Video transcript

My Duvet Flip with Lola Tambling Transcript

Hello, my name is Lola Tambling and my favourite hobby is skateboarding. This is My Duvet Flip with NatWest Thrive.

Right before the Olympics, before the last qualifying event for it, I couldn't compete. Like, I have to put it all on the line. They read out who made it through and it was such an emotional day. That is crazy. Not many people can say that they're going to the Olympics,and especially at 16. I still can't believe it sometimes. I'm like, "Nah, ain't real.

"What's your duvet flip? What gets you out of bed in the morning to flip the duvet? I'd say my duvet flip is.

So welcome to My Duvet Flip with NatWest Thrive, how are we? I'm good thanks, you? Yeah not bad, I got my cup of tea in the NatWest Thrive cup so not too bad...Love it. I can't wait to hear about your journey and your story.

So tell me, how did it all start Lola? Like, where did it all start? So basically my parents opened up an indoor skate park in my local town, Saltash. It was called Junkyard Skate Park,but unfortunately we don't have it anymore. And then on the opening day,I saw all the skaters there and I was, I think I was like seven or eight and I was like, I wanna try this, this looks really fun. And it kind of went from there, but then also my dad was a professional BMXer. So I was like always around like the skate parks and that kind of vibe.So I've just always like grew up around that. Wow, so you're seven, eight years old and you was like, I wanna try this. And that's where it all kind of started. I had my like little pink knee pads on, Ugg boots,this little like red penny skateboard. And I was like, loving it. I was like, this is cool, yeah.That's brilliant. And for anyone who's wanna try something for the first time,what's your advice to them? Cause we all start as beginners, right? Yeah, my advice would probably be, if you want it, like don't give up, keep pushing. And that it does get tough and it does get hard. That's just what comes of it. And you just gotta tell yourself like,you only live once and just go for it. Like love life and just, if you're really passionate about something,you'll keep going and you won't give up and just always stay happy. Always think about the positives.

I totally agree.You only live once, think of the positives. When it gets tough, what is your advice to others that, cause you can go through situations where you're on top of the world. Oh yeah. And then it just stops and you feel, cause the one thing or something's got in the way. Like a fall or something. I've had that. Like I was like killing it. I had all these comps coming up. It was right before the Olympics and I took a really bad fall and then I couldn't skate for ages. And that kind of stopped me and it knocked my confidence a bit, like quite a lot actually. But when you overcome those fears and the nerves and just push past it, it makes you feel like a better person. It makes you feel way more like powerful and it makes you like actually better at what you're doing. Like you end up progressing even more. And it's just like, it's a good outcome.You just got to keep pushing and thinking happy thoughts.

Absolutely. And when it knocked your confidence,what did you do to like pick yourself back up? I told myself that this is what happens.If you want to do this, this is part of it. And just like, don't be afraid. Like, cause I'm quite a nervous person when it comes to skateboarding and stuff,but I've seen people around me have way more like gnarly falls and it is literally part of it. And you just got to deal with it. And if you love it that much, you will. And nothing too bad is going to happen. And you just got to push past it if it does. It's part of it, you've got to deal with and you've just got to carry on, right? Be your boss and just like...Be your boss. Own it, right?Yeah, own it.

What makes you happy? Life. I love life, I love skateboarding, I just love being myself and what I'm doing with my life and yeah, I think I have the best life and I just absolutely love it.

How can others find their thing? You've obviously, your mum and dad opened a skate park and you just loved it and you saw it and you was like at the age of seven, eight, saying, "I want to give this a go" with your Uggs on and you just wanted to do it. How can someone find their thing? What is your advice to other young people who may not know what they want to do, they may not think they're good at something,what is your advice to them?

I'd say there's so much stuff out there in the world.You may try something that may not be your thing or you may try something and you may connect with it and you love it and it's your thing but you just got to keep trying things and don't give up and just until you find your thing, you won't know so just keep experimenting and just keep going with it and like I said, there's just so much stuff out there and it could be anything.

And what makes you look kind of sad? What makes you sad in life? Is there anything that...Because I'm a big believer that in life there will be things that you'll be really happy with and then there's things that you're sad but it's like you said originally, try to not let the sadness over weigh the happiness of your life.What makes you sad?

Quite a few things I guess like falling out with people or like I said, falling off my skateboard, not doing as well as you thought you'd do in a competition, just like loads of different things but you can always find the positives out of sad stuff and you just got to keep doing that I guess. So finding the positives is what really finds your full potential in whatever you do? Yeah, you just got to not think negative. Like if you're a negative person, I feel like negative things would be brought to you but if you just keep being happy and like if someone brings you down, you just got to get back up and keep going like, you just got to think like that and like, yeah, you're in this life, you're in this world, like you're here, like just be in the moment.When you're about to be part of a competition and you've got this fantastic plan, we all have it, I want to do this and this is how I want to perform and it doesn't go quite right to plan.Yeah. 

How do you pick yourself back up? Well immediately I'll be like stressing, I'll be like, oh my god, and like sometimes I've let it get to me and that is the worst thing to do. I feel like you just got to like breathe, you just got to tell yourself, no, you can do this and if you have one more chance left or like whatever, just go full at it and just know that you can do it because you've done it before and literally not let the nerves or stress get to you because that's the worst thing you could do, I'd say. And how do you not let the stress get to you?Because when you was coming to say, I was like, I need to make sure everything's perfect. No. Like you do get stressful because you're so passionate about it and you want to make sure it's right. Is the lighting right? Is everything perfect? We want you to have a good experience.Yeah, when you're so passionate about something, you let the little thing get to you, like that kind of stuff.But yeah, I'd say I got this like breathing, little breathing exercise that the coach for Skateboard GB taught me and I do it every time I get, if I'm like starting to like panic or feel stressed, I do it and it really calms you down. And I also love music, so that helps me a lot and I just like blast it in my ears or whatever and I just like, it makes me feel good. I'm like, yeah, let's go. So a bit of music and a breathing exercise. And those two things just help you get back into the game. I would just like jump up and down on the spot and just like start like, go on, like getting like really hyped and then it all just goes and then you feel good and you're like, we're here, let's do it. So find things that hype yourself up and get you back into that positive mood. I love getting hyped. That's like, that's so fun about it. So like that definitely helps me.

And what about your support network around you? How important is it to have like a support network when you're trying to reach your full potential, you're trying to really make a difference in what you're doing. How important is it to have a support network around you?I know you've got some superstars in the back scene right now who I can see are super support networks for you, but like, how did you find your support network and who are they?

So it is so important to have that support with you and someone by your side. And it's my parents, my mum and dad have been there the whole time. And I know if they weren't there, I would not be where I am today. 100%. Like I'm not even going to lie to myself. I couldn't do it without them. And I'm so grateful and I appreciate them so much. Even my little brother, he is so supportive. He always comes along. I can tell sometimes he doesn't want to, but he does it for me. And my family, my mum, my brother, my dad are like my biggest supporters and I just love them for that. And yeah, I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for them. And I feel like you need someone in your corner, you know, like boxers or whatever.They always got there like in their corner. Like you need that because I feel like, I mean, maybe some people can do on their own, but personally, I don't think I could. And like, it just makes you feel better.And it's just, yeah, you just like, I feel like you need that.

You do, don't you? Like, like even today wouldn't have been out to happen without all the fantastic people with us supporting us. Like, I don't know how these cameras work. And we had to have smarter people who can help you make things work, right?Yeah, 100%. I just feel like you always need that one person. It doesn't have to be one person, but you just need that person in your corner and it just makes you, I don't know, I just personally need that support and it's been my parents really. And they've always been by my side. An interesting fact about me is that I have a ritual before I skate. I touch my helmet every time before I drop in and then midway through the run, but no one knows what I say to myself.

So I want you to share a little bit about where things have gone wrong or any moments that you've had. Because you've, hearing your story off camera, on camera, things have been around the world. It's amazing. Tell us some stories or something that's happened, the interesting moments.

So yeah, I've literally been all over the world. I'm literally a fat jet setter. Probably an interesting story is right before the Olympics, the last qualifying event for it, I was stressing, I was like, oh my God, I have to put it all on the line because the one before that I couldn't compete. I hit my head. It was quite bad for me. But so I was like, I gotta go full send for this one. And apparently my dad was in the crowd watching and he already knew that I made it. And obviously didn't tell me, he didn't want me to be freaking out more. So he already knew because you could see the points and stuff. And then after the whole contest, he come up to me and was like, I already know by the way. And we were like, they read out who made it through. And it was such an emotional day. I was crying, but happy tears obviously. And it was just honestly insane moment.

That feeling, finding out you may go into the Olympics is like, at 16 as well is crazy. That is crazy. Yeah, it was crazy. Did your dad keep a straight face? He was actually kind of stressing. And I was watching him. I was like, oh my God, we're all like stressing. Cause like, it was literally the competition where it's like make or break. And like everyone was stressing like the other skaters too. And it was like really intense,but like that bowl was probably one of my favourite bowls we skated. It was such a, it was a cool event. It was in Budapest. And yeah, it was just like the whole weekend was crazy.

And you were 16 at the time. Yeah. Not many people can say that they're going to the Olympics and especially at 16, right?I know it is mental. Like my mates are also buzzing for me. They're like, I can't believe you're an Olympian. It's just like, it's crazy. And what do you feel in that moment? Cause that's just like, wowza right. I don't even, like it's unreal. Like that feeling is like, you can't like match it. And not many people have got to experience that. And it's like, like absolutely mental. Like whenever I tell myself that like I go back to it and I'm like, I don't know. I'm like in my room or whatever on my own. I'm like, I'm an Olympian. I'm like, that's so crazy. That is so cool. I still can't believe it sometimes. I'm like, nah, ain't real.

How proud are you wearing the top? I'm so proud. Absolutely love it. Honestly, I just, and it's a steezy top. It's cool. It is a cool top, isn't it? Yeah, I love it. I like the bits down the side as well. The flame. Yeah, the flames there. It's pretty cool. And it's like breezy .It was nice to skate in. It was cool, yeah.

You're sitting there and you're on top of the world. You're loving life. You're wearing an amazing top. And then you go and sit in your bedroom. Yeah. How do you like balance from the cameras,the obviously practicing and then having the moment? How do you kind of balance yourself into? Chill mode. And then chill mode, yeah. I love this question. I love being with my mates and stuff like that. So I go work hard and then I play harder. That's what I say, if you know what I mean? I love doing what I'm doing. And then I get to come home and I get to just chill, relax, see the mates, see the boyfriend, just chilling. I like to chill as well. And I love home. When I'm away, I do miss home quite a lot. But I feel like I'm really good at balancing it. I feel like that's a good thing that I have. I'm like, I'd say I'm good at doing both. And yeah, I like to party and stuff. So I do that. So you did a balancing.Yeah, why not?

What's your advice to anyone who's trying to balance something they're really passionate about,whether they're doing a test of school, whether it's home life, whether it's something they're doing out of project outside of school or work? What is...I'd say my advice is like, work super hard at it. And then you get to just do whatever after. Like if you get it done, you just keep focused. You know what I mean? Don't let anything distract you and just make sure you do what you've got to do. And then you literally get to do whatever after and it's like, you have fun doing both. And it's like, if you love doing what you're doing, then it's completely fine. You get the best of both really. So best of both, love what you're doing. Yeah. Isn't that funny? Because when you do love what you're doing,it's not work. Yeah. Do you get that feeling? No, literally because like skateboarding is my job, but I don't see it as a job. Like it's literally what I love to do. It's like, I don't see it like that. It's weird saying it because I literally, I can't see it like that, but I guess it is. But it's the best job in the world, I'd say that now. It sounds really cool.

Obviously you and I are drinking out of NatWest Thrive cups,which are pretty cool. Yeah, I know.I like the purple. Yeah, same.I never thought I was a purple fan, but you know what, I actually like the brand. It's quite cool. I like pinks and purples and stuff like that.S o, that's weird. Going back to when you were seven,when you were in the pink care, was it the knee pads? Yeah, they were like tiny little, like, I think they were bullet knee pads. I'm like, I don't even know. They were like, hella cute though. But it's funny looking back on it now.

And on here, it says thrive. Yes. What does it mean to thrive? I feel like thrive is like,wanting it, I feel like. If you thrive for something,it means you're passionate. If you're like, oh, I thrive for that, you want that. You're passionate about it. It's like, your goal, it's your goal. You got that, like, it's just like, I don't know what that feeling is, but the way I'm using my hands right now I get ya You just want to grab onto it. You just want it. You want to go for it and own it, right? Yeah, that's what I think it means.

And what's your message to young people out there right now? All walks of life, all doing different things or wanting to thrive in something to reach their full potential. What is your message to young people?I'd say just go for it. Keep thriving. Like I said before, it can get tough,but that's like part of life. And when you're so passionate about something, you'll just go for it no matter what and just love whatever you're doing. Don't force it. Like, don't stress. Just if you want it, you'll go get it and just keep loving it. Like, just make sure you're having fun and you're enjoying it.

I think that's so good advice. Don't force it. Make sure you're having fun and then it all happens, right? Yeah, it just works out, like not perfectly because nothing's perfect, but it works out the best, I'd say. And it's just, it's good, yeah. Absolutely.

And what is the small wins you do daily to feel good? I'd say if you have good sleep, you'll wake up feeling good and fresh or whatever.And yeah, like you said,surrounding yourself with positive, good people and people you want to be around .And it just makes it more like the energy's good. Good energy. Yeah, you've got to have good energy around you and just feel good in yourself really and just like own the day really and just do what makes you happy.

So good energy, cup of tea and a good biscuit. Cup of tea, 100% the dunking your biscuit in.Why not?

Are you ready for my final question? Go on.

What's your duvet flip? What gets you out of bed in the morning to flip the duvet? I'd say my duvet flip is that I love life so much. I'm just ready for what the next day's gonna bring. I'm just like, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I know it's gonna be good and I'm just excited for whatever comes. I'm just like, here we go. Here's the next day I've woken up. That's sick, let's go. It is, isn't it?

You wake up and I use a saying,wake up to what matters.Yeah. And if you wake up to what mattersand you do what makes you happy, you win. Yeah, 100%, I totally agree.

So I just want to say thank you for joining us on the show. No, I really appreciate it. I loved it. It's been fun. It's been so good. Yeah, it's gone so quick. I could talk to you for hours. It literally feels like two seconds. I know. Seriously. So thank you. Thank you for sharing. No, thank you so much.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, your knowledge, bit about your story and helping My Duvet Flip and NatWest Thrive help other young people find their flip in the morning, but also find their full potential. So thank you.N o, thank you. I've really enjoyed being here. It's been so good.