April 10, 2026 • 50 mins
Samarria Brevard joins GLWT.
Riverside kid turned global street-skating powerhouse. Multi X Games medalist. 2014 Women's Street World Champion. The first Black woman on the cover of Thrasher Magazine. Pro for Hoopla, Enjoi, and now Meow.
In this episode, Brevard reflects on a career that accelerated fast — through the contest circuit, street skating, travel, and the physical toll that came with it. We talk about what it took to keep pace and what it cost.
And the new chapter. Less survival mode. More perspective and intention + a nice bonus with a few great book recommendations.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good Luck with That is an iheartwomen's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, everyone, welcome to Good Luck with That. I'm your
host Ashley Raefeld and Mimi Noop. Joining us today is
Samria Brevard. What's up everyone?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:22):
What's good? What's happening? Where are you at?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Mimi?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I am on the East coast of the US this
week visiting family, so three hours ahead of you.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Now love that. How about you, so, Maria? Yeah, just
holding it down on the West coast.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
La vibes same here. I'm a little above you up
in San Francisco. Samara Brevard, Welcome to Good.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Luck with That.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hello, thank you for having me. We're so sotid to
have you. I mean your street skating powerhouse. Some of
your sponsors are MAO, Thunder Bronze, and New Balanced YETI.
You were born September twenty second at nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Goofy footed.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
You've racked up multiple X game medals. You came up
through Hoopla, you turned profer enjoy you now ride from Yow.
You were the first black woman to get the cover
of Thrasher magazine in the forty years of them putting
out that mag so incredibly cool.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
Where do we even begin, Mimi, you've known Samria like forever.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Now I was gonna say, Samrio, you're also the first
black woman to win an X Games medal, I'm pretty sure,
and a world championship, so your your list of accomplishments
is long. But now, the first first time I remember
meeting you was probably when you are an alternate at
X Games and Lisa Whittaker had sort of called us
(01:43):
up the committee that was doing the invites, and she's like, no,
there's this new girl. She's so powerful and amazing, like
you have to get her in there. And I remember
I met you and your mom and I don't know
what year that was, but it was in La one
of the La X Games, and yeah, I remember you're
just really quiet. Then you showed up more just like
(02:03):
blasting over this little step up like over the bar.
Speaker 6 (02:07):
Do you remember that. I don't know what the obstacle
is called, but.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
What was that? Like twenty ten? Was that the playground
the playground line, there's like the playground line and then
there's like the bench and then over the I think
there might have been a chain or something.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
It was twenty ten because Alexis won that year and
I remember that was like started her string of of
sort of being on the podium at those events. But yeah,
that's that's when it was.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I think blasted the kick flip front fifty first try.
Didn't see her try it at all. I was like,
I don't even think she even skated a the hubble
at all. But it was like, oh, it's a good
time and it is fucking nailed it. Oh sorry, cuz, no,
you're good.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
This is it's an explicit podcast, wild Wild.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
West over here.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, So Mario are you are you kind of like
a first try skater or you like super methodical and
gotta like walk the steps and figure it out, think
about it and step to it, or you just like,
all right, let's go time, let's do it.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
M a little bit of both, like depending on I
guess a trick. It depends on tricks Like for stairs,
the only thing I really need to do is pick
out where how far out I need to land, so
then it just doesn't matter. Then at that point it's
just flinging it. And then for like, for for if
(03:28):
I was gonna skate a rail, like I gotta look
at it a little differently. I'm kind of like looking
at like, oh, how high is this rail from the
ground from the top of the from the top of
the set to like where meets where's that line at?
How can I do? I know? I can pop onto
this rail, like I think once obstacles start to get
put into the factor and then I start becoming a
(03:50):
little bit more methodical. But like flat ground or anything
like small, I could just I'll just go for it.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
I remember this just popped into my head.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I think it was maybe twenty fourteen, but when we
were up in San Francisco and you're filming with Schmidty
from Thrasher and you tray flip this triple set and
the wind was just so crazy and we only had
like twenty minutes there. The security guard came, was gonna
kick us out, and you fully like tray flip this
triple set. And I still like, Schmidty, give us that footage,
(04:22):
like I still have ever seen that anywhere?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, I don't know where that footage is. It's it's
I think he still has it. I want to see this.
It's like hidden footage. It's like the Lost tapes or something.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I wanted to bring that up, because you're you are
from what I saw of your skating in the early days,
you are a combination of like repetition practice, but that
day you just showed up and you're like, I'm I'm
gonna land this and just cranked it out.
Speaker 6 (04:46):
So you're versatile.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
I would say, yeah, it's hit or miss.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, I mean that's the Samaria I know, is like
just show up, blow up the spot, leave. And what
I've heard on the streets is you had kind of
like a pretty cool nickname of just us being able
to see you is really powerful. But being known as
like this like really humble skateboarders, I.
Speaker 6 (05:08):
Don't mean the embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
But at one point, probably around the same time twelve thirteen,
fourteen years ago, a long time ago, when we went
on a trip with movie tickets and yes, I don't
know if that was maybe that that was maybe that
trip to Florida. I think I think we met up
with Fobby. Yeah, but yeah, the guy Chris Conway who
ran the team for us, he was just so impressed
(05:33):
with Samaria's sort of like humble attitude combined with the
power and progression of your skating, and he just started
calling her the Humbler, and that was a nickname that
stuck for several years. I don't know, probably four or
five years you were called the humbler, But yeah, do
you remember that?
Speaker 4 (05:49):
He Yeah? Absolutely, I had played. I was playing Alex
Sergente a game of skate on the flat bottom of there,
like I think we're at maybe we're at Fobby either
there at Fobby's else because they had a mini ramp
in the back, that's right, and then yeah, I'd beat
Alex and then that's yeah, that's where it all started.
Conway was like, oh, the humblers came to humble you
(06:11):
or something like that.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
You smoked Alex.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, I don't know if I could do that now
that fool has gone crazy.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I do want to like get into the early moments
of the why skateboarding became the focus of your life,
Like take us back to Riverside. What were those early
years like and how did you get into skateboarding?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
It's super funny. I feel like I've been telling the
story a little bit more lately. Uh, but yeah, literally,
because my friend Tray, he asked his dad for a
tech deck, and instead of getting a tech deck, his
dad brought him an actual skateboard, so he was the
(06:53):
first one to start skating. And then yeah, then he
got somehow then he got my brother in it because
living at the apartments that he grew up in, it
was like as soon as someone got got anything, skates, basketball, whatever,
we're all joining in. So I ended up, you know,
I'm just minding my business, still playing basketball, still thinking
(07:16):
that's my path in life, like oh yeah, I'm just
gonna ball out. And then I don't know literally that
I went to go hang out with them because I
was like done practicing or whatever, and I stepped on
the board and I tried it, and I was like
I knew how to how to stay steady on it.
And Trey I'd been kind of skating for a little bit,
so he kind of was already learning some tricks and yeah,
(07:41):
I don't know, just like it was like I need one.
I knew my own, and then slowly I got my own,
and I just never stopped. I don't know, the bug
never left me. It's a virus.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I mean, we all but we're all we all got
that sickness somehow. I want to know a little bit
about like like you said, Wnba, like that was you
were like I thought that was my thing, Like I
thought basketball was my thing.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I know, you played basketball super seriously.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
And that seemed like that was like the dream you
could see yourself in and then skateboarding came in. Can
you can you like talk a little bit more about
why basketball was such a focus and what the appeal
was and how skateboarding kind of just destroyed that dream.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
I feel like when I was younger, I was just
like whenever I got into something, I really got into it,
Like I had to be dedicated to the practice, and
I learned how my dad taught me how to dribble
and weird do dribbled, like dribbling drills and stuff, and
I really I just really liked it. I was like,
I want to be able to just juke people and
(08:46):
cross cross people up on the court and it was
just it was fun. And then getting put on an
actual team like for like Parks and rec, I was like, oh,
being on the wood court just the sounds everything, like
the inner the smells of the gym, like yeah, it
all appealed to me. There was just everything was like
(09:08):
I don't know, I just loved it, and my dad
really liked it. Too, so it was something for us
to do together.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
What first took you to your first event? Was it
meeting Lisa somewhere? And then you entered Supergirl the Supergirl comper.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
How did you the Gate Raide Free Flow Tour. I
don't know how we heard about it, but I heard
about We found out about that. My mom ended up
taking us to that, and I I think I entered
that contest just to enter it, and then I met
I don't even know, I don't remember who this lady was.
(09:46):
That was like, Oh, we're having this Supergirl gym All
Girls skate gem and like a few days later, I
think it was like, I don't know, like five days later,
we're gonna have it host another skateboard. You should come,
And I was like okay, and then convinced my mom
to take us and I actually because we kind of
worked at the apartments growing up, so we had like
(10:09):
yard work to do that she had to get done
before we could take off. So we're just like, I'm
like doing breaking leaves and cleaning off this, cleaning out
this courtyard to make before we could like take off
and go up to Simi Valley because that's where it
was skate Lab and yeah, then I that's where I
(10:29):
met Lisa and Alex and saw Vanessa Torres for the
first time, even though I didn't know that that was Vanessa,
but she boards. She board slid the handrail at the
at the park and I was like, no way. And
then that that day I was the first day at
board slit a handrail because I was like, she did it,
I could do it. I love that. Did you front
(10:50):
board or backboard the handrail? Backboard? For sure? I can.
It took me a long time to learn front boards.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Actually, can you give us an age range?
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Like how old were you at this point? I think
I was fifteen because I think I'd been skating for
like three years at that point.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Three years to a contest in front of an entire
audience is not necessarily normal, and this kind of like
puts you on the map immediately at this point. So
from what like in three years you go from Riverside
kids skating with Trey Williams.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Let's get that right there, Yea Williams.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, Tray Williams is like not just anyone, No, it's
just like moving into.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
The contest circuit pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So like I would say, It's a very fast arc
of all of a sudden ended up on a scene.
Was that kind of explosive to see, like the women's
skate scene and a contest format.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Oh yeah, I blew my mind. I was like, I
was convinced I ain't never seen any other girls. And
at that point we were kind of going to like
more skate parks too, so like every skate park guy
showed up too, as like I was the only girl
there like every time. So yeah, when I got there
and I seen how many girls were skating and the
stuff that they were doing, I was just like, oh, okay,
(12:08):
so yeah, a lot more is possible than I even
it could have imagine at that point.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
And didn't you win that event? Samaria?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Yeah, the second year. The first year is most memorable
because I was like the first tray flip I did
down the little fake Carl's back gap. I did all
my hard skating in the beginning because I didn't realize
that there was like, okay, you there's a second round,
like you have. So by the time that like the
second round came, I was already just I was I
was through there. I was like I'm so tired. I
(12:38):
couldn't even get anything going. But then the next year,
I like, oh, now I know how this works, so
I was able to scale.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
You're sixteen, you've been there once, and you're like, I'm
not gonna just go all out first round. So yeah,
I love that you like came back to it. Like
contests are terrifying. They're really hard to I guess just
like they're really hard to feel comfortable, and they're not
like a good merit of who you are as a skateboarder.
(13:06):
But it's like, yeah, it's the best way to like
connect into a scene sometimes for at least for women's skateboarding,
and yah, really try to push yourself, but like, did
you find it enjoyable? You obviously showed up like mad
what got you back there the second year?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
I'm like naturally competitive a little bit like even though
I'm not, like I don't take it too seriously, but
there is a like competitive side to me. So I
just I felt like the first year that I did it,
I was like, oh, I could have won that, Like
had I known how this is supposed to like work.
I definitely felt like, oh I missed my miss missed
opportunity there. So I was like Okay, I guess gotta
(13:44):
go back. I need redemption essentially, And you had.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
These huge like mentors that kind of like became like
this chain of support for you. So like Trey was
one of the people you skated with growing up. Lisa
Whitaker saw you at Supergirl from when you were fifteen
to sixteen and taking the win, calls Mimi noop and
is like you need to know who Samorrio Bavart is, Like, Mimi,
(14:09):
do you remember that call? And like how this all
came into your orbit.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Lisa would always call about new kids coming on the scene,
but what I remember is Samrio's actual skating that stood
out compared to everyone else at that time, just like
full powerhouse and like, holy shit, this.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Kid's really good.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Like we gotta we gotta make sure this one's on
the path so they can, you know, so she can
reach her potential. And yeah, you you certainly did. I
mean you you made a lot happen years and years
after that, but yeah, shout out to Lisa for setting
that all of that in motion.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Showed me the side project dot com and I just
like literally every day after school anytime I had a
chance to like just go look at that site and
watch the videos and read all the book I read
everyone's interviews, and I was always waiting for who's the
next person whose interview is going to come up? Like
I was. I was like, this is where I want
(15:09):
to be, Like I was, looked for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Another week, another episode and another Lisa Whitaker shout out moment.
Is it is endless that all paths seem to go
right back to Lisa Whitaker or just endless significance of
helping connect us, like it was just the missing link
that we just really didn't have. We went from Supergirl
am to dominating the podium to all of a sudden
(15:34):
going to South Africa in twenty fourteen, going to what
at that time was the very first women's Street World
Championship opportunity, flying a bunch of girls in and correct
me if I'm wrong, fact check me here, Mimi. That
was the first like world women's street contest.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I don't know the semantics around that. I mean there
was maloof Money Cup and all of that years before.
I don't know if they called that World Championship at
the time. I can't recall. I'd have to actually research that.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
But in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
It was clearly a world championship, and Samaria, if I
remember correctly, you traveled all the way over there and
you kind of had a bunk ankle, like a sprained
ankle or an ankle that was not super.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Healthy, and no tell us about that.
Speaker 6 (16:24):
And how you ended up winning that event.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
First I got I was like jetlagged severely, and then
I was like super nauseous. I don't think I threw up,
but I was like on the verge of and I
was like I was skating around, and then I don't
know what Alyssa was doing. I forget a trick she
was doing, but she like I was like coming towards her,
(16:49):
like towards the area, and her board like I think
she slipped out, and then her board like pile drived
into my ankle right before the contest, and yeah, so
I was like, oh my god. I went off to
the side and I was just like, uh, I'm literally
like I think I'm over it. I think I'm just
(17:09):
gonna whatever happens. Like literally, it took all the pressure off.
I was just like whatever, because you know, it's nauseous,
and my ankle just got demolished by Alyssa Steamer, which
is always crazy to me.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, it's kind of one of those ones where you
were like how but like also like it's Alyssa, like
it's fine, it's fine, no problem, no problem, Like exactly,
it's like an honor in some weird way. Yeah, you
still like took the entire contest ahead of Alexis Sablone
and Pamela Rosa, and that's a pretty big deal at
this time, Like those are some of like the best
(17:45):
contest skaters, and all of a sudden the Humbler comes
out and just a powerful force and takes this like
this is twenty fourteen. You know, we were like women's
skateboarding was like kind of still on its own island
in terms of like how we could see a contact.
But I remember watching that from Afar because it was
like the early eras Instagram was slowly like showing where
(18:07):
people were, you know, yeah, and following along that, everyone's
showing pictures of like meeting tigers and like doing like
South African Safari like things.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Did you do any of that while you were there?
I did. I did go with the cheetahs. And there's
a little he wasn't a baby anymore. They named him Simba,
and it was just like a I think he was
almost a teenage I did like, go pet that lion,
but then they had the actual lions, and I think
someone was kind of playing around with the line. I
(18:38):
was like, dude, like, it's not going to take much
for this line to be like, you know, I'm gonna
take this fence down. It's like an electric fence. But
I'm pretty sure if it got mad enough, like it
would only just be pissing it off more and just
like the rage to like attack would have been it
would have been hectic. But that was my only hesitation
(18:59):
was that actual big lions because it was just a
chain link fit, so it wasn't anything crazy.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
Sounds like good common sense to me.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
I just started backing up. I don't know who it was,
but I was like, come on, dude, chill, don't piss
off the lions.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
How did you manage all this like contest skating and
then being a high schooler and also just like again
like just hopping right into the scene.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
I was probably like nineteen Okay, honestly, it was just
Lisa and me me like I just literally any chance
anytime they called me and they were like, oh, we're
gonna do this. I was like, Okay, I'm coming, Yeah
you want me there, I'm there. And I just showed up.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Every time you pick up the phone when the president
and the vice president of the world call you, yeah, exactly,
these are just the things that we do.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
We say yes.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
It was like there was less going on in those years,
but it almost it almost is better and other ways
because there's such a tight community.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
And yeah, I the titnacity of building stuff and making
trips happen, and like everyone just has to like you know,
everyone just had to be down. And to see what
that being down back then led to us now is
actually insane. It's like insanity because I don't think any
(20:20):
of us really seen how fast women's skateboarding was going
to blow up after all that time of us just
like not having no budget for nothing, and just like, oh, well,
what can we make happen? Like literally bare bones, like
whatever we can make happen, We're just gonna make that happen.
So it's yeah, it was crazy. It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Do you kind of wish that, like the phone calls
that you were getting for contests would have been more
like do you just want to go on this trip
with a bunch of women and go skate and get
clips like that was happening. But it was, like you said,
kind of no, very underfunded, low budget lo fi and
a lot more sparseide my and you were getting invites,
some more contests than you were going on trips at
(21:04):
the time.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yeah, I honestly we made a lot of stuff, but
I think about them like we made a lot of
stuff happen, like like what you tell me, I want
to know, remind me of what those things were. There's
the Woodward trips, all the camp the YMCA trips I went.
I was when I met Lisa, Like literally I went
to San Jose for the very first trip, and it
(21:27):
was just like after that trip, it was like the
door was wide open and we were just like literally
all those block cams that you see, like but like
she would come to like come, We'd meet up whenever
we could. We were like pomonas. We went to Chino
Skate Park and then went to a skate spot in Chino,
(21:48):
like we were just whatever little pieces that we can
make happen were happening, and like I was getting I
was getting called up to do this contest, but you
know there was only there wasn't that many contests happening
at that time, so it was just like besides like
little small ones, and then you had X Games and
at luckily when I first got into X games, X
(22:10):
Games was in La so I could I just had
to drive there. I didn't have to worry about getting
a flight or anything too. So yeah, there's a lot.
I actually did a lot more. It wasn't all that
much street skating for me, but a lot of just
like showing up at these different places like Woodwards and
the YMCA camps and hanging out with people and meeting
(22:33):
meeting so many different people that our interactions just kind
of sparked other interactions that led to you know everything
that is now like the.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Best part about skateboarding, the sessions, the like community crew
at the park, they just like for the vibes.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
You know, something just popped into my mind.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I remember like a turning point with you smart as
when we took that trip to Palm Springs. I think
it was like a hoop on trip to Palm Spring
and Lisa came and you and Alana just destroyed that
skate park and all the little boys just went and
sat down and just stopped skating and they're like just
watching you guys, And yeah, I remember you. I think
(23:14):
it was like a maybe a nine stare or something,
and I think you like kick flipped it and Alana
like back blunt slid the rail and everyone was coming
up asking you, guys, uh for photos because they knew
you from Girls Skate Network.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, and I think like from those trips, those hoople
of trips, like people could just see what type of a.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Force of a skateboarder were.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
All right, everyone, hold on, We'll be right back after
this quick ad break the greater, like bigger audience. I
feel like I got to really see you on the
twenty sixteen seconds season of King of the Road.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
You were a mystery guest along the Enjoy team. Leo
Baker and Nora of Asconcelo's one of our fellow co
hosts of the pod, were there. I'm afraid to ask
how that trip was for you because of just what
King of the Road was, But yeah, what was that
like and why did you say?
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Yes? Kind of just the same same dale show up,
like someone's kidting you up for to do something. It's
different and I love doing things for the first time too,
so you know, I just all added up in my
head to be like, yeah, sure, I know what king
of the Road is.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I mean, it's no light ask to step up for
if you don't know what king of the Road is.
It's like a scavenger hunt with a bunch of teams
in bands driving across the country, but the tasks that
you are checking off to build points are completely unhinged
out of control. There are like real skateboarding things going on,
(25:01):
but a lot of it is just like shock factor.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
And how long was that trip? I think for me
it was only a week Like for me, For me,
I had a blast. I was so stoked the whole time.
Those guys, right before I met them, had just I
feel like they went through like all the hard stuff.
I'm like, we hung out, We're hanging out on the riverside.
I'm at home, like they literally they drove me to
(25:27):
Lake Havisu just to drive me right back. I think
that morning I was like, I literally the hotel we
stayed in was like two blocks from my apartment at
the time, and then we went to LA and now
I'm like, oh sick, I get to see some new
spots that I haven't seen and then get on a
flight to Hawaii. So I'm like, I I my experience
(25:48):
on King of the Road, besides eating that bug.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
As an outsider at that time, like that was like
a coveted invite. It was not sort of this thing
you would turn down. At least that was my perception
of it at the time. That was like a coveted spot.
If you were a woman or a non traditional scape
you got invited to King of the Road, you go
on King of the Road.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Now, yeah, I was like, oh, dash your bet, let's go.
You had a smooth King of the Road experience, which
we love to hear.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
And as a result of that, I feel like Enjoy
took a liking to you and saw that you vibed
with the team and going from Hoopla pro skateboard with Hoopla.
I would love to hear about the phone call that
you had to tell me me when Enjoy my God,
said hey.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Do you want to ride for us? Dude, I was
stressing on that call. I was like, oh my god,
I won't lie. It was a magical moment when we
were filming doing all the King or the King of
the road stuff. I was definitely torn because you know,
I have a lot of loyalty to people that like
take care of me, and like Hoopla was taking care
(26:55):
of me really well, and we were doing a lot
of stuff and making a lot of stuff happen. So
it was but when we got in the cards, I
definitely was crying. There's definitely a lot of tears, a
lot of just like trying to get it over with
at the same time. But it was just like really
sad too, because it's like it was like breaking up.
(27:15):
It was like definitely like a felt like a little
bit of a breakup call, Like, oh.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
Man, I was gonna say.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I remember, I was definitely crying too, But I also like,
you have to do it.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
You have to do it.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Like it was we had reached sort of the limits
of what we could do for you guys. It was like,
all right, now these legacy brands are coming in, they
actually see the value for the first time, go like
run to that, and it was so exciting actually to
see you have that opportunity. But I was, yeah, it
felt like a breakup, And you know that's how it
was with every because everyone else started going after that
(27:47):
point too.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
It's like the word was out.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
But but yeah, it was so awesome to see you,
you know, go on after that and have your name
on all these boards and just be traveling with the
team and stuff.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
And it's so funny because I feel like I blacked
out my twenties. Like I know, there's a lot of
stuff that I remember, but then I'm just like it's
almost it. It's actually kind of traumatic at the same time,
just because of like imposter syndrome and stuff, like you're like, oh, dude,
I actually deserve to be here. You just like on
(28:19):
these trips with these dudes who're just like going crazy
landing everything, and you're just like, you know, I don't
think I got much footage from those trips because I
was so stressed out that like, oh, I need to
get footage from the for this and not go into
spots that weren't necessarily spots that were good for me,
you know, I want to hold it right there.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
I think it's more like not imposter syndrome, but like
there is a little bit of this still gap and
setting a writer up for success, like specifically a female
or gender expansive writer on a trip at these spots
like they're not going to work for everyone, and it
really takes us specific person to know how to like
(29:01):
set you up for success and what spot will work.
And because you're like the minority in the van, you're
probably not the priority in the van either.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I would do things a lot if I knew back
then what I know now, I would I would skate
a lot differently on those trips. I think what really
tripped me up was like knowing that these dudes were
landing everything and watching it. Hap everyone's just like pulling
off crazy stuff, so it's like kind of always in
survival mode. I want to say, like, oh, hold on
(29:33):
for dear life, Like yeah, definitely would allow myself more
space to like try do easier tricks like just get
land stuff instead of like trying to go for like, oh,
what do I think is going to be the coolest thing?
Like I wish that I actually just like, oh, I
know I can get an Alie off of this. I
(29:53):
know I can, you know, and then work my way
up all Okay, I got the Ali And what else
can I do here? Is there still time for me
to do something here? Because I feel like I would
have had a lot more to show for that time
period in my life too, because I do. I do
there's a lot that I wish that I was able
to accomplish on the street side of things, But you know,
(30:14):
I just I was also really wrapped up in the
contest world at that time, so everything all my training
was for contest and wasn't really specifically for the streets, right,
And you're gonna like train at the park when you're
doing that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
I think like what you experiences at a lot of
the girls and women experience that going from that era
and time jumping into legacy brands, Like I've heard that
told to me from several other women. Like I think
it's like it was this weird transitional time where yeah,
you're just thrown in with the wolves and it's super
(30:50):
awesome and exciting, but then yeah, you're trying to sort
of be as gnarly as you can to fit in
with those guys. And I feel like things have hopefully
gotten better since then, and maybe there's more of a
more of a system now that it's not as hectic
like that.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
No, for sure, I've had conversations with like Nicole and
Fobby and few other people about about it. It's like, uh,
you want to step You want to be able to
step up in those moments, but it's like if you're not,
you know, street skating is hard, is not for the
(31:28):
week at all. I just crushed my hand yesterday and
I'm like, dude, why am I still doing this? Obviously
I love it?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
What is your style of like going to a street spot,
Like do you want to be with a crew of
people or do you want to just have like your
film and your photographer and kind of like go there,
focus alone, get the trick, stack and leave. Uh.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
I was all right, literally see, so I'm a libra,
so I like to balance it out. I need there's
times where I need to be on a solo and
then there's time where I need a little group for
the energy. So it just kind of depends on the
spot and the trick. I think if it's I do
like enjoy going to spots where we can just like
(32:11):
kick it at so it's like we're skating, but we
can hang out. And I think I really like those
types of sessions. But I think also sometimes it can
be hard for me to focus on well, depending on
the trick, Like if I actually know what trick I
want to get some Sometimes it's easier for me just
(32:31):
to go knock it out on my own and that
can I'm like, because sometimes I get really intense with
how I feel in a moment about a trick that
I'm doing, So sometimes it's nice to just be like, Okay,
I just need to be able to have the space
to do that and from like Enjoy.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
All of a sudden it folded out of nowhere, and
fortunately Lisa Whitaker was smart enough to be like, obviously
you're coming to me out and we're to your name
on a board, like no question there. But was that
like kind of a big transition and now seeing Enjoy
like re enter the conversation in twenty twenty six, like
how'd that all go? And what are your thoughts on
(33:13):
Enjoy two point zero?
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Yeah? I mean I for me, after it fell apart,
I was just like I don't want to go. I
was in a place already where I just kind of
like pretty insecure about my skating, even though I was
skating really well. But I think I think actually I
had gotten hurt so that that was putting even more
of a damper on it. So I was like, I
(33:36):
don't even know where I would go after Enjoy, like
I just want to and I wanted to go somewhere
where I knew that it feel like, you know, a home,
and it feel like, oh, there's not a lot of
pressure for me to you know, be at this be
this version of myself that everyone sees me at that
I don't that I can't see myself as at the moment,
(33:57):
you know. So that was like a no brainer for me.
I was like, oh, yeah, Lisa things. I don't know
if you've seen the news, but you think I could
come hang out with you? And then so yeah, that happened.
That happened really fast. I happened easy. It was smooth
transition from there. And to see Enjoy, I to see
(34:21):
Enjoy come back, that blew my mind. I saw that
and I was like, no way, they came back. Like
he Louis got it back. I was like, oh, I know,
he's so stoked. I'm stoked. I'm glad that he was
able to get it back because man corporations are terrible. Yeah,
I mean, we'll we'll see.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
It's weird to not see your name over there, but
I feel like, yeah, it was a really good spot
for you, and I'm I'm kind of shocked to hear
you say that you had like insecurities with your skateboarding,
because like Mabie and I on the sidelines, everything that
you did to us was like leveling up women's skateboarding,
pushing it, and then like watching you evolve too as
(35:05):
a professional skateboarder, but like showing up in really great
community spaces with skate like a girl wheels of fortune, unity,
like really connecting back into the women's skate scene in
such a meaningful way. I'm surprised to hear that you
like had some insecurity.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Twenty twenty two was like my year for just injuries.
So it was just like I had a really good
time on that Thrasher Germany trip. I did really that
was like amazing, and then from there we went to
Copenhagen and I busted my knee there at those like
double banked spot, that double bank spot with the big hill,
(35:48):
and I didn't realize that it was that bad and
came home from that. Then that was the same time,
like World Skate we're doing Italy, Like I was in
Europe for a month, came home and then I think
like a week and a half later, I'm now I'm
in San Diego trying trying to do X games. Uh.
(36:09):
And then that's when I smacked my back on off
that rail, which was really gnarly, and that took me
out for took me out for a minute, like probably
maybe like two months I was out from that, and
then the recovery trying to get myself strong enough to
start skating in once I started skating again, It's like
(36:30):
I think I I think I tore my other meniscus.
So I ended up having tears in both my meniscus,
hurt my back, and then my groin and my hips
were like shifted, and so I just took a long
time to heal from that and then to actually get
my mental. So like all the injuries happened while I
(36:50):
was still on Enjoy, and then my bounce back wasn't
as fast, so I was just like, you know, took
a took a toll on the mental for sure.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
That's tough. Yeah, injuries are injuries are mental. Stay with us.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
We'll be right back with Samari Bravard after the sad break.
I remember when you were younger, you got super into reading.
Speaker 6 (37:24):
Like you read a lot of books.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
You got super into reading I was curious if you
are still into reading, and if you're, yeah, you got
anything new You're you're dipping into now?
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Oh yeah, definitely still a reader. Uh oh no, I've read. Honestly,
you started my my reading with The Creative Visualization and
The Peaceful Warrior. The Peaceful Warrior, I literally read every
so like every book after that, The Hidden School, the
SoC Journey of Socrates, Sacred Journey, like I was after
(37:57):
I read Peaceful Warrior. That's what really sparked it. But
as of right now, I don't know what book am
I reading.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
The Peaceful Warrior, Creative Visualization I have to give a
shout out to care about because I got those from
her and she was like, you got to read these
books and those books like changed my life and I
must have passed them on to you, and yeah, yeah,
I'm I remember you going on a trip one time,
like on a plane and you had a giant backpack
and it was just You're like, I have to bring
these books.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
It was just all filled with books.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
That was when I hurt my back at US Street League,
the first Street League, and I had to go to Chicago. Yeah,
I had I hurt my back and then that morning,
I like had this crazy trying to get to the airport.
My card wasn't working, so the taxi drivers like, I'm
gonna have to call the police if you don't, uh,
if you can't pay for this, and I was like,
(38:47):
oh my god. I was like, take me to the chase.
They ended up spending like one hundred dollars on a taxi.
I get to the line to TSA, TSA lines out
the door. I finally make it to my gate right
before it's about to like close the doors, and then
they're like, oh, it's gonna cost you one hundred dollars
to check because I think I had two bags. I
had one with the books and then one with my clothes.
(39:09):
And then they're like, yeah, it's gonna cost you like
one hundred dollars to check to take this bag on
with you. And I was like, you know what, Like
I don't need my clothes, but I don't know if
I get these books back, So I just do everything,
all my books in the bag, and I was like, okay,
I'm going. I'm just this is what I'm going. And
then come to find out, like leave the clothes, take
the books. Totally makes sense dude. I was like, fuck
(39:33):
these clothes, I don't need my books. And then but
it was just funny too because my passport was in
that bag. So assued the door. They closed the door,
and I was like, oh perfect.
Speaker 3 (39:48):
That was the first ever street leg actually that they
had women. I remember you showing up and you just
had this giant bag of books. I'm like, why do
you bring close books with you?
Speaker 4 (39:57):
It was a go ahead to worry. Why don't you
bring it was a book? It was books, but there's
like journals and stuff. Because I had learned from the
Creative Visualization and all the other books that I was reading,
I was like, oh, I gotta start journaling and started learning,
you know, learning my patterns. Like who am I like?
I was on this whole journey of just self realization
(40:19):
or awareness. I was trying to figure myself out. You
did a good job. Yeah, it sounds like we need
a book club.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Good luck with that book club led by Mimi and Samaria.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
We have some marching orders for the first two books.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
And so, Mario, That's something I've really appreciated about you
in this later in life version of you is that
there's a lot of I mean, there was always discipline,
but it feels really like organized these days. It sounds
like reading and the rituals around journaling have been there.
Last time I saw you, you were telling me that
you wake up in the dark at five am.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
You just get in the.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Zone, your stretches, your rehab, and then you have this
like really like personal moment. And right before we got
on the call, not to put you on the spot,
but you you're mirror, you had like this like hyper
organized list of like CONTI and then the rule of three.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Yes, what's going on? Uh? I don't know. So I
do think that there's like a lot of things disrupting,
Like if if I think of life as an energy field,
I think there's a lot of things disrupting the energy field.
So keeping things around that remind me how to stay
focused because you know, there's so many things just trying
(41:36):
to capture my attention, my attention. So it's just like
the rule of threes was just like something like I
think it goes just finish three tasks in a day,
then finish three tasks in a week, and then it's
like finish three tasks in a month or in a year.
(41:56):
So each task is dealing with whatever it is that
you want to be creating for your year. So each
task that you create every day is supposed to help
you stay on track to hopefully reaching a goal in
the month and then in a month. Each month leads
up to the year. So it's just like, you know,
(42:16):
small steps. The idea is small steps will get you there.
So this is something that helped me like be like, Okay,
I don't need to take on the whole world in
one moment. What is your life like? So you have
like two worlds.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
You have your skate world and then you have your
private world, And like, what are you excited about right now?
I think I overheard like you were scheming in the
early twenty twenty era, you were getting really into like
coffee and the bakery scene and spending a lot of
time there. Is that something you're still like thinking about
(42:51):
for a later in life career.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
Yeah, definitely still. I mean I think right now we're
just still obsessed about coffee. Like we to have good coffee,
we have to go to a place that has like
good latte art and stuff like that. But I you know,
the idea of actually starting a brick and mortar like
coffee shop like I gotta be ready to like settle
(43:16):
down and not be traveling around the world. So that's
a little bit on pause, but still like learn taking
in things, still learning and seeing how other companies work
and you know, figuring out if I you know, still dreams,
there's still a dream around it. There's still like the
thoughts and little bit of energy that gets put towards it.
(43:37):
So you know, I I think it'll accumulate to something.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
No better way to do a discovery journey of coffee
while you're like traveling the world for skateboarding. Yeah, it's
like a perfect like paid R and D road to
your future. But like what is exciting you right now
about skateboarding? The women's skate scene, your skateboarding like hard
(44:02):
set of injuries, Like you said, I just want to
highlight in twenty twenty two, during your double meniscus issues,
back issues, you did get the cover of Thrasher.
Speaker 4 (44:11):
So that is like.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
You somehow like showed up in twenty twenty two despite
all odds of injuries. You've made it out of those
injuries to an extent, Like where are you now in
twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (44:26):
Oh yeah, we're we're doing a lot better. I will
say there is some definitely some dark times there for
a minute where it was just like, you know, I
kind of got sober for a year where I wasn't drinking,
I wasn't smoking, I wasn't I just didn't do anything.
And that was actually a lot harder than I ever anticipated. Mentally,
(44:53):
I thought, as soon as I stopped drinking, it's like,
oh my whole world's gonna change, I'm gonna be like
this health nut and I'm gonna be super But actually
I was just depressed the whole time and didn't know,
didn't understand why. But now I have better understanding of like, okay,
well you can do those things, try not to try
to have some help and support around that area, like
(45:16):
if you're gonna stop cold turkey. But yeah, now now
I've a lot of life stuff happened, a lot of
people around me, you know, getting sick and you know
people are getting older, and it's just like, you know,
things that make you stop and think and be like, okay,
(45:37):
well what really matters to me? What's important? So that's
what I've been kind of focusing on, is just like
creating good energy within myself and filling my cup up
so that it pours out to others.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
What's going on with you and skateboarding right now, Anything
that we should be keeping our eyes out for.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
Yeah, I mean video parts. I'm hoping to finally drop
some other stuff, some new stuff. I'm with this league,
the SBA. You know, I never wanted to start a
board brand or anything like that. I was like, I
don't know if that'll ever be me. But like creating,
being a part of this league is like creating a
(46:15):
contest situation or whatever. But being a part of a
essentially it's just something to give back to skaters. It's
like equal pay men and women. We're all in an
equal playing field, and we're really dedicated to taking care
of the skaters that are involved with what we're creating.
So it's like to the point where we already locked
(46:36):
in like health insurance for the skaters like no other
no other situation is giving health insurance for skateboarding. So
it's really cool to I hope you guys can see
the progression of the SBA and we actually make all
the this stuff happen for everybody. That's really cool though,
(46:56):
that's as that's as much as I can talk about.
I say, I want to know more about this health insurance.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
What a luxury to be able to join into a
league and have that kind of provision. So we'll stay tuned.
It sounds like there's a lot of developing news. It's
cool to see you behind the scenes there. I feel
like you have a lot of credible feedback and input
to give towards like how to make a great better
(47:23):
experience as a skateboarder in the competition scene. You have
so much to offer as a mentor, but as a
professional skateboarder presently, so it's like best of both worlds.
Speaker 4 (47:33):
Yeah, I feel like it's like my contribution to what
Lisa and Mimi were showing me as I was growing
up in the contest world is like figuring out ways
to like help the most amount of people, and it's
like a new opportunity for new people to be involved into.
So I'm hoping that it just grows into snowballs into
(47:56):
something amazing.
Speaker 6 (47:56):
That's really cool to hear you're doing that. It's awesome.
Speaker 4 (48:00):
Gary.
Speaker 2 (48:00):
I want to know, Samaria, what you what three books
you would love to tell some listeners that to read
that changed your life.
Speaker 4 (48:07):
You guys were talking about two at the tap, so
there's creative visualization.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
I can't think of the author right now, though, Shanty
Shanti Gabon Shanty cab this book from the seventies.
Speaker 4 (48:20):
Try out the practices in that one. And then Peaceful
Warrior is just like a really good story. I feel
like it's called allegory allegorical, so you know there's some
there's some deep rooted lessons to learn in that one.
And then as a third recommendation, there's this book called
The Field that kind of goes into more of the
(48:43):
quantum physics of life and like the Field that that
energy is all around us at all times.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (48:51):
Then there's The Alchemist, which is another more allegorical. I
feel like that one's a really popular one.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (48:58):
The Camino. The Camino is really good. That's another Mimi
reck that I took on Shirley McClain. Yeah, I just
read another book that that was sided like, it's about
the Comino. It's a queer book that a little queer
romance book that about the Comino walk too, so it
made me like, oh, I need to read the Comino again.
(49:20):
But yeah, those are those are three more that you
guys can check out.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
And I'm going to need some luck reading that stack
of books, which sounds so good. Sa Maria, It's been
such an honor. I feel like we didn't even get
into all that you've contributed to skateboarding. With so much
love for you and can't wait to see how this
year unfolds. Thank you again for joining us. Where can
we Where can our listeners find you? On Instagram?
Speaker 4 (49:46):
Uh? Yeah, just at s Maria Brevard and pretty much
on all my platforms. I think maybe YouTube is Samrio
Bravard twenty two.
Speaker 5 (49:54):
But that's it, listeners, We'll be back here next week.
Speaker 2 (49:59):
You can find us at at good Luck Pod on Instagram.
You can find us wherever you get your podcasts, rate review,
subscribe to the show, and we'll be here next week
to chat.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 7 (50:20):
We are your hosts Ashey Rayfeld, Nora Bascnzlos, Alex White,
and Mimi Nu. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, supervising
producer Tari Harrison, video producer Daniel Goodman, and video production
by School of Humans. This podcast was created by Ashley Rayfeld.
Listen to Good Luck with That, a skateboarding podcast, on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Good Luck with That is an iheartwomen's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, everyone, welcome to Good Luck with That. I'm your
host Ashley Raefeld and Mimi Noop. Joining us today is
Samria Brevard. What's up everyone?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:22):
What's good? What's happening? Where are you at?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Mimi?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I am on the East coast of the US this
week visiting family, so three hours ahead of you.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Now love that. How about you, so, Maria? Yeah, just
holding it down on the West coast.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
La vibes same here. I'm a little above you up
in San Francisco. Samara Brevard, Welcome to Good.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Luck with That.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hello, thank you for having me. We're so sotid to
have you. I mean your street skating powerhouse. Some of
your sponsors are MAO, Thunder Bronze, and New Balanced YETI.
You were born September twenty second at nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Goofy footed.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
You've racked up multiple X game medals. You came up
through Hoopla, you turned profer enjoy you now ride from Yow.
You were the first black woman to get the cover
of Thrasher magazine in the forty years of them putting
out that mag so incredibly cool.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
Where do we even begin, Mimi, you've known Samria like forever.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Now I was gonna say, Samrio, you're also the first
black woman to win an X Games medal, I'm pretty sure,
and a world championship, so your your list of accomplishments
is long. But now, the first first time I remember
meeting you was probably when you are an alternate at
X Games and Lisa Whittaker had sort of called us
(01:43):
up the committee that was doing the invites, and she's like, no,
there's this new girl. She's so powerful and amazing, like
you have to get her in there. And I remember
I met you and your mom and I don't know
what year that was, but it was in La one
of the La X Games, and yeah, I remember you're
just really quiet. Then you showed up more just like
(02:03):
blasting over this little step up like over the bar.
Speaker 6 (02:07):
Do you remember that. I don't know what the obstacle
is called, but.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
What was that? Like twenty ten? Was that the playground
the playground line, there's like the playground line and then
there's like the bench and then over the I think
there might have been a chain or something.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
It was twenty ten because Alexis won that year and
I remember that was like started her string of of
sort of being on the podium at those events. But yeah,
that's that's when it was.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I think blasted the kick flip front fifty first try.
Didn't see her try it at all. I was like,
I don't even think she even skated a the hubble
at all. But it was like, oh, it's a good
time and it is fucking nailed it. Oh sorry, cuz, no,
you're good.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
This is it's an explicit podcast, wild Wild.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
West over here.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, So Mario are you are you kind of like
a first try skater or you like super methodical and
gotta like walk the steps and figure it out, think
about it and step to it, or you just like,
all right, let's go time, let's do it.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
M a little bit of both, like depending on I
guess a trick. It depends on tricks Like for stairs,
the only thing I really need to do is pick
out where how far out I need to land, so
then it just doesn't matter. Then at that point it's
just flinging it. And then for like, for for if
(03:28):
I was gonna skate a rail, like I gotta look
at it a little differently. I'm kind of like looking
at like, oh, how high is this rail from the
ground from the top of the from the top of
the set to like where meets where's that line at?
How can I do? I know? I can pop onto
this rail, like I think once obstacles start to get
put into the factor and then I start becoming a
(03:50):
little bit more methodical. But like flat ground or anything
like small, I could just I'll just go for it.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
I remember this just popped into my head.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I think it was maybe twenty fourteen, but when we
were up in San Francisco and you're filming with Schmidty
from Thrasher and you tray flip this triple set and
the wind was just so crazy and we only had
like twenty minutes there. The security guard came, was gonna
kick us out, and you fully like tray flip this
triple set. And I still like, Schmidty, give us that footage,
(04:22):
like I still have ever seen that anywhere?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, I don't know where that footage is. It's it's
I think he still has it. I want to see this.
It's like hidden footage. It's like the Lost tapes or something.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I wanted to bring that up, because you're you are
from what I saw of your skating in the early days,
you are a combination of like repetition practice, but that
day you just showed up and you're like, I'm I'm
gonna land this and just cranked it out.
Speaker 6 (04:46):
So you're versatile.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
I would say, yeah, it's hit or miss.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, I mean that's the Samaria I know, is like
just show up, blow up the spot, leave. And what
I've heard on the streets is you had kind of
like a pretty cool nickname of just us being able
to see you is really powerful. But being known as
like this like really humble skateboarders, I.
Speaker 6 (05:08):
Don't mean the embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
But at one point, probably around the same time twelve thirteen,
fourteen years ago, a long time ago, when we went
on a trip with movie tickets and yes, I don't
know if that was maybe that that was maybe that
trip to Florida. I think I think we met up
with Fobby. Yeah, but yeah, the guy Chris Conway who
ran the team for us, he was just so impressed
(05:33):
with Samaria's sort of like humble attitude combined with the
power and progression of your skating, and he just started
calling her the Humbler, and that was a nickname that
stuck for several years. I don't know, probably four or
five years you were called the humbler, But yeah, do
you remember that?
Speaker 4 (05:49):
He Yeah? Absolutely, I had played. I was playing Alex
Sergente a game of skate on the flat bottom of there,
like I think we're at maybe we're at Fobby either
there at Fobby's else because they had a mini ramp
in the back, that's right, and then yeah, I'd beat
Alex and then that's yeah, that's where it all started.
Conway was like, oh, the humblers came to humble you
(06:11):
or something like that.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
You smoked Alex.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, I don't know if I could do that now
that fool has gone crazy.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I do want to like get into the early moments
of the why skateboarding became the focus of your life,
Like take us back to Riverside. What were those early
years like and how did you get into skateboarding?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
It's super funny. I feel like I've been telling the
story a little bit more lately. Uh, but yeah, literally,
because my friend Tray, he asked his dad for a
tech deck, and instead of getting a tech deck, his
dad brought him an actual skateboard, so he was the
(06:53):
first one to start skating. And then yeah, then he
got somehow then he got my brother in it because
living at the apartments that he grew up in, it
was like as soon as someone got got anything, skates, basketball, whatever,
we're all joining in. So I ended up, you know,
I'm just minding my business, still playing basketball, still thinking
(07:16):
that's my path in life, like oh yeah, I'm just
gonna ball out. And then I don't know literally that
I went to go hang out with them because I
was like done practicing or whatever, and I stepped on
the board and I tried it, and I was like
I knew how to how to stay steady on it.
And Trey I'd been kind of skating for a little bit,
so he kind of was already learning some tricks and yeah,
(07:41):
I don't know, just like it was like I need one.
I knew my own, and then slowly I got my own,
and I just never stopped. I don't know, the bug
never left me. It's a virus.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I mean, we all but we're all we all got
that sickness somehow. I want to know a little bit
about like like you said, Wnba, like that was you
were like I thought that was my thing, Like I
thought basketball was my thing.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I know, you played basketball super seriously.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
And that seemed like that was like the dream you
could see yourself in and then skateboarding came in. Can
you can you like talk a little bit more about
why basketball was such a focus and what the appeal
was and how skateboarding kind of just destroyed that dream.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
I feel like when I was younger, I was just
like whenever I got into something, I really got into it,
Like I had to be dedicated to the practice, and
I learned how my dad taught me how to dribble
and weird do dribbled, like dribbling drills and stuff, and
I really I just really liked it. I was like,
I want to be able to just juke people and
(08:46):
cross cross people up on the court and it was
just it was fun. And then getting put on an
actual team like for like Parks and rec, I was like, oh,
being on the wood court just the sounds everything, like
the inner the smells of the gym, like yeah, it
all appealed to me. There was just everything was like
(09:08):
I don't know, I just loved it, and my dad
really liked it. Too, so it was something for us
to do together.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
What first took you to your first event? Was it
meeting Lisa somewhere? And then you entered Supergirl the Supergirl comper.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
How did you the Gate Raide Free Flow Tour. I
don't know how we heard about it, but I heard
about We found out about that. My mom ended up
taking us to that, and I I think I entered
that contest just to enter it, and then I met
I don't even know, I don't remember who this lady was.
(09:46):
That was like, Oh, we're having this Supergirl gym All
Girls skate gem and like a few days later, I
think it was like, I don't know, like five days later,
we're gonna have it host another skateboard. You should come,
And I was like okay, and then convinced my mom
to take us and I actually because we kind of
worked at the apartments growing up, so we had like
(10:09):
yard work to do that she had to get done
before we could take off. So we're just like, I'm
like doing breaking leaves and cleaning off this, cleaning out
this courtyard to make before we could like take off
and go up to Simi Valley because that's where it
was skate Lab and yeah, then I that's where I
(10:29):
met Lisa and Alex and saw Vanessa Torres for the
first time, even though I didn't know that that was Vanessa,
but she boards. She board slid the handrail at the
at the park and I was like, no way. And
then that that day I was the first day at
board slit a handrail because I was like, she did it,
I could do it. I love that. Did you front
(10:50):
board or backboard the handrail? Backboard? For sure? I can.
It took me a long time to learn front boards.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Actually, can you give us an age range?
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Like how old were you at this point? I think
I was fifteen because I think I'd been skating for
like three years at that point.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Three years to a contest in front of an entire
audience is not necessarily normal, and this kind of like
puts you on the map immediately at this point. So
from what like in three years you go from Riverside
kids skating with Trey Williams.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Let's get that right there, Yea Williams.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, Tray Williams is like not just anyone, No, it's
just like moving into.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
The contest circuit pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So like I would say, It's a very fast arc
of all of a sudden ended up on a scene.
Was that kind of explosive to see, like the women's
skate scene and a contest format.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Oh yeah, I blew my mind. I was like, I
was convinced I ain't never seen any other girls. And
at that point we were kind of going to like
more skate parks too, so like every skate park guy
showed up too, as like I was the only girl
there like every time. So yeah, when I got there
and I seen how many girls were skating and the
stuff that they were doing, I was just like, oh, okay,
(12:08):
so yeah, a lot more is possible than I even
it could have imagine at that point.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
And didn't you win that event? Samaria?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Yeah, the second year. The first year is most memorable
because I was like the first tray flip I did
down the little fake Carl's back gap. I did all
my hard skating in the beginning because I didn't realize
that there was like, okay, you there's a second round,
like you have. So by the time that like the
second round came, I was already just I was I
was through there. I was like I'm so tired. I
(12:38):
couldn't even get anything going. But then the next year,
I like, oh, now I know how this works, so
I was able to scale.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
You're sixteen, you've been there once, and you're like, I'm
not gonna just go all out first round. So yeah,
I love that you like came back to it. Like
contests are terrifying. They're really hard to I guess just
like they're really hard to feel comfortable, and they're not
like a good merit of who you are as a skateboarder.
(13:06):
But it's like, yeah, it's the best way to like
connect into a scene sometimes for at least for women's skateboarding,
and yah, really try to push yourself, but like, did
you find it enjoyable? You obviously showed up like mad
what got you back there the second year?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
I'm like naturally competitive a little bit like even though
I'm not, like I don't take it too seriously, but
there is a like competitive side to me. So I
just I felt like the first year that I did it,
I was like, oh, I could have won that, Like
had I known how this is supposed to like work.
I definitely felt like, oh I missed my miss missed
opportunity there. So I was like Okay, I guess gotta
(13:44):
go back. I need redemption essentially, And you had.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
These huge like mentors that kind of like became like
this chain of support for you. So like Trey was
one of the people you skated with growing up. Lisa
Whitaker saw you at Supergirl from when you were fifteen
to sixteen and taking the win, calls Mimi noop and
is like you need to know who Samorrio Bavart is, Like, Mimi,
(14:09):
do you remember that call? And like how this all
came into your orbit.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Lisa would always call about new kids coming on the scene,
but what I remember is Samrio's actual skating that stood
out compared to everyone else at that time, just like
full powerhouse and like, holy shit, this.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Kid's really good.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Like we gotta we gotta make sure this one's on
the path so they can, you know, so she can
reach her potential. And yeah, you you certainly did. I
mean you you made a lot happen years and years
after that, but yeah, shout out to Lisa for setting
that all of that in motion.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Showed me the side project dot com and I just
like literally every day after school anytime I had a
chance to like just go look at that site and
watch the videos and read all the book I read
everyone's interviews, and I was always waiting for who's the
next person whose interview is going to come up? Like
I was. I was like, this is where I want
(15:09):
to be, Like I was, looked for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Another week, another episode and another Lisa Whitaker shout out moment.
Is it is endless that all paths seem to go
right back to Lisa Whitaker or just endless significance of
helping connect us, like it was just the missing link
that we just really didn't have. We went from Supergirl
am to dominating the podium to all of a sudden
(15:34):
going to South Africa in twenty fourteen, going to what
at that time was the very first women's Street World
Championship opportunity, flying a bunch of girls in and correct
me if I'm wrong, fact check me here, Mimi. That
was the first like world women's street contest.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I don't know the semantics around that. I mean there
was maloof Money Cup and all of that years before.
I don't know if they called that World Championship at
the time. I can't recall. I'd have to actually research that.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
But in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
It was clearly a world championship, and Samaria, if I
remember correctly, you traveled all the way over there and
you kind of had a bunk ankle, like a sprained
ankle or an ankle that was not super.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Healthy, and no tell us about that.
Speaker 6 (16:24):
And how you ended up winning that event.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
First I got I was like jetlagged severely, and then
I was like super nauseous. I don't think I threw up,
but I was like on the verge of and I
was like I was skating around, and then I don't
know what Alyssa was doing. I forget a trick she
was doing, but she like I was like coming towards her,
(16:49):
like towards the area, and her board like I think
she slipped out, and then her board like pile drived
into my ankle right before the contest, and yeah, so
I was like, oh my god. I went off to
the side and I was just like, uh, I'm literally
like I think I'm over it. I think I'm just
(17:09):
gonna whatever happens. Like literally, it took all the pressure off.
I was just like whatever, because you know, it's nauseous,
and my ankle just got demolished by Alyssa Steamer, which
is always crazy to me.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, it's kind of one of those ones where you
were like how but like also like it's Alyssa, like
it's fine, it's fine, no problem, no problem, Like exactly,
it's like an honor in some weird way. Yeah, you
still like took the entire contest ahead of Alexis Sablone
and Pamela Rosa, and that's a pretty big deal at
this time, Like those are some of like the best
(17:45):
contest skaters, and all of a sudden the Humbler comes
out and just a powerful force and takes this like
this is twenty fourteen. You know, we were like women's
skateboarding was like kind of still on its own island
in terms of like how we could see a contact.
But I remember watching that from Afar because it was
like the early eras Instagram was slowly like showing where
(18:07):
people were, you know, yeah, and following along that, everyone's
showing pictures of like meeting tigers and like doing like
South African Safari like things.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Did you do any of that while you were there?
I did. I did go with the cheetahs. And there's
a little he wasn't a baby anymore. They named him Simba,
and it was just like a I think he was
almost a teenage I did like, go pet that lion,
but then they had the actual lions, and I think
someone was kind of playing around with the line. I
(18:38):
was like, dude, like, it's not going to take much
for this line to be like, you know, I'm gonna
take this fence down. It's like an electric fence. But
I'm pretty sure if it got mad enough, like it
would only just be pissing it off more and just
like the rage to like attack would have been it
would have been hectic. But that was my only hesitation
(18:59):
was that actual big lions because it was just a
chain link fit, so it wasn't anything crazy.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
Sounds like good common sense to me.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
I just started backing up. I don't know who it was,
but I was like, come on, dude, chill, don't piss
off the lions.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
How did you manage all this like contest skating and
then being a high schooler and also just like again
like just hopping right into the scene.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
I was probably like nineteen Okay, honestly, it was just
Lisa and me me like I just literally any chance
anytime they called me and they were like, oh, we're
gonna do this. I was like, Okay, I'm coming, Yeah
you want me there, I'm there. And I just showed up.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Every time you pick up the phone when the president
and the vice president of the world call you, yeah, exactly,
these are just the things that we do.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
We say yes.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
It was like there was less going on in those years,
but it almost it almost is better and other ways
because there's such a tight community.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
And yeah, I the titnacity of building stuff and making
trips happen, and like everyone just has to like you know,
everyone just had to be down. And to see what
that being down back then led to us now is
actually insane. It's like insanity because I don't think any
(20:20):
of us really seen how fast women's skateboarding was going
to blow up after all that time of us just
like not having no budget for nothing, and just like, oh, well,
what can we make happen? Like literally bare bones, like
whatever we can make happen, We're just gonna make that happen.
So it's yeah, it was crazy. It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Do you kind of wish that, like the phone calls
that you were getting for contests would have been more
like do you just want to go on this trip
with a bunch of women and go skate and get
clips like that was happening. But it was, like you said,
kind of no, very underfunded, low budget lo fi and
a lot more sparseide my and you were getting invites,
some more contests than you were going on trips at
(21:04):
the time.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yeah, I honestly we made a lot of stuff, but
I think about them like we made a lot of
stuff happen, like like what you tell me, I want
to know, remind me of what those things were. There's
the Woodward trips, all the camp the YMCA trips I went.
I was when I met Lisa, Like literally I went
to San Jose for the very first trip, and it
(21:27):
was just like after that trip, it was like the
door was wide open and we were just like literally
all those block cams that you see, like but like
she would come to like come, We'd meet up whenever
we could. We were like pomonas. We went to Chino
Skate Park and then went to a skate spot in Chino,
(21:48):
like we were just whatever little pieces that we can
make happen were happening, and like I was getting I
was getting called up to do this contest, but you
know there was only there wasn't that many contests happening
at that time, so it was just like besides like
little small ones, and then you had X Games and
at luckily when I first got into X games, X
(22:10):
Games was in La so I could I just had
to drive there. I didn't have to worry about getting
a flight or anything too. So yeah, there's a lot.
I actually did a lot more. It wasn't all that
much street skating for me, but a lot of just
like showing up at these different places like Woodwards and
the YMCA camps and hanging out with people and meeting
(22:33):
meeting so many different people that our interactions just kind
of sparked other interactions that led to you know everything
that is now like the.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Best part about skateboarding, the sessions, the like community crew
at the park, they just like for the vibes.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
You know, something just popped into my mind.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I remember like a turning point with you smart as
when we took that trip to Palm Springs. I think
it was like a hoop on trip to Palm Spring
and Lisa came and you and Alana just destroyed that
skate park and all the little boys just went and
sat down and just stopped skating and they're like just
watching you guys, And yeah, I remember you. I think
(23:14):
it was like a maybe a nine stare or something,
and I think you like kick flipped it and Alana
like back blunt slid the rail and everyone was coming
up asking you, guys, uh for photos because they knew
you from Girls Skate Network.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, and I think like from those trips, those hoople
of trips, like people could just see what type of a.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Force of a skateboarder were.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
All right, everyone, hold on, We'll be right back after
this quick ad break the greater, like bigger audience. I
feel like I got to really see you on the
twenty sixteen seconds season of King of the Road.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
You were a mystery guest along the Enjoy team. Leo
Baker and Nora of Asconcelo's one of our fellow co
hosts of the pod, were there. I'm afraid to ask
how that trip was for you because of just what
King of the Road was, But yeah, what was that
like and why did you say?
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Yes? Kind of just the same same dale show up,
like someone's kidting you up for to do something. It's
different and I love doing things for the first time too,
so you know, I just all added up in my
head to be like, yeah, sure, I know what king
of the Road is.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I mean, it's no light ask to step up for
if you don't know what king of the Road is.
It's like a scavenger hunt with a bunch of teams
in bands driving across the country, but the tasks that
you are checking off to build points are completely unhinged
out of control. There are like real skateboarding things going on,
(25:01):
but a lot of it is just like shock factor.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
And how long was that trip? I think for me
it was only a week Like for me, For me,
I had a blast. I was so stoked the whole time.
Those guys, right before I met them, had just I
feel like they went through like all the hard stuff.
I'm like, we hung out, We're hanging out on the riverside.
I'm at home, like they literally they drove me to
(25:27):
Lake Havisu just to drive me right back. I think
that morning I was like, I literally the hotel we
stayed in was like two blocks from my apartment at
the time, and then we went to LA and now
I'm like, oh sick, I get to see some new
spots that I haven't seen and then get on a
flight to Hawaii. So I'm like, I I my experience
(25:48):
on King of the Road, besides eating that bug.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
As an outsider at that time, like that was like
a coveted invite. It was not sort of this thing
you would turn down. At least that was my perception
of it at the time. That was like a coveted spot.
If you were a woman or a non traditional scape
you got invited to King of the Road, you go
on King of the Road.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Now, yeah, I was like, oh, dash your bet, let's go.
You had a smooth King of the Road experience, which
we love to hear.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
And as a result of that, I feel like Enjoy
took a liking to you and saw that you vibed
with the team and going from Hoopla pro skateboard with Hoopla.
I would love to hear about the phone call that
you had to tell me me when Enjoy my God,
said hey.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Do you want to ride for us? Dude, I was
stressing on that call. I was like, oh my god,
I won't lie. It was a magical moment when we
were filming doing all the King or the King of
the road stuff. I was definitely torn because you know,
I have a lot of loyalty to people that like
take care of me, and like Hoopla was taking care
(26:55):
of me really well, and we were doing a lot
of stuff and making a lot of stuff happen. So
it was but when we got in the cards, I
definitely was crying. There's definitely a lot of tears, a
lot of just like trying to get it over with
at the same time. But it was just like really
sad too, because it's like it was like breaking up.
(27:15):
It was like definitely like a felt like a little
bit of a breakup call, Like, oh.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
Man, I was gonna say.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I remember, I was definitely crying too, But I also like,
you have to do it.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
You have to do it.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Like it was we had reached sort of the limits
of what we could do for you guys. It was like,
all right, now these legacy brands are coming in, they
actually see the value for the first time, go like
run to that, and it was so exciting actually to
see you have that opportunity. But I was, yeah, it
felt like a breakup, And you know that's how it
was with every because everyone else started going after that
(27:47):
point too.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
It's like the word was out.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
But but yeah, it was so awesome to see you,
you know, go on after that and have your name
on all these boards and just be traveling with the
team and stuff.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
And it's so funny because I feel like I blacked
out my twenties. Like I know, there's a lot of
stuff that I remember, but then I'm just like it's
almost it. It's actually kind of traumatic at the same time,
just because of like imposter syndrome and stuff, like you're like, oh, dude,
I actually deserve to be here. You just like on
(28:19):
these trips with these dudes who're just like going crazy
landing everything, and you're just like, you know, I don't
think I got much footage from those trips because I
was so stressed out that like, oh, I need to
get footage from the for this and not go into
spots that weren't necessarily spots that were good for me,
you know, I want to hold it right there.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
I think it's more like not imposter syndrome, but like
there is a little bit of this still gap and
setting a writer up for success, like specifically a female
or gender expansive writer on a trip at these spots
like they're not going to work for everyone, and it
really takes us specific person to know how to like
(29:01):
set you up for success and what spot will work.
And because you're like the minority in the van, you're
probably not the priority in the van either.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I would do things a lot if I knew back
then what I know now, I would I would skate
a lot differently on those trips. I think what really
tripped me up was like knowing that these dudes were
landing everything and watching it. Hap everyone's just like pulling
off crazy stuff, so it's like kind of always in
survival mode. I want to say, like, oh, hold on
(29:33):
for dear life, Like yeah, definitely would allow myself more
space to like try do easier tricks like just get
land stuff instead of like trying to go for like, oh,
what do I think is going to be the coolest thing?
Like I wish that I actually just like, oh, I
know I can get an Alie off of this. I
(29:53):
know I can, you know, and then work my way
up all Okay, I got the Ali And what else
can I do here? Is there still time for me
to do something here? Because I feel like I would
have had a lot more to show for that time
period in my life too, because I do. I do
there's a lot that I wish that I was able
to accomplish on the street side of things, But you know,
(30:14):
I just I was also really wrapped up in the
contest world at that time, so everything all my training
was for contest and wasn't really specifically for the streets, right,
And you're gonna like train at the park when you're
doing that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
I think like what you experiences at a lot of
the girls and women experience that going from that era
and time jumping into legacy brands, Like I've heard that
told to me from several other women. Like I think
it's like it was this weird transitional time where yeah,
you're just thrown in with the wolves and it's super
(30:50):
awesome and exciting, but then yeah, you're trying to sort
of be as gnarly as you can to fit in
with those guys. And I feel like things have hopefully
gotten better since then, and maybe there's more of a
more of a system now that it's not as hectic
like that.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
No, for sure, I've had conversations with like Nicole and
Fobby and few other people about about it. It's like, uh,
you want to step You want to be able to
step up in those moments, but it's like if you're not,
you know, street skating is hard, is not for the
(31:28):
week at all. I just crushed my hand yesterday and
I'm like, dude, why am I still doing this? Obviously
I love it?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
What is your style of like going to a street spot,
Like do you want to be with a crew of
people or do you want to just have like your
film and your photographer and kind of like go there,
focus alone, get the trick, stack and leave. Uh.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
I was all right, literally see, so I'm a libra,
so I like to balance it out. I need there's
times where I need to be on a solo and
then there's time where I need a little group for
the energy. So it just kind of depends on the
spot and the trick. I think if it's I do
like enjoy going to spots where we can just like
(32:11):
kick it at so it's like we're skating, but we
can hang out. And I think I really like those
types of sessions. But I think also sometimes it can
be hard for me to focus on well, depending on
the trick, Like if I actually know what trick I
want to get some Sometimes it's easier for me just
(32:31):
to go knock it out on my own and that
can I'm like, because sometimes I get really intense with
how I feel in a moment about a trick that
I'm doing, So sometimes it's nice to just be like, Okay,
I just need to be able to have the space
to do that and from like Enjoy.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
All of a sudden it folded out of nowhere, and
fortunately Lisa Whitaker was smart enough to be like, obviously
you're coming to me out and we're to your name
on a board, like no question there. But was that
like kind of a big transition and now seeing Enjoy
like re enter the conversation in twenty twenty six, like
how'd that all go? And what are your thoughts on
(33:13):
Enjoy two point zero?
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Yeah? I mean I for me, after it fell apart,
I was just like I don't want to go. I
was in a place already where I just kind of
like pretty insecure about my skating, even though I was
skating really well. But I think I think actually I
had gotten hurt so that that was putting even more
of a damper on it. So I was like, I
(33:36):
don't even know where I would go after Enjoy, like
I just want to and I wanted to go somewhere
where I knew that it feel like, you know, a home,
and it feel like, oh, there's not a lot of
pressure for me to you know, be at this be
this version of myself that everyone sees me at that
I don't that I can't see myself as at the moment,
(33:57):
you know. So that was like a no brainer for me.
I was like, oh, yeah, Lisa things. I don't know
if you've seen the news, but you think I could
come hang out with you? And then so yeah, that happened.
That happened really fast. I happened easy. It was smooth
transition from there. And to see Enjoy, I to see
(34:21):
Enjoy come back, that blew my mind. I saw that
and I was like, no way, they came back. Like
he Louis got it back. I was like, oh, I know,
he's so stoked. I'm stoked. I'm glad that he was
able to get it back because man corporations are terrible. Yeah,
I mean, we'll we'll see.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
It's weird to not see your name over there, but
I feel like, yeah, it was a really good spot
for you, and I'm I'm kind of shocked to hear
you say that you had like insecurities with your skateboarding,
because like Mabie and I on the sidelines, everything that
you did to us was like leveling up women's skateboarding,
pushing it, and then like watching you evolve too as
(35:05):
a professional skateboarder, but like showing up in really great
community spaces with skate like a girl wheels of fortune, unity,
like really connecting back into the women's skate scene in
such a meaningful way. I'm surprised to hear that you
like had some insecurity.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Twenty twenty two was like my year for just injuries.
So it was just like I had a really good
time on that Thrasher Germany trip. I did really that
was like amazing, and then from there we went to
Copenhagen and I busted my knee there at those like
double banked spot, that double bank spot with the big hill,
(35:48):
and I didn't realize that it was that bad and
came home from that. Then that was the same time,
like World Skate we're doing Italy, Like I was in
Europe for a month, came home and then I think
like a week and a half later, I'm now I'm
in San Diego trying trying to do X games. Uh.
(36:09):
And then that's when I smacked my back on off
that rail, which was really gnarly, and that took me
out for took me out for a minute, like probably
maybe like two months I was out from that, and
then the recovery trying to get myself strong enough to
start skating in once I started skating again, It's like
(36:30):
I think I I think I tore my other meniscus.
So I ended up having tears in both my meniscus,
hurt my back, and then my groin and my hips
were like shifted, and so I just took a long
time to heal from that and then to actually get
my mental. So like all the injuries happened while I
(36:50):
was still on Enjoy, and then my bounce back wasn't
as fast, so I was just like, you know, took
a took a toll on the mental for sure.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
That's tough. Yeah, injuries are injuries are mental. Stay with us.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
We'll be right back with Samari Bravard after the sad break.
I remember when you were younger, you got super into reading.
Speaker 6 (37:24):
Like you read a lot of books.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
You got super into reading I was curious if you
are still into reading, and if you're, yeah, you got
anything new You're you're dipping into now?
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Oh yeah, definitely still a reader. Uh oh no, I've read. Honestly,
you started my my reading with The Creative Visualization and
The Peaceful Warrior. The Peaceful Warrior, I literally read every
so like every book after that, The Hidden School, the
SoC Journey of Socrates, Sacred Journey, like I was after
(37:57):
I read Peaceful Warrior. That's what really sparked it. But
as of right now, I don't know what book am
I reading.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
The Peaceful Warrior, Creative Visualization I have to give a
shout out to care about because I got those from
her and she was like, you got to read these
books and those books like changed my life and I
must have passed them on to you, and yeah, yeah,
I'm I remember you going on a trip one time,
like on a plane and you had a giant backpack
and it was just You're like, I have to bring
these books.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
It was just all filled with books.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
That was when I hurt my back at US Street League,
the first Street League, and I had to go to Chicago. Yeah,
I had I hurt my back and then that morning,
I like had this crazy trying to get to the airport.
My card wasn't working, so the taxi drivers like, I'm
gonna have to call the police if you don't, uh,
if you can't pay for this, and I was like,
(38:47):
oh my god. I was like, take me to the chase.
They ended up spending like one hundred dollars on a taxi.
I get to the line to TSA, TSA lines out
the door. I finally make it to my gate right
before it's about to like close the doors, and then
they're like, oh, it's gonna cost you one hundred dollars
to check because I think I had two bags. I
had one with the books and then one with my clothes.
(39:09):
And then they're like, yeah, it's gonna cost you like
one hundred dollars to check to take this bag on
with you. And I was like, you know what, Like
I don't need my clothes, but I don't know if
I get these books back, So I just do everything,
all my books in the bag, and I was like, okay,
I'm going. I'm just this is what I'm going. And
then come to find out, like leave the clothes, take
the books. Totally makes sense dude. I was like, fuck
(39:33):
these clothes, I don't need my books. And then but
it was just funny too because my passport was in
that bag. So assued the door. They closed the door,
and I was like, oh perfect.
Speaker 3 (39:48):
That was the first ever street leg actually that they
had women. I remember you showing up and you just
had this giant bag of books. I'm like, why do
you bring close books with you?
Speaker 4 (39:57):
It was a go ahead to worry. Why don't you
bring it was a book? It was books, but there's
like journals and stuff. Because I had learned from the
Creative Visualization and all the other books that I was reading,
I was like, oh, I gotta start journaling and started learning,
you know, learning my patterns. Like who am I like?
I was on this whole journey of just self realization
(40:19):
or awareness. I was trying to figure myself out. You
did a good job. Yeah, it sounds like we need
a book club.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Good luck with that book club led by Mimi and Samaria.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
We have some marching orders for the first two books.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
And so, Mario, That's something I've really appreciated about you
in this later in life version of you is that
there's a lot of I mean, there was always discipline,
but it feels really like organized these days. It sounds
like reading and the rituals around journaling have been there.
Last time I saw you, you were telling me that
you wake up in the dark at five am.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
You just get in the.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Zone, your stretches, your rehab, and then you have this
like really like personal moment. And right before we got
on the call, not to put you on the spot,
but you you're mirror, you had like this like hyper
organized list of like CONTI and then the rule of three.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Yes, what's going on? Uh? I don't know. So I
do think that there's like a lot of things disrupting,
Like if if I think of life as an energy field,
I think there's a lot of things disrupting the energy field.
So keeping things around that remind me how to stay
focused because you know, there's so many things just trying
(41:36):
to capture my attention, my attention. So it's just like
the rule of threes was just like something like I
think it goes just finish three tasks in a day,
then finish three tasks in a week, and then it's
like finish three tasks in a month or in a year.
(41:56):
So each task is dealing with whatever it is that
you want to be creating for your year. So each
task that you create every day is supposed to help
you stay on track to hopefully reaching a goal in
the month and then in a month. Each month leads
up to the year. So it's just like, you know,
(42:16):
small steps. The idea is small steps will get you there.
So this is something that helped me like be like, Okay,
I don't need to take on the whole world in
one moment. What is your life like? So you have
like two worlds.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
You have your skate world and then you have your
private world, And like, what are you excited about right now?
I think I overheard like you were scheming in the
early twenty twenty era, you were getting really into like
coffee and the bakery scene and spending a lot of
time there. Is that something you're still like thinking about
(42:51):
for a later in life career.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
Yeah, definitely still. I mean I think right now we're
just still obsessed about coffee. Like we to have good coffee,
we have to go to a place that has like
good latte art and stuff like that. But I you know,
the idea of actually starting a brick and mortar like
coffee shop like I gotta be ready to like settle
(43:16):
down and not be traveling around the world. So that's
a little bit on pause, but still like learn taking
in things, still learning and seeing how other companies work
and you know, figuring out if I you know, still dreams,
there's still a dream around it. There's still like the
thoughts and little bit of energy that gets put towards it.
(43:37):
So you know, I I think it'll accumulate to something.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
No better way to do a discovery journey of coffee
while you're like traveling the world for skateboarding. Yeah, it's
like a perfect like paid R and D road to
your future. But like what is exciting you right now
about skateboarding? The women's skate scene, your skateboarding like hard
(44:02):
set of injuries, Like you said, I just want to
highlight in twenty twenty two, during your double meniscus issues,
back issues, you did get the cover of Thrasher.
Speaker 4 (44:11):
So that is like.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
You somehow like showed up in twenty twenty two despite
all odds of injuries. You've made it out of those
injuries to an extent, Like where are you now in
twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (44:26):
Oh yeah, we're we're doing a lot better. I will
say there is some definitely some dark times there for
a minute where it was just like, you know, I
kind of got sober for a year where I wasn't drinking,
I wasn't smoking, I wasn't I just didn't do anything.
And that was actually a lot harder than I ever anticipated. Mentally,
(44:53):
I thought, as soon as I stopped drinking, it's like,
oh my whole world's gonna change, I'm gonna be like
this health nut and I'm gonna be super But actually
I was just depressed the whole time and didn't know,
didn't understand why. But now I have better understanding of like, okay,
well you can do those things, try not to try
to have some help and support around that area, like
(45:16):
if you're gonna stop cold turkey. But yeah, now now
I've a lot of life stuff happened, a lot of
people around me, you know, getting sick and you know
people are getting older, and it's just like, you know,
things that make you stop and think and be like, okay,
(45:37):
well what really matters to me? What's important? So that's
what I've been kind of focusing on, is just like
creating good energy within myself and filling my cup up
so that it pours out to others.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
What's going on with you and skateboarding right now, Anything
that we should be keeping our eyes out for.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
Yeah, I mean video parts. I'm hoping to finally drop
some other stuff, some new stuff. I'm with this league,
the SBA. You know, I never wanted to start a
board brand or anything like that. I was like, I
don't know if that'll ever be me. But like creating,
being a part of this league is like creating a
(46:15):
contest situation or whatever. But being a part of a
essentially it's just something to give back to skaters. It's
like equal pay men and women. We're all in an
equal playing field, and we're really dedicated to taking care
of the skaters that are involved with what we're creating.
So it's like to the point where we already locked
(46:36):
in like health insurance for the skaters like no other
no other situation is giving health insurance for skateboarding. So
it's really cool to I hope you guys can see
the progression of the SBA and we actually make all
the this stuff happen for everybody. That's really cool though,
(46:56):
that's as that's as much as I can talk about.
I say, I want to know more about this health insurance.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
What a luxury to be able to join into a
league and have that kind of provision. So we'll stay tuned.
It sounds like there's a lot of developing news. It's
cool to see you behind the scenes there. I feel
like you have a lot of credible feedback and input
to give towards like how to make a great better
(47:23):
experience as a skateboarder in the competition scene. You have
so much to offer as a mentor, but as a
professional skateboarder presently, so it's like best of both worlds.
Speaker 4 (47:33):
Yeah, I feel like it's like my contribution to what
Lisa and Mimi were showing me as I was growing
up in the contest world is like figuring out ways
to like help the most amount of people, and it's
like a new opportunity for new people to be involved into.
So I'm hoping that it just grows into snowballs into
(47:56):
something amazing.
Speaker 6 (47:56):
That's really cool to hear you're doing that. It's awesome.
Speaker 4 (48:00):
Gary.
Speaker 2 (48:00):
I want to know, Samaria, what you what three books
you would love to tell some listeners that to read
that changed your life.
Speaker 4 (48:07):
You guys were talking about two at the tap, so
there's creative visualization.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
I can't think of the author right now, though, Shanty
Shanti Gabon Shanty cab this book from the seventies.
Speaker 4 (48:20):
Try out the practices in that one. And then Peaceful
Warrior is just like a really good story. I feel
like it's called allegory allegorical, so you know there's some
there's some deep rooted lessons to learn in that one.
And then as a third recommendation, there's this book called
The Field that kind of goes into more of the
(48:43):
quantum physics of life and like the Field that that
energy is all around us at all times.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (48:51):
Then there's The Alchemist, which is another more allegorical. I
feel like that one's a really popular one.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (48:58):
The Camino. The Camino is really good. That's another Mimi
reck that I took on Shirley McClain. Yeah, I just
read another book that that was sided like, it's about
the Comino. It's a queer book that a little queer
romance book that about the Comino walk too, so it
made me like, oh, I need to read the Comino again.
(49:20):
But yeah, those are those are three more that you
guys can check out.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
And I'm going to need some luck reading that stack
of books, which sounds so good. Sa Maria, It's been
such an honor. I feel like we didn't even get
into all that you've contributed to skateboarding. With so much
love for you and can't wait to see how this
year unfolds. Thank you again for joining us. Where can
we Where can our listeners find you? On Instagram?
Speaker 4 (49:46):
Uh? Yeah, just at s Maria Brevard and pretty much
on all my platforms. I think maybe YouTube is Samrio
Bravard twenty two.
Speaker 5 (49:54):
But that's it, listeners, We'll be back here next week.
Speaker 2 (49:59):
You can find us at at good Luck Pod on Instagram.
You can find us wherever you get your podcasts, rate review,
subscribe to the show, and we'll be here next week
to chat.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 7 (50:20):
We are your hosts Ashey Rayfeld, Nora Bascnzlos, Alex White,
and Mimi Nu. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, supervising
producer Tari Harrison, video producer Daniel Goodman, and video production
by School of Humans. This podcast was created by Ashley Rayfeld.
Listen to Good Luck with That, a skateboarding podcast, on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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