from old-school course runs to modern SLS and park formats, why judging is always subjective, and why the current generation is doing “Tony Hawk Pro Skater” lines in real life. We also keep it real about injuries, aging, and what it takes to stay in skating when recovery becomes part of the routine. And yes, we still make time for our “Is It a Sport” game and a completely unnecessary debate about Taco Town food trucks.

If you enjoyed the conversation, subscribe, share it with your skate crew, and leave a review so more skaters can find it. What’s the gnarliest slam you’ve seen someone come back from?

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Skateboarding scenes don’t magically appear. Somebody drags plywood home, straightens nails, builds a ramp, and invites the crew over until it becomes a real thing. We’re sitting down with Paul “Toothless” Vaughn, a Florida skateboarder and lifelong ramp builder, to talk about what it takes to keep skateboarding alive from the ground up.

We go back to the first board, the first trip to Kona Skatepark, and that instant moment of knowing you found your tribe. From there, Paul breaks down what it was like skating parts of Florida where there was barely a scene at all, and how DIY ramp building, scavenging materials, and sheer persistence shaped both his skating and his life skills. We also get into stance, fakie versus switch, frontside and backside comfort, and the skaters who influenced his style, from the classics in the magazines to today’s heavy hitters.

Then we shift into Jacksonville skate history and ramp lore: the Toothless nickname, early sponsorship experiences, and the path to building for InstaRamp, including the bigger pro ramp and rebuilds. Paul shares what it was like living at the warehouse, the sessions that made it special, and the stories that only happen when skateboarding is right outside your bedroom door. We wrap with favorite local skateparks like Monument and Treaty, design input at Saplings, and a real take on how skateboarding feels now that it’s bigger, cleaner, and even Olympic.

If you ride for the culture, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who still skates, and leave a review so more skaters can find the show.

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A skate career doesn’t always look like a sponsor check. Sometimes it looks like sleeping on floors, writing your first press release, herding a van full of strong personalities, and still showing up because you believe the scene matters. Ryan King is one of the behind the scenes builders who helped make Jacksonville skateboarding feel alive, starting with his jump from Pensacola to UNF and straight into the Flatline years. We talk about how a simple internship turns into real responsibility, what it took to pull off a sold out video premiere, and why local brands and local shops shape skaters more than any algorithm ever will. 

Then the conversation turns personal. Ryan opens up about his son Sturgil’s juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), a rare autoimmune disease that can hit out of nowhere and steal a kid’s ability to walk. We get into the fear of early misreads, the fight to find the right specialists, the reality of treatment, and what it means to ride the roller coaster of remission and flare ups. It’s heavy, but it’s also hopeful, especially when you hear how the skateboard community rallies and how skating becomes a source of strength for their whole family. 

We also get into the stories that define an era: the legendary first Go Skateboarding Day in Jacksonville that went from positive news coverage to helicopters and chaos, plus tour life memories from New York to the Florida Keys. Finally, Ryan breaks down his move into action sports marketing at Red Bull as a field marketing manager and the process of pitching original events, including creating Red Bull Mind The Gap, a contest concept that’s still running years after he stepped away. If you care about skateboarding culture, community building, and doing creative work without losing the fun, this one’s for you. 

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Vegas has a way of turning a quick trip into a permanent memory, and this one ends with the biggest plot twist possible: we fly out, get married by Elvis, and come home as husband and wife. We walk through the whole Las Vegas wedding story, from the airport mishaps to the limo ride to the Graceland Wedding Chapel ceremony that somehow feels both hilarious and genuinely heartfelt. If you’ve ever wondered whether a Vegas elopement can be stress-free and still feel real, we give you the unfiltered play-by-play.

Then we zoom out to what made the honeymoon hit so hard: the landscapes. We talk Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon like the outdoor bucket list stops they are, including petroglyphs, brutal heat that can sneak up on you, and why a scenic loop can be perfect when you want epic views without an all-day hike. We also head to Willow Beach for Colorado River kayaking to Emerald Cave, where the water is so cold it changes your personality, and the cliffs come with surprise wildlife sightings.

Of course, it’s still Las Vegas, so we get into the Mob Museum, Fremont Street, and the street-level lessons you learn fast about hustles, photo traps, and keeping your head on a swivel. We finish with the food and show highlights that make a Vegas honeymoon itinerary complete, including a Peruvian steak dinner at Chica, Gordon Ramsay beef Wellington, Cirque du Soleil Beatles Love, and a comedy night at the Laugh Factory.

If you like this kind of story-driven travel episode, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a trip, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.

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Two signed skate photos. Black and white. Never published. Only a few exist. That’s the spark for a bigger story about how a local skate scene can turn a piece of Jacksonville skateboarding history into real support for someone facing major medical costs. We’re joined by Jake Shrickling calling in from Wyoming, the photographer behind the Mike Peterson pool shots featuring Aaron Mullen and Mike Peterson, and the reason our GoFundMe raffle is even possible. 

We get into Jake’s roots, how he found skateboarding early, why Texas A and M shaped his mindset around helping others, and how that fed into his path as a photographer and creator. Then we rewind to the era of FTK Skate Mag, the free skate magazine that lived on shop counters and in backpacks, and talk about what it takes to build a publication, sell ads, chase content, and still keep it fun. We also shout out Look Back Library and why skate magazine archiving matters if we don’t want whole scenes to vanish. 

From there, Jake breaks down working with World Industries on the East Coast, what it’s like trying to rep a brand in the real skate retail market, and we trade classic road stories and contest memories. We close with a fast “Is It A Sport” game and a little Wyoming life talk before we sign off. 

If you like skateboarding podcasts, skateboard photography stories, and real community energy from Kona Skate Park and Jacksonville skateboarding, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.

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Jacksonville skateboarding doesn’t need more hype, it needs more history. That’s why I sat down with Nate Carey, the filmmaker and skater behind Abel Skate Mag, a platform that’s been shining a steady light on the Jacksonville skate scene for years. We start with where he’s from, how moving around shaped his perspective, and the kind of origin story only skateboarding understands: seeing Marty McFly, asking for a first board, then getting fully pulled in once real skate videos and magazines hit.

From there we get into the details that make skate culture feel real: favorite skaters and classic video parts, the parks that feel like home, why a tre flip becomes “your trick,” and how Florida skateboarding stacks up when you’ve lived elsewhere. Nate breaks down what it takes to film and photograph skating in a way that actually captures the moment, plus the grind nobody sees, the hours of editing behind a few minutes of footage. We talk why Abel Skate Mag started in 2016, how community coverage matters, and what it means to consistently show up for local events and local talent.

Then the conversation opens up. We switch gears into BLM, COVID-19, masks, voting, and how misinformation and division spread online, before detouring into UFO footage, aliens, and the late-night rabbit holes the internet makes too easy. If you care about the Jacksonville skate scene, Florida skateboarding history, skate videography, or building an inclusive local community, there’s a lot here to sit with.

Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a friend who loves skating, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s one local skate moment you wish someone had filmed?

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A legendary Florida vert ramp didn’t just appear, it survived. We’re down in Holopaw, Florida with pro vert skateboarder Rodney Mead and Daytona OG Gnarly Charlie while we work on Rodney’s Vert Ramp Rehab project and swap the kind of stories you only get from decades in the trenches. If you grew up on 80s skateboarding, backyard halfpipes, and the loud, messy magic of local scenes, this one hits deep. 

We get into Rodney’s early setups, the ramps that taught him everything, and the hilarious Christmas morning disaster where the “hidden” boards got found and the punishment lasted longer than the stoke. Then we jump straight into the real-world problem every ramp builder knows right now: lumber prices, material shortages, and how fast a rehab budget can explode. Rodney also breaks down the full saga of how the Orlando Vans Skate Park ramps shut down, got refurbished, and ended up being bought, sold, dismantled, hauled, and rebuilt into a new home base for Florida vert skateboarding. 

From there, it opens up into the bigger picture: Florida vs California skate culture, why the West Coast got the spotlight, and how social media changed the rules for getting recognized. Rodney shares his competition path from Vans events to Tampa Pro points, X Games proximity, and the surreal Combi Pool “golden ticket” year that got derailed by a decades-old warrant, only to lead to a passport and international contests like Vert Attack. We close with Charlie’s Team Pain mega ramp build stories and what it’s like to watch history get built from raw wood and stubborn will. 

If you’re into vert skateboarding, ramp building, skateboarding history, or Florida skate culture, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a five-star rating. What’s the most legendary ramp story you’ve ever heard or lived?

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One sidewalk ollie can start a whole life. Aaron Mullins joins us to rewind the tape from South Florida to Jacksonville, where skateboarding goes from a kid’s obsession to a full-on compass. We talk first boards, the Back to the Future spark, and what it felt like walking into Kona Skatepark for the first time with the “wrong” setup and the right amount of hunger. If you care about Jacksonville skateboarding history, Florida skate culture, or how a scene shapes a person, this one hits home.

We get into the crew years: learning from skate videos, chasing progression in the streets, and linking up with skaters who are simply on another level. Aaron breaks down how Lindsay Robertson’s skating lit a fire, how contests and early sponsorships actually worked, and why being around the right people can keep you from fading out. We also talk about the unglamorous parts: building your own obstacles, getting hurt, and the weird mental space where you land something big and barely remember doing it.

Then we deliver what people keep asking for: the real origin story of “Dr. Jones,” straight from the days of Lighthouse Park and the chaos that follows a good session. We close with gratitude for Kona, the legends who came through, and the stoke that stays even when life, work, and injuries get loud. If you’ve ever had skateboarding pull you out of a rough season, you’ll recognize the feeling.

Subscribe for more long-form skate stories, share this with a friend who grew up at the park, and leave a review if you want us to keep bringing the Jacksonville lineage to the mic. What was the first moment that made you say, “I need a skateboard”?

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