Na-kel Smith

Na-kel Smith is a  24 year old skater from Inglewood, California and it was clear that from a young age Na-kel, also known as Nak, was something special. The name itself means Now Allah King Equality Love. Nak had the drive and ambition from a young age but was surrounded by people with different ideals and objectives. His family was always his largest support group and helped him when he began to think of skating as a career rather than a hobby. After middle school he began homeschooling rather than going to high school but after a couple of semesters of balancing his time between homeschooling and skating he received his first box from a skateboarding company called Lakai  and realized that his path was in the world of skating. he then started to get more boxes from other companies and signed with his dream company at the time, Real Skateboards. Real skateboards treated him well and he began to travel for skating and making videos. Nak enjoyed riding for Real however most of his good friends rode for different companies.  After roughly two years with Real a new clothing brand called Fucking Awesome had began to surface and was really popular amongst Nak and his friends. They immediately began displaying the brand unintentionally and got close with the owner of the company, Jason Dill. Slowly Na-kel and his friends realized that if FA started a skate team they could all still get to do what they love but together and under something they felt they could shape and mold. Soon after Jason Dill approached Nak and his friends about being Fucking Awesomes first ever skate team. Although Nak could feel right away this is what he wanted but he struggled with the idea of leaving Real and all of the relationships he had created there. After some consideration he knew that starting a skate team with FA was his dream and his next step. Real skateboards understood where he was coming from and he left without any hurt feelings. Nak then signed with FA and soon after went Pro. Na-kel then got his own board as did each other skater on the team. Soon after he officially started riding with supreme alongside FA and starred in the Cherry video. Nak had started to take off as a skater and a public figure in the skating community. Then Adidas reached out to him and he got his first signature shoe in early 2017. Since then he has released 5 signature colorways with Adidas. Na-kel Smith is living proof that if you work hard enough to accomplish your goals, nothing can stop you and he inspires the youth with that message daily.