How Kevin White Navigates Chaos Without losing Himself
By Matthew Becerra
Image via White
Kevin White’s story traces back to edits that lived on YouTube and Instagram. He came up skating with collectives which held some of the most prominent skaters of that era. As success came to these collectives, White found himself at the forefront of it all
But that attention wasn’t without its complications. Around that time, Illegal Civ was shifting from a crew into a full-fledged board company, and for the first time, he started earning money from skating.
Not long after, he had to start making career-altering decisions. Within days of IC offering him boards and pay, Dill reached out about joining FA.
White ultimately chose IC. His decision wasn’t about status, it was about loyalty.
“I'm grateful for Dill offering when he offered,” he said. “Because that put me in a position that I had to choose, I don't always have the best motivation to make decisions right away. So it was about holding my boy down too, and really trying to put something together, and I did that.”
He paused before reflecting on what followed, “Further down the road, it didn't work out, and I'm fine with that. It sucks how it happened, but this shit happened,'“ he said. “I'm still here, I still skated. It didn't make me unable to do anything respectfully, I wouldn't change any of this shit, truthfully.”
White still holds respect for Dill, saying he’s never acted strange toward him and for Mikey Alfred he kept it simple saying bluntly “he’s out there somewhere… doing whatever he’s doing.”
After some time, White moved on to Sensi, a European brand that was building a small presence in the global scene. He’d already been cool with the founders, and when the opportunity came, it felt right.
He was on Sensi for about a year before the team made it official. His first pro board came with a deeply personal graphic, a photo of him handing a gift to his mom.
“It's personal because my mom died when I was 19,” he said. “I feel like a 19-year-old boy, like with a dream to be a pro skater and it's not working yet, you're in a funny position, I just think that the fact that I was able to put my mom on my board with me giving her a gift just felt really good, I wish I was able to show her.”
Image via Sensi
Recently, White and Sensi parted ways. It came down to circumstance rather than fallout. He spoke with understanding about the strain the brand’s owners were under, trying to keep their company running while raising families, maintaining relationships, and preserving a lifestyle.
With global conditions making it difficult to ship products from Sweden to the U.S., the partnership became increasingly hard to sustain.
When asked what’s next, he didn’t hesitate.
“I kind of do both,” he said when asked if he worries or takes it day by day. “But at the end of the day, when shit happens, people reach out to me and just let me know, ‘don't worry, just skate. Just keep doing what you're doing. Everyone loves what you're doing. It'll happen.’”
“That provided me the comfort to not necessarily trip too hard,” White said, He said he has been skating for a European board brand for some time, but inconsistent product availability has made it a persistent challenge that he’s grown accustomed to.
Through it all, he’s stayed grounded in perspective.
“I think that I know that something big is out there for me,” he said. “Nobody said how you're supposed to have growing pains. They just said that there'll be some, and that it's all about changes and maneuvering and being adaptable.”
