Today we’d like to introduce you to Allan Minter.
Hi Allan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Long story short, we had a need and noticed there wasn’t much supply 🙂 The need was for skateboarding lessons. My daughter was eight when she really took an interest in skating. She had a board for a few years, and it just sat there. Then one day, she just started skating, and she didn’t want to stop! I used to skate in another life, so I could teach her the basics. Balance, foot position, pushing, and riding. But I knew she wanted to get to another level, one that I couldn’t provide. The Atlanta skate scene is big, and it’s only getting bigger. I was disappointed when I looked online and really couldn’t find anything with respect to organized skateboarding instruction. The best I could find was a company based out of Canada that seemed to price gouge.
I went to Stratosphere in Little 5. They’re essentially ground Zero for all things skateboarding in Atlanta. The skate scene in Atlanta is what it is because of Stratosphere. They turned me on to Matt ‘Atreau’ Mercer, a skateboarding Pro and Instructor. He just moved to Atlanta from San Diego, and he had a huge following there. When he first started working with my daughter, Stella, the lightbulb went off. He had such a natural way with her, the way he talked to her, encouraged her, and helped her in her skating, I just had a gut feeling- Atlanta needs this guy. They need to be able to find him and other qualified skateboarding instructors. It’s one thing to be great at skating, but it’s on a whole other level to be able to teach the craft and skillset to kids as well as adults. We went to lunch one day, came up with a game plan, and here we are today.
We have all these great skateparks with some really good skaters, many who are on a professional level. Some of these smaller kids, they want to skate, and they want to learn, but they can feel intimidated at the parks. I wanted to create a welcoming environment for kids of all backgrounds, as well as adults to learn to skate. The workshops help accomplish that too. We like to host the workshops at different skateparks too, so kids and their parents can be introduced to the other parks. Some people have lived here for years and are unaware of the skateparks that are here.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been mostly smooth. It’s funny because starting a business, you have these expectations as to what it will look like and what it will take to get there. I think most business owners will agree it’s almost always harder than it seems on the surface. A lot of planning and work takes place behind the scenes. We’ve grown at a faster rate than I expected, and the feedback and gratitude that we’ve received not only from the kids but the parents as well as adults has made it all worth it. By leaps and bounds.
Some of the kids who attended our summer skate camps have come back and told us it was the best time they’ve ever had in their life. This is what keeps us going. This is why we do what we do. They learn to not only skate but street skate as well. It opens their eyes to a whole new world, right here in their own city.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We teach skateboarding to people of all walks of life. Most people think it’s just kids, but we’ve taught Doctors, Lawyers, Artists, Flight Attendants, and Physicians Assistants. That is one element of surprise, if I’m being honest. The amount of adults who are busy in their careers all of a sudden want to take up skateboarding. I have so much respect for that. Someone who goes outside of their comfort zone to learn something new.
We have built this little community, and it’s only growing. We now have adults-only group lessons, after-school skate sessions, camps, and of course private lessons. This isn’t rocket science. We just want people to know it’s never too late to learn to skate, and for all the kids out there, you can reach any goal you set, so long as you take that initial step and put in the work. Our primary objective as a business is to not only teach skateboarding but to build confidence. This goes for every one of our students.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Besides skating and pretending to surf (I tried), it was going to North Carolina in the summers with my family. Growing up in South Florida, it was such a breath of fresh air to get away and be in the beautiful green mountains. The mountains are in my heart, and I attribute this to the gorgeous hikes and climbs starting out as a kid.
Pricing:
- Private lessons are $75 (We offer a discount for a series of 4 lessons, it comes down to $60 an hour)
- Workshops are $30
- Group lessons are $35
- Semi-privates are $45
- Camp pricing starts at $250
Contact Info:
- Website: http://skateatl.com
- Instagram: @skate.atl
- Facebook: @skate.atl
Image Credits
-Matthew Pearson (the action shots of the kids skating, Ollie the 3 stairs, and jack in mid air) -Allan Minter the rest
