Photography by Matt Fookes
Jammalynn might not be the skater you think of when we’re talking about street skating, but she has recently been getting out there more often. She has amazed us with what she can do and how fearlessly she does it. Her wild and sprightly style in bowls translates beautifully in the streets and is a great example of why I even do this shit. Seeing a skater push themselves to new limits while inspiring everyone around them is a great privilege. I love to see someone unlock new achievements, and it’s even better when they are filled to the brim with love for skating like Jammalynn.
A lot of people don't know this about you, but you're a teacher, right?
Yes, I'm a substitute teacher.
Do you do it often or is it kind of sporadic?
It’s sporadic. Whenever I run out of money, I come back home and I work, and then when I think I’m good, I leave again. I try to budget it because I get paid monthly. It’s sporadic and it’s so crazy because I will see some of the kids that I teach at the skatepark. Sometimes I see the kids there and they’re smoking and drinking. Thank god, they’ve never asked me like, “Oh, hey, do you want a hit?”
Do they recognize you when they see you?
Yeah, they totally do. They recognize me in class, too. Thank goodness not on Instagram. I don’t know. It’s such a gray area, you know? The school district hasn’t talked to me about it. I don’t put out content that’s inappropriate, luckily. I’m always a little worried, but I am a substitute, I’m not actually a teacher, so maybe that’s why. I do hop around to different schools a lot because jobs are kind of all over the place. That kind of helps, too.
Oh, yeah. Having a profession like being a teacher would probably be a little stressful if you have a social media presence. Are you allowed to talk about the HBO show, Roller Jam, you were on yet?
Oh, dang. You know what? I think we are. We just can't say who won or anything.
That was kind of a crazy random thing that happened. When I heard about it, I was like, "What the fuck?" How did you feel about doing it? Were you stoked or hesitant?
I was so so stoked. Really, any opportunity that I get asked about, I say yes right away, and then I think about it later, but I definitely say yes. Any roller skating opportunity, I say, “Yes, yes, yes.” It’s so fun. At the time it was supposed to be in L.A., and then they moved it to New Orleans, and then I got even more stoked. I’ve never been there.
Were you comfortable with the fact it was dance skating?
Absolutely. I was so excited because I love rink skating. That’s what I grew up doing, going to the rink, so I was so over-the-moon excited about it.
Was the experience what you were hoping for? I mean, I feel like all your answers are going to be nothing but positive…
Oh my god. Yeah. It was way better than I thought it was going to be. I fell in love with this guy out there—my roller jam love. It was so funny. We kind of gravitated towards each other right away, and everyone said that it felt like high school because everyone was hooking up and he had his arm around me all the time. We would go out in New Orleans at night and walk around the French Quarter. While I was skating, we would all hang out and go to the dispensaries and stuff. It was so sweet.
What was the practice like? Did you guys have the same routines that you were doing for every recording, or did you have a new routine you had to learn every time?
Luckily, we only had to memorize one routine and just practice and practice that. But somehow we really didn’t find much time to practice the routine because Michelle [Steilen] was in China with her love. She didn’t get to Long Beach until two days before we flew out to New Orleans. Elise [Koch] was there days before that, so she got to teach me the routine. Then, we flew out to New Orleans and practiced a little bit in our hotel room. When we were on the show, it was also a lot of fluff. It was a lot of interviews and stuff like that and seeing the set and costumes. We had a little bit of time to rehearse on a flat ground that they provided for us.
What was your favorite thing about New Orleans? That's been a bucket list place for me for the longest time.
Oh man. In New Orleans, oh my gosh, so many things there I loved. We were right there in the French Quarter, so we would just go out all the time. Even after a full day. I think it was like 10 p.m. and we were like, “Let’s go get beignets.” because it was on Elise’s bucket list of things to do. We skated down the street and got beignets and there was a live performance right there at this beignets shop. We were playing around in the rain. It was always raining a little bit here and there. But I think my favorite was honestly the days that we went out street skating with the local park skaters in the area. 2Bunz on Instagram, her name is Jaz, she picked us up from our hotel and we met up with all these park skaters. They even took us to this secret bowl and yeah, it was so cool. We went street skating, too, that was after we got eliminated.
It's so funny that you bring her up because she used to play roller derby in Chicago. She skated for the Chicago Outfit under the name Lola Blow, and was one of my roller derby idols. I always looked up to her so much when I was in derby. I got a random DM from her just a couple of months ago saying, "I just wanted to let you know you're a huge inspiration for me in street skating" and I was like, "Oh my god, it's you! You were a huge inspiration to me in Derby." So, it's like full circle. I had her photo hung up on my wall back then, so it's just so funny that someone you looked up to looks up to you as well in a different way.
Holy crap. It is such a full circle, and the irony is so cute. That's so fun. What the heck? Jaz is so cool.
Anyway, a little birdie told me that you never took your skates off in New Orleans, like ever. Is that true? You never ever take them off?
Okay. Honestly, in New Orleans, I definitely went to the extreme because we started skating in the morning and I was with all these rad skaters. It just seemed appropriate. I was so immersed in skating. It was always such early mornings, late nights, and once I put on my skates, I didn’t take them off. I just don’t see the need for it. The guy that I met out there, when we finally called it a night at 2-3 a.m., I would still wear them up to his hotel room. Although, I did have to start taking them off because there was a security guard that came to the pool when we were on the deck one night because Michelle was passing around a joint. I thought it was such a fun idea to go on the treadmill in the exercise room and try it out with my skates. It was so anticlimactic because it just went around in circles. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that. I’ve always wanted to try skates on a treadmill, and then…
It didn't work out?I
It just didn’t work out. We were like, “Oh, wait, it doesn’t even do anything.” Then the security showed up and he was like, “I have been watching you, but this is the last straw. You can’t do this.” So I couldn’t wear my skates around there anymore.
That is so funny. The person that told me you don’t take off your skates made it sound pretty extreme. Then I realized every time I have ever seen you, you’ve had your skates on. We were at a restaurant, you had your skates on. You came to the office, you had your skates on. Megan's birthday, you had your skates on. I thought, "I wonder if she really never takes them off? Does she take them off for sex? Does she take them off if she goes grocery shopping?" I had all these questions in my head, but maybe it's just not that dramatic now.
I definitely do take them off. There are extreme scenarios where I have slept in them just because there were late nights. I passed out on my birthday two years ago. I rented my local roller rink, and it was such a late night and we were partying, so I fell asleep outside on this cot with my skates on. That was really like one in a dozen times where actually I fell asleep with them on.
It's kind of cool, though, that you created this reputation for yourself where everyone believes you never take them off.
Oh my... oh my gosh, I love that. It makes daily activities and just mundane things 10 times more fun, like going grocery shopping. Especially if I already have them on. And yes, I have had sex with my skates on. Of course. What roller skater hasn’t, though? It’s like, who hasn’t driven with their skates on before?
Right, right. Yeah. I feel like I need to tap into that more because I take skating too seriously sometimes. I’ll go to a street spot, battle it out, and then I want my skates off of me immediately. I love your energy of, "Skates make everything more fun. It's just a part of my life." I love that.
Yeah, exactly. After the spot I skated for Fantom, I cruised down the hill that I was bombing, I bombed it again, and then went to the restaurant with them still on.
I feel like when people imagine roller skaters, they imagine someone like you, but really, I feel you're kind of a unique person. A lot of people that have gotten into roller skating, especially in parks and street, have kind of turned it into more of a serious thing, and you're still maintaining this wild and free attitude.
Thank you! Oh my gosh. Yeah, exactly. Like at RollerCon last year, the new convention center that they rented allowed skates within the convention and everyone was raving about how much better it was because you can get around easier. You don’t have to take off your skates. That’s kind of on a macro scale of life. It’s somewhat easier just to wear them all the time.
Since you started as a rink skater, what made you want to start doing park skating?
I was playing roller derby for Central Coast Roller Derby in San Luis Obispo. When Covid hit, derby was the first sport to go, so everyone started roller skating in the skatepark. Before that, I was skateboarding at the skatepark just a little bit because I never thought to roller skate in there.
We all went to the skatepark, and I was wearing my derby skates with big gummy wheels. They weren’t too conventional. Then I ran into Evelyn [Medina] and Michelle at SLO skatepark one evening. I was still wearing my derby skates, and my bearings were so beat up because I had just trail skated with my friend Emily in the rain and it was muddy, so my bearings were shot. Evelyn was like, “Wait, you shouldn’t be skating in those skates anyways. Try out my skates.” I was like, “Are you sure?” She’s like, “Yeah.” I tried them on and I was able to do all the same tricks but way more gracefully. That’s kind of how that happened. I delved into it way more after actually getting a pair of Moxi skates and then I started doing more tricks and stuff instead of just going there to party.
I love that, and Evelyn is such a sweetheart so that story is not a surprise at all. Of course she would lend you her skates.
That really changed everything for me. Evelyn was such a high spirit, and she just came to me and it was so rad. Miguel Ramos was there, too. It was the first time I met everyone, but it was so random. I love Evelyn. She is just that person to bring people in.
This is something that I personally really want to know because I struggle with it. How the heck did you figure out how to skate with your dog, especially the way that you do it? It's not like you're just kind of cruising around. You're skating bowls fast as fuck, doing tricks, and she's right on your heels.
It’s so crazy to me, too, because it’s so crazy to watch our progression. It was one thing, me progressing, learning tricks and everything, but then to have her progressing with me was so cool. There were some tricks I would never do in a bowl with her, but now I can do them. Sometimes I would think, “Oh, I’ll never handstand because I know how close she is,” but now I’m death dropping in. It’s so crazy, our progression. I think it’s because I got her when she was two months old. I got her because I was living in Pismo at the time and there were so many hills. Everyone in my neighborhood loved to bomb the hills, but I wanted a dog to pull me on a rope up the hill so I didn’t have to skate up them.
That's really why you got her?
That’s literally why I got her. I actually almost regretted it because she wasn’t as big as I thought she was going to get and she couldn’t actually keep up with me, or at least she would just get worn out like every dog does because they’re on feet, no wheels. I was like, “Man, she can’t keep up,” but she totally can. She would pull me up the hills and then run down and she’d get tired, but that’s why she doesn’t use a leash like a normal dog. She thinks it’s a pulling device like a pulling rope, so when she sees that she’s ready to pull me somewhere.
She would go to SLO with me and hated being leashed up to a tree. My local, there’s like no one ever there, so I was able to let her roam free. Or if there were people there, they didn’t mind her. She actually just got to be around it and kind of match my feet. I don’t know, she’s pretty unique and I trust her, too. She watches my feet so well and avoids me and almost knows my every move. It’s so weird.
Wow. I'm so jealous because Juniper wants to herd me the whole time when I'm skating, and if she's tied up, she barks like a psychopath. I didn't get her until she was eight months old but I still thought I could train her into it. But she’s like, "No, I'm here to fuck shit up."
I guess because Lilo's also part... she's predominantly a pit terrier, but also part herding, shepherd dog, she does like to nip at my ankles. I wear long pants, so she bites my pants.
I kind of figured because in your videos you can see that she's nipping at you, so I wondered if she was part herding breed. I've had my friends who don't know anything about roller skating send me your videos many times because they're like, “This could be you and Juniper!” and I'm like, "I've tried!" If you’re reading this though, please be cautious with your dogs.
Yeah, definitely. I always worry, too. Lilo's never gotten hurt in the park, but yeah, you have to be careful.
So you talked about Lilo biting your pants. That was one of the things I wanted to ask you about. When I first stumbled upon you on Instagram, I seriously thought that maybe you were doing a bit with the bell bottoms and 70's vibe. I know a skater that dresses a certain way on purpose. He has admitted to dressing a different way when he skates than in his regular life because he wants it to be a different persona. I thought maybe you were doing the same thing but when I finally met you, I realized, "Nope, this is genuine," which is sick.
I definitely love dressing that way. That’s my whole entire closet for so many different reasons. My pants are so comfy and stretchy, I can do anything in them. I could skate, I could sleep in them, I could hike, so it’s just like I do basically everything in my fun clothes and I feel like they make me happy. I try to find long bell bottoms and I save them for occasions where I know I’m going to be kicked out of places that don’t allow roller skates, so it hides the skates. That’s another perk is that I’ll get into places and they won’t even know or it’ll be a surprise and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, how cool.”
The other thing with your bell bottoms, though, sorry to be back on it, I'm so impressed that you can wear the thin stretchy ones for skating because I feel like even my jeans sometimes get absolutely disintegrated out in the streets. So falling on them and shit, you don't mess them up too much or you just have so many pairs, it doesn't matter?
Really, both. I get them for pretty cheap. Well, I got so many answers to this one because I really do love finding pants and shopping, and my little sister loves thrifting. She always finds me cheap, cute pants. She knows exactly what I love. When I skated with Fantom
the first time, my pants completely ripped through the butt, which has never happened. My butt, even right now, is so cut up because my pants didn’t survive. They ripped through and they ripped my butt crack. I have a picture.
I feel like a lot of people that came from roller derby have said they had a hard time learning not bail on their knees since in derby, you’re taught the opposite. I noticed you don't wear gear very often, so do you feel like it was hard to learn to bail in different ways?
Not really. Honestly, in derby, I don't think I ever tried bailing on my knees when I would wipe out. Actually, now that I think about it, this is so funny, I feel like the ways that I wipe out in park skating are the ways that I'd wipe out in derby. Which is random and sometimes really hard and unexpected.
Honestly, I feel like it's an underrated skill that people don't talk about enough, to learn to fall well.
Yes, it is. I hope to always keep working at it. I never try to fall, of course, but when it does, I try to catch myself and refine it. Ya know?
I know you typically prefer transition skating, but I've seen you do some street stuff. Are you finding a love in street skating or do you think your heart will always be set on bowls and transition?
I definitely have a love for street skating. I love the adrenaline of it. I can’t wait to get back out with everyone. There’s already some spots I want to go back to in San Diego, but I got to hit some hot springs first and soak and heal my body a little bit because I was definitely bailing and those kind of the bails just take a little bit of time. I do love the park because it’s always there and it’s just such a session. It’s somewhat a party a lot of times.
I feel like I've been street skating for so long that I'm not that good at transition at all, but I wish that I was because it seems more like surfing. It's a little bit more free, less rigid, so it's something I want to get better at. Maybe I'll have to skate with you more and figure it out.
I feel like street skating is even harder than ramps, because ramps, everyone finds their own flow and it’s so beautiful. It’s just such an art form, while street skating is so technical. It’s an acquired skill that you definitely got to work at, but who’s to say? It’s all relative.
I hope this doesn't put any pressure on you at all because that's the last thing I would want, but when I had decided I wanted to feature you and I told Matt he had to meet up with you, he was like, "What kind of things do you think she wants to skate?" I was like, "I don't know but she's crazy. She's going to end up doing some crazy shit.” When you did go out to shoot, Megan was texting me saying, "Karli, what the fuck? This girl is fucking insane." I don't know why, but that's exactly what I expected you to do for some reason.
There was really no other way to because I didn't know any street spots out in San Diego except for the famous spots, which are gigantic. I was like, "Why not? That can be done." I don't know what is wrong with San Diego. They just got all the crazy spots out there.
Megan is hard to impress, to be totally honest, and she said that it may have been the craziest thing she’d ever seen a roller skater do. She said everyone was jaw dropped speechless when you did the huge drop-in. I never would have looked at that spot and been like, "Yeah, I want to do that." Never in a million years, so it’s pretty special.
Oh my gosh, thank you. Yeah, I love her for her... I got to know her a lot more, especially when we went to the video premiere together being wing women to each other. She was just telling me how dedicated and driven she is. When I did the sign spot, she was just like, “Man, that was so rock and roll!” She’s just so rad.
That's going to end up being legendary when that clip comes out. I can't wait.
A part of me wants to go back, too. There was so much adrenaline, and I think if I go back knowing exactly what to do, I could do it better.
I think it turned out beautiful.
Oh, good. Okay. I'm glad
When you were skating that, were you just like, "Yeah, I'm going to do this," and went for it with no fear? Or were you freaking out a little bit?
With the sign, I have seen that sign, and honestly, I think it was before I saw the Ryan Sheckler kickflip video. I would go downtown because there was cheap pizza by the slice down there, and I’d pass the sign all the time and think, “I want to do that.” Then I saw Ryan Sheckler’s video and was like “Oh my gosh, this is possible. Someone actually did it.” When you guys hit me up, I knew I wanted to try it. And then the water gap was just a beautiful spot that had to be done, you know? When I skated it I was definitely like, “Fuck it, I can do this” not thinking about it and full of adrenaline. I don’t know why I thought that because I did bail. Sometimes at spots, the first try is always the hardest, and then it gets a little bit better. I was definitely maybe a little too confident, I would say.
I just went to a big gap that I had attempted back in 2018 that I ate fucking shit on to see if I could get redemption on it. When we got there to look at it, everyone I was with was like, "Why did you try this?" I'm a much better skater today than I was back then, and I do not want to try that gap again at all. I feel like sometimes you get moments of confidence and when you feel that, you should just go with it and see what happens. Even though I didn’t land it, it’s kinda cool that I have the memory of at least trying it. Sometimes overconfidence can lead to injury for sure, but I think more often than not, questioning yourself and bailing causes injuries before overconfidence does, so I'm all for it.
You’re totally right. If you second-guess yourself and bail, it can end up so much worse. Exactly what you’re saying. Even when I first saw the spot, you’re going to think I’m crazy, I wanted to 360 off of it. I heard Ryan Sheckler had been training a Kickflip off into banks for that spot so I was going to start training 360 bs from flat into banks. When I told Matt that he was like, “That’s so crazy. That’s not an equivalent to a kickflip A 360, you turn your back to the spot.”
Oh my god. I mean, if you ever feel like, "Hey, I can do that," I support it, but that is fucked.
Yeah, it was so dumb.
One last thing I forgot to add from way back in the beginning when you were like, “Oh, you don’t ever take off your skates?” I forgot to add that I do take off my skates when I go to the nude beach.
Okay, I'm actually surprised by that.
Oh my gosh.
I'm not surprised you go to the nude beach. I'm surprised you took off your skates for the nude beach. I figured you would keep them on while everything else is off.
I love that.
