Quarter-life crisis – Skateboard version
Similar to the mid-life crisis, but this version happens during your 20s and is skateboarding related. Most of us would go through a stage like this sooner or later, unless you are the daughters of a rich father (less cared). Otherwise, most girls skateboarders are bound to feel lost at one point in their life.
If that sounds familiar to you, here is a list of successful female skateboarders for you to feel better. No, actually? You know what? Read their stories, let them become your source of inspiration and keep moving forward like them.
Who are these female skateboarders?
Standard opening first
The typical storyline of most female skateboarders is like this: you love skateboarding since teenage years, practice it, hang out with the boys who also love it, keep doing it till your 20s. So what now?
People who are passionate about food either becomes restaurateur or sponsored well-known food bloggers, those with a smart brain turn into a doctor, lawyer, or whatever career that bear the risk of turning bald.
How about us female skateboarders then? What do we do and what should we become?
Lacey Baker
The very first lady skateboarder who got enlisted to the Nike Skateboarding team then proceeded to be the designer of the first pair of skateboarding shoes for women, at the age of 25 years old. How cool is that?
I have seen men at the stage of 35 still trying to figure things out, yet this woman here became successful at age ten years younger than those men (No offense to my male readers).
By the way, of course, she got famous through skateboarding, more or less. Additionally, she wouldn’t have a clue for the skateboarding shoe design if she wasn’t a skateboarder herself.
So, what is a potentially successful career path for a female skateboarder? Shoe designer, specifically skateboarding shoes.
Beatrice Domond
For you girls out there living in small or rural towns, Beatrice Domond initially started out skateboarding as a hobby in her hometown. She was passionate about it and just kept going at it.
Then guess what? She was involved in a film in 2014 and featured in many other productions. Not only that, she was the only female member of the Supreme’s skating team. Oh, did I mention that she has loads of sponsors too?
All these just started from a hobby of a little girl in a small corner of the world? If this is not inspirational, I don’t know what is.
Leticia Bufoni
“But, but, but they live in first world countries, anything is possible!” Ms. Bufoni would literally laugh right at your face.
Leticia Bufoni was born in Brazil with a burning passion for skateboarding. A lady skateboarder with three gold medals from X Games, all in one year! Oh, not crazy enough? She was also the first to secure a coveted position in Nike skateboarding team then proceeded to be featured in Forbes magazine in 2018.
Now I can’t help but feel a bit depressed about myself, as a fellow female skateboarder. Should I draw some inspiration from them too heh?
By the way, Miss Bufoni career did not stagnate after her featuring in the magazine, she now aims even higher, looking to participate in the Olympic event in 2020. Talk about ambition, get them, girl!
Nora Vasconcellos
“Alright, you mentioned the above women are associated with Nike thus their success, but what if Nike does not notice me, now what?” You become Nora Vasconcellos, that’s what.
She wasn’t an ordinary folk with a passion for skateboarding; she was a victim of anxiety and panic disorder. However, she spat right at the face of those mental struggles and kept on skateboarding.
Guess what was next? She was noticed by Adidas and saw her career blossom like the sakura tree in Japan.
No seriously, that really was how I felt when I found out about her and started reading her Bio.
The emotion I had for her peaked at the moment when she got a signature Adidas colorway. The design had me drooling more than pizza ever could.
It sort of felt like witnessing King Arthur obtaining his Excalibur, but skateboarding version. Exaggerated? Maybe a little bit, but hey I am an emotional person, leave me alone.
The point is, Nike and Adidas are not the only ones paying attention to skateboard girls. There are others too; you just are not aware of them.
Possible career pathways for female skateboarders
With the shining models above, you probably got cheered up quite a bit now. Let’s do a brief discussion on what to do now, shall we?
Doing cool stuff on social media
If you are good with social media (and skateboarding too, of course, that goes without saying), profile yourself on Instagram skateboarding or whatever platform you frequent, would certainly help attract sponsors. From that point, you would mostly like become some sort of skateboarding products promoters or something else similar.
You wouldn’t get famous right away, but trust me, just keep at it and your fame will come. Meanwhile, you are still doing cool stuff for the community to see, which is also awesome and motivating too.
Take part in tournaments
No matter how small or even without any sort of reward, participating in competitions could help your hone your skateboarding skills and be recognized in the community. Recognition will then run its magic and voila, a representative of something; one day suddenly approaches you unexpectedly with a proposal.
Time to skate
Look, I am no career advisor, so there are probably a thousand more ways to follow your skateboarding career as a female, which I do not know. The bottom line is, keep skateboarding, keep at it and don’t stop (stop to rest but not permanently).
The saying of “keep doing the things you love, and success will come your way” applies to female skateboarding too.
Good luck girls, don’t let adversity defeats you.
Image credit: skateboard via diignat/shutterstock