When we read on Instagram that Lulu (@thejohnsonettes) was planning on doing 30 tricks in 30 days we sat up and took notice. As the days progressed, we could see that Lulu was pretty serious about this challenge that she gave herself and was constantly stepping it up. These weren’t just tricks she already knew how to do, she challenged herself to learn new tricks each day as well!
GN4LW: How did you decide what tricks you wanted to learn or try in the thirty days?
Lulu: My mom would look at Instagram and save videos of tricks she thought I might like and then show them to me after school.
GN4LW: Is there anything you want girls to know about this experience?
Lulu: If you fall don’t give up, just keep going because you only fail when you give up and don’t try again. And the only two things you can control are your attitude and your effort.
GN4LW: Pretty wise advice!
Congrats Lulu - we can’t wait to see what you do next!
Please feel fee to share your photo on social media - we just ask that you please credit @ianloganphoto and @girlisnota4letterword - thanks!
The 5th Annual Venice Ladies Jam kicked off Saturday AM under unseasonable warm weather, but that didn't stop the girls from skating hard and having fun. The sky was clear, the sun was out and everyone was having a blast meeting up with friends they hadn't seen in a long time.
Girls came from as far away as Las Vegas and the Ladies Day Jam played host to not one but THREE Skateboard Hall of Fame Inductees! Gale Webb, Vicki Vickers and GN4LW founder Cindy Whitehead were all in attendance to cheer on the girls, help judge and take photos.
Every girl that skated was cheered on by her peers all throughout the day. One young girl was trying to drop in and received huge encouragement from the skaters her age "that she could do this!" ultimately one of the judges jumped into the bowl and helped her put her nerves aside and drop in, to the cheers of the crowd!
We have to thank all the support this event was given this year, not only by sponsors in the skate industry but also groups like Girls Play LA, Angel City FC, and the City of Los Angeles.
We say this every year, but it is so true... The best part of this event is seeing so many girls come out and skate, meet one another, form friendships and they now have a group of girls to continue skating with throughout the year. That's what keeps these girls progressing.
Huge thanks to the City of Los Angeles, Mike Bonin LA City Council, LA Recreation and parks, Venice Recreation Center, Venice Art Walls, DJ VRSA, Skate Park Association International, Heidi Lemmon, Lance Lemond, Kimi Kallman, Bart Saric our fabulous announcer, Lonnie Hiramoto, all the judges and volunteers, the photographers who covered the event, as well as the numerous sponsors who sent so much product that the girls went home with a big bags of swag.
Hope to see everyone again next year!
** Please check out our instagram for additional coverage of the event!
We're featured on VENICE PAPARAZZI this week! They did a rad interview with GN4LW founder and '70s pro skater, Cindy Whitehead, about the OG days of skateboarding and what Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word's mission is today.
We appreciate all the love and support and hope you will jump on over to their site and check out the full interview HERE.
💗 Spoiler alert! More OG skate photos on the Venice Paparazzi site! 💗
Stephanie Person skating a demo at the 49ers football game
You may not know her skate history (yet), but one thing for sure is Stephanie Person paved the way for so many girls today, and it’s time her story was heard.
This started out as an interview but developed into more of a long and interesting conversation because Stephanie’s story is compelling, intense, and honest. Her path in skateboarding during the ’80s was not always easy. Still, she was always out there making things happen for herself and ultimately changing the game for the girls and women who came after her.
Read on to hear what it was like to be the very first, Black female pro skateboarder.
*This article has been edited and condensed for clarity
Cindy: I know you started skateboarding at age 16, and your rise was pretty fast; how did you start making a name for yourself in skateboarding?
Stephanie: I put on a skateboard competition when I was in high school; actually, this skater kid came up to me; he said, let’s do a competition at our high school, but then they said that was a liability. So then we asked to do it at the community center.
We needed sponsors and prizes. The skater kid said to me, you make the calls – so I was like, OK, I will. I had TransWorld and Thrasher Magazines, and I looked in the back. All the phone numbers were there, and every company that I called donated something for the competition as prizes. So I had UPS coming to my house every day for a couple of weeks. In fact, Gullwing was my first truck sponsor because of this.
Then the Community Center said they changed their mind because they were worried about the liability. I was like, oh my God, everyone is coming from everywhere, now what?
So I ended up changing the date to the 4th of July and holding it in a Park and Ride parking lot, as I knew it would be empty that day. My mom kept saying, don’t do it. If someone gets hurt, I’m going to be liable - because I wasn’t eighteen at the time.
We had banners going around this entire parking lot, and five hundred kids came. We had sponsored amateurs from everywhere. And that’s when my name got on the map.
Stephanie with her skate team
Cindy: That is huge, putting on a skate contest and getting all the sponsors lined up – especially since you were only in high school. What did you do next?
Stephanie: Then the O’Brien brothers, who were sponsored skaters, knocked on my door. They wanted me to throw another contest during the time the Capitola Classic was coming -all the pros come in for that. I said no as the first contest almost gave me a nervous breakdown. Eventually, I said yes, and I did everything again. All the guys came from the Capitola Classic, and Kevin Thatcher asked, are you the Black girl that threw this contest? I said yes, and the next thing I knew, it was everywhere that Stephanie Person put on the Montague Contest.
Cindy: Did you also travel for contests within California?
Stephanie: Then I started entering other competitions; there was one in Oceanside, and they did have a female freestyle division. I was about seventeen. I started skating street. Then I did CASL contests and did a lot of those in Southern California in the '80s. Then I met Cara-Beth Burnside, and vert skating took off again. That's when Judi Oyama (’70s pro-female vert skater on Santa Cruz) called up Richard Novak and got me hooked up with Santa Cruz.
Photo of Stephanie by Judi Oyama
Cindy: I hope you don’t mind Stephanie, but we decided to ask Judi what made her push for you to be on the Santa Cruz team. Here are Judi’s memories from that time…
“The first time I saw Stephanie skate, she caught my eye, not because she was a young woman vert skater, but because she was aggressive and had a style that was strong and fluid. She didn’t hold back and went for moves that most guys couldn’t even make. I knew that Stephanie had talent and would be a good representative for Santa Cruz Skateboards. She coached me to knee slide on the Raging Waters half pipe before I tried to ride it. She said if you can fall, you won’t get hurt. Sitting on the edge and taking the leap of faith that I wouldn’t get hurt was a great tip. I use it to this day when I see young girls learning to ride the deep stuff.” ~ Judi Oyama
Cindy: When you finished High School, did things change for you?
Stephanie: I ended up moving to Southern California and living with eight street skaters, I was skating vert at that time, but I stayed with them in that house for about six months
I was like, everyone is so sponsored, and I don’t see any other girls ever except a couple, so I thought, why can’t I be sponsored? So I started calling around, just like I did, to get sponsors for those skateboard competitions. I ended up getting sponsored by a ton of companies.
I was first sponsored by Madrid back then, and a skateboard shop in San Jose was my first shop sponsor. Then Rector Pads, Speed Wheels, Venture, Billabong, and Swatch. That was very interesting because I called Swatch up and said, “you guys have a new team out, but you don’t have any girls.” They said they had their team, but I kept explaining that having a female team rider would bring so much more attention to their demos.
I had opened up a 49er’s football game on the vert ramp – Christian Hosoi was there. We were asked to do stuff like that from time to time, so I explained that when you have a big crowd watching, not everyone skates, and most people don’t even know what a 50/50 grind is, but when they watch a girl drop-in, that gets attention. The company agreed, and then I was on Swatch.
Editors Note: Swatch was a popular company that made inexpensive (compared to quartz) watches with colorful plastic faces and bands. Swatch was very well-known and successful in the mid-’80s – ultra-cool. They tapped into musicians and skateboarders to popularize their brand.
I got all these sponsors myself, which people found to be very different; if there was a sponsor I wanted, I went after it.
1986 Thunder Trucks Ad in Thrasher featuring Stephanie Person
Cindy: I noticed something interesting when I was researching you, Stephanie. You used to skate for Thunder Trucks, is that right?
Stephanie: Yes.
Cindy: And they did an ad with you in Thrasher magazine, way back in 1986.
Stephanie: Yes, they did.
Cindy: It’s interesting because Samarria Brevard, the only Black female skater we have on the women’s USA National skateboard team, is currently sponsored by Thunder Trucks. I don’t think people realize that you paved the way for this situation, and for other situations that we will get to later in this interview.
Editors Note: It was almost unheard of for a company to put an ad in a mag like Thrasher of a female skater in 1986. Forget Black or White. Just talking about gender here. It was rare. And if you add race on top of gender, Stephanie was really setting herself apart and breaking skateboarding stereotypes for generations to come.
Stephanie: I’ve been in Thrasher a few times.
Cindy: You’ve been in quite a few magazines that people may not be aware of, right?
Stephanie: Yeah, there was a skateboard magazine called Power Edge, and I wrote an article for that called “Equal Time” or something. I was in Thrasher in a feature about girls skateboarding called "Sugar and Spice...?" And the Thunder Trucks ad in Thrasher. I was in TransWorld and had a few other photos in magazines here and there. I was also in the 1984 skate video, Future Primitive – doing a boneless. In 2010 I was featured in "How We Roll" a six-month exhibition of Black Surf and Skate Culture at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. They used that photo of me about the exhibit on a billboard during the X Games that year - that was cool!
Stephanie (BW shot on right) "Sugar and Spice..?" April 1986 issue of Thrasher
Cindy: People may not realize how rare it was for a girl to get coverage skating vert back in those days. In the 70s, Skateboarder magazine covered the girls doing freestyle, slalom, and a few banked walls. Then when we transitioned into vert, it became more about the guys in every issue. It was almost as if they were saying, "girls don’t skate pools and half-pipes." But you pushed past that and kept pushing for coverage when it was mainly TransWorld and Thrasher.
How many girls did you skate with back then?
Stephanie: There was; Cara-Beth, Lori Rigsby, and I, and everybody else was not very strong. They weren’t very legit.
Cindy: And you girls didn’t have female divisions in contests like we did, right? We had the Gold Cup Series and the Hester Series, and we had to go out there and skate and practice for those contests every day. But what did you girls have as far as contests?
Stephanie: There were no female competitions, so we skated against the guys.
Cindy: We had that same situation in the beginning, and then we got women’s competitions.
Stephanie at a backyard ramp with her male skater friends
Stephanie: My entire adult skate career, I don’t know how many dozens and dozens of competitions I entered, but I was always skating against the guys.
Cindy: So, we actually went backward during that time with women in skate. For our group, when the skateparks closed, a lot of the girls dropped out to go to college, or they were focused on relationships, etc. You were the generation that kept that underground scene going. So punk compared to any other part of skateboarding.
Stephanie: Super underground, especially living in Northern California, because they were really into punk rock and all the punk bands. In Southern California, it was more like George Michael and dayglow. When I was in high school, I was listening to Ska, and I was listening to rockabilly and punk, that very NorCal vibe.
Cindy: Judi Oyama and I talked about that over the years. You have to really want it when you live in NorCal, because it was not like SoCal, where there were skate parks everywhere, and it was easy to skate. And almost all the manufacturers were down here. Luckily, you have NHS up there, and you skated for Santa Cruz, which we’ll get to in a second. But even now, there is this whole thing about being from NorCal – to me, NorCal is very punk and core in skate – like Steve Olsen core.
Stephanie in Fallbrook late'80s ~ Photo Mark Waters
Stephanie: I think during your era, it was like, a lot of parks closed of insurance problems.
And after that, I believe that women really, just in general, had a hard time.
Back then, I think when I was around, guys would try to pit me against Cara-Beth and Lori all the time, just because we were the only females. I don’t like that feeling. It gives me a rash.
Cindy: Yes, Judi and I have always been on the same page with that – bringing girls up with you is what we should all be doing. Unfortunately, some don’t feel that there is enough of the pie to go around, and that creates an insular situation – which no one benefits from in the long run.
Cindy: I read that in 1988 you turned pro. Is that correct?
Stephanie: Yes, but it wasn’t like that was the year I turned pro. You really didn’t have a choice – there were no amateur competitions in Europe where I was skating, so you had to compete in the pro divisions.
Cindy: It’s interesting to hear this and discuss it because nowadays, people feel that being pro means you have a pro model board. Girls didn’t have that back in the day – in freestyle days, yes – but only a couple girls had those pro models, but not during the vert days in the late ’70s and ’80s. During my era, you turned pro by going to a contest, entering the women’s pro division, and then you couldn’t go back to AM.
Stephanie: There were no amateur contests, no girls divisions in Europe. You just skated. A lot of the Americans were coming over to Europe to skate. So first I went over there to visit, then I moved there. I was skating with Tony Hawk and skating in the Pro Series. I lived there for 16 years.
The story behind that is so crazy because there was a picture of me doing a Frontside Air on an L-shaped ramp at a waterslide park which ran in the San Jose Mercury newspaper. I had Santa Cruz wheels in it – Richard Novak put it on the office wall there. Soon after, he asked for the team’s ideas and insights for a new video, and I was the only one who sent a page of ideas in. Later I approached Richard with a plan for me and Jeff Hedges, another AM, to go to Europe, promote the brand, hand out stickers, meet with shops, etc. Jeff said, “he will never pay for us to go to Europe,” but after hearing my pitch, Richard pulled out his Rolodex and started going through it and asked when we wanted to go and when do you want to come back – I’m green lighting this for you guys to go.
When we got back, I found out that the guys were complaining about me – they were saying I slept with everyone in Europe, which was not true because I was a virgin until I was 24 years old. I was getting too much attention, and there was jealousy, and I was asked to leave the team. I was about 20 years old at this point. I felt like had I been a guy, none of this would have been a problem.
This got me to Death Box, which back then was a small company in Europe, which ended up turning into Flip with Jeremy Fox. They asked me to ride for them, so it ended up being in my favor that I got off Santa Cruz and rode for them.
Cindy: What age were you when you first started with Santa Cruz?
Stephanie: I think I was like 19 years old then. I went to Europe at age twenty and stayed there for sixteen years. I came back when I was about thirty-five. My family kind of fell apart here in California, so I didn’t know where to go. So I thought I’ll just stay in Europe and live the life. And I did. I toured for five years, all over while I was there.
Cindy: As I remember, that was a point in time for skateboarding that while parks were closing here and people were turning to street. Things in Europe were still happening with vert because they were still embracing what we thought we had lost.
Stephanie in Germany doing an interview at a contest
Stephanie: When I did go to Europe to skate, I found that it was very different. People were very sweet and kind and awesome. It was a very different cultural experience.
J. Grant Brittain was over there covering contests, so people there were now hearing about me, but here in the states, they weren’t because I chose to be in Europe. I was still skating full hardcore, but I ended up losing contact with people like Judi because I was over there for so long.
Cindy: Back when you skated, forget female skaters, there probably weren’t any black skaters, male or female, is that right?
Stephanie: There were maybe a handful of Black male skaters.
There were no Black female skaters, except me during that time.
Cindy: Not to mention, you were like one of three girls skating hard – that’s not a lot. This is why it’s crucial to hear stories like yours, Stephanie – we are all getting older. The women’s stories in skateboarding are not being told in depth. When we are gone, those stories will go with us unless they are preserved for future generations.
Stephanie: Oh, I have a lot of stories from back in those days…
Cindy: I know you were recently featured in Thrasher sharing some of your skate history, which is pretty great!
Stephanie: Yes, but when Thrasher interviewed me, there’s all this stuff I really wanted to talk about but didn’t get to.
Cindy: OK, let's talk about that stuff here.
For instance, my experience was very different from Lori Rigsby’s. It was: girls shouldn’t skate; get the fuck out of here. Those were, like, tough situations. I went to a skateboard ramp in the south, and the Klan came and tried to beat me up.
Photo of Stephanie ~ Martin Willners
I had a very famous skateboarder try and rape me in a hotel room because I was just by myself. I wasn’t Laurie the blonde golden girl, or Cara-Beth, who grew up in the whole royalty of the Vans era and had all those people backing her. I never had a spot either, like Cara-Beth had Del Mar, and all we had was ramps that kept getting torn down. So I never had a consistent skate spot, you’d get used to one ramp, and then that was gone, and you’d have to skate shitty, even worse ramps.
It always felt like I never had backup from a group
of guys, I was always fighting my way to stay relevant and be me, and it was never easy. Everything, every single story, every single second of it was absolutely grueling and very hard.
Cindy: That was obviously extremely hard, and I am sorry you had to go through all that, but just know you opened so many doors – like Judi getting you on Santa Cruz, she has quietly done the same thing in the past few years, getting Minna Stess on the team. And, of course, Samarria is now on Thunder Trucks – you paved the way for that door to open up back in 1986. These are only two examples. There are so many more Black girls skating nowadays, and you led the charge.
Cindy: When did you stop skating vert – or have you?
Stephanie: What eventually took me out of skateboarding was I busted my knee – it took ten surgery's and four years of recovery to get over that. If that never happened, I’d still been skating hard and probably would have done even more.
Cindy: I really appreciate the time and depth you are giving us for this conversation. These are things that we, as female skaters, don’t usually share or get asked about – so thank you for being so honest, raw, and real.
Judi and I think that next up for you should be a Skateboarding Hall of Fame nomination!
Stephanie: Aw, thank you, you girls are so sweet!
Cindy: Thank YOU! I appreciate that you fought so hard for yourself and others in skateboarding. As a Black female skater, you paved the way for so many girls today, so thank you so much for all you’ve done, and just know what there’s a lot of us that definitely appreciate it!
In case you missed the Smithsonian Museum of American History's virtual live opening of the new exhibit, GIRLHOOD (it's complicated) you can catch it all right here!
'70s skateboarders Cindy Whitehead and Judi Oyama both have pieces of their skate history on display in this exhibit and the prototype of the Dusters x Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word board is featured as well.
Watch out for this display and special messages from Judi & Cindy at the 43:30 mark.
We have heard about Emily for years now. We missed meeting her when we went to the Maryhill SheRide a few years back and since then she has been competing with the men in downhill... and winning. This young woman doesn't let anything get in the way of her goals, and when she hears "you can't" or "It's never going to happen" that fuels her even more. She skates downhill faster than most people drive their car on the freeway, is an IDF champion, skates for Team USA and still manages to attend college to get her degree. Whew!
We are extremely pleased to share this " Who's Rad" interview featuring Emily Pross with you!
Photo Gael Abudarham
Who's Rad?
Emily Pross
Age?
23 years old
Home is?
I was born and raised in Vernon, New Jersey. But I have lived in Mineral, Virginia for the last two years.
How long have you been downhill racing?
I have been downhill racing for the last 7 years. I originally started downhill skating in 2012, but I was mostly into the freestyle aspect of it at first. By freestyle, I mean technical slides and flowing down the hill with style and grace. It was not until 2013 when I realized my love for downhill racing on a skateboard. Now I just want to go as fast as I can downhills.
Photo CGSA Downhill
What made you get interested in doing downhill?
Well, growing up, I could never really figure how to ollie or do any of the fancy flatland street skating tricks on a regular skateboard. So instead I took my skateboard to the top of this hill I lived on and rode down that, and honestly, I could do that all day. I loved that gravity powered speed feeling.
You are going to school and racing – how do you juggle both?
I do and it is pretty rough. Fortunately, I took online classes through Berkeley College. Generally my plan of attack with school, and traveling to races, was trying to get all the work done ahead of time that I was assigned in the weeks I would be gone. Generally, the season would start in Australia, and I would be gone for about 3 weeks and go to two races. So I would talk to the professors and they would give the work for those 3 weeks I would be gone, because I knew once I got to my destination I would not feel like doing any kind of schoolwork. So I would knock out 3 weeks' worth of school work in 4 classes ahead of time. I would start this grind about a month before I would leave. It was very draining, mentally, having to all that extra work on top of the work that was due that week in all those classes.
What are you getting your degree in?
I am currently pursuing my Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing and Communications. I’m actually in my last semester finishing that up.
Can you tell us what an average day is like for you?
Since I am currently working on an internship with Twente Additive Manufacturing. My day starts out, getting up early around 5am or 6am. Try to complete some school work, before heading out the door to work at the internship at 8:30am. Then at the end of the day, I train at the gym generally around 5pm, for about 1 hr 1/2 - 3hrs, how long I train depends on how I feel. And then I return home, eat dinner, study some more, then go to bed, and repeat. Depending on my schedule, sometimes I’ll try and do some training in the morning before heading to work or doing anything else I have planned that day.
Speaking of training – can you tell us what type of training you do to prepare and keep your body in shape for your sport?
Generally, during the racing season, I participate in HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and keep a good mix of endurance, strength, and balance training in with my HIIT routine. To give you an idea, my favorite routine, is warming with low weight on weight lifting exercise, like say squats. Then without rest in between weight sets, I will sprint on the treadmill, or outside (depending on the weather) for 1:20 at a 10mph pace. I will repeat this 4 times, without resting in-between weight sets, while also adding weight to my strength training exercise. I’ll also do this with other weight training exercises in one training session. Aside from this, I also like to go for long-distance runs on occasion. As well as go to the bouldering gym.
We know you like to go FAST – what is the fastest speed you have clocked on your skateboard?
Photo Tyler Topping
"The fastest speed I clocked on a skateboard is 135.00kph. Which is 83.88 mph. This was at the top speed challenge up in Quebec Canada, I achieved the fastest for the ladies in that contest up there"
How did you get the nickname “The PROSSecutor”?
The nickname was actually given to me by one of friends in the downhill industry, Max Dubler. He gave me the nickname back in 2015 at an international Downhill Federation (IDF) race in Lillehammer, Norway. 2015 was when I started to realize my potential to do well in the open category. Because I had a decent qualifying time and made the final 64 man bracket in Open/Pro Men’s category, people were saying those that qualified worse than I got “Prossed.” That was when Dubler took it upon himself to say, “No, you all got PROSSecuted.” The name and term stuck ever since then.
Can you tell us about the different divisions in downhill, women, open, etc?
Of course. So much like other sports where they have a governing organization like NFL, NHL, and MLB. The IDF is the league and sanctioning body we race in as downhill skateboarders. In this league, we race under they're set of rules, and racing divisions/classes. These multiple different classes under their umbrella, have a points chase across multiple different races around the world, in order to crown a World Champion. The classes the IDF offers races in are, a Master’s Division, which is for people 35 years and up. A Women’s division, which all women of any age can compete in. A junior division that anyone under the age of 18 can compete in. A street luge division which, people who participate in, street luging, race against each other in. Lastly, they offer an Open category, which is the main racing division the IDF offers. In the Open category, anybody is allowed to participate, including those participating in the other divisions, excluding luge. The open category is very much similar to a “Pro Men’s” division, however, women are allowed to compete, which is called “Open.”
Photo Tyler Topping
You are winning all the women’s comps and are also beating the men – can you tell us a little about what racing with the men is like, where it took place, and how it felt?
Of course. I know it sounds weird, but I now have 2 “first” wins under my belt against the men. One was at a non-IDF sanctioned event in North Carolina, called Mt. Jefferson. This win happened in 2017. And my other was my first win in an IDF event, at the Seaside track in the Philippines. This happened in 2018.
The Mt. Jefferson race track is one of my favorite race tracks in the world, the track pretty much has all the features I like in a race track. Back in 2017 when I won, I won in the rain. Skateboarding in the rain is a whole different ball game. There is no traction, so you have to calculate and think about your technique and lines while navigating the road. I also remember it being particularly cold here, I remember being lined up on the starting for the final heat, and not being able to stop shivering. I honestly credit the cold to me winning, because, literally every heat I wanted to get to the bottom as fast I could so I could get out of the rain and try to warm myself up.
At the Mt. Jefferson race because it was not IDF, they only offered one class, open. However in the Philippines, I raced both Women’s and Open. This race was also extremely brutal because of the extreme heat and humidity. From the Quarterfinals till the end I was racing 2 race heats per round, and in the heat and humidity, it was extremely difficult. But this win was particularly special to me, because not only did I win against the men while racing an additional race heat per round. But I won against two former Open world Champions, who had the reputation of being hard to beat, so that special.
I like to think, unrealistic goals, lead to unrealistic outcomes. I relate this to my goal of winning an open race because I was always told, “you can’t” “It’s never going to happen.” When something you worked so hard to achieve finally happens, you are left with this feeling of, what now? What do I do?
Photo Ras Sarunas
You are setting records like this and paving the way for women in the sport – are there more goals like this coming up for you?
"For sure! My main goal in downhill is to inspire others, whether I have accomplished that or not, I do not know. But, my main goal for next is to be better than I was last year, as a competitor. Both mentally and physically"
Do the guys treat you differently now that you are competing with them and beating them?
Yes and no. Some guys, I can tell I have earned their respect as a competitor. However, I can still sense some resentment in the attitudes of some others.
You are also an IDF champion – how many times and which years?
Yes, I am a 5x IDF World Champion, 4x being undefeated. And with the win at the World Roller Games in Barcelona, I now have 6 World Titles.
You were named recently to the USA National Team – what does that mean to you?
As a whole, it felt really cool because this was the first time Downhill Skateboarding has ever been apart of something at this magnitude. All in all, it was a huge step forward for the sport, and I felt proud to be apart of the downhill community.
Can you explain what it was like to go to Barcelona and compete?
The event in Barcelona was beautifully run. It was really spectacular to see all the best skaters in the world come together at a single event. Normally at most events, everyone can’t make it, so it was cool to really see the whole downhill scene come together.
You brought home the gold for the USA there – what does your medal look like?
The medal is pretty cool. The medal actually looks like a wheel. It has a gold rim with a concrete center. In the concrete, the WRG games logo is stamped along with downhill’s event symbol. On the inside of the medal is a gold skateboard bearing with “World Roller Games” engraved into. The bearing spins too, which is pretty neat.
Photo Via Kebbek Skateboards
You have your own pro model board with Kebbek – sweet! Tell us about the graphics, the design, how that came about?
The graphic is pretty cool, it was made by an artist out in Nelson, BC. The focal point of the graphic is a Bald Eagle, which I thought was pretty sweet considering I’m one of their few riders from the United States. This design came about from testing and riding multiple different boards in the market. I gleaned a little bit from each of the boards I liked, and have ridden in the past, and mashed all these components together to make my pro-model.
Any advice for girls who want to follow in your footsteps?
Rusty Williams
"If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything. At times you are going to feel alone, but remember to keep your eyes on the prize and stay focused on the end goal."
"Do not let others tell you that you can’t, because they are only saying that to scare you from what you CAN do."
Girls in action sports that inspire you?
I love following Crossfit and the athletes who compete in the games. Women, such as Tia-Clair Toomey, Katrin Daviosdottir, and Jessica Griffith. These women, are major inspirations for me in keeping me motivated in my passion for training and working out.
I’m also a huge fan of American Ninja Warrior, and I have massive respect for Jessie Graff. She helps keep me inspired to compete against all humans, rather than just the women.
1. I’m a huge fan of kombucha, and do my own home brewing. In the future, I would like to possibly start a kombucha beverage company.
2. I have a fear of falling from high places, and I credit this fear to my sister. On family vacation whenever I would look out of the edge of a cliff, or something similar, my sister would also come from behind and give me a little nudge/jerk forward. This would cause me to lose my balance and think I was about to free-fall off the edge. Because of this, to this day, I hate being close to the edges of cliffs even if there is a safety railing across it.
3. I’m currently learning another language, Portuguese.
What’s Next?
Honestly, I am not sure. I would like to keep pursuing the IDF world tour. But, since the sport is so small it is very hard, for me financially, to fund all that traveling year after year. One thing Would like to do is pursue coaching. I think I could bring a lot of stuff to the table to help someone succeed in this sport and others. For now though, I kind of just going to go with the flow, see what doors open, and close, and go from there.
We have always thought that there should be more books on women's skateboarding in the world, so when we started thinking about publishing our first book
brand, with the goal of publishing at least one book per year about women and girls skateboarding and possibly other sports featuring women that are not mainstream (yet).
We are proud to say that the new women's skate book
by Charlotte Thomas launches today and focuses on the female skateboarding scene in the UK. Charlotte has been documenting female skaters like Lucy Adams, Stefani Nurding, Rianne Evans and more for the past five years. The compilation of her work is shown in this beautiful 10x10 book that looks great on your coffee table or nightstand and provides major skate inspiration on every page.
x Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word Yurt Takeover was such a FUN event! People came straight from the Women's March in Downtown LA to continue the #GirlPower fueled day at
in Silverlake. There was a DJ spinning tunes all afternoon, drinks from our friend Deb Glassman at Lybations Cocktails and Nica Craft Beer provided by Andrew. There was yummy food by Black Cat LA, and pro skateboarder Arianna Carmona, soul skater Elise Crigar and mini shredder, Quinne Daniels were on hand to sign copies of the
"It's Not About Pretty"
book. The new Dusters x Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word
"Girl Power"
cruiser board was launched (so many girls had huge grins on their faces as they took their boards out the door to ride) and a showing of photographer Ian Logan's work, featuring female skaters, was on display in the Odell's yurt.
It was a really special treat to have soul skater Sierra Prescott drop by to see her photo on the wall, legendary 70's skate photographer Hugh Holland came in to congratulate the girls, and artist Priscilla Witte - who did the illustrations for the new cruiser - was there as well. LA84's Jeremy Rosenberg, and Justine Siegal who runs "Baseball for All" dropped in to show support, along with a lot of our Venice skater friends - Heidi Lemmon & her daughter, Kala & Vivian Fernandez, Julie Daniels, as well as Jesse Swalley and his family. Desiree Moore from Dwindle and Chantelle Heroux from Bridge to Skate came by and it was really special to get a pic of them together - they are both a huge part of making this collab board come together!
We loved meeting all the young skater girls who came out with their moms and dads - you are the future and we need more girls skateboarding - so thank you! We hope to see all of you at the skatepark for a girls session soon.
below that explains just exactly what we are doing with Gin and which skater girls we brought together to star in this video.
"Today we share the video for “Cabrona” from Gin’s most recent collaborative project #GIRLGANG, in which Gin collabs with some of her favorite female artists and people to produce multimedia Pro-Woman experiences. The “Cabrona” video in collaboration with Cindy Whitehead, founder of skate collective Girl Is Not A 4 Letter Word, features four female skaters, Zara Percy, Emma Houle, Kyra Williams and Amanda Caloia. In addition to appearing in the music video, GN4LW and Gin are collaborating on a special edition skate deck to (TBD) to be designed by the artist Kristin Liu." (
There are all sorts of ways to have a career in skateboarding, beyond being a pro skater. In fact, a lot of pro skaters have dual careers that usually involve artistic endeavors. Photography is one of those paths.
Today's WHO'S RAD is an interview with Australian based photographer, Tiffany Williams. We met Tiffany after skateboarder Sari Simpson referred us to her, we liked her photographic style, in and out of skateboarding, and we were lucky enough to work with her and feature her photos from two major Australian skateboard comps this past year. But Tiffany's passion and style in photography goes even beyond what she does at the skatepark - she shoots fashion/lifestyle editorials, band gigs and more. Read on to see just what fuels her creativity.
Who's Rad? Tiffany Jade Williams Where do you live/work?
Sydney, Australia – I work at a photo editing company in Sydenham called Raw Digital Lab + freelancing on the side.
How did you get started in photography?
My mum brought home a camera for work and I was completely fascinated. I ended up begging her for my own and haven’t put it down since!
What type of photography do you do when you are not shooting skateboarding?
I originally did a lot of events, particularly music, lots of festivals. Though I’ve stepped away and am trying to switch my focus towards fashion editorials.
What made you decide to start shooting female skaters?
I love skateboarding; it has always been a sport that has captivated my attention. However I am not a great skater myself so I turned to passions into one. I suppose I drifted toward photographing girls over guys mainly because I was stunned and always wished I had their skill & confidence.
Sari Simpson
Are there any skaters you really enjoy working with & why?
Definitely Sari Simpson, she’s the person who allowed me to explore skate photography. She’s one of my favourite skaters to watch, so much speed & determination.
Brighton Zeuner
What are some of your favorite places (skateparks, street, backyard pools) to shoot at?
I only really shoot the Bondi Bowl but I had the opportunity to photograph the Vans Park Series in Manly and that was definitely one to remember. Do you have an all time favorite female skate image that you’ve shot?
This image of Shanae Collins has got to be my favourite, the colours make it for me.
Shanae Collins
Any favorite tricks you like to shoot?
Love when girls pull inverts, really gets the crowd pumping. Favorite camera body & lens?
Canon 6d & 40mm – I shoot most of my work with this set up, the ‘pancake’ lens tends to be more subtle so you can get some real nice candid’s.
Do you like to light or do you prefer shooting with natural light?
I’m not a studio shooter that’s for sure. I love utilizing natural light and work with that mostly. With skating I love adding in the flash because it makes the skater pop in the image.
Any girls out there you haven’t shot yet but would like to?
Plenty! Obviously a shoot with Lizzie Armanto would be iconic but I’ve started following UK skater Savannah Keenan who I’d also love to work with, she’s got a sweet fashion sense and style on board.
Poppy Starr Olsen
Any advice for someone who wanted to get into action sports photography?
Practice, practice, practice. But more importantly, step back, watch what’s going on, follow the skater, see what spots they like to hit & then snap away. Observation has helped me so much. Where can we see your work?
http://www.tiffanyjwilliams.com/ - my favourite stuff can be seen on my site, but my most recent published work can be found through Sticks & Stones Agency and Off the Rails magazine.
We'd seen photos of Sari on instagram for quite awhile and knew that she totally ripped, but when she made the trip over to the USA from her home in Australia, to compete in Exposure Skate - we were blown away. The girl is fast - did you catch the live webcast recently from Bowl-a-Rama? She flew through corners like it was nothing. Sari's progression has been quick and fast, just like her skating, so make sure you keep an eye on this girl to see what she does next!
Who's Rad? Sari Simpson
Age? Sixteen
Home is? Sydney, Australia.
Home park or skate spot? Bondi Skatepark and the parks around Sydney.
How long have you been skateboarding?
I was about nine when I got a little K-Mart skateboard. I started taking it seriously about four years ago.
What do you enjoy most about skateboarding?
Sunset sessions at Bondi, the park I first learnt to skate. When I'm skating near the beach I feel completely free, not worrying about stopwatches or being judged. That is the time I enjoy it most.
There is also nothing that compares to the feeling of landing a trick when I've worked so hard to get it.
The people I've met- skaters are individual and often creative people, I feel like I can be myself. When my mum and I first moved to the city from the country I didn't know anyone, so I will always feel so grateful I found skateboarding and the supportive community that comes along with it.
Photo Tiffany Williams
Tell us about your board, what brand of deck, wheels, trucks?
I ride a 8.25 with 58 bones wheels and Independent trucks.
Favourite music to skate to?
Beyoncé - I'm sure all the hard core skaters will agree.
Photo Dean Tirkot
Favourite place you've ever skated?
Is too hard to pin it down to one place. Combi Bowl and Venice skatepark are my favourites in California. I love Bondi Bowl because I know it through and through.
I recently went to New Zealand for Bowzilla, Wellington and to meet my NZ family for the first time. I skated a bowl in the South Island at Lake Wanaka, behind the bowl is a view of snow capped mountains and a beautiful lake. That's got to be my favourite as far as scenery goes.
Tell us about some recent contests you have been in?
Most recently, I competed in the Vans Park series at Manly Beach. They built the park on the sand. Every skater approached it creatively in their own unique way. It was a really fun contest as it was in correlation with the Australian Open of surfing so It had a festival feel.
Bowlarama 2017- Bowlarama is a massive comp that happens in Bondi beach every year. A lot of the pros from over seas come to Bondi and it creates an exciting vibe. When I was in primary school my friend and I would try to sneak a day off school just to watch the pros skate in the week leading up to the comp. So it was a dream to actually compete in the first woman's pro division.
After years of being one of the only girls skating Bondi, watching rad visiting female pros draw creative lines and go for gnarly tricks in that bowl really inspired me and has pushed me to progress. I was happy to make the finals.
Photo Dean Tirkot
Favourite trick?
Backside ollies.
Photo Transition Photography
Which female skaters inspire you?
Lizzie Armanto! She has an amazing style, her stale fish airs are killer. She is breaking new ground with her 'Fire' part for Thrasher.
Amelia Brodka, it's admirable that she works hard to run events like Exposure to create opportunities for girls and women.
It's great that there are female skateboarders at a really high level to aspire to. You see them doing a trick and you think, I need to get that trick. Or they do a grind and you want to do a better grind. The female skate scene in Australia is strong but we all live pretty spread out. When the girls come together for contests they inspire and push me to progress.
I also teach a bunch of young girls at Monster Skatepark every week, it's cool to see their confidence growing, the way they go for it like fierce little skate babies is the best.
Photo: Tiffany Williams
We know you shoot often with photographer Tiffany Williams, who's work we love - what is like collaborating with another female on skate projects?
Tiffany first saw me skate when she was shooting some pics at a comp a few years ago. Tiff reached out to me and asked if we could shoot again. I was excited at the opportunity to work with a female photographer for the first time. Tiff is really talented and has a unique and beautiful photography style. I feel very fortunate to be able to collaborate With another girl in such a male dominated industry. Tiffany started collaborating with 'Girl is Not a 4 letter' word to cover the summer contests in Australia this year. It was a great feeling to have a friend like Tiffany around the bowl. It is a very male dominated world in and out of skateboarding but with more women working together and more women involved with the skate industry it can really elevate not just woman's skateboarding but skateboarding as a whole and create a comfortable inviroment for girls who want to try skateboarding. I really love the guys that I skate with, they have become good friends and have encouraged me in my skateboarding but theres nothing like having another girl to create, hang out and joke around with at the skatepark.
Sponsors?
Skater Socks USA, Xs Unified, Dickies Australia, I Skate Australia/ Monster Skatepark.
Photo Eric Chen
How was your trip to the USA?
It was an amazing experience that I feel very grateful for. I went over with some other Australian skater girls through 'iskate Australia' We got to travel around Southern California, hit up all the iconic parks I've dreamt of skating and meet so many rad people. There is nothing like the beauty of Californian sunsets after a long day of skating.
Can you tell us what parks, events etc you hit up while you were here?
Every year I was busting to compete at Exposure, I'd watch all the videos- I finally got to go. Exposure is like a festival of woman's skateboarding... I've never seen so many female skaters in one place, it's so different to home. I learnt so much just by watching everyone. It was cool to be surrounded by so many girls who share the same passion. And... they had the best acai bowls! We hit up a few other parks too like Combi and Venice. I love Venice for its relaxed bowl and Combi because it really challenges you, if you don't stay sharp that bowl will throw you.
We also got the opportunity to skate Tony Hawks private vert ramp. We had no idea he would show up! So it was crazy to be skating vert in a doubles run with Mr Hawk himself.
Any plans to come back and visit us again soon?
It depends on how much money I can save! But I'm hoping to compete at Exposure this year and the Girls Combi next.
Photo Joanne Barratt
What is coming up next?
Skating, spending time with friends and my mum. And working towards the comps coming up.
What social media links should people follow you on?
Any last words for girls out there who want to start skateboarding?
If skating makes you happy then do it without question. I was really shy when I first started going to the skatepark, it can be intimidating at first but eventually, I made friends and the guys helped me out. I think girls have been taught to play it safe and that a sport like skateboarding is too tough. But girls are absolutely capable! It's overcoming your fear that makes skating so special. Don't be afraid to be a beginner or ask for advice, everyone has to start somewhere.
I promise, once you get that first trick you've worked hard for, you're hooked.
This 18 year old shredder just won the Vans Philippines Skate Championships and word is that she will hopefully be coming to the USA soon to visit and skate. Margielyn has been flying a bit under the radar but that is fast becoming a thing of the past - with her recent win more and more people in the skateboarding world are taking notice. Her sponsorship's are solid and she is even slated to be featured in the June issue of BLUNT magazine. This girl is one to watch! If you don't believe us, just take a look at what she lists as her "favorite" tricks. See you soon Margielyn!
Who's Rad? Margielyn A.Didal
Age? 18
Home is? Cebu City , Philippines Home Park or Skate spot is? Streets in Cebu How Long Have You Been Skateboarding? almost 6 yrs
Tell us about your board set up: 852 Board, Ace Trucks , Wheels - etheir Ricta or Spitfire Favorite music to skate to? "Broccoli" by big baby D.R.A.M Girls Who Skate that inspire you? Leticia Bufoni
Photo via Anthony Claravall
Favorite place you've ever skated? The streets in Hong Kong and TKO skatepark in HK Favorite Trick? BS 50-50 to 360 flip, and and back foot late late heel flip out
Sponsors? NB Numeric Asia Pacific , 852 Skateboards , Ace Trucks , Ares Skate Supply What is coming up next? Volcom Clothing Asia soon
with Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word to highlight our female empowernment movement and skaters - we were beyond stoked. To see Venice Skatepark filled with only girls skating from dawn to dusk is not something you ever see - thanks to Lifetime TV this dream happened.
- maybe you caught it? If not, we have it here. This spot features Japanese ripper Sky Brown - at just 8 years old she is taking the skating world by storm and has some other big dreams as well!
Also in this spot are Hunter Long, Minna Stess, Jordyn Barratt, Quinne Daniels, Vianez Morales & Emma Houle. Such a rad day filming with these girls and the
Jordan Beal is the girl who is always making sure she promotes other skater girls on her instagram, she's the one at the skatepark smiling and having fun, and working hard at making skateboarding inclusive to all. She is definitely a 100% skateboarder just like the rest of us, but she is also doing things that help keep the girls skateboarding community moving forward and being shown in a positive light. From her blog, Skating Fashionista, that covers events, fashion, interviews, and skateboarding, to her volunteer work with numerous events, Jordan is a force behind bringing in brands that might not otherwise have been interested in using skater girls to promote their products. Read on to see how Jordan, at only 15 years old, manages to do all this plus attend high school. Pretty impressive.
Who's Rad? Jordan (JoJo) Beal
Age? 15
Home is? Cardiff 92007 Home Park or Skate spot is? Carmel Valley Skate Park How Long Have You Been Skateboarding? 4 years
What do you enjoy most about skateboarding?
You can be as creative as you want plus it’s the best way to get to the beach quick. Tell us about your board set up – what brand of deck, wheels, trucks?
Arbor deck, Spitfire Wheels, ALWAYS clear grip with stickers underneath and Independent Trucks. Favorite music to skate to?
I don’t like listening to music when I skate it makes me nervous.
Friends - Minna Stess, Arianna Carmona & Jordan Santana
Girls who skate that inspire you?
Minna Stess and Arianna Carmona because they kill it & if they keep teaching me I will land something amazing soon ;)
Favorite place you've ever skated?
Carmel Valley Skate Park & Clairemont Skate Park because nothing is better than skating with friends.
Jordan and the skatercross crew
Who are your favorite people to skate with?
I like to skate with people who are skating for fun not just talking about it being fun.
Which female skaters inspire you?
I’m inspired by Micaela Ramirez, the founder of Poseiden Foundation. I’m getting ready to go blog at the 8th annual Ladies Day at the Berrics. Girls who open doors and then leave them open for other girls are stylish and inspirational.
Way back when, Micaela opened a door for me by introducing me to Don Brown. He’s my spirit animal.
As a blogger I have many supporters. My blog is about keeping it stylish on & off the board. I believe more girls skateboard when they see stylish girls skateboarding and get encouragement. I appreciate all the organization that have and continue to help me encourage girls around the world to skateboard for fun. Here’s the link to the blog http://skatingfashionista.com/
I absolutely love people & organizations that share the link or re-post my posts.
Three things you don't know about me:
1. I’m dyslexic.
2. I find Facebook complicated. Why can’t everything be easy like Instagram?
3. I’ve been “moving” to Canada since pre-school.
Tell us about some events or contests you have been involved in?
I enjoyed volunteering for Clash at Clairemont X. I’m still working on finishing up a short video on why it’s such a special event and how the park positively impacts the community.
Much love to Morgnar who trusted me with the Active Ride SnapChat to cover SkaterCross on press day (a pre-event to Clash X). Also thank you to the Element/Etnies crew who challenged me to add videos to a post. I can write all day – videos that’s scary stuff, but with encouragement all things are doable.
Tell us how you came up with the idea to create a fashion x skateboarding blog?
I wanted to tell the world there’s no uniform in skateboarding. Plus I wanted to say what makes skateboarding fun is not how good you are at it. You can be the best at something and miserable, so why can’t you be OK or even bad at something and happy.
To me skateboarding and fashion are both creative outlets. I will definitely share my opinions – olive green pants are a must this year – but I’m about accepting whatever someone wants to wear. There’s no wrong way to dress or skate. http://skatingfashionista.com/2016/09/red-bull-curb-kings-september-10th/
You cover brands, events, photographers, skaters – what is your favorite part of doing the blog?
My favorite part of the blog is I meet all kinds of people and get to share their stories. My hope is the stories I share break myths that exist about skateboarding, fashion, and what girls can do.
You like to make sure skateboarding is inclusive and that anyone can try it and get involved – what has the response been like?
Most people are very supportive, however, there are some haters. I blog about the supporters.
You have been involved with Exposure for many years – what is your role in that event?
I love to help at Learn to Skate. I go where Neal Mims tells me, he’s been doing this long enough he knows how to match people up. Plus working any event with Neal is fun. He loves skateboarding and his positivity is contagious.
Prior to the event I help promote it. I have an events page on the blog http://skatingfashionista.com/upcoming-fun-events-for-skating-fashionistas/ so it’s up there and I write posts on girls who share they are coming and on what’s new like this year the fundraising pages & the Yoga Challenge.
Post event, I write a recap of the event through my eyes and those who shared with me. http://skatingfashionista.com/2016/11/exposure-skate-5th-year-11516/ One of the benefits of blogging is you can update any time so if someone’s reading this & has more memories to share just let me know.
What do you like most about being involved in Exposure?
What I like best about EXPOSURE is it’s a charity event. I don’t think anyone wants to talk about domestic violence, however, it’s a real problem and Carol’s house offers women and their families a way out of the abuse. The proceeds from EXPOSURE go to Carol’s House. I was honored to help present the check at this year’s event.
Both founders Amelia Brodka and Lesli Cohen support all girls that skate or want to learn to skate. It’s amazing that it’s free to attend & participate.
Can you share with us what Exposure Skate is/does?
EXPOSURE Skate empowers women through skateboarding. They provide a stage at their yearly event so the world can see #girlscanskate, girls have a chance to learn to skate, donate proceeds to survivors of domestic violence and now have a monthly event called Skate Rising.
What I find amazing is that Amelia made a documentary, Underexposed and didn’t stop there. Many people will tell you about a problem and hope you fix it or it goes away. Amelia & Lesli created EXPOSURE to address the problem.
Jordan teaching at Skate Rising
Can you tell us about the new event you are involved with – Skate Rising?
Skate Rising is part of EXPOSURE Skate. It’s lead by Calli Kelsay. It happens on the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Encinitas Community Park at 9am. It’s targeted to young girls 5-18 and teaches them about a need in the community, how they can help through a service project, and then we skate.
As a blogger, I have overcome my fear of asking for anything, so I invite people & companies to participate. I want to stress that it’s not just girls that can be inspirational in teaching girls to be of service and help them skate. Jimmy Cao, Bryan from SkateXS with his entire team, & Academy Skate Park were on board from the start and help the event happen. I’m looking forward to when GN4LW comes.
The program started in August and so far I’ve been able to write a recap post for each session. This is the link to the first one & you can search the blog for Skate Rising to find the others http://skatingfashionista.com/2016/08/skate-rising-81316/ What’s Next?
I started a series of posts on my homecoming dress. I’ll be skating at several parks and then finding it a new home for prom. The first post is up and an upcoming post on Project Princess, who collects dresses for those who otherwise wouldn’t have a prom dress will be up soon.
Little rippers Sky & Quinne getting a serious dose of inspiration this morning.
I still can't believe it...
Lizzie Armanto is on the cover of Transworld Skate, and the pages inside are filled with girls interviews, photos, and ads. The girls are shredding. The pictures are seriously rad, and the words are inspiring. Barnes & Noble as well as skate shops everywhere are selling out of the magazines left and right, and we are only on day TWO since it launched. Girls are posting about it on every social media outlet and are STOKED. It IS the talk of the skateboard world.
I gave these little rippers above, Sky and Quinne copies of the magazine this morning over breakfast and as they thumbed through the pages they yelled girls names out as they came across their pictures "Leticia!!, Lacey!!, Allysha!, Alana - oh look at
that
shot.." They thumbed through the pages again and again, looking closely at each girls photo. As we left the restaurant they each clutched the magazine to their chest as if it was the most important possession they had with them this morning, and perhaps it really was. It was full of girls just like them who were absolutely killing it, and it made them realize that one day they will have a chance to be
that
girl in the magazine. When they can see girls even just a little older than them, like Brighton Zeuner, in a male dominated magazine it gives them fuel, and ignites their passion for skateboarding even more than ever. That is HUGE.
For me it was something else entirely. It was a sigh of genuine relief. It was knowing that this day had
finally
come. That 38 years had passed since I started skateboarding along with a small group of other girls in the 70's, and now it was really happening. We are seeing the change we have always wanted, hoped for, and fought for. I went to bed last night with the magazine in my hands as I thumbed through the pages and read those interviews again and again. I fell asleep holding it to my chest, and woke up this morning with a huge smile on my face, knowing that women in skateboarding had finally created a significant wave of change. It's not a "boys club" anymore it's just
skateboarding.
Now I feel that it is only fitting that I share this post I wrote back on September 24, 2013 - because it's just 3 years later and look how far we have come.
** This post was originally created for my fashion site
When I was writing it way back when, I started to realize that instead of bitching about what I wasn't stoked on, that maybe I should think about starting a blog about girls skateboarding and post a "Who's Rad" every week to create the content I thought there should be more of. Sometime your biggest pet peeves have a way of giving you forward momentum...
This reminds me of back in the day. But not in the way you might think…
Back in the day you had to hunt and hunt to find girls profiled in skateboarding magazines. I craved those photos, I studied them and cut them out and thumb-tacked them to my wall for inspiration. I don’t think I could have filled all the walls in my teenage bedroom with female skate photos even if I had tried – there just weren’t enough of them. But there were always photos of girls in cute outfits watching the boys skate…
Which brings me to this editorial spread. Don’t get me wrong, I love that skateboarding is featured here in a very 70′s California way, BUT I’d really be digging it if the girl was the one skating and maybe the boys were the ones watching. I’m waiting for the year that happens, and in the meantime, I am still tacking up photos of rad girls, with the hope that one day my walls will be filled.
I believe it’s time for a new ending to the same old story. What about you?
Flash back to today:
I have been smiling all day knowing that I could tear out all those photos and put them up on my office walls and have plenty of images to do it with. That is amazing to me...
Thank you to Transworld Magazine, the photographers, the writers, editors, advertisers and the female skaters featured, who just changed our world.
Thank you to every girl who has ever skateboarded - from the OG's in my day, to the little ones ripping today, for always charging hard, skating no matter what, because every single girl out there helped make this happen and you should all be stoked as hell. I know I am.
A pure case of doing what you love, and how it pays off. Meet Priscilla Witte, she's California cool and she does rad illustrations for a living. She may have been born and raised in upstate NY, but once she moved to Southern California in her early twenties she fell in love with the weather, the "you can be whoever you want to be" attitude, and the lifestyle, and her path was clear. Illustration and drawing was it.
You've probably seen her work in and around LA - on various walls in the arts district, or in places like Urban Outfitters, and rad coffee houses and cafe's in Venice. Once you spy one piece of her work you will be on the hunt for more - guaranteed!
We are totally in love with all of her work, especially her skate art - like the pieces above that were done for Zefr Inc.
Make sure you check out her Tumblr , and follow her on Instagram @pcwitte for more radness!
We saw Instagram posts of this tiny little girl on a pump track, cruising down the street, or flying out of a snake run, always in motion with her long blond hair flying in the wind. Next thing we knew we saw she was throwing a "Chica de Mayo" party to help raise funds for Girls Riders Organization. We wondered how someone who was only nine years old would pull off an event like this... Well, we needn't have wondered because Zoe is full of surprises that belie her young age. Read on to see what this little dynamo is up to next.
Who's Rad? Zoe Herishen
Age? 9
Home is? Northern New Jersey Home park or skate spot is? Chelsea Piers, NYC
How long have you been skateboarding?
I’ve been skating the skateparks for a little over a year but I’ve been long boarding since I was 5.
What do you enjoy most about skateboarding?
I love vert. Dropping in is the best feeling in the world. It’s like being on a roller coaster but you’re not strapped in so it’s even more exciting! Tell us about your board set up – what brand of deck, wheels, trucks?
Right now my park board is an ECC longboards skate deck with CORE trucks and Orangatang Onsens Wheels. I also have a really rad Silly Girl Skateboard deck that I won in a contest and just started riding. I stoked it out with Third Kind skate lights and Sunset Skateboard street wheels so it is super cool to ride at night or at the indoor skateparks!
Favorite music to skate to? I don’t really skate to music
Girls who skate that inspire you?
Well Brighton Zeuner is amazing! I really hope to skate with her some day! I also love Alexis Sablone. She is a great role model for me because she is wicked smart and a really sick skater too. I love school so this is important to me. She proves that you can focus on school and still crush it at the skatepark! Plus she is a NYC skater so she skates the same skateparks that I do.
Favorite place you've ever skated?
I loved Kona Skatepark in Florida. I probably did the snake run there about 100 times in two days! So much fun! Tell us about some recent contests you have been in?
I actually competed in Chica de Mayo which was a pump track event for both longboards and shortboards. I wasn’t going to compete since it was my event but the rest of the skaters talked me into it. I came in first in 14U and also took first overall.
Tell us how you came up with the idea to throw your Chica de Mayo skate event?
I was skating the Brooklyn Bike Park pump track on my longboard. I noticed a guy there skating on his skateboard and it just hit me. I thought it was the perfect place to have both types of riders come to one event. I love to longboard and hit the skateparks. I wanted to have an event where my friends could come no matter what type of board they ride. I brought my idea to Girls Riders Org and they loved the idea and asked me to help them run it. It was an epic event!
Was it hard to organize?
No, because I had so much support from GRO founder Courtney Payne-Taylor and my parents. My mom organizes events for our PTA and I have always helped her. I have also organized two food drives so I had some experience. GRO NYC has the most amazing crew of girls so when they showed up to help the whole thing ran really smooth.
What would you tell girls who want to do this too?
Go for it! Don't be afraid that just because you are a kid nobody will take you seriously. Find support like I did. Girls Riders Organization can help you go for your dreams just like they did for me. Having a crew of girls all over the country to reach out to, and visit when I travel is amazing! There are crews all over the country and they are growing every day. Find a GRO crew or start one in your area. It’s the best decision I have ever made! What was the best part about the day?
Seeing girls from all ages come together skating, competing, and just having fun! That was the best feeling! We had 5 year olds learning to skate and we had Forty year old moms learning to skate. We had skaters looking to compete and skaters just looking to meet other girl skaters. We even had a girl drive down from Boston just for the event! We keep in touch now and are good friends!
Favorite Trick or maneuver?
I love dropping in! It’s my favorite part of skating. I recently dropped in on a 12ft vert ramp in Riverside Park in NYC. It was crazy cool.
Who are your favorite girls to skate with?
My Girls Riders Organization NYC girls, especially Kendra, Ali, Bombette and Nina. We have the best time together! I also love visiting my Florida girls (Ava, Bree & Sophia) whenever I can. It’s always a great time skating & surfing with them!!
Which female skaters inspire you?
There are so many great pro girl skaters that inspire me I could never list them all! So I will tell you two that are not pros that really inspire me. Courtenay Payne-Taylor is a huge inspiration to me. She started GRO in a van that she lived in while she traveled the country trying to get more girls to skate. She went from place to place teaching girls and bringing them together at skateparks. It is pretty incredible to me that she has dedicated her whole life to inspiring other girls to skate. I am also very inspired by my friend Jaylee Dutcher who is an adaptive skater and rides for Box Wheelchairs. I saw her in a Life Rolls On video and I was blown away by her. She has spina bifida and does not let it stop her from being a fierce athlete. I reached out to her to tell her how amazing I thought she was. Now we are friends. We have never met but we Facetime and text and I really hope to meet her and skate together one day!! Whenever I think something is too hard I look at Jaylee’s videos and it inspires me to work harder!
I also have to shout out Triple 8 helmets who keep me well protected by sending me new helmets and pads whenever I need them which is pretty often lately!! www.triple8.com
Three Things You Don't Know About Me
1. I play the ukulele and electric guitar
2. I am totally addicted to Camp Woodward Online Show
3. I am a HUGE math geek and when I am not watching You Tube videos of skating, I am usually on Prodigy math game
What’s Next?
This summer I plan to really focus on my training. I am hoping to take my skating to the next level. I will also be working hard to get better at surfing because I truly love it. I am already working on my next idea with Girls Riders Org. I am hoping to combine my next event for them with a food drive to benefit a local food bank that I volunteer for. I have plans to travel with GRO this year as well. Some of our travel plans include Surf Expo, Exposure Skate and the grand opening of a rad new skatepark in Charleston, SC. I am super excited to join their mission to get more girls skating and can’t wait to meet tons of skaters and make lots of new friends!!
She blazed a trail at every contest we saw her in, fast and smooth with style for miles. Slashing and grinding, throwing airs off the hip, and extremely solid rock & rolls. It was almost if she came out of nowhere, yet she was everywhere. Her style is unlike most other girls skating in her age group, it's a rare combination of aggressive, strong, and smooth with a little hint of a smile thrown in here and there when she nails that next trick. She puts together intricate runs in places like combi, that are not what you'd expect from someone her age. Jordan Santana is full of surprises, not only in skateboarding, but out of the pool as well. She plays drums and can sing every lyric to most rock & roll songs from the 70's. And she is TWELVE. She is a socially conscience trailblazer and the first female team rider for Hosoi Skateboards. To say we are in complete and utter awe of this young ripper, is putting it mildly. Read on to see what me mean, because Jordan Santana is on FIRE.
Who's Rad? Jordan Santana
Age? 12 years old
Home? Houston, Texas Home Skatepark?
North Houston Skatepark, @nhoustonsk8park, the largest Skatepark in the United States, 2nd largest Skatepark in the world.
How long have you been skateboarding?
I have been skateboarding for 6 years now. However, for the first 4 years, I only skated around the park for fun. I had never skated a bowl until 2 years ago, and that’s where I fell in love with skateboarding. I love skating bowls! I have been skating bowls now for 2 years now.
What do you enjoy most about skateboarding?
I enjoy the fun of it, the people who skate, the people that I get to meet, the challenges of learning new tricks, and helping girls skateboarding reach new levels. People always ask my father, “how old is he?”, my father says “it’s she not he!” Then they say, “but she skates like a boy!”, and my father says “yes she does!”
My father and my mentor, Christian Hosoi, believe that my skateboarding style can help take girls skateboarding to new levels. I don’t know about all that, I just know that I’m having a lot of fun doing what I do. In my last competition, I took first place in the girl’s category, and second place in the 14 and under category, basically the boys category. In another bowl bash that I did, there was only two awards given, for best rider and best run of the day, and I won both. There were about 30 skaters, all boys that were teenagers, in their 20s, 30s and 40s, I was the only girl skater. I won both the best rider and best run of the day. They were all saying “I can’t believe that I just got my a— kicked by a 12 year old girl. That was fun!
A lot of the pro girl skaters tell me, “Jordan, we like hanging out with you, because wherever you go, all the legends are always around you. Meeting all the legends, skating with them is so much fun! I love skating with Christian, his family, Eddie Elguera, Lonny Hiramoto, and Stevie Caballero, they all have always been so nice to me and are always so willing to share skateboarding tips with me.
And finally, I love being on Team Hosoi! The skaters on the Hosoi Team are all really great skaters, Christian, Eddie Elguera, Taylor Jett, Lazor Crawford, Lawsen Miller, Classic Hosoi, Me and Kody Tamana. It’s a small team, but we are like family. I was the first girl sponsored by Hosoi, I was so stoked!
Tell us about your board set up – what brand of deck, wheels and trucks?
HOSOI, HOSOI, HOSOI!!! I have never skated any other deck than a Hosoi deck. My set up has Bones wheels and bones bearings with independent trucks, Grizzly Grip tape and bones rails. Favorite music to skate to?
My favorite music to skate to is Green Day, Led Zepplin and Creed, pretty much Rock and Classic Rock. Girls who inspire you to skate?
My favorite current girl skaters are Nora Vasconcellos, Sarah Thompson, and Julz Lynn. I am also inspired by the legends that I meet and read about like Cindy Whitehead, Peggy Oki, Patti McGee and Cara-Beth Burnside. Favorite place you’ve ever skated?
My favorite place to skate is the Outdoor Vans Skatepark in Huntington Beach, I love the deep bowls and there is always a bunch of kids to play with there.
Can you tell us about some recent contests you have been in?
Just two weeks ago I was in a contest called Feed The Need, in Victoria, Texas, I got 1st place in girls, and second place in 14 and under, which is basically the boys category. I also was in in a Bowl Bash called Skate and Enjoy, out of about 30 skaters, I got both awards that were given in the Bowl Bash, for best skater, and best run of the day. I was the only girl competitor, and I was the youngest. In larger scaled competitions, I placed 2nd in the Boardr Grind for Life Series in girl’s division, and 3rd place in the boys division, with about 16 boys competing. In my favorite, at the Vans Girls Combi, I placed 8th, and at Exposure I placed 9th.
Favorite trick or maneuver?
board slide to fakie, front side Smith grinds, front side stale fish, fully decked out fakies and fully decked out rock and rolls.
Who are your favorite people to skate with?
Christian Hosoi, Classic Hosoi, Endless Hosoi, Ryder Reategui, Eddie Elguera, Lonny Hiramoto, Stevie Caballero, Eddie Reategui, Bella Reategui, Nora Vasconcellos and my all time favorite skater sister to skate with, Minna Stess! Me and Minna became really great friends, we facetime all the time. Which female skaters inspire you?
Peggy Oki, Cindy Whitehead, Patti McGee and Cara-Beth Burnside, these ladies were the pioneers of women’s skateboarding, they paved the way for us.
Sponsors?
Hosoi Skateboards, and of course my parents.
Catch Jordan skateboarding and playing drums in the new Lifetime ad "Welcome to the Fempire". Her sister Lauren is also featured - pretty cool to get to work with your sister.
Three things that you don’t know about me
1) I am also a musician, I play drums, I am still learning piano and bass guitar
2) I have done 2 commercials for the Lifetime Channel called Welcome to the Fempire, basically the female empire. I really like this because the commercials celebrate the empowerment of women, and they were really fun to do. I skate and play drums in the commercials.
3) God first, I have been raised with a Christian faith background, I give all thanks to my God for all He has done for me, and for keeping me safe in skateboarding.
What’s next?
Training! Training! Training! At least that’s what my dad calls it. I call it having fun! One thing to train on is my airs, my front side and back side late grabs. Continuing to train with my father, and with Christian Hosoi. Christian and I have a special friendship, I just love his style. He has been called the most stylish skater ever, and judges in some of my competitions have commented on my style and my tricks and have said, “Wow! I wonder where she learned that from?” It is truly an honor that he personally trains me, we are like family. While sitting in the crowd at the last Vans Pool Party, the boys that were sitting behind me kept telling each other, “yeah! That’s Jordan, Christian Hosoi’s daughter.” Me and my father, who was sitting next to me, just laughed about it.
I continue to do demos here and there with Christian, which are a lot of fun. My dad is sending a photo where Christian invited me to do a demo with him for Penny Skateboards, it was really cool! I have been all over California, Texas, New York and Brooklyn with Christian. When I did the Boardr Grind for Life competition in Florida, I was so surprised that they already knew who I was when I got there to register for the competition, that was so Rad! It is awesome when someone comes and asks me to take a picture with them, or sign an autograph for them. I train 3 to 5 hours a day, everyday. Sometimes on weekends, I’ll skate 6 to 8 hours. I’m having so much fun!
Thank you Cindy for allowing me to take part in this Who’s Rad Interview. Thank you for all you have done for us girl skaters. You are a true legend in skateboarding! I saw you on stage at the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, and I wished that I was you. I hope one day I can be looked up to like you. Love, Jordan.
She comes from the South Bay where many great skaters since the 60's have come before her. Male and female, they shredded these streets before there were even skateparks. The first skateboard contest ever held was in the same place (Pier Avenue Jr. High) where her home skatepark sits now. The history of skateboarding in the South Bay is long and rich. Two pro skateboarders from this area were inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame just this past month - Ty Page and Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word founder Cindy Whitehead. It's is also home to skate legends like "Kevin the Worm" Anderson and the inventor of The Smith Grind, Mike Smith. Current pro skateboarder Mason Silva also calls the South Bay home. We can only assume that you may see this young girl standing up there at a SHOF event making the South Bay proud once again years from now. In the meantime, Hannah is skating every place she can, competing with the boys (and winning) and not looking back. Way to represent the South Bay, we are stoked to see it Hannah!
Who's Rad? Hannah Tallman
Age? 15
Home is? Redondo Beach Home Park or Skate spot is? Hermosa Beach Skatepark How Long Have You Been Skateboarding? 1 ½ years
Photo: Chris Van Berkom
What do you enjoy most about skateboarding?
The aspect that I can be myself and it makes me feel like I’m in my own world when I am skating! I don’t know what I would do without skateboarding! Tell us about your board set up:
I ride a 8.0 Baker Skateboard, 52 mm formula four spitfires, and 139 Independent trucks. Favorite music to skate to?
Rap and Rock and Roll because it gets me hyped!
Girls who skate that inspire you?
Mariah Duran because she has a sick street style! To be honest I just watch male skateboarders most of the time. My favorite skateboarder in the world is Trevor Colden I could watch his videos for hours! Whenever I watch one of his videos it makes me want to get up and skate! Favorite place you've ever skated?
The Berrics
Photo: CJ Hoff
Tell us about some recent contests you have been in?
I just went to a contest a few weeks back in Seattle for the X Games qualifier. Also a few months back I had a contest in Palm Springs, 13-15 year old boys and got 1st place!
Favorite Trick or maneuver?
Kickflips are my favorite trick
Check out Hannah's Park Part for Spyder Skate Shop
Who are your favorite people to skate with?
My brother Luke and my best friends Danny, Kwess, and Luke
Which female skaters inspire you?
Vanessa Torres because she is super chill and has a cool style and steez when she skates!
