Photos by bryce golder.

My first memories of Hayley Wilson are of her in full pads and a helmet, skating a white Blind Skateboards board that said “Unsponsored” across it.

She would’ve been no older than eleven, boardsliding the big rail at Melbourne’s City Park and winning contests. Since she moved away from her parents’ house in country Victoria to inner city Melbourne, I’ve seen her growth and progression firsthand. Hayley is one of the most determined people I’ve ever met and has come a long way from her full pad boardslide days.

At only twenty-three years old Hayley has accomplished more than most seasoned vets. She has won countless contests, came second in both Street League and the X Games, travelled the world, filmed amazing video parts, had multiple covers, competed in the Olympics, had a thrasher interview, last year won Australian Skater of the Year and the list continues. After stepping away from the contest circuit, Hayley moved down a more traditional street skateboarding route and has been enjoying skateboarding more than ever. Last weekend I got to see her be surprised with her first pro board for Real Skateboards and it couldn’t be any more well deserved. I called her while she was in Sydney on a Real trip just days after the pro announcement to chat about turning pro. Congratulations Hayley! 

You’re officially a professional skateboarder, congratulations! How are you feeling?
I feel pretty good, it hasn’t sunk in that it has happened yet. I have been working so hard and for so long for this, so I think it’ll take a second to really sink in. I am enjoying the time on the trip and trying to take it in as much as I can. Once I get home and the next graphics come out I think it’ll hit more, because those first ones don’t feel real then you see more and it’s like ‘Oh it’s actually happened’.

I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like having something that big happen and then being straight on a trip. It is kind of similar to what happened when you were at the Olympics and then were stuck in isolation before you could go home, but instead of being alone you’re around people 24/7 and not really having a moment by yourself to process it.

Yeah, they are similar in ways but the Olympics for me was such a bad moment, it was so upsetting, where this is so incredible. I am so stoked and grateful I have made it to this level and have people recognise it, it is pretty surreal. I didn’t know or think that it would ever happen, I just kept going and hoped for the best.

You’ve worked so hard for this. Since you moved to Melbourne when you were fifteen and we were skating at City Park, you always have put your all into it, whether it was towards training for the Olympics or now filming parts.

I feel like I have had two skate lives in a way. I had my younger contest self when I started competing at seven then retired from that at twenty and now the last three years where I’ve been focused on filming and going on trips, these have been my best years skating wise and how I have felt on my board. I feel like it has boosted everything in me and made me want to skate better. When the Olympics happened, I was so close to quitting skateboarding but there was something in me that wanted to keep going.

Seeing you during that period after the Olympics when you decided you didn’t want to skate contests anymore was really nice, you seemed to really regain that spark with skating. 

Yeah, I can’t even recognise myself back then.

Were you suspicious at all that they were going to surprise you with your board this weekend?

I spoke to Deluxe months ago about turning pro, but I wasn’t aware if it was going to happen on this trip. In my head I thought it would make the most sense to happen here because most of my friends and family live in Australia, there are definitely a lot of friends in The States who weren’t able to come out which would’ve been sick but obviously I am grateful to have everyone in Melbourne there. To have Buffy and Nicole [Hause] fly out for it was really special. There were some suspicions but there was nothing there that was like this is definitely happening.

It was so funny, when I saw you on Thursday at Fitzroy, I knew it was happening and I was just telling myself in my head over and over again not to say anything.

Literally, everyone was like that, they were like ‘I saw you and I freaked out’ [laughs]. On Thursday I started seeing people who I didn’t expect to be coming, and I was like ‘Why didn’t you guys tell me. I would’ve loved to hang out’. I messaged Poppy [Star] and was like ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were coming’ and she was like ‘Oh, it was really last minute’ but I think it was because if they saw me, they were scared they were going to blow the secret. Everyone killed it, keeping it a secret. I’m surprised there wasn’t a slip up, I am so glad that I was surprised how it was.

You didn’t know Nicole and Buffy were coming out either, did you?

Yeah, no idea. That was a total surprise. That was so insane.

In the alley while we were all waiting, I was talking to someone and they were like you have so many people in here on Find My iPhone, like if you checked and saw that we were all in there you would’ve been like what is happening.

Yeah, no for sure. I am not really one to check that stuff. When the SOTY stuff happened, everyone said the same thing. With the SOTY surprise, I was definitely shocked, I knew the board was coming because we had spoken about it, but SOTY was so unexpected, you never know who is going to get it. To get two surprises in one year is crazy.

I was talking to Mappy [Anthony Mapstone] and he was like ‘She’s getting no more surprises; I can’t organise another one of these’ [laughs].

Mappy and I are so close, holding that from one of your closest friends is so hard. I’m so bad with secrets too. If someone told me something and were like ‘Don’t say that’ I wouldn’t, but when Nicole was going pro, I knew a couple months before, and I was so scared that I was going to blow it, somehow I kept it together and she didn’t get suspicious. She was completely surprised, she had no idea it was going to happen.

The graphics are amazing too, do you want to talk a little bit about Lochy who did them?

As people know I love my tattoos, I got a couple when I was freshly eighteen and some more when I turned nineteen. I went into this shop near my house and got a couple from this artist who was working there and Lochy was working there too at the time. The artist who I originally went there for moved back to his home town and Lochy was like ‘If you ever want to get tatted, let me know I’m super down to do it’. I went in and got two at once and then from there, I was going in so often, at one point it was every two weeks. We have been working together on a bunch of different pieces and it’s been really nice. I am so hyped on his work. It is so beautiful, it isn’t too heavy which I think is really nice and suits my skin more than more trad stuff would.

When it came to deciding on my graphic, I assume they reached out to Lochy and asked if he’d be down to do one of my graphics. The white graphic is the art from a tattoo on my head with Old English which is my favourite font. The other graphic is the spiderweb and I have so many spiderwebs on my body that they were like that would be a sick one.

Lochy was super involved with the board and is also really involved with my Dunk colourway that is coming out. I am stoked he is getting the recognition that he deserves because his artwork is incredible, and more people should know about him.

Man, he must be so stoked, I imagine that he would have never expected any of this to ever happen.

Oh, for sure, I mean like I said, he deserves it. We always talk about how many tattoos I have gotten from him and I’m like ‘I wouldn’t go back to you if I didn’t think your artwork was amazing, you’re literally doing something that is on me forever.’ I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do what he is doing.

They were filming something with you when we all surprised you. What did they get you to film?

It was just this weird interview, Tim [Fulton] was like ‘We should film an interview’ and I was like ‘Okay’. The questions started getting strange, he was like ‘So many people live in Melbourne now’ and I was like ‘Yeah, it’s crazy so many people live here’, I was like what is going on [laughs]. Then I heard footsteps, it sounded like a stampede then I turned around and all these people were in my face, and I was like ‘Oh my god this is crazy’ [laughs].

That’s so funny, I bet he was so nervous too. No matter how many pro surprises you do they wouldn’t get any less nerve-racking.

For sure. Everyone pulled it off. I have always dreamed of going pro and the way it happened is exactly how I always dreamed of it happening.

It’s been a long time coming. I still remember when I first started going to City Park and you were skating in the comps with those Blind boards that said ‘Unsponsored’ on it.

I would’ve been like nine. I was always skating that board because I would always go to the contests and win the same board every single time [laughs]. 

I feel like all the kids that skated in all those contests had those boards.

I actually really liked that board when I was a little kid.

I am so proud of you. I am so stoked seeing this all happen; you deserve it so much. I can’t wait to buy one for my next board.

Thank you, I am super grateful to have such great people in the skate industry and outside of it. I wouldn’t be where I am today without all you guys, thank you to everyone for being a part of this crazy journey.