Professional skateboarder Anthony Shetler recently opened up about the reality of running his own skateboard brand, All I Need Skate, saying it has barely made a consistent profit over the last 15 years.
What started as a passion project tied closely to his love for skateboarding has turned into something that often requires him to reinvest his own money just to keep it going.
The conversation comes at a time when the skateboarding industry is dealing with heavy saturation.
Many board brands are competing for the same audience, and smaller or independent names are finding it harder to stay financially stable. Even well-known riders and established names are not immune to the pressure.
This context follows the recent shutdown of Ryan Sheckler’s Sandlot Times, which reportedly closed as competition in the board market continues to grow.
READ MORE: Ryan Sheckler’s Sandlot Times Reportedly Shuts Down Amid an Oversaturated Board Market
Sheckler has since moved on to ride for Jamie Thomas’s Zero Skateboards, a Christian-owned brand that has a long-standing presence in the scene and is known for its strong identity within skateboarding culture.
READ MORE: Brothers in Christ Ryan Sheckler and Jamie Thomas United in Faith at Zero Skateboards
This led Shetler to question Sheckler on how he let his brand Sandlot Times go out of business despite being a household name in the skateboarding world.
During the discussion, Shetler responded about how even recognizable names can struggle to keep a brand alive.
He pointed out that recognition alone does not guarantee financial success in the current market, where production costs, distribution, and brand competition all stack up quickly.
READ MORE: Pro Skater Anthony Shetler Questions How Ryan Sheckler Let His Brand Sandlot Times Die
Our longtime follower, Jean Rafael Javier, also commented on the situation, saying the market has become too crowded for newer or independent brands to easily survive, especially when compared to established companies that already have strong distribution and loyal buyers.
Shetler explained that his own experience reflects that reality.
He shared that there have been periods where his brand did make some profit, but those moments are balanced out by stretches where he had to work other jobs or put his own money back into All I Need Skate just to keep operations moving.
He said the brand was never created purely as a financial move, but as something tied to his personal connection with skateboarding and the idea of contributing something of his own to the culture.
He also noted that running a brand like his is not stable from a money standpoint.
Some years bring in income, while others require more spending than earning. His motivation has stayed consistent even when the financial side has not, and he described the process as something that demands persistence even when results are uneven.