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Peter Frick-Wright (Host): This is the ���ϳԹ��� Podcast

Shaun White probably needs no introduction. He was the face of snowboarding for five Olympics. A household name. A brand unto himself.

And since retiring from competition in 2022, the three-time gold medalist has been busier than ever.

In the last two years, he has  launched the snowboarding and snowboard culture brand ce;  become a part of , the snowboarding camp he attended while growing up, and he has  teamed up with Park City, Utah’s High West Distillery for , an initiative to raise $1 million for organizations dedicated to preserving Western landscapes.

In early June, Just weeks before he announced his latest project, The Snow League, a new halfpipe series for professional snowboarders and freeskiers, White sat down for a conversation about his post-competitive ventures at the ���ϳԹ��� Festival and Summit, in downtown Denver.

The interviewer was Dhani Jones, a former NFL linebacker who has had his own second career following life as a pro athlete: Dhani once started in the Super Bowl; now he’s an adventure TV host, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist.

This was just one of a number of conversations held that weekend as part of a gathering that included live music, a film series, and experiences ranging from climbing walls and yoga classes to biking skills clinics and gear demos.

Next year’s ���ϳԹ��� Festival and Summit will take place May 30th through June 1st, 2025. Musical guests include Khruangbin [KRUNG-BIN] and Lord Huron. Tickets go on presale today, December 10, and early bird prices are available for a limited time. Get yours now at theoutsidefestival.com

Here’s Dhani Jones and Shaun White.

Dhani Jones: I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this discussion in front of all of you, uh, with a gentleman that has been such a amazing icon and also, uh, just been a source of inspiration.

For every single generation, think about that. Every single generation that has grown up around this little sport called snowboarding has been inspired by this man here. And being on the board of ���ϳԹ��� has been an amazing journey for me. I think when I think about the word ���ϳԹ���, I think about all the senses that we have.

As soon as you leave your office, the smell of the air, um, The feel of the sun. Um, you know, that home cooked meal over the fire. It's your instincts that have to kick in. So, first question I'm going to ask you is, at what point did you really lean in to your instincts?

Shaun White: Um, gosh, Instincts, I think Out the Gate, you know, I really, I had a lot of energy.

I was definitely like the red headed kid in your neighborhood getting blamed for everything. It was very, uh, there's a movie called The Problem Child. And I was very much like that kid, always up to something. Um, but I know, I think I found my way when I found the sport of skateboarding and snowboarding and just really kind of like, you know, as a kid, there's, there's so many rules, you know, it's don't do this, be quiet.

Be here on time. Don't say that. Like eat this. There's so many rules. And when I got to the skate park, my mom's like, just go like, Oh, wow. Okay. And that really opened up a lot for me. I had the freedom to do what I wanted. There wasn't a coach telling me how to run the drills, things like that. Um, and I think later on, the instincts really kicked in when I just felt, um, Fulfilled.

I felt very fulfilled doing these sports and everybody talks about fun. Oh, this was really fun. And that was so much fun. And and that's great. You should enjoy what you do in life. But um, there was a fulfillment to like working at a trick, achieving that goal and then using that trick in a competition format under pressure and succeeding.

It was just this fulfilling sort of thing for me. And that's I think that's really Where things took off, but you talk about nature and outside. I mean, that's one of the beautiful things about the sport of snowboarding is I've been able to travel the world and, and see these amazing places. And you talk about that, the outdoors, that stillness.

I mean, I've taken chairlifts where there's no one out, the mountains closed, but we're doing a shoot at the top and it's just like winter blizzard. I'm like, wow, how many people in the world have actually sat and seen this view in Japan going up the chair and the animals are running around. Like, it's just such a beautiful thing.

So, yeah, obviously very, I'm really proud to be here and uh, uh, talking about outside and supporting the fest.

Dhani: Well, I think we all would love to have the mountain to ourself, would we not?

Shaun: Yeah. No, I, I pinch myself. I'm like, oh, this is great. Uh, you know, in

Dhani: There's a lot of young people here that snowboards, skateboard, play different sports. Tell us about the dog mentality. And the number one part that a dog has

Shaun: is

Dhani: the sense of fearlessness. How did you embrace fear to allow you to accomplish your goals?

Shaun: to allow you to accomplish your goals? You know what I mean? There wasn't like, Oh, you play in school and then you go off to college and then maybe you get, you know, there's a path that you kind of follow where snowboarding was just, you know, at the time, especially it was very like kind of rebellious characters in the sport.

Not many mountains were thrilled about having snowboarders on the mountain. And so when we were telling people that we love snowboarding and that this might be my career, people just thought we were crazy. So the fear of being nothing and believing and loving a sport that would be nothing was very intimidating.

And, you know, you talk about the dog, um, and there's many forms of it. There's the playful side, there's the, the, the hunger, the want to succeed, the fight. Um, and so I really had all of that along this road. I don't know if, if, I would be as competitive as I am without that sort of fight early on in my life, um, to succeed or be even, um, you know, looked at like I was in a real sport.

I mean, I remember going to my principal. I was in elementary school or whatever. I was like, so I just, I'm going to Japan for like two months. I'd love some extra help with my work and my schooling and stuff. First, he didn't believe me. He's like, wait, you're going away. I was like, yeah, we're going to Japan and, uh, and he pulled out this list.

He's like, look, I'd love to help you. We just can't. And he pulled out this list of sports that were, you know, here's tennis. Here's ice skating. Here's horseback riding. It's just no, we're not on the list. So we can't help you. Um, and that was tough, you know, and then when you're In a sport that has just like anything we take risks every day.

I mean, you get in a car, that's, that's, you're taking a risk, you're crossing the street, you're taking a risk. I mean, there is the physical fear of being injured and what you do, um, after that challenge and coming back from an injury and, you know, And kind of putting yourself in this sort of fight or flight scenario day in and day out.

Um, you know, it does something to you. It changes you. And I don't really think I'm one of those people that, um, don't feel fear. I think it's a stereotype of the sport. Like, you guys are just crazy, huh? You just go, I'm like, no, man, I'm so calculated. I'm like, did I eat well? Did I sleep well? What are the conditions like?

When will I have better training coming up? Everything's so calculated of like when I'm going to drop the hammer and do these big tricks that, um, I feel like, you know, for me, I just have a very, um, good relationship with the fear of the sport,

Dhani: He let me know.

Shaun: Yeah. And the principal.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He even, he let me go. He was like, just bring back a brochure from the mountain. I was like, really? Okay. What about discipline? Mm hmm. Okay.

Dhani: mentality also has that level of discipline. I mean, you're waking up early in the morning in order to be the first one up on the mountain. When you. Didn't get the mountain all to yourself. You're going to bed late, but at the same time you're getting your training

Shaun: bedding late,

Dhani: your uh therapists come work on you.

So talk about Discipline and how important that is

Shaun: your therapist come work on you, so talk about discipline and how important that is.

Want to try hard to work out to be serious, to have an agent, to do any of these things. It was like, what a sellout. What a, you know what I mean? Like, who's this guy? And so that all happened like way later in my life. Um, but early on, um, I don't know. I just think, like I said, in the beginning you were fighting to.

And to be there in the first place and we didn't live in the mountains. I've never lived actually in the mountains my whole professional career, which is very odd. Um, you know, but we were the weekend warriors. We'd show up and I'm like, wow, I only have two days to ride. I'm going to try every single trick I've been dreaming of, you know, this, this week leading up to this and then whatever I didn't get to him, I'm going to sit there and plot what I'm going to do the next weekend.

And that was how I trained and how I learned how to snowboard. So I think everything was always fighting to, you know, succeed. And so if I missed a practice or I didn't try the trick or something like that, I was only kind of hurting myself in that scenario. So it wasn't like somebody was pushing me. My parents were definitely there to encourage me, but I felt like I had that fight, the hunger, the want to succeed,

Dhani: But your parents Although they may not have been there, they instilled within you that sense of discipline and that, that notion of fearlessness.

And I think as I've sort of read about your experience and I've seen through the different pictures, it's that pack mentality, right? The dog mentality is also a pack mentality. You know, playing football, it's not one person on the team. It's the entire team. A lot of people see an individual sport as one person.

Shaun: Yeah, yeah. It's

Dhani: the entire team. The entire team of people. And, and so how did the pack mentality help you throughout your sort of iterations of Sean White?

Shaun: no, I mean, I, I definitely had people behind the scenes, you know, you know, they weren't necessarily on the field of play during the event, but, you know, behind the scenes, you have, you have managers, you have, you know, agents, you have family, you've got friends, you've got team managers that work for the company, like there's always like a sea of people that are helping kind of get you where you need to be and to be performing at your best. um, I, I, I quickly found out that what got me this far in life wouldn't necessarily take me the rest of the way. You have to evolve. You have to change. You have to kind of like read the room and Oh man, this way of practicing isn't Working for me anymore, you know, beating my head against the wall, doing these tricks day in and day out.

That's not where I need to find a better way to do it as I'm getting older or like, what's the field of athletes doing and, and where are they going and how could I maybe do something maybe not as more advanced than them, but just different, how can I separate myself from the rest of the field? Like you just kind of learn these different ways to go about it.

But I always felt like. I gravitated and, and, and these people would just kind of circle around and, and, and almost find me in a way, um, and, and help me get to that next place. But it was definitely a team effort through and through,

Dhani: your mom was sort of arranging all the tickets and, you know, booking all the hotels. And then one day you just decided that, no mom, I need you to be mom again. So how did you navigate through sort of this moment where you wanted your mom to be mom? Yeah. Yeah.

Shaun: Um, I wish I could say it was easy. It was not, you know, um, Cause when I talk about the Olympics and I talk about winning, the first thing I talk about is like, Oh, well, like we, we won.

I always say that whenever I talk about like, yeah, well, we won the Olympics and I, it just comes out of me naturally. Cause up until that point, it was my, my parents driving to the mountains, missing sister's soccer practice. Everything revolved around, you know, helping me achieve this goal. And then I did it, you know what I mean?

And what happens to that family unit once. You get what, you know, you're chasing cars and you finally catch one. It's like, what do we do now? And the family dynamic was just not ready for that. And so, um, even coming home from the Olympics, it was a tough, turbulent time because how do you ride that high of, you know, jet setting, doing interviews, all these things.

It's amazing. Dinners every night, people. And then you come home and it's like, okay, well back to normal. And I'm like, well, gosh, did I do something wrong? Was that what happened? And all my friends had normal jobs. It was like a very weird. And then I realized, well, I guess, You know, most of my friends went off to college.

I should probably start taking these steps to, you know, grow up and become an adult and, and really stand on my own two feet and, and my mom was always in my corner helping me every step of the way. Like you said, booking tickets, travel, like getting reimbursements. And we used to get, uh, uh, Um, she would clip, uh, newspaper clippings and, and, uh, magazine clippings cause you got photo incentive.

So, Oh, he gets 10 for this picture in the magazine. Should we clip it? I had this booklet of things and we turn it into whatever sponsor, um, she did all that, you know, and, and to ask her to step aside, like I now understand what that meant asking her to do that. And it was definitely a lot of friction at the time, but I'm proud to say that like we figured it out.

And I've watched so many. You know, I guess celebrity documentaries with musicians or athletes and they're like, we don't even talk anymore family. Like I've had a falling out with my uncle or my dad or my brother, which don't even talk anymore. So I'm so proud that like we were able to navigate that sort of turbulent time, um, and remain a family like that's so huge because it's so important.

And I think having

Dhani: of

Shaun: that sort of family unit not in the picture anymore would be devastating right

Dhani: devastating. So kids, just remember, the mom is always the leader of the pack.

Shaun: hmm. There we go. Yeah. And, uh,

Dhani: many of you have been able to see the last run, it's a great show on HBO Max. And it talks about, you know, your family, your journey,

sure it's an interesting experience to be able to kind of talk through these moments where you're sitting here, your families around you, you know, you kind of, you know, understand this pack mentality, dealing with fear, dealing with, dealing with discipline. I mean, so many things that you're going through, every family is essentially going through.

I mean, you could write a, a parenting, a parenting book. Would there be one thing that you would say to the parents here to deal with young people as athletes today, especially around the ego? Um,

Shaun: Yeah.

Dhani: sport has been more ego driven as of late than before when it was more characterized as a team sport.

So how do you help parents manage their up and coming Sean Whites of the

Shaun: yeah, I mean, it's a it's an interesting question. I always I occasionally get asked this just because people are so curious of like what happened in my upbringing to get to this point. But I think a really special thing my parents did with me is they let me know that at any point I can walk away.

They're like, don't even like, just know that at any point if you don't want to do what you're doing, you Just walk away. And especially if I felt unsafe. I remember my mom talking to me and she's like, I don't care if there's cameras. I don't care if the sponsors are here. I don't care if the event's happening.

Like if you don't feel comfortable and you feel unsafe, like walk away. If you got that weird, you know, pit in your stomach and you don't want to convince you something's up, just walk away. It's like life's life's, uh, you know, beautiful thing. And to roll the dice on something that you don't feel confident about, just don't do it.

And so I always kind of had that in my back pocket and I actually used it plenty of times, famously actually at the Olympics. Um, it was in, in Sochi, I got to the slopestyle course and I'm just watching people get knocked out left and right. The flags are going up on the course. And I'm thinking like, They're about to run the contest tomorrow.

I've barely gotten any practice runs because people keep injuring themselves. Friends of mine that are really talented snowboarders don't even remember flying to Russia. They hit their head so hard. I'm like,

Dhani: My

Shaun: I don't know. My senses are saying this isn't right, you know, and I had half pipe later. So I was like, man, I, I gotta go with my gut and walk away.

And, and you know, this is a, I think. Before, you know, mental health and mental illness was talked about as, as openly as it is today, but you know, I got a pretty harsh backlash from people on social media and in the media. He's scared, like all these things like, well, yeah, dude, I was scared. I don't want to like for sure, you know, like You know what I mean?

And, and, and life goes on and look, I came back to another Olympics and got to compete and it was amazing. So I knew in my heart of hearts that there would be more opportunities and, and I definitely earned my spot to get there. So it was my choice to do with it what I, what I wanted to. But, um, anyways, there's a lot of those things that kind of came to be, but, uh, quickly, my, my dad, I'm named Sean after Sean Thompson, a professional surfer.

My dad loves surfing. Um, yeah. He thinks what I do is pretty cool, but he's like, if I was in, if I was in like the barrel somewhere with Slater, he'd be like, oh,

Dhani: like, oh my god,

Shaun: uh, will this make you love me? You know, like, so I'm like, Eight years old maybe and he saw me stand up on a boogie board. So he's like it's time Went out bought me a surfboard and I'll never forget it.

You know, the Looney Tunes character Taz the Tasmanian Devil that Taz is on the board. I don't know if I was a huge fan I was like, okay, that's cool, but it was a hard board and and you know Now when I recall it, it looks like a very grainy, old movie, very ominous, but he took me to the beach and it was cold.

The waves were huge and crashing, he just drags me out there, I'm in a spring suit, I'm freezing, and he's like, Okay, here's the wave, and he sends me down this wave. Of course, I like, bury the nose, I go underwater. Um, I'm getting swirled. I'm getting swirled. I, I finally go up for air. Don't make it. I get swirled more.

I'm like, oh, finally get to the top. I, I get the breath and there's Taz just bash me in the face. I'm bleeding and I'm just like, I hate you and I never want to do this again. And you know, and so, So there's a delicate balance between like, you know, parent making a choice that like, today's the day my son or daughter is going to do this and, and, and letting kids kind of find their own way through it.

And, and once I found my skateboard or it was like, it was just around and I just got hooked, found snowboarding. Cause my brother started doing it. I got hooked and doing it. I I've obviously found surfing later on in life, but like there's, there's a definitely like a weird career path that could have been changed if my dad had.

You know, approach the situation differently, um, you know, but I think it's a delicate thing. And, and I think you really need to listen to your children on like what they want. Because for me, I mean, even I found all my, my old school projects. They're all about snowboarding. It was like, who's the best snowboarder in the world?

Terry Hawkins. Who's that? Sean Palmer, blah, blah, blah. But no, I, I truly wanted it, you know, and so it's cool.

Dhani: the name of the book is gonna be The Wave, the Wave

Shaun: wave.

Dhani: You'll figure it out and one day you'll be able to breathe.

Shaun: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Taz, still haunting me.

Dhani: But your, your, your parents pushed you. Um, your mom was a force in your life. Your dad wanted to be a surfer, but you ended up being the most amazing snowboarder.

Shaun: Mm hmm.

Dhani: Jake Burton. You know, I was watching the video and I, and I know he's the one that really kicked things off. He's a good friend of mine.

Shaun: Of course.

Dhani: I went snowboarding with him a bunch of time and just remember his voice.

Yeah. Um, how much did he mean to you and how much did he push you and how much did he give to you?

Shaun: Yeah, I mean, look, there's some legendary, uh, People in my life that I got to brush shoulders with and, and definitely Jake Burton is one of them. Um, you know, we touch on it in the documentary, but you know, I was sponsored by Burton when I was seven years old.

I mean, I got my first board and it meant the world to me that not only, you know, I guess the outside world, like I said, the teachers and people were like, this is nothing, this is not going to ever be anything. But then all of a sudden someone believes in me. And this major company is willing to like bring me on to the team and support me in my, my goals of, of, of training and writing and competing.

And, and so like that helping hand in the beginning was incredible. And then like, as I climbed the ranks of the company, um, you know, from the amateur division to the, to the, um, Yeah, all the way up to the to the global a team on Burton like I've I kind of learned the ropes by hanging with those athletes seeing Jake run the company and really kind of.

Watching him push the sport through, um, technical advancements within the products, as well as like just building an amazing team around him. So we talked about team building. I mean, watching this guy kind of orchestrate this entire company and like, you know, be the leader in winter sports for so long. I mean, it was, it was really impactful.

Um, and so, yeah, some of my fondest memories are coming down. Uh, hopefully I don't get emotional talking about it, but he, My last Olympics where I won it was in Korea and Pyeongchang. I just never, I remember coming down to the bottom and he was just in tears. And he was just like, you always do it last run.

You know, you just land on your feet. Like, how do you, how do you do it? You know? And, and, you know, we were crying and, and it just dawned on me that he's been there every step of the way, every Olympics I've competed in, every swim, Sort of a US Open that I, I snuck my way into the amateur into the pro division and whatever, but yeah, amazing guy.

And, and I'm so thrilled to, you know, kind of follow in his footsteps by creating my own brand and, and really taking, um,

Dhani: really exciting.

Shaun: taking the sport and seeing like where I can, I can, you know, carry the torch from, from here on. Yeah. It's really exciting. Yeah. We honor

Dhani: Jake's memory as he's been such an incredible force and so many people's. so many people's life. Um, and I think, you know, his voice still carries on. And when you're in that half pipe, is he one of the voices that allows you to go a little bit higher,

Shaun: Mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm. . Um,

Dhani: um, alongside with your mom and your dad, just like sort of pushing you to get sort of as much air as possible.

I

Shaun: you know, I, I, I grew up basically in the limelight of things, you know, like, and, and being a teenager and doing crazy things and getting in trouble and whatever, like, I just knew that he was going to support me no matter what. So, you know, if, if things happened or I got injured, I couldn't ride.

I just knew that, like, he was family. He was going to take care of me, was going to keep me on the program, was going to help me, um, get back on the board. And, um, so yeah, for sure. I feel like every time I. I do airs like this or something like, I only got to this high because of the people, you know, supporting me.

So yeah, I'm feeling them lifting me up every

Dhani: I I mean, you've spent more time in the air than most airline pilots.

Shaun: than most

Dhani: I mean, you just fly. I want to be specific about this. At what point are you sacrificing your body and letting go?

Because there's got to be a point where you're dropping in, and, and then you kind of go through this moment trying to figure out what you're going to do.

Shaun: No, it's, it's a weird sort of thing. I mean, I always, as a kid, I loved being in the air. I don't know. It was just my thing. If, if evil, evil Knievel was a big deal in my world.

I don't know if you know him. He's a motorcycle stunt guy from, from way back. Um, You know, he would jump over all these cars and things, and so I would go set up these little ramps in the neighborhood and try to jump my bicycle. I'd try to jump the skateboard. I'd try to jump the, uh, office chair.

Dhani: Why do I need

Shaun: like, whatever I could. I was like, and I have so many photos of, like, did you get that? The photo. Am I in the air? Is that so cool? And I'll never forget my, my parents went, uh, there was a sale at Costco and they got a trampoline for Christmas. And I was just like, yes. And I lived on this thing.

And so, For me to, you know, find a sport like this and to always be, you know, spinning and flipping and the timing of being in the air, like my favorite part about something like this is I'm so comfortable with certain tricks that I can just let go. I can just kind of, people ask me what I'm thinking about.

And it's, it's that, you know, you talk about like meditation or, you know, having a blank mind, like I can close my eyes. I know exactly where I am. I know how much time I have, where I need to be. And. When I open my eyes or I like come back to focus, like there's the landing. I just know where it's going to be.

Um, and it's this air awareness, this feeling. And so I always describe it as there's a point where you're, you're going up in the air and you hit the apex where you're no longer going up, but you're not going down. And there's just kind of like, you know, like any space movie, this free floating sort of moment, and then the gravity just comes ripping you back down.

But, uh, yeah, it's a beautiful thing. It's such a fun thing. Um, yeah. And I'm, I'm, as I retired, this is the thing that I'm worried I'll miss the most if I can't get as high, but we'll hang on to it as long as I can.

Dhani: Does time slow down in that

Shaun: Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you crash too. I don't know. We got probably a lot of people in the room that, you know, ski or snowboard and, and, you know, um, but even if you don't, if you, You played golf, you're throwing a ball, whatever it is. You know, that moment where you swing and you're just like, ah, that didn't feel right.

You know, and the ball just goes sailing the wrong way. You shank into the woods or whatever it is. Like that's the same thing happens snowboarding,

Peter: Hey just a quick note here–at this point in the talk Shaun’s mic pack failed, and there was a quick break while the team got him a new one.

but Yeah, it's the same thing that happens, but you're like 20 feet in the air just it's so slow It's like Talladega Nights Ricky Bobby like I'm flying through the air.

It's not good. And I'm just like, ah Man, I can't believe today. I'm gonna take this hit and this crash My brain's just going through so many outcomes and then there it is Like a you know two feet over the deck and I just and then bounce to the bottom The second hit's always the most fun. Um, but yeah, I don't know, I think, I think it's a, it's, it's a love hate sort of thing.

Like, you're risking yourself, you're risking a lot. And there's a very fine line of like, how fast I can go and how much strength I have in my legs to fight the Gs going up the wall. And then that perfect sort of release to, you know, whether you shot a ball or whatever. Once I take off, that's it. I'm flying through the, there's no like, oh, I can get out of this.

I'm, I'm going. It's, I'm gone. So I think the level of commitment is pretty, pretty amazing. Um, you know, you can't hit a 90 foot jump and halfway through be like, I don't wanna do this anymore. Like, no, you're gone. You're gone. That's it. You've made a choice. You've drawn a line. Um, so yeah, it's, it's definitely like a, a beautiful sport in that way, that you get these amazing images and these moments just flying through the air.

Talk about.

Dhani: talk about the process of the endless pursuit of perfection, and you talk about pushing those limits. You talk about crashing sometimes and not the first hit, but that second hit in the last run. The doctor said to him, well, I think this was after you lacerated your, your liver. The doctor said, oh, you got to take six weeks off.

So I'm watching the, I'm watching the video and I'm like, I know exactly what he's going to say next. Three weeks and a little bit of Advil,

Shaun: Yeah.

Dhani: immediately cuts it in half. And, and, and in some ways. You know, would maybe go out the very next day and just go right back to it.

So, um, is safe a word that's even in your head? Yeah.

Shaun: are like, you're never going to be in a magazine if you're wearing a helmet. And like, no one will care. Sponsors, everybody tried to get me to take my helmet off. And I'm like, I, I actually was hit by somebody on the resort.

It wasn't even something I did. Somebody aired and did a 360 and their board came and just caught me in the side of the head. I got knocked out and I'm thinking like, I don't think I'd be here if I didn't have my helmet on. And so from then on I'm like, I'm just wearing it. I don't care. But yeah, no, I feel like there is a safety factor.

There's a calculated risk. And every time I do a big trick, I've like done all the little tricks building up to it. Um, if you're landing switch, I'll ride switch all day to get comfortable. Doing other tricks similar to that trick before I really commit. You know, can we find an airbag? We even invented, I mean, I didn't invent it, but I definitely took what they were doing in gymnastics and took what they were doing in motocross when Pastrana was learning double backflips on his motorcycle, and I was like, well, the tech exists.

Why don't we get that foam pit up at the mountain? And so I'm always looking for ways to like, eliminate the risk. But at a certain point, yeah, you gotta be like, well, okay, here we go. We're doing it, you know, and there's a firm decision that's being made. Um, but, um, but yeah, I, I always talk about the sport in a certain way just cause especially overseas, other places, you know, it's still viewed as a very daredevil sport, you know, I'm like, but my mom snowboards, my dad's 75.

He's he rips. Well, he did, he did just have a big crash, but that's beside the point. My favorite, he's so, he's so vain that he called me, he's like, It was your board. It's like, yeah, uh huh. He's like, it was your, definitely not me, I've only gotten better, is what he said, as the year, so I was like, Okay, dude, yeah, for sure.

Like, I'll call the team and we'll work out the kinks, I guess. Like, So good. Um, but yeah, I mean, I think there's a calculated risk with anything. You know, you see F1 drivers, they've done their whole career starting in carts as kids, going all the way up to, you know, Formula 2, Formula 1. You know, like they, they work toward this thing.

And so I don't think, um, you know, you want to just jump into it and be talked into doing some crazy jump or trick or a run you're not comfortable with. But yeah, there's plenty of ways to enjoy the sport without really pushing those limits. It's just Can you imagine, like, if you picked up a guitar as a kid, the same songs aren't really gonna, yeah, there's nostalgia there, but the same songs aren't gonna really cut it anymore.

You want to, like, well, what's the blues about? Or what's, let's play some rock. What's, what's metal doing? What's the, you know, you want to learn different things and always challenge yourself. So I always say that my career in snowboarding has just been this, like, you know, progression of, you know, what I want to do, pressure, and then, you know, slight boredom and, and thinking, well, what's next?

What, what'll inspire me? So.

 

Dhani: Sometimes when you're younger, although you don't have wisdom, you have fearlessness. And that's what allows you to look at other people, to the kids that are out there, look at other people and say, you know, if you think I can't do it, I'm going to show you how I'm going to do it.

And so that's exactly how you've lived your life. And now as you sort of transition into this world of, of retirement, um, you know, how are you thinking about legacy? You know, you're involved with some new ventures and Protect the West is, is a great, great initiative. Um, so, you know, what are you trying to accomplish with that and how are you going to bring some of your own personality to the things that you want to work on

Shaun: No, it's a great question. I mean, um, I mean, I'll touch on protect the West. I mean, that's, that's an initiative through high West whiskey, amazing company. I was a fan of the brand before and then they called me up and like, Hey, look, we're doing this, this thing. We're going to raise all this money to protect our environments.

You know, I'm such a product of where I grew up. I had access to the beach access to the mountains, um, access to skating, mountain biking, all these things. I'm, I'm truly like a, a A melding pot of all those things. Um, and here I am today because of that. So protecting those environments for the next generation is so important to give them the same opportunities.

And I know Jeremy Jones is, he's in the crowd here somewhere, a legend amongst you. Um, my guy back

Dhani: back over there.

Shaun: he's done so much in this space and I'm, I'm proud to be, you know, um, a part of the team helping, uh, this initiative and, um, High West has been amazing. They told me to have you go check out their train.

Out in the festival, they're serving it up, if you're of age. Uh, but anyways, you know, it's been, it's been awesome. And retirement is such a kind of ugly word, you know. It's just like, hey, this door's kind of shutting and this one's opening. Like, I feel so much, so much excitement every day. And I've been working on these new projects and things coming about.

Um, one is very exciting. Um, obviously, you know, my brand, White Space, is something where, I feel like my whole career was riding for other companies And it's amazing because I learned so much from them, but I feel like my job as an athlete joining a brand was, Hey, how can I best fit their mold, but still be myself?

So their slogan, their color palette, this is how we do our ads. This is where we use our sticker placement. And here's our commercials. Like this is us. And I'm like, okay, cool. I'm going to, I'm going to join you because I dig it. And I feel it's like authentic fit with me, but how do I still kind of maintain my own, um, individuality.

And so. You know, when you create a company from the beginning. You're really creating this mold and it's been so fun to kind of like move and flow with different brands that we work with and building this little team of young athletes and supporting their careers, which is just like I mean I went to Nationals up at Copper and like I'm riding around with our little army of Young riders and it was so amazing.

It was so much fun It made me so happy to see the next generation like, you know I'm Performing these amazing feats on products that we've, we've made. I felt very like, you know, very Jake Burton on the shoulder tapping me like, all right, you know, following in those footsteps. And so that's been so fun and an amazing thing.

And it's, it's definitely not like a big corporate thing. My brother's doing all the designs, like my best buddies is helping like run the behind the scenes. And we just brought on somebody to help us really expand and grow, um, the brand. But it's been so fun to work with people and, and the connection, knowing that like, I've spent so much time.

Product developing and testing something and somebody stood in front of a huge wall of product and went, Oh, this thing, this board best fits what I'm into in my life and my style and and what I want to do on the mountain and we have a connection there because of that. So I love seeing the products out and about a lot of the other things I've been dipping into is really like working on.

Kind of the youth space in the sports. Um, we announced it a bit ago, but we, we, we took, uh, some investors and people and we, we became, uh, um, investors in, uh, uh, it's called We Are Camps, that's the umbrella, but it's High Cascade, um, Windells, all, all the springtime camp riding you can do up in Oregon, which is insane, because I remember camping out in the parking lot, just, just, just to ride the half pipe.

Um, my dad called me the day I, we, we, You know, bought into the camp and he was just like, Oh, I guess I don't have to dig the half pipe for you to ride anymore. Huh? It's like, yeah, well, you can still come up if you want to, um, but no, it's great. And I'll be out there in June riding with the young athletes.

Um, we're doing a branded white space a week. So if you, if you, I don't know if there's slots still open, but if you come up, it's, it's amazing place. It taught me so much as a kid, not only to. Um, you know, learn amazing tricks because not only our kids they're learning, but all the pros show up because they need to train and work on the new tricks for the next season.

Um, but I, I was a kid. I learned friendship skills, you know, team building stuff, like how to, how to really kind of, you know, grow up and, and, and have that camp experience, which is really fun.

Dhani: So as we kind of come to our close, just, I think it's always important, regardless of your athlete, business leader. It doesn't matter. I think it's always important to understand, you know, who you are. So I'll ask you the last question is, you know, Sean White at seven, Sean White at 17, Sean White at 27, Sean White.

Now who is Sean White?

Shaun: Ooh. Um, Gosh, I really, I don't know. It's weird to say, but through it all, I feel like I've kind of been the same person and so through thick and thin, whether it was, you know, winning things or losing or this or that, you know, being loved in the sport, being disliked in this. I've rode this wave of life for so many different, um, Reasons and, and things and seen so much that I just felt like the same person through and through.

Um, and today I really feel like I'm just kind of operating from a place of a lot more gratitude. Um, you know what I mean? And I'm, I'm, I'm really like working on, Sort of, you know, that self improvement sort of thing. I mean, I don't want to dig into it too much, but I've done a lot of work on myself after listening to Michael Phelps, to his speeches about therapy, these things.

And you know, this athlete mentality is really praised in society. You know, because you're accomplishing these things, but it's a pretty wild mindset to like push everything in life aside for one goal and that goal only. And if you get it, you're left with this sort of like, well, now what? It's almost better to not get it because you're kind of left with this, well, now I'm going to get it next time.

You know, like it fires you up for this next thing. Anyways, that, that can only be repeated so many times until you need to find something else. Um, to fill that void, you know. So for me, for so many years, I felt this way. Um, kind of the lone, lone wolf out there doing my thing. But nowadays it's, it's all about community.

It's all about, you know, you know, bringing people together, um, supporting the next generation. I'm really trying to enter that phase of my life of like giving back and what's next and how can I use my platform to, to help others and, and, and do those things. Um, which, I dipped a toe in during my career, but nowadays it just feels so right to be in this position.

Um, and I feel more centered in myself to actually do it. Because before, you know, people would be like, You need to give back to the sport. You gotta do that. I'm like, dude, I'm competing still. I'm not trying to help this guy. You know, like, I want to win. You know what I mean? It's a very, you know, self motivated thing.

But nowadays I'm really kind of finding myself as the, as the, you know, like I love family, I love friends and I, and I, I love community and those are the things that I really kind of ask myself every day. Like, is this helping my family? Is this helping my community? Is this helping, you know, the next generation?

And if I can answer yes to those questions, then I'm on the right path. So.

Dhani: The greatest of all time. Sean White.

Shaun: Thank you.

Peter: That was Dhani Jones and Shaun White, at the ���ϳԹ��� Festival and Summit, in Denver, Colorado last June. Tickets for next year’s event are available now at The���ϳԹ���Festival.com

The ���ϳԹ��� Podcast is made possible by our ���ϳԹ��� Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.