Welcome to a new episode of Power

Players and this is a special episode.

I'm just out in the middle of a a pier

here at Can Lions just uh having some

great conversations and one of those

most amazing guests we got for this one.

Scotty James, Olympian, world champion

um snowboarder. It's ironic we're

talking about snow. Look where we are,

man. It's like 90° plus.

>> This is a this is definitely a different

scenery and my fair skin is um is

screaming right now. But look, I'm not

complaining. Let's be [laughter] honest.

This is this is the good life out here.

It's great.

>> You have the award right off the jump

for having the best arrival to our can

lions. And I look I This is early in our

process, but you arrived I think it's

called like a tender. I thought it was

like a boat.

>> Came on on the tender. [laughter]

Yeah. We pulled up right here on the

pier, walked, saw you. I mean, what a

day.

>> So, [snorts] what brings you Well, first

of all, is this your first can lines?

What brings you here?

>> Uh, yeah. I mean, it's my second can

line, actually, and to be honest, um,

yeah, it's amazing to be here. I think

every CMO in the world is here. Uh,

every brand in the world is here. And

it's just cool. I mean, as an athlete,

obviously doing a lot of brand

partnerships over my career and then

obviously making new connections now as

I moved into the entrepreneur part of my

life and also the being really

interested in the in the business um

perspective. It's just great to be here

and connect with people and see a lot of

athletes here which is also really

great. So um and of course the weather

is unbelievable. So why not come to Ken?

I I I feel bad talking to you because

like should you be out training? Am I

keeping you from like trying to win

another medal?

>> You're not you're not keeping me from

anything right now. Honestly, this is

exactly where I want to be. Uh no, I

just got back, you know, funnily enough

last night. I was uh last week I was in

Mount Hood, Oregon. We train out there

every summer. Um we have a halfpipe

there and it's hot temperatures, but you

know, we we managed to get a halfpipe up

there, which is amazing. So, no, still

in full-time training and I'm not on the

board on the mountain. I'm in the gym 6

days a week, so the show goes on

regardless of the snow. Um, and I can

still do the training here in Can. It's

just a different version of it.

>> I, uh, I've declared myself a

recreational athlete, uh, having done my

first Hy Rocks. I've been training for

for like two years. What a kick in the

ass that event is. How, um, how, how, do

you train for what you do? Like, what is

it like training and how is it different

now compared to when you first started?

Yeah, training has definitely evolved

from when I was uh when I started the

sport was pretty young and six or seven

years old and really pursued it as a

profession by the time I was 12. You got

to start pretty young in snowboarding.

You know, even now I'm 31, been in the

game for a long time and I'm veteran and

I'm competing against 17y olds. So, it's

a yeah, it's a young sport. But how it's

evolved over the time, I think even

snowboarding generally, you know, the

stigma around snowboarders and action

sports is that we kind of all we do is

just what we do on the mountain and we

train, we're very happy, golucky, relax,

which is, I would say, the majority of

our character, but the tricks and the

evolution of the sport now is so

demanding physically and mentally that

there has had to be a bit of a swing in

the sense of how we or at least myself

how I approach it. So there's a lot

happening in the gym. Do a lot of

explosive training, a lot of core work.

I'm taller for my sports, so I need to

try and lower my center of gravity as

much as possible. So you'll never see me

pick up a weight, beach weights I call

them. Um yeah, so the more things that I

do to minimize any um weight upstairs is

super important. Do a lot of cycling,

aerobic fitness, anorobic fitness. Half

pipes are can be very high, 2500 m to

3,000 m um when we're doing our

pre-season training in the glacias. So

you need to be pretty fit um ready to

go. So I think there's so many without

going in too deep there's um I mean many

facets that obviously help snowboarding

and it's to be honest is still very

early days the way that we're learning

to adapt um training off the mountain to

be on the mountain as well. I look at

everything you do is extremely risky

like everything from even just getting

on the snowboard. How do you see this

generation different this generation

you're still a young guy you're 31 a

little bit different those 18-year-olds

in terms of taking risks? Are they more

are they taking more risks than you took

when you were 17? It's a really good

question to be honest. Uh I think the

majority would say no. Reason being is

because the training environment has

evolved. It's become safer. We have

bigger half pipes which when you look at

it seems more daunting and scary but

from a technical standpoint it's

actually a little bit well it's a little

safer because you've got your your room

for error is still very small but you

have a little bit more room on the wall

if you land in our case we would say if

you land flat or if you um land a little

bit higher it's a little bit more

forgiving than the pipes were back in

the day. They're much shorter. Um the

other thing that's evolved is we have

big airbags now. Uh, so if you're

learning a new trick, you can obviously

fall a thousand times into the airbag

without too many consequences and then

you can really bring that into the

halfpipe. So I would say the new

generation, whereas when I grew up, I

didn't have the airbags. The margin for

error was an OG. You are an OG OG. Um,

but look, it is still dangerous and I

still think that if you want to be uh

the cream of the crop or the best of the

best, you're obviously going to have to

take those take those risks. Um and the

learning curve now is getting much

steeper because of those because of the

access to these different um training

environments that the kids are actually

getting better quicker. So it's um

>> yeah it depends but you still have to

learn that grit and I'm fortunate in the

era that I grew up in I've still uh yeah

I guess I had to train and learn to deal

with that that grit and falling down and

getting back up and um regardless of the

airbag on

>> these airbags shouldn't be allowed. I

mean let's just get them out of the

sport. Let's just be clear. I mean,

you'll break an arm practicing a trick.

This is crazy. Where do these tricks

even come from?

>> Tricks typically, I mean, there's been

so many evolutions. You could do so many

different evolutions of the same trick.

Add an extra 180 or add an extra cork.

Um, but you know, where the most

exciting things happen is when you

really revolutionize a sport. That's

been something that I've really leaned

into the past 12 months, 12 to 18

months, and that's creating something

from scratch. And the two tricks that I

did were a switch backside um double

cork 1440 and the backside 1440. And the

reason that they were hadn't been done

before was obviously from a technical

perspective very difficult. But it was

more so the axis hadn't been done

before. So you spend a lot of time in

the trampoline um if that's what you

prefer or you could look at video

footage for hours and try and figure out

a different way to do it or you just get

on the mountain and give it a go. So,

um, yeah, I think there's a bit of a

learning curve from the ideation, the

creation in your head. If you can try

and accomplish it off the board first

and then bring it to the board is

usually the the best way forward.

>> Of course, any sport has their icons,

their their OGs. Who did you look up to

in the sport when you were coming up?

>> Gosh, I looked up uh to so many people.

Uh, most notably obviously Shawn White

is a huge name and um, yeah, one of the

greats in our sport and I loved watching

um, Danny Davis, another guy named Kevin

Pierce. I mean, the list went on. I I

loved so many different snowboarders for

so many different reasons. Sean was

obviously competitively dominant. Um,

Danny Davis was incredibly creative.

Kevin Pierce was like the almost the

perfect mixture of both. He was super

creative but also very dominant in

competition. So, I mean, I had so many

peers, it's hard to name the whole list.

We'd be here all day.

>> Is it weird to have now this generation

looking up to you?

>> Yeah, it is. I feel a little bit of

imposter syndrome. Definitely when um

you know kids come up and um I guess um

have have watched me or are looking up

to me now in terms of inspiration for

halfpipe snowboarding but and I pinch

myself and I'm really grateful for that

and to and I'm hold myself accountable

to be a good role model and try and

obviously give them as much time a day

as well when those moments happen.

>> Is it hard to mentor them? And I and I

asked that because you're still actively

competing. You're you're at the top of

your sport. Is it? Do you give them all

of your advice or do you hold a little

back? You don't want to give them all

the secrets, right?

>> Absolutely. I hold back. [laughter] I

can't tell them. I only give them give

them an inch and they'll take a mile as

they say. But, uh, no, I think, yeah,

you find a balance, right? I think it's

like, um, yeah, it's important.

Obviously, I'm still a competitor. I

still want to be spearheading my sport

and uh standing at the top of the

podium, but I'm talking about the really

young kids that, you know, probably will

be professional in the next 10 to 15

years, I usually try and spill all the

beans, to be honest, because I think

it's important that they understand what

they're getting into and signing up to.

And then my closer competitors that kind

of grew up and now are still competing

with me now, then sure, you got to keep

some secret like a breadcrumb. just let

them up give and pay.

>> You know, you [snorts] mentioned now

you're entering your entrepreneur state

of your life and your career. How do you

plan for that as an athlete?

>> Yeah, I think entering this uh phase in

my career is been really exciting. And I

think even for me every day has been a

challenge in the sense of changing the

narrative. Um what I mean by that is,

you know, I'm still very ambitious on

the mountain. I still want to win. and

then finding the balance uh well

teaching myself every day that I still

have the ability to win and then

teaching myself to open my eyes up and

and and broaden the horizon in the sense

of what's actually possible as an

athlete not just in the halfbite but

also from a business perspective. I

think you see a lot of athletes now

obviously being entrepreneurs and

business owners and all these things and

um and I think a lot of athletes throw

it around. I'm usually try the best I

can. When I say that, I I'm usually in

it and doing it. Uh, and I'm really

trying to learn through my experience in

investing in the X Games, our biggest

action sports platform in the world. Um,

and doing a couple other investments,

but that one's been closest to me

because it's the world that I'm still

living now. I'm still competing in it

and I'm getting information off the

mountain and bring it back to the

business and it's been a really amazing

learning curve. Um, and I hope uh I'm

adding value to that company as well as

we grow it uh moving forward.

>> One uh probably one of the best examples

I have and we're actually talking to him

here at K. It's it's Alex Rodriguez um

of course legendary baseball player.

>> He's bought real estate since 1995. He

has stakes in companies like OpenAI and

then oh yeah, he now also owns a

Timberwolves. Like is that a model you

see yourself like he is clearly

investing in sports. Is that where you

see yourself going?

>> Absolutely. I want to be in sport for

the rest of my life. Whether it's

competing or if it's um being an

investor or being in team ownership. The

reason is is because I think it it's

very unique in sport I find where you

can make a decision on Monday and it can

change on the weekend. So if you're in a

sport of Formula 1 or if you're in Tour

to France or and you actually need to

make a change from a business but also

the athletes being the the road map of

changing the business, I like how if we

had a discussion on Monday about how we

can change a result on the weekend and

then obviously improves the franchise

over time. I really love that quick u

return um in terms of feedback. So I

really love that in sport and I think

it's pretty unique to sport in that

sense. Um, so yeah, I want to be in it

forever. And I

>> Do you have a mentor? You have a mentor

you go to as you're making this this

this switch, which is hard. I mean,

you're still competing. Do you have

someone you go to and say, "Hey, look, I

need this business advice. What should I

do?"

>> I think I'm bit of a sponge in that

sense. There's not one particular person

that I go to for advice. I mean, I'm my

business partners in the XG Games in

Investment is MSP Sports Capital. They

have so many amazing um sports

properties in their portfolio. X Games

being one of them. They were in Formula

1. Now they've gone into sale GP. So

those guys have a lot of

>> I was talking to those guys. What a

growth. I think they've sold out of

every team.

>> It's unbelievable. So they are in

involved in that now. So I think my

father-in-law, he's obviously in in

Formula 1 and um

>> what's Lance?

>> Yeah. And my my brother-in-law races

Formula 1. And then, you know, I have

friends now in the cycling business. So

it's I really just listen to all of

them. And it's funny, they're all

obviously very different sports, but at

the end of the day, we're all trying to

achieve the same thing. Um, you have

different dynamics in the way that you

would obviously reach success in in

those respective fields and sports, but

it's all the same at the end of the day.

And we're all competitors. Some wear

suits and some are actually out there

performing. Um, and it's been really

fun. And I mean, I've got many mentors.

>> That's a good group of mentors for sure.

So, when you come to Can Lions, how do

you know? I imagine so many companies

that want to work with you given

everything you've achieved in your

career. How do you how do you know what

to say no to?

>> It's a good point. Um I listened to this

great podcast actually with Aloid Kip

Chigi, the ultra the marathon runner,

one of the greatest of all time and and

they it stuck with me um forever when he

said it in the podcast. They said, you

know, what's the key to your success?

and he said, "I've had a very good dose

my whole career of vitamin N."

[laughter] And they said, "What do you

mean?" He said, "Well,

>> vitamin no. I've been able to say no."

And that's what's actually kept my, you

know, kept my train on the tracks and

with what I'm actually trying to achieve

in running, it's very demanding and um

physically it's demanding. So, I think

Vitamin N is something that I've I've

stuck to. But obviously, you know, you

don't want to say it too much because

you want to be here and you want to be

meeting people and um so yeah, trying to

find that balance between training and

business is actually something that I'm

trying to navigate still every single

day. It's tough for sure because if you

have a late night, then you start

training tomorrow late and then you'll

miss a commitment and it's this constant

um it can be a spiral if you let it.

>> Uh and being an athlete naturally you

get up, you train, you have your routine

and then that's kind of the priority.

Whereas here you you got to just find

the balance.

>> After the Olympics, do the floodgates

open in terms of sponsorships.

>> After the Olympics, I wouldn't say the

floodgates opened in terms of

sponsorship. I would say that uh it's

usually before because a lot of the

brands the uh with the Olympics. um

usually doing a lot of campaigns before

the Olympics and um so a lot of the

partners typically that you do get

surrounding the Olympics is typically

before uh and then after depending how

it goes um is kind of what depends you

know how much the floodgates open but I

think that's for me it's been a it's

been great uh I think also just from a a

public perspective you know being able

to reach out to more people more uh

communities and particularly in

Australia and even in the US now. Um we

produced my movie which went out on

Netflix which I noticed had a huge

impact in North America. Yeah. Thank

you.

>> And um so yeah I think it's recognition

perspective it definitely changes the

game for athletes.

>> Uh

the public from what I can tell the

resorts out there they they've talked

about this before like they're running

out of snow like they're getting less

snow. How does that impact the sport

that you love so much? Yeah, I mean it's

a it's definitely a topic we talk about

all the time. I think climate change is

a real thing. Um snow snowboarding and

the mountains and those natural elements

have given me my career. So we have to

be very mindful of that. We spend a lot

of time on glaciers

um in the preeason and we all actively

talk about it a lot and as athletes and

as users of the mountain all the time,

we need to be very mindful of what we're

doing and um and being very honest about

what we can do to give back to what's

given us so much. And uh yeah, I mean

hope's around for the rest of my career

plus

>> my son's career and his son's career and

forever. So I think as a community from

a snowboarding perspective we need to be

mindful but also globally.

>> Do the resorts still want to build these

build big structures and if they don't

is there a solution for it? I think I

think in the past decade we I mean 10

years ago we hit an inflection point

particularly in action sports where we

had to try and adapt and change and I

really think now is it's starting to

happen the past two years mainly through

media and marketing and how we're

actually selling the sport to new

consumers people wanting to tune in and

watch and the Gen Z's of the world that

don't consume sport like we did 10 10

years ago and um linear television is

still such an important plays a huge

important role in snowboarding and

skiing and generally in every sport. Um,

but I think obviously with the streamers

now and then how the younger generation

consume the content is really important.

Why that obviously goes into the ecos

ecosystem of whether mountains are

building the halfpipes or not. I think

the mountains will respond to what's

popular and what the kids and the next

generation are demanding when you go up

on the mountain. Um, and if they start

to see a change in what people want to

consume when they go up to any mountain

around the world and they want to see a

halfpipe or a mini pipe or some jumps,

then I think they'll start to be more

open-minded and and want to build more

parks. And that's that's the goal. I

mean, I bought a little mini halfpipe

cutter I donated to the mountain in

Australia called Threadbo. It's my home

resort. We call it Mookie's Mini Pipe,

which is my nickname, Mookie. And to be

honest, that's kind of given the kids

access again and also the locals. And

it's been so fun. It's been one of my

most rewarding and fun uh projects to

work on. Um and I think if that's the

way we went is a smaller scale of the

super pipes just to get people engaged

and interested again, I think that's a

really good place to start.

>> Lastly, have you committed to another

Olympics? And as you assess your

performance from the one we just had,

what gets you the gold?

>> Absolutely. committed to the next games

and um maybe I'll be doing some high

rock sessions with you [laughter] to

keep me in shape.

>> I will give you my number and I will

gladly do it with you. Please.

>> I think what uh I think what gets me

there is being very honest about the

people that can help me get there. Being

very honest about myself and what it

takes to get there. To go to Olympics is

hard. To stand on the podium is even

harder. And to win is even harder again.

So, um, I've had an amazing experience.

I've been to five Olympics now. I've

been able to win three medals, none of

which are gold yet. Uh, and in 2030, I

think I will have learned many valuable

lessons through my experience that can

that can get the job done. Physically,

need to be very mindful, make sure I'm

staying in tune, mentally staying in

tune. And, uh, look, I think it's

possible. I've always been a I'm a

snowboarder from Australia whom from day

one probably was in on the back foot. So

for me naturally, you know, taking on a

challenge uh which it will be is in my

DNA to do it and take it on in my stride

and uh that's the plan. And feeling fit

as ever and healthy as ever.

>> You look great, man.

>> Yeah. Keen to take. You're still a young

guy. See how we go. Like again, anytime

you want to take a high rocks class with

me, I'm I'm in. Um sounds good. Scotty,

good to see you. It was a real treat.