<p>Hi All,</p>

<p>My name is John Rattray. I started out in Aberdeen, Scotland, where I saw skateboarding for the first time when I was nine. I was walking along Rosemount Viaduct next to Union Terrace Gardens holding hands with my mum —&nbsp;because I was nine —&nbsp;and two bigger boys in flannel shirts and&nbsp;jeans&nbsp;went tearing across the street, ollied up onto the median, acid dropped onto the other carriageway and kept on pushing. One of them was even wearing a biker's leather jacket. It was the raddest thing I'd seen in person at that point. Aberdeen had been a town designed in greyscale and school uniforms up until&nbsp;then. I remember my eyes going wide, my mouth opening as I pointed, "They didn't have to stop!" The kerb had no effect on them. It was like kerbs with, all their authority,&nbsp;could save it. The safe boundary kerbs were supposed to delineate was no more. My world view had drastically changed.</p>

<p>A lot has changed since then. Along the way I went to university, studied maths and physics,&nbsp;had a decent career as a pro-skater, raveled a lot, forgot a lot of the maths and physics, worked at a couple of companies who make skate shoes, got married, studied some more stuff,&nbsp;had a kid,&nbsp;had a couple of nervous breakdowns, lost family and friends to unnecessary tragedy...</p>

<p>Now I work at Nike Skateboarding and in my free time I tend to ride bikes, read as much as I can about as much as I can, sharpen my negotiation skills by debating sugary treats and video games with Ivor, our six-year-old.&nbsp;I also try to raise funds and awareness around the subject of emotional or mental health, currently through a project called "Why So Sad?" I'd like to learn more so that I can try to simplify and share more and hopefully help more people.</p>

<p>I am really happy to see this community of like-minded people&nbsp;connected by skateboarding&nbsp;taking off and I'm excited to see what we can do as a collective. Thank you for starting this.</p>
