Lindsey Koggan And AllSkatesGoToHeaven

It has been two weeks since I've blogged but I needed a mental break we are highlighting superstar. Lindsey Koggan Is 29 years old she started skating when she was young. Her father bought her a pair of blades and the rest was history. She majored in film and production so it's no wonder she puts on a show. Lindsey is truly a gem in our community and helped start great things here in the skate community. She has been in global campaigns and has hosted events at the design district.

Below we find out more about why Lindsey started All Skates Go to Heaven.

What made you wanna start all skates?

It happened pretty organically. I originally created All Skates Go to Heaven as a personal Instagram handle to track my skating journey from the moment I got my first pair of quad skates. I kind of sucked at teaching myself and figured I needed to meet more friends who wanted to learn the same things I did. After practicing some skate choreography to Lizzo behind the American Airlines Arena with some friends and failing miserably, I decided to host a skate meetup there. My cousin Adam brought a grind rail to the meetup and soon it became a thing where everyone wanted to try out different types of skating. The name just grew to fit perfectly and now All Skates Go To Heaven isn’t about my skate progress anymore. Instead, it is about the beautiful skate community that came together during a pandemic where all of us have leveled up. It seems like we are all in a permanent Heaven. All types of skates and all levels welcome has been the motto for a while now.

How does it make you feel that you are building roller skate history by helping create a community here in Miami?

It feels so good! I think back on all of the days that I would skate alone for exercise and then I fast forward to this concept of having met 500 people in a year that I skate with on the regular. It’s insane to me. I love our skate community so much it's difficult to put into words. I still remember when we were all shy, meeting each other for the first time and feeling each other out and now we are one big family. I think every single one of us contributes to building roller skate history together. Everyone is growing so much from it all. People are dropping in for the first time, getting commercial gigs, and creating their own meetups and events. I love to see it.

How does roller skating make you feel?

Ooof. That's a good question. Let me put it this way, roller skating is like breathing in the air for me. When I am not skating, I am not okay.

Also, this question is tricky because if I am park skating, then I have a love-hate relationship. Lots of bruises have been had but it hurts so good!

If I am skating on my quads with music playing in the background then I feel on top of the world as if nothing can ruin my vibes. Skating, in general, is pure bliss and I hope everyone gets to experience it at one point in their lives. (It is NEVER too late to start!)

What keeps you going?

"Aside from visually seeing my own personal growth, lately, testimonials from the community have kept me going. The unexpected feedback that I receive from everyone after a meetup has been eye-opening. I’ve had people tell me that my meetups have saved their lives and their mental health. I’ve had people tell me that they quit their job for my meetups. I’ve had people say that they are so happy I convinced them to buy roller skates. All of these words make me want to do so much more for our community. I have so many ideas sometimes that I don’t know how to execute them on my own but I love challenges and working under pressure so that keeps me going as well. I think that we are all driven by joy and the art of having fun. I’ve been prioritizing joy over perfection and let me tell you…that will keep you going forever."

I wanna thank Lindsey Koggan for being vulnerable and letting me interview her. Go follow her page @Allskatesgotoheaven.