Paul Rodriguez Jr. Reveals His Peers' Surprising Initial Reaction When He Signed With Nike // Bloomberg's "Idea Generation"

Paul Rodriguez Jr. Reveals His Peers' Surprising Initial Reaction When He Signed With Nike // Bloomberg's "Idea Generation"

 Season 3, Episode 2 of the Bloomberg Originals series “Idea Generation,” with host Noah Callahan-Bever and special guest Paul Rodriguez Jr. is now available on YouTube and will be available to stream beginning at 8:30pm ET on the Bloomberg app on Connected TV Devices such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, also available via Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Tubi, VIZIO WatchFree+, and Bloomberg.com.

In Episode 2, host Noah Callahan-Bever sits down with legendary skateboarder Paul Rodriguez Jr., aka P Rod, who reveals he was initially called a sellout by some of his peers for signing with Nike but that chatter quickly disappeared and he later became the face of Nike Skate. P Rod also explains one of the early conversations he had with his famous comedian father, Paul Rodriguez, who at first didn’t believe he could have a career as a pro skater. 

P Rod on having to convince his famous comedian father, Paul Rodriguez, that he could have a career as a pro skater: 

“For my dad when I told him I wanted to be a pro skater he was like son, you can’t have a career doing that. Look it’s fun, you’re having fun, enjoy yourself, but you know at some point when you get older you’re going to have to find out what you want to do. And I had to flip it, I’m like dad, you’re the guy who was born in Mexico, immigrated to this country as a little kid, and became a standup comedian who took care of his whole family. What did your parents say when you said you’re going to tell jokes for a living to pay for the bills? And I remember clear as day. It was actually the first time I’ve ever seen him speechless because he’s always got a witty comeback for everything. He had nothing to say. And he just said, ‘You’re right.’”

P Rod on initially being called a sellout by some of his peers for signing with Nike:

“People had certain things to say. Throwing out the sellout label there for a little bit or whatever but to me selling out is doing something that’s against your morals or against who you are, that’s not you, and Nike’s been part of my life since day one. That doesn’t feel wrong to me. So yeah there was some mumbling but that died quickly and then all of a sudden everybody wanted to get on Nike and Nike was the most sought after sponsor for skaters, that’s the number one thing they wanted to be a part of.”

About “Idea Generation”:

 

Ideas are the global currency of the 21st century. But how do you come up with, execute, operationalize and replicate one? The answers are what separates successful creative influences from everyone else.

Twitter: @ideageneration

IG: @ideageneration

 

 

About Noah Callahan-Bever:

Noah Callahan-Bever is a veteran JOURNALIST, STRATEGIST, and CONTENT CREATOR who, as Chief Content Officer, helped to build and sell one of this generation’s premiere companies in music, lifestyle, and culture—COMPLEX—among other entrepreneurial and start-up endeavors.

Twitter: @N_C_B

IG: @n_c_b

 

About Bloomberg Media:

Bloomberg Media is the world’s leading multi-platform media company for business and finance, which draws on the editorial resources of more than 2,700 editorial professionals globally in more than 120 countries. Bloomberg Media is the consumer-facing media organization of Bloomberg L.P.