Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Koda Lamé. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Koda , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I’m almost 10 years into creating Lamesk8 and recently had a spiraling out moment-but personally I do think having a 9-to-5 while running your business is beneficial if you start your business in your young 20s and 30s, I’m not just saying this for the tax write off benefits…or maybe I am hinting.. but I got to a point in my business that sometimes I do get why people stop running their company as much or completely dissolve it and then go into a 9 to 5 because it’s easier sometimes! Respectfully, I’m saying this because being able to just turn off your brain and be told what to do versus YOU as the owner always needing to know the next step, hiring a team,marketing and everything that goes into running your business. You really do work overtime and you’re not always getting paid for that overtime. My conclusion to my spiral out moment did make me take a step back and appreciate the hard work that I put in as well as I can call the shots to take a step back and appreciate why I started this art form and with the book coming out I’d like to take some time to go back to school maybe study abroad, and appreciate my art on my own time.

Koda , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Koda, or people call me skate and I am a designer and skateboarding brand. I’ve had my busiest Fashion season yet and my book coming out “Incase The Internet Deletes Me” by Lamesk8 showing my work from the last almost 10 years of creating Lamesk8

Have you ever had to pivot?

I appreciate this question, when I started making merch for my skateboarding brand and stepping into Fashion side I wanted to see for my brand, I’d say I kind of got thrown into swimwear-being a skateboarding brand-with longboards collaborations and swimwear being heavily related in the skateboarding culture I felt like I couldn’t get past everyone wanting me to have a swimwear line and I really appreciated having the opportunity showcasing Texas Swim Week buuut as far as what I want for my brand I want to have a more modest approach.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I would say I have two answers this question-before I started my author journey-I’ve always enjoyed independent reading on my own time especially on the business side that could help me with my personal business growth. The last two and half years I had to really double down on what I wanted my book to convey and how do I wanna start a series and market myself. HINT HINT. “Incase The Internet Deletes me” by Lamesk8 is an introduction to what I’ve been working on for the last almost 10 years and the extended version versus biography book of Lamesk8 will show more of the mental load of creating a business versus the exciting fun side of marketing that the first book is offering.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lamesk8collection.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lamesk8?utm_source=qr

Image Credits

Austin Fashion Week 2026
Matt Harris, pearl designs
Photography by @tanyaeivinphotography
Photography by RCR portraits
Photography by Casey Bowman
Photography by J.l.Mardones Films