Lyndsay McLaren On Inclusion & Diversity In The Industry

It’s taken us 107 issues of Source Magazine to finally put a female on the front cover. Taking the hot seat is Lyndsay McLaren, a Scottish skater and marketing expert. Having honed her skating skills in the US, Lyndsay has worked successfully for a number of brands here in the UK and now heads up marketing for UK-based Out Of Step LTD, working on brands including HUF, The Hundreds, Poler, Brixton and Afends. We speak with Lyndsay about her career, her inspirational local skate coaching programme and what we need to do to encourage diversity in our industry. Interview by Source Editor Harry MT.

Editor’s note: We did this interview back in May 2021 before Lyndsay had branded her girls skate programme – she’s come a long way in a very short amount of time! Check Neighbourhood out here. SOURCE Editor Harry MT & Lyndsay will be taking a deeper dive on the topics covered in this interview on the SOURCE Instagram Live at 7pm CET, Thursday August 5th.

Lyndsay, tell us what led you to boardsports and then a career working in the industry.
I grew up in Scotland and became interested in snowboarding when I was a teenager, but my first taste of skating was when I moved to the USA when I was 20. I’d just finished my BA in Marketing from Aberdeen and was setting out on my second degree at Art School in Miami.

Skating was just a mode of transport for me in Miami but quickly became more when I graduated and moved to NYC four years later. I learned how to bomb hills in Central Park and started travelling around the USA on skate trips chasing big hills. I was fortunate to have a few brands supporting my downhill skate dream, which prompted my first industry job with Bern in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as a Marketing Intern. When I moved back to the UK a short time later I began working with their UK distro who also managed Arbor, Nitro and Smith, amongst others.

After a few years I moved on to work at Rab, which was my first taste of working for a brand centred around climbing and the outdoors. Living and working in the Peak District was incredible.

When I finally moved to London, I worked at a PR agency managing a mix of fashion, lifestyle and action sports brands including Puma, Burton Snowboards and Patagonia.

For the past 2 years I’ve worked as Marketing Director at Out Of Step LTD looking after HUF, The Hundreds, Poler, Brixton and Afends.

Outside of work, Arbor continue to support me when it comes to getting me new planks of wood to ride. Big love to the Arbor family.

Lyndsay McLaren, photo by Rafal Wojnowski

What have been the biggest lessons learnt so far, working in the action sports industry?
Representation matters.

It’s taken us 106 issues to finally feature a woman on our cover. Please can you talk about your views on the challenges facing a female employee in the action sports industry?

Male dominated industries are particularly vulnerable to reinforcing masculine stereotypes that make it even more difficult for women to excel. Early in my career I felt a lot of pressure to accept masculine culture norms and act like ‘one of the boys’ in order to feel like I could get through the day. The action sports industry has come a long way since then, but within every company, each individual must see and understand their role in company culture. This means identifying differences in employee experiences and values so that lasting change can occur.

How can we make our industry a more welcoming space not just to women, but to anyone not a white male?
Be better allies.

The Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements have forced people to realise they must personally step up to make our industry more fair and inclusive.

Everyone must take responsibility for their own behaviours, educate themselves about racism and privilege, while seeking and accepting feedback from people in underrepresented groups. We can all become better confidants to women and BIPOC and insist on more diverse hiring pools and practices. We can vigilantly watch out for bias at work, intervening decisively if we discover it. Lastly, we can work better together to build a community of other allies against racism and sexism.

Lyndsay McLaren, photo by Rafal Wojnowski

Let’s talk about the skateboard lessons you’re giving…
I want to help make skateboarding more accessible to everyone by creating an inclusive, safe and welcoming space for people to learn to skate that’s full of encouragement and fun. My mission is to support beginner-intermediate level skaters, while liberating people, especially women and kids, to conquer their fears and insecurities by trying something new. I teach after work and over the weekend and hope to start a skate mentorship for underprivileged kids in the coming months.

What opportunities do you see for brands this summer and moving forward?
The future of brands is about building community. A community is built with grassroots efforts and hard work. It’s a conversation between the brand and the consumer, where the brand really listens and stays true to any promises made. The pandemic taught us that community and connection are the things that matter most.