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| BLOOM -Featuring Elissa Steamer ~ interview by Jesse Frietze |
When Stumptown Coffee Roasters announced earlier this year that they had formed and sponsored a pro skate team, and that one of the team riders was badass street skater, Elissa Steamer, we were intrgued. But when they launched their mini magazine, BLOOM, and our friend and Venice Skatepark local, Jessie Frietze, was tapped to do Elissa's interview for the mag, we knew it was time to delve deeper.
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| Jessie ruling the pool in Venice |
Hey Jessie, can you tell us how were you picked to do the interview with Elissa Steamer?
Well, Stumptown recently became a certified B-Corp. One part of this new journey includes a commitment to invest in employee culture, and skateboarding has been a significant part of it's culture since the company's founding. Since the crew is pretty small, everyone has a good idea about each other passions outside of work, and my co-workers have always been in the know and supportive of my skateboarding. The idea was to let employees who skate interview one of the skate team members that they look up to.
Was this your first time ever speaking with Elissa?
Yes, I was pretty stoked that I got the opportunity to interview her. She was very down to earth, very real and had the tone reminiscent of 90s street skating, or what I remember of it, haha.
By happen chance, our LA Roasting crew also got an opportunity to host Elissa on her first coffee cupping when she was here visiting LA. That was a fun day to say the least.
What does it mean to you to have a female skater on the Stumptown team?
It’s pretty freakin rad if you ask me. I think my jaw literally dropped when I heard Elissa would be joining the team. Elissa is a skateboarding legend regardless of her gender. But personally, having a female on the team displays a true representation of what skateboarding actually is ...diverse. On top of that, it displays the creative role that companies can play in supporting skaters, ladies included, and demonstrates a commitment to actually investing in communities that the company is apart of. I think this move definitely leads the way for other companies and sponsors to follow suit.
What’s next for the Stumptown skaters?
The Stumptown Skate Crew just premiered it’s first skate video called Breaking the Crust, directed by a longtime barista and creator Tim Wenzel.
It’s a wild good time if you have a few minutes to check it out.
On another note, something I'm really pumped about is the Skate Team Coffee and the causes that it's supporting. The Skate Team Coffee was a combined effort to highlight creativity in skateboarding and showcase a beautiful coffee from producer partners in Colombia. A portion of the proceeds from the Skate Team coffee bag designed by Chet Childress will go to three skateboarding nonprofits, Exposure, Skate Like A Girl, and The Harold Hunter Foundation. Its available while supplies last.
The Skate Team Coffee is currently sold out for the season. But hopefully, we'll have this coffee or another fun skateboarding collaboration back in time for next Spring."
There's sure to be more fun, creative projects with the Stumptown Skate Crew in the future so stay tuned for those...
What do you do and how long have you worked for the company?
I'm a Coffee Roaster and skateboarder, and Im coming up on 5 years at Stumptown. Come by the LA Roastery and say hi anytime!
You can read the entire interview that Jessie did with Elissa Steamer ---> HERE
