Florida Ramp Builder Stories: Paul "Toothless" Vaughn

Skateboarding scenes don’t magically appear. Somebody drags plywood home, straightens nails, builds a ramp, and invites the crew over until it becomes a real thing. We’re sitting down with Paul “Toothless” Vaughn, a Florida skateboarder and lifelong ramp builder, to talk about what it takes to keep skateboarding alive from the ground up.We go back to the first board, the first trip to Kona Skatepark, and that instant moment of knowing you found your tribe. From there, Paul breaks down what it was like skating parts of Florida where there was barely a scene at all, and how DIY ramp building, scavenging materials, and sheer persistence shaped both his skating and his life skills. We also get into stance, fakie versus switch, frontside and backside comfort, and the skaters who influenced his style, from the classics in the magazines to today’s heavy hitters.Then we shift into Jacksonville skate history and ramp lore: the Toothless nickname, early sponsorship experiences, and the path to building for InstaRamp, including the bigger pro ramp and rebuilds. Paul shares what it was like living at the warehouse, the sessions that made it special, and the stories that only happen when skateboarding is right outside your bedroom door. We wrap with favorite local skateparks like Monument and Treaty, design input at Saplings, and a real take on how skateboarding feels now that it’s bigger, cleaner, and even Olympic.If you ride for the culture, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who still skates, and leave a review so more skaters can find the show.