Cool Cat: Andrea Eklund
Interview by Emma Ward | Photos by Andrea Eklund
At first glance, the apparel industry may not seem like the most fast-paced environment, but this professor takes part in a trend that has her speed skating down a track that’s a little different from a runway. Some might recall the 2009 film, “Whip It,” starring Elliot Page. The movie features an adolescent girl who finds a passion in roller derby. While Andrea Eklund, also known by her Roller Derby name Professor Pain, has taught in the apparel, textiles & merchandising program for the past fifteen years, she also coaches for the Ellensburg Rodeo City Roller Derby team.
“It’s such a community”, says Eklund, “I’ve taken my skates and I’ve skated in Hawai’i, Las Vegas and Oregon.” She says she has even guest coached in Milan, Italy.
To start out, could you introduce yourself?
I’m Andrea Eklund, I’m a professor, I’m a program coordinator for apparel textiles and merchandising, student fashion association advisor—which is our club here on campus. So, I’ve been here fifteen years. Before I came here I was a part of the apparel industry, I worked for the Nordstrom Prada group, which is a private legal division of Nordstrom. I was a quality engineer, so I was in the industry before starting, and I found roller derby 11 years ago, when the league started.
I’ve always loved skating. I still have my skates from when I was 11 years old, and they still fit. Granted, they’re on the shelf in my living room. I heard rumblings of [the Ellensburg roller derby league] and Rat City Roller Derby was having a boot camp, and I had just found out about it.
It was in two days and I hadn’t signed up for it. I was like, “I’m just going to go.”
I left Ellensburg at four in the morning, I drove over there and said, “I don’t have a spot, but if someone doesn’t show up, I’ll take their spot.”
I wore my skates from when I was 11, I had my bicycle helmet, my mouth guard, my husband’s dirt-biking knee pads and elbow pads. It was this hodge-podge, I probably looked a hot mess, so awkward. I got in. I totally got in because someone didn’t show up, and it was a two-day workshop.
It was the hardest two days, because you’re just kind of thrown in and it was really high-level players who were teaching you. I remember one of the players, she was so intimidating but so amazing, her name was Reanimator. Her roller derby name.
She looked at my skates and said, “Those are the shittiest skates I’ve ever seen.”
I was like, “These are my skates from when I was 11 years old.”
Then she was like, “Those are the most awesome skates I’ve ever seen.”
That’s when I decided, alright, these are my people.
So day one when [Rodeo City Roller Derby] had their first informational meeting, I was there. [I] started skating for a year, until I broke my ankle. It was a bad break, your heel is not supposed to go back and touch your calf. When that happened, I transitioned into helping coach. So I have been helping coach for the last ten years. I manage all the merchandise. I choose what merchandise we have, I keep inventory, send some marketing things out so we can get that out on social media.
What’s your favorite part of the sport?
My favorite part is when we’ve been trying to teach something to someone for so long and then they get it. I mean, I’m a professor, so that’s like what I do daily in my classes. So for me, when I’m coaching, when people have that “Aha!” moment, or like, “You did it, you did it, that was it,” I get so excited. Especially when it’s someone who really struggled, like some people struggle hard and when they get it, it’s so exciting. And the pride they have in themselves and that excitement, you just feel it, and that energy is really awesome.
Is that why you became a teacher too?
Yeah, I always liked playing teacher when I was growing up. When I was getting my masters I did an assistantship and I was helping teach and I was like, “This is my jam.” I love that “Aha!” moment for students, especially because the content I teach is very technical. You can actually see what they're learning on projects and how they're applying it, and so when they get that it’s very exciting.
Did you want to talk a bit about how you got into apparel?
I actually went to school. I had worked at a sports apparel store, getting my AA degree. So I knew apparel, and I was actually going to school to get a horticulture degree so that I could open my own floral shop.
Once I got there to register for classes they were like, “Oh we’re cancelling that program.”
I was like “What?”
So, I was just going through the catalog and I was like “Apparel, huh? Well, I’ve managed a store before. Okay.”
I kind of just fell into it, but really liked it, and I’ve always focused on designing for all body types. That was, when I was getting my masters, what my research was on. Like taking experts’ “don’ts” and making them “do’s.” I was basically saying, “These experts are wrong.” If the fit is right, then it works for a more curvy, plus-size body.
Going into that education side and then realizing that I really enjoy teaching, then being in the industry and coming here I think is really good, because I had that industry experience and that background. It’s nice because I can use my knowledge of apparel and merchandising and visual merchandising to help roller derby and all of the merchandise there. We always have a table, and I do signage.
I’m particular about how it’s all laid out, and other teams will come over and be like, “Oh, this looks so nice and professional.”
I’m like, “I hope so, this is my jam.”
It’s nice that there’s some crossover and I’ve had students that are interested in roller derby and then end up playing back home, which is pretty cool. We have a lot of students that skate, you know. It’s a great outlet, and skating during the pandemic became a thing, you know a big trend, it still is. We encourage anyone who enjoys skating, like right now our practices are kind of a perfect time to start because they’re more individual skill sets rather than getting in big packs and doing strategy, we’re really not doing that right now. So it’s a great time to get involved.
What ages do you coach?
18 and up.
We’re all so different, and there are people who are like “I would never be friends with you otherwise, like honestly.” Just nothing to relate about, but we have roller derby, so we can kick it.
Back in the day, I mean it’s kind of changed, but our afterparties were awesome. We had this thing that, “we might have lost the game but we’re going to win that afterparty.”
Like, I’d be out at a bar, dancing, and again this is not something that we do otherwise, but we have this super big community and this bond and this common interest. And it changes the dynamic in a really great way, you can connect with people you usually wouldn’t. It opens up a lot of opportunity to meet different people, different ages of people. We have people in our league from 18, all the way up to 52. So, it’s a really big variety of ages, which I think is pretty cool.
And you create your roller derby name, which is a big deal. And you usually aren’t allowed to use your roller derby name until you graduate fresh meat, so there’s all these skills that you have to learn in the fresh meat, the beginner program. Then once you’re done, you officially graduate, that’s when you get to choose your roller derby name. So, it’s kind of like an honor.
Do you recommend roller derby if someone is interested in skating but has never heard of the sport before?
Yeah, and I think the cool thing about roller derby is it’s so inclusive, no matter your size. If you are super petite or you are a thicker, curvier person, there’s a spot for you on the track. You don’t have to be super athletic. Yes, we work on endurance in practices, we work on skating a lot and building our muscles, but no matter your size, there’s a spot for you.
If you’re super lanky and fast, you’d be a great jammer. Or if you have good weight to you and you’re like a mountain, no one’s gonna hit you down, awesome, you’re going to be a great blocker. So there’s kind of a spot for everybody.
There’s a huge variety of people too, that do roller derby. There’s a large LGBTQ community in roller derby, so we want to be inclusive. We want everybody to feel welcome, which is one of the reasons we changed our name from “girls” to “derby.” We try to be sure to use the right verbiage. We recently changed some terms for roller derby moves because they weren’t honoring different cultures. Just being really fluid and going with the flow with what’s happening, that’s kind of a part of roller derby.
For those who would like to join the team, there is a “fresh meat program.” Anyone who’s interested in derby, even if you’re not sure, can email freshmeat@rodeocity.com and ask to sit in on a practice. Eklund says there is a “fresh meat coordinator” who will usually sit at the practice with them and explain what’s going on and answer questions. Those who are interested will have to invest in the gear.