Interview With A Skater ✨ Meet Mariko, Lilia & Noodee

Skating isn’t just about nailing tricks - it’s a whole mindset. It’s building confidence one tiny lil' win at a time, listening to your favourite playlist, and realising you’re way more capable than you thought.

We asked Mariko (She/Her/Hers), Lilia Kazakova (She/Her) and Noodee (She/Her) how skating’s helped them grow, the little rituals that keep them going, and what their favourite songs are they groove out to…

Do you think skating has helped you grow as a person? If so, what part?
MARIKO
Yes, I think skating has helped me be more confident in who l am. It also has helped me realize that I can see a goal and accomplish it because a lot of times you'll see skaters doing really cool moves and they make it look so easy. But then when you start skating, it's really hard and it takes months to learn some moves. So I think it helps me realize that I can achieve the things that I set my mind to and that's just made me feel more confident in who l am and what I'm capable of doing.

LILIA
Yes, skating has completely transformed my life. I met all my friends through it. I even made it my career. I'm a professional skater. It also helped me to get out of a very dark period of my life because I started skating when I just moved to Los Angeles from the Netherlands. And I didn't know anybody and it was a pandemic. And I bought myself a pair of roller skates and the rest is history. So yeah, 100% skating has completely transformed me and my life.

NOODEE
Yes, I do. Especially with my confidence. Before skating, I'm pretty shy and not really making new friends that much. But since l've been skating, I make tons of new friends and make me feel confident when I go out there and put myself out there.

Is there something that skating has taught you that you didn't expect?
LILIA
Skating has taught me that it's a form of meditation. I've always struggled with normal forms of meditation. I'm just going to keep my mind calm. But when I skate, I'm literally in the present. I don't think about anything else. So skating for me is a form of meditation, which I didn't expect.

NOODEE
I would say patience. I have a lot more patience now that I learned how to skate. Before I had less patience and now that I know how to skate, like to land a trick, it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. So yeah, I would say patience.

MARIKO
Yes, skating has taught me that it takes time to learn a hard skill because skating is not an easy thing to do. It's one thing to be said to just be rolling around, but I'm a jam skater, which means I like skating that incorporates dance moves. So it's taught me patience in that way. And I didn't expect it to be as hard as it is. But once you get past the difficulty and you just realize you're having fun, that's what matters at the end of the day.

What's one small skate habit or ritual that keeps you motivated to keep growing?
NOODEE
Stretching. Every time I go skate, I would love to stretch before and that makes me feel comfortable and feel safe and make me want to learn how to skate a new trick and keep myself from being injured.

MARIKO
I like to skate in Venice a lot and we have this thing called Magic Mondays. So every Monday a bunch of roller skaters meet at the plaza and people are sharing dances and people are sharing new skate moves with each other and it's just like a community where you can feel accepted and it doesn't matter what level you are at skating but for me to have that and to be able to show up every Monday and look forward to that every week, that has cultivated this inspiration in me to be a better skater every day.

LILIA
For me, one skate habit that's super important is off-skate training. I feel like in order to be a better skater, it starts with being a better, more stronger person off-skate. So I always make sure to warm up before l skate. And then my skate practice is so much better and | learn much more and I grow much more.

What's your favorite song or songs that always help you get into your flow?
LILIA
I'm 2000s RnB girly, so anything from that era really makes me get into the skate mood. I love listening to Mia, SWV, TLC, Tevin Campbell. So yeah, those are definitely my go-to skate songs.

MARIKO
I really like Give Me The Night, George Benson. I feel like it's a very danceable track. Anything by Michael Jackson also is really fun to skate to. Just anything that's danceable.

NOODEE
My playlist is kinda all over the place, but I would say I love disco. I listen to a lot of Earth, Wind and Fire and I think my favorite song from them is Let's Groove.