Today we’d like to introduce you to Benji Smith.
Hi Benji, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In the Fall of 2021 LaterSkaters Memphis started as an idea to have a well intentioned community group of 30 and over skateboarders. Then it became a way to reach out to kids and help them learn to skate. It kept morphing over time until where we are today. Now we are a group of skaters that teach, that advocate, that get shit done for the skate community, that give more than we got when we were kids.
What does that look like in July of 2025? We’re stocking skateboards to give away. We’re hosting free beginner lessons once a month at MyCityRides on Summer Ave. We’re planning events for the fall. The biggest splash is the Skatepark coming to Lowrance Park off Hacks Cross and 385. If politics doesn’t sabotage the project, it will be finished in December.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not ever been smooth. We find new bumps in the road each time we think we have it made.
The first year, we bought boards across the retail galaxy. Then we found a single retailer. Last year we found a wholesaler/liquidator. Looking forward to 2025, we had worked for over a year to find a legit factory; then some genius decided that tariffs would solve all world problems. So the cost tripled and we had to decline our next jump forward. We do have wholesale access now, but we keep an eye on ALL POSSIBILITIES.
Learning how to run a 501c3 has been fun. The laws and reporting requirements are not always straight forward. There has been a learning curve. Insurance wasn’t easy to find, either.
Regardless of the challenges, we keep pushing!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been in the dance business for almost 35 years. I started out in night clubs, hoping to be the first white guy on MC Hammer’s dance team. True Story. One night I was invited to go to a local franchise ballroom studio for training class. In theory it’s a boot camp for prospective teachers; the studio I went to was not well run. I was hooked on dance, and didn’t know that until later. I moved to Memphis to pursue the ballroom teaching in 1991. November 11th was my first day. I taught at that studio for 9 years, then my wife and I opened our own. We learned some lessons the hard way. We sold the studio in February of 2022.
We started a dance floor company in 2003. We were tired of dancing on crappy floors; we wanted our bodies to last! 2 years, hundreds of hours of research, and many phone calls to people we didn’t know lead us to a great manufacturer.
We installed our own floor in August of 2003. Right after Hurricane Elvis. Once our students and staff danced on it, we knew it was really good.
We thought we’d make golf money, maybe enough for a vacation. We never expected that it would outgrow our studio.
Now we have so many world champions, national champions, franchise and independent studios that love our floors. There are celeb and billionaire home studios, and of course the floor you see on every episode of Dancing With The Stars is ours.
I’m most proud that I run into people I taught in the 90s and I remember them, they remember me. I’m proud that I have had several kids I taught so me out to say thank you, that ballroom dancing changed their lives somehow. I’m proud that I’ve been a straightforward, no bullshit business person since the beginning.
I’m proud that when I made mistakes, I owned them. No one is perfect. We only really learn when we screw up.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
My journey has been in sections… finding one most important is tough.
Here are a few that I lean on daily. No particular order.
1. I take an inventory, daily of possible, to see if I screwed up anything. If I have, I make amends ASAP.
2. I know I’m better with my wife than without. Not everyone needs a life partner; I just know I’m better with her. She supports me and she challenges me. The end of August will be 28 years married.
3. Follow the money, but don’t follow the money. When I was younger, I thought money was everything. I was so wrong. When I realized I was beginning a slave to my career and chasing zeroes, my life got so much better. Now I make enough. I’m not constantly focused on MORE.
When I got older and wiser I started noticing how others will screw over their own mother for money. “It’s just business, nothing personal,” is one of the biggest lies I’ve ever been told. If something looks off in business, follow the money. If it’s off in politics, follow the money. 9 times out of 10, you’ll find the truth.
Pricing:
- Cost of lessons with LaterSkaters Memphis : FREE
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.LaterSkatersMemphis.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/LaterSkatersMemphis
- Facebook: https://Www.facebook.com/LaterSkatersMemphis
- Other: https://Www.DanceFloorUSA.com
