Can you tell us a little bit about growing up and skating in Hawaii?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Growing up in Hawaii was awesome. I would just go back and forth from skating to surfing because the beach and the skatepark were right near each other. I originally got into skateboarding through my dad. He grew up in Hawaii, skating and surfing as a kid. He actually wanted me to be a surfer growing up, but it can be hard with the wind or if it’s cold. Then he introduced me to skateboarding, and I fell in love with it. I still love to surf but skating just turned into my passion, you know?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Definitely. A lot of people say that I have a little bit of surf style to my skateboarding. They go hand-in-hand, like reading the waves and reading the ramps is similar and what not.<\/span><\/p>\n Yeah, my style is definitely unique. I like to flow around the bowl really fast, and having that little surf style on top of my skating helps a lot. I don’t wear a shirt when I skate because of comfortability. Growing up in Hawaii and never wearing a shirt, just running board shorts when I skate is my thing. Luckily I’m wearing my shoes in the contest.<\/span><\/p>\n Heimana Reynolds’ signature trick, the Handplant \/\/ Photo by Chaz Miley<\/p><\/div>\n I only ride the Vans Slip-On shoe. It’s just the lightest, easiest, simplest thing to wear. It’s just really comfortable to me. It almost feels like I’m barefoot, which is where I’m most comfortable.<\/span><\/p>\n Christian Hosoi. He grew up in Hawaii and had that skate-surf style as well. Grant Taylor has been a massive influence since I was young, just watching him being able to skate street and park at an insane level. I definitely grew up watching “The Search For Animal Chin” from the Bones Brigade, and all those guys.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Heimana Reynolds competing in Wendy’s Men’s Skateboard Park during X Games Minneapolis 2019 \/\/ Photo by Phil Ellsworth (ESPN Images)<\/p><\/div>\n Yeah, I feel like coming out of Hawaii, it’s been a lot harder of a journey for me. With sponsors and traveling and everything, everyone\u2019s so much farther away from me. I had to put in that extra work to get where I am today.<\/span><\/p>\n I’ve been renting a room down in San Diego for the last few months. I’ve been going back and forth between Hawaii and California, but now I\u2019m 15 minutes away from the training facility, so I\u2019ve been in California more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Heimana Reynolds at the 2017 summer\u2019s X Games in Minneapolis \/\/ Photo by Trevor Brown Jr. (ESPN Images)<\/p><\/div>\n No. I’ve never been to New York. I really want to go.<\/span><\/p>\n Absolutely. Dylan Rieder and The Gonz (Mark Gonzales), all those guys are huge influences in my life. I met Dylan Rieder a few times before he passed, and he was just great. The way he skated and his style and how he modeled and everything, it was super amazing to me.<\/span><\/p>\n I’ve been doing a couple of modeling jobs here and there. I’m trying to get my name out there a little bit. I\u2019ve done a couple of things for Express. I love modeling; it’s really fun.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Heimana Reynolds is currently the hottest skateboarder out of Hawaii. After beginning with surfing and then skateboarding before turning ten, Heimana has been under the eyes of competitive skateboarding’s elite for years. Now, as the X-Games have come to a close (Heimana placed 6th), Heimana has his eyes on the Olympics and is currently in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":70910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"brands":[],"series":[],"verticals":[2580],"class_list":["post-70906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","sx_vertical-editorial"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDo you think learning to surf before learning to skateboard has influenced the way you skate?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Do you think you bring something different to the table\u2014being from Hawaii and having your surf background\u2014when competing with people from the mainland?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"StockX_Image\"](\"https:\/\/images-wp.stockx.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Heimana-photo-1100x733.jpg\" "\\"StockX")
What do you look for in a skate shoe?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Who were your major skate influences coming up\u2014Hawaiian and otherwise?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Heimana](\"https:\/\/images-wp.stockx.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Credit-Phil-Ellsworth2-1100x733.jpg\" "\\"StockX")
Coming from Hawaii, do you think you have had less access to major sponsors and skate brands? Has the lack of accessibility been a hurdle?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Have you considered moving, like moving stateside?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"StockX_Image\"](\"https:\/\/images-wp.stockx.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heimana-in-front-of-crowd-300x169.jpg\" "\\"StockX")
Do you skate in New York at all?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Do you have your eyes on brands like Supreme? Has that been something that’s been an influence on you?<\/b><\/h2>\n
We\u2019ve recently seen a lot of skateboarders taking their careers outside of skating. Do you see yourself building a career outside of skating?<\/b><\/h2>\n