Meet Aaliyah Warren

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaliyah Warren.

Hi Aaliyah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hello! My name is Aaliyah Warren and I’m 21 years old. I started rollerskating as soon I could walk {so about 2 years old}. My first competition I was three, skating backward and all. I was an artistic rollerskater until I fully quit when I was around 13 years old. I quit because it just wasn’t fun to me anymore… I didn’t like the constant pressure and the toxic environment.

Even though I quit artistic skating, I didn’t stop overall…. I was then introduced to fiberglass wheels, aka “r&b” “rhythm” type rollerskating. I fell in love so fast because it was something new and it was a challenge for me. I was skating damn near every day because I wanted to be one of the best at this style… I was so determined. The thing that set me aside from others was that I was this little light skin girl, 14 year old, but can skate as hard {or even harder} than some grown men. I started to get noticed for how talented I was at such a young age and that I skated how I wanted to… I didn’t skate “pretty” like a lot of females, I was reckless as hell…. And that’s why the skate crew called “sk8mafia” asked me to join the team! I love them to death… blood couldn’t make us any closer.

When I was around 16 I started to post skate videos on Instagram… my first viral video was in 2017, I did my famous “split slide” under 17 people {I think}. Worldstar reposted etc and that’s when my skate career started to grow. Over the years I have been posted by Worldstar, ESPN, etc. I have performed for BET, NBA, Disney, etc and I have worked with big brands/names such as Bruno Mars, Snoop Dogg, Pink, Vogue, Target, Nike, Forever 21… etc. It’s crazy to talk about this now because 14 years old me would’ve never thought I could be making a living and a name for myself off rollerskating.

I also would love to thank the company I am apart of called LARollerGirls! LArollergirls is a company that provides diversity/professionalism etc from its talent. You can book rollerskaters for almost any type of event! Even though rollerskating is my job, I love going to regular weekly sessions to see my people! I’ll still go to a chino Tuesday right after I just performed at a show etc because I want to skate with my friends/skate family.

The LA skate culture is beautiful… we really be going to the rink every week FAITHFULLY. I always have to give thanks to my depot skate babies, world on wheels babies, skate express babies, etc… because if I didn’t have the love and support from my skate family here in LA, I wouldn’t be where I am. Also, this is just my skate story, skating has changed my life…. because if I was never introduced to it, who knows where I would be right now.
Forever thankful and blessed.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
At one point in my life, I was not living in a healthy household. The only time I got to skate was when I went to stay with my grandma. Skating 100% kept me out of trouble because if I got in trouble, I didn’t get to skate. So I’m thankful I had that to motivate me when I was younger. When I grew up more and started to make money off of skating I had two incidents where I wanted to quit it all. The first incident was when I was in high school starting my career, my grandma was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.. She is one of the main reasons why I am the person I am today. She always believed in me and my talent… she always thought I was going to make it big. This made me scared of my future, like why should I be traveling, etc. when she has to deal with that at home, but I didn’t quit, I kept pushing.

Thankfully now my grandma is cancer free. WOOOOOOOO! In 2020 I lost one of my best friends due to a car accident, his name was Tee. He was my biggest supporter with my skate career. Since he knew all of my struggles outside of skating, he wanted to see me win even more lol. That death hit me very hard, he was my skate partner/brother/bestfriend, etc…. We would always talk about us being successful and helping out our families later on in life. I lost a lot of love for skating when he passed away because it was his PASSION as well. I didn’t want to continue it without him but I knew I had to or he would be pissed. Besides those two big setbacks, now I just deal with jealousy and competition sadly. Some people don’t like when they see others doing better, so it hurts when I hear/see comments on social media about me. Getting older you learn to realize not everyone is your friend… and some people just use you for clout and money. Even though I wish I didn’t have to go through these things, they have shaped me into the person I am now…

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a professional rollerskater/I would say an influencer now. My “professional rollerskater” job consists of
• Performing live at shows
• Skating in Music videos/ Commercials/
• Movies/ Tv shows etc

Ever since my Instagram gained more followers, I have been asked to do ads for big brands. Example, I just created a paid AD for Nike in their clothes and posted it on Instagram. I still do ads for smaller brands as well.

I am most known for some of the crazy stunts I do. I’ve had a few videos of me doing my famous “split slide” under people go viral, BUT I hope I’m just known for being a great overall rollerskater. I’m most proud of working with brands/celebrities that I have always wanted to work with. Like “wow I’m good enough to work with them!?” What sets me apart from others in my career path is my come up/work ethic/ hustle/ and determination. A lot of other people get really cocky, rude, etc… when they experience more money and more fame. ALWAYS remain humble and never change for anyone. My time will come, there is no need for negativity.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Hmmm, I don’t think I have a specific favorite childhood memory. But when I was younger, almost every Friday after school my grandma would take me to Disneyland. {when the tickets were way cheaper}

Or the other one would be when I got my cat at midnight when I was eight years old. He’s an old man now hahaha

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/aaliyah913
• Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdprEAST/

Image Credits
@nicewit.thalenz