Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Kickflips and Comebacks: The Resilient Journey of TJ Rogers
Life can come at you fast. We chatted with TJ Rogers about how he got into skateboarding, turning pro, being diagnosed with testicular cancer and what it means to live life to the fullest.
No one goes through life from start to finish without having to face some sort of adversity. Sometimes there are many small hurdles to overcome and other times there can be big obstacles in the way. But what makes life beautiful is our ability to face these challenges head-on and come out stronger on the other side.
That's exactly what skateboarder TJ Rogers has done. We had the privilege to chat with TJ about how he first started skating, what it took to turn pro growing up in Canada, being diagnosed with testicular cancer at 30, and grabbing life by the horns when it throws you a curveball.
Check out what TJ had to say below.
TJ Rogers Red Bull Rising Talent Portrait
© Peter Jamison / Red Bull Content Pool
What was it that inspired you to start skateboarding and can you recall the moment that first piqued your interest?
I was at a skatepark in 1999 at an audio demo and I was on a bike at the time. A bunch of the pros from the contest yelled at me and told me to get off the ramp on a bike and that I should grab a skateboard. So I did, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me.
How did you go about getting your first board?
I asked some friends who lived on the block to use theirs for a bit and my grandma ended up getting me one at one point.
What was your first board setup?
I don’t remember the exact one, but the very first board I remember my grandma buying me was a Santa Cruz board. It was all white with a red logo, it was just like the classic Santa Cruz logo, but it was sick too because she bought me the exact colour paint of the white and red, so every time I scratched the graphic I would repaint it to look brand new.
TJ Rogers in Toronto
© Dan Mathieu / Red Bull Content Pool
Were there any pros, videos, or experiences that gave you that sort of “this is what I want to do this for the rest of my life” inspiration?
I had more or less local peers and influencers who encouraged me to come and skate, because I just wanted to get good and I didn’t know I could do this as a living, you know? Once I kind of started seeing actual people from my area getting real sponsors, and travelling to Vancouver and all these different places, I was like “oh you can do this”. And then yeah it obviously piqued my interest and intrigued me even more to continue on. I just tried to experience what skateboarding had to offer.
Growing up skating in Canada, how creative did you have to be to get your name out there? Or did you let your talent do the talking for you?
It was a little bit of both. Being from a country like Canada, especially 10-plus years ago when social media wasn’t really involved in skateboarding, you kind of had to be in California in order to make it. So you kind of had to put in all the groundwork and the footsteps in your own country first in order to kind of get any sort of blessing or acknowledgement from a reputable US company. It wasn’t as easy as it is nowadays with social media being so powerful, so I had a lot of hoops to go through at a younger age to get to where I am now.
Watch TJ Rogers in his latest video part called KEEP SMILING:
Was it a major adjustment once you did turn pro?
It's still obviously an uphill battle every day, and whoever tells you that it’s not is lying to you first and foremost. After I turned pro I had more opportunities arise and I was able to actually go full-on with Red Bull, because before I turned pro I wasn’t officially with Red Bull as an athlete. I like to think that when I turned pro everything kind of started to fall into place.
TJ Rogers Red Bull Drop In Tour Australia
© Anthony Acosta / Red Bull Content Pool
You’ve had an accomplished career and have become a legend in the sport. What have been your proudest achievements so far?
There are so many things that I can obviously be proud of, you know? Moving to a different country and living there for a decade, to finally turning pro, to really just not ever allowing myself to make excuses and always putting my best foot forward. I think that’s what I’m most proud of.
How do you balance the demands that come with being a pro and all of the other aspects of your life, or is it all intertwined?
Everything is all moderation and balance in life. Ultimately, you just have to pick and choose your battles and what means the most to you and what gives you that mental and physical stimulation to want to push forward, you know?
Life is too short to be doing things that you don’t like doing
You don’t ever want to do things to just do them. You want to do them because you’re hyped and you're proud to do them. Life is too short to be doing things that you don’t like doing.
You shared an Instagram post letting your fans know about your testicular cancer. How hard was that and how much did the love and support mean to you?
I mean it was obviously scary to let the whole world know. Everyone was kind of wondering like “where’s TJ been, he hasn’t been posting much on social, what’s up with him?” But once I kind of came out and told everyone that like, you know, I have cancer, it was very overwhelming at first to get the response that I got from everyone because I was not expecting that outreach.
It was very positive and there are a few reasons why I did it. But like, the main reason why was, especially at that time with COVID going on, a lot of people were going through health issues and a lot of different things in life that they weren’t really opening up to.
I’m a very open person and vulnerable with anyone, and I just felt like it needed to be shared to let everyone know that we all have problems at the end of the day and we’re not all perfect. It was kind of like “let’s stick together and do our best” because that’s all we can truly do at the end of the day.
TJ Rogers
© Dan Mathieu / Red Bull Content Pool
Was there a specific moment where you were just kind of like, you know what, I can beat this and I won’t let it bring me down?
For me, when I was going through what I was going through, I accepted at an early stage that I was, like, in the belly of the beast. I was like, alright I’m in this situation and I’m in it for the good or the bad, I can’t do much about it so I might as well try and keep it positive and know that it could have been worse.
I could have been stage 4 or I could’ve been bedridden. I just felt I had a lot of life and energy in me and if anything it just kind of sparked it even more to fuel my fire to continue on a success path, but also really push my skating. I was pushing my skating before, but now I feel like I have even more to prove.
Check out this behind the scenes video of TJ filming his KEEP SMILING video:
How much of a role did your love for skateboarding play in keeping you motivated and inspired to push forward?
It helped tremendously, man. Every day that I was feeling alright, I skated. I felt pretty good, like I would just go out and skate for an hour, you know? Just to dust off the cobwebs, stay conditioned to my sport and my craft. I wasn’t trying to like, go crazy, but dude I was going through chemo, you know? It’s a bit wild I was even trying to step on a skateboard.
I’m just very fortunate that I’ve been given an opportunity and I didn’t waste it
But I just tried to keep it light and just made sure that all my tools were sharp so that I could go into any setting or environment even if I’m uncomfortable, because I’ve been the most uncomfortable when I’m on chemo trying to skate at certain points. So it became more of a “I can do this at any point in my life” mindset, because it’s an ultimate test and a battle. But I just tried to embrace it and make the best of each and every situation that came my way.
Have an approach to everything. Yeah, I don’t know dude, I’ve been through a lot already as it is. I’m not new to the block, but I’m also like, just trying to do what makes me happy, man. A lot of people sometimes don’t understand skateboarding or they don’t understand why I’m so happy or this and that, but it's like, I’m just very fortunate that I’ve been given an opportunity and I didn’t waste it.
Listen to TJ Rogers talk about chasing his long-term goals on the Mind Set Win podcast:
It’s been a little more than a year since you let the world know what’s going on, how are you doing now?
I finished chemo in June 2022, so it's been almost a year and a half of me not doing chemo, but I’ve been doing other health treatments in the meantime. I did 3 months of phototherapy this year, and I have to go back in to do another 3 months because my body and my skin just aren’t playing well with my lifestyle, I guess.
TJ Rogers poses for a portrait
© Anthony Acosta / Red Bull Content Pool
Personally, I feel great. I’m hurt right now so I’m just on the mend of trying to get back to it, but you know this year has been not only life-changing, but very eye-opening to just the lifestyle that I lived prior. And like, it's just more or less me embracing it and understanding that this is what I chose and I just continue to keep moving on, you know, like I’m really stoked.
It feels good to get back out there and do what I do. I just have to adapt and find a different approach to certain situations moving forward, which I’m looking forward to figuring out, you know? ‘Cause that’s what life’s all about, trying to be the best version of yourself and really learning from your mistakes. So that’s all I’m trying to do right now.
What advice or words of encouragement would you give to someone going through a similar battle or struggle in their life?
I just would highly recommend not to dwell on it. Try not to dwell on something that’s out of your control. Trust the doctors and trust your gut and your intuition of like, what you think is going to be right for you and ultimately just make sure to do everything that makes you happy along the way. You just never know, you may not have a next day, you may not have a next moment with that one person, you know? You want to just make sure to always live it up.
Do everything that makes you happy along the way... You want to just make sure to always live it up
Life’s short, just do whatever makes you happy. Ultimately, if you’re doing things that don’t make you happy, try and figure out a way to push forward. Make small goals and steps for yourself in order to get to exactly where you want to be, you know? Life is a process. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you’re not going to have everything you want in life happen overnight. So just stay consistent and stay disciplined and try and do your best, that’s all you can do.
TJ Rogers Red Bull Drop In Tour Australia
© Andrew Peters / Red Bull Content Pool
What does the future look like for TJ Rogers?
No idea. Obviously, I have a plan for myself and my future on and off the board for what I want to do, but nothing is guaranteed. I just have to continue to keep putting my foot down and just doing what I gotta do, and hopefully I get to where I want to be. But ultimately only time will tell.
Whenever the time comes, what do you want your legacy to be? What do you want people to remember you for most?
I mean, what I want people to remember about me is the fact that the dude never made excuses for himself to get out of bed and go and do his job, and he always did it with a smile.
TJ Rogers Red Bull Paris Conquest
© Teddy Morellec / Red Bull Content Pool
You’re an inspiration to a lot of people. It's like you said, life’s about pushing forward and not letting it bring you down.
I look at it this way brother, straight up man: we’re dealt a certain amount of cards and at a young age we start to kind of decipher through those cards. Like, oh we have sports, art, science, math, whatever, right? What really intrigues us? Luckily I was at a young age going through certain things and obstacles that, you know, skateboarding really gave me an outlet to have something to challenge me not only mentally, but physically.
It gave me something to do, something creative, and it gave me something constructive to put my energy into and feel like I was getting something out of it. You know, like landing a trick that I had been trying to land for so long. People do that with all sorts of stuff, with writing, they do that with art, they do that with so many different aspects of their life. Everyone can relate, it's just more or less simplifying it in your head to where everyone can understand each other, you know?
Skateboarding really gave me an outlet to have something to challenge me not only mentally, but physically
Every time there’s been an opportunity arise in skateboarding I’ve never said no, I’ve always said yes. And I think that’s kind of also the success thing that like, when you do things that make you feel uncomfortable, that’s typically when you’re going to get the best results out of what you want in life.
Because you’re not only mentally stimulated, but you’re focused and you’re sharp because you don’t know what the outcome is going to be. Typically in your day-to-day life, you know what it’s going to be, you know what’s going to happen in your life. But you don’t know that on the road.
And I think that’s what’s so beautiful about travelling and really being able to experience life in a different perspective compared to just your day-to-day. But like I said, life’s what you make of it, man. You get two cards every day and you can decide: do you want to be happy or do you want to be sad? And you just let it snowball from there.
TJ Rogers Skateboards in Montreal
© Dan Mathieu / Red Bull Content Pool
It's only onwards and upwards from here for TJ Rogers
In so many different ways, TJ Rogers is the epitome of perseverance, determination, and overcoming adversity. He's an inspiration to not only those in the skateboarding community but also anyone out there who has faced challenges throughout their lives - big or small. And as you just read, TJ isn't letting life get in his way. He's embracing it for everything it's worth and taking the highs and lows in full stride.
Want to hear TJ break down his mindset even more? Head over to the Mind Set Win podcast where he chats with hosts Cédric and York about creating long-term plans and sticking with them, overcoming obstacles and adversity, and more!
Be sure to download the free Red Bull TV app to catch all the skating action you can handle.
