The sun shines as she glides on the concrete, purple hair dancing around as she twirls with happiness. Kaitlin Espinoza, a fifth-year psychology student, is taking the world by storm with an Instagram following of over 81,600 people built around her passion for roller skating.
In August 2019, Espinoza took up skating as a hobby before it evolved into a career. Espinoza is now a next-generation Venice Beach skater, an activist and a full-time student skating into her dreams.
“When I’m skating, I feel absolutely free and liberated,” said Espinoza, a San Dimas resident. “Skating puts me in a flow state, and it makes me feel so content. To me, roller skating feels like you’re flying.”
Recently, Espinoza was invited to be featured in artist Duckwrth’s live show as part of the performance for his song “A SuperGood Night.”
Her popularity on Instagram was followed by other opportunities including product sponsorships. Espinoza recalled seeing a significant increase in followers after a cannabidiol company reached out to her to promote a product on her skates.
“I had hit 10,000 followers, and the ‘k’ in ’10k’ really had me shook,” Espinoza said.
Espinoza, or @pixiekaitt on Instagram, regularly produces skating videos that hit between 20,000 to 11.5 million views, and the number continues to grow. The videos were initially intended to track her personal progress while documenting her skating journey.
“I wanted to share with people this part I express of myself,” Espinoza said. “I post to express and share with everyone what I love and brings me joy.”
Not only does Espinoza skate for the camera, but she also skates for change. As a strong advocate for racial and gender equality, she participates in protests hosted by the Valley of Change every Tuesday that aim to address issues like racism.
“The recent skate protests I’ve attended have brought me to meet a lot of my skate family and friends,” Espinoza added.
However, as a full-time student, Espinoza shared the challenges of balancing schoolwork and her skating career, along with side gigs like modeling and advertising. While her busy schedule can get difficult to juggle at times, she enjoys that aspect because it keeps her on her toes.
Espinoza said she knew she wanted to skate from a young age as she grew up watching skaters in the roller rinks. After having a dream about having a pair of purple roller skates, she decided to fulfill her childhood dream and fully immersed herself in the world of skating.
Currently, Espinoza is living her dream of skating and living in the moment. She’s able to get paid doing what she loves — and that’s all she ever wanted. Roller-skating has given her the freedom to fly where she pleases.
