Women in Action Sports Conversation Space

14: Julia Sosnovska on Ukrainian urban culture, action sports events and charity projects

Julia Sosnovska is the communications manager at Don't Take Fake Agency & Magazine [https://donttakefake.com/en/] and Kyiv's Double Triple Fest [https://www.instagram.com/doubletriple_fest/]. After receiving the  news that her team in collaboration with the Ukrainian snowboard brand Holy Wood Boards [https://www.instagram.com/holywoodboards/] have put together a capsule collection with ten different Ukrainian artists and are auctioning it on-line to raise funds for the psychological recovery of their soldiers I thought we had to jump on a conversation to talk about the action sports community in Ukraine, their job on nurturing and building on that scene and presenting it to the World through the international skate, snowboard and freeski event in downtown Kyiv the Double Triple Fest. But also, I really wanted to understand her situation and her companies in the context of war. Because it's something I can't fully grasp or begin to understand I wanted to ask these questions. In this conversation Julia not only explains the culture and community around sports and urban culture in Ukraine but shares the love for their own history and creations, which has taught me the invaluable lesson that, besides money, one way we can all help is by recognising their history, their traditions, their uniqueness and their talent and help them develop it further. First, head to the Double Triple Fest Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/doubletriple_fest/]accounts and place your bids to get your hands on one of the beautiful snowboards they have curated and help raise funds for the recovery of their defenders.  And second, if you have the opportunity and as an action sports industry professional, maybe consider to reach out to some of the amazing Ukrainian creatives, designers or artists to help you in your next project. But in the mean time don't forget to check your sources but keep sharing their culture and heritage for the world to know.

1: HOW I DID THIS Ep. 1: Lisa Slagle from Wheelie Creative

For this first episode, ever, of How I did This I reached out to Lisa Slagle, Founder of the creative Agency Wheelie Creative. I don’t want to give away too much before we get started, but I can tell you that Lisa is a determined, hard working, no bullshit creative whose live has been shaped by her passion for snowboarding. Trained as a graphic designer in the Colorado State University Lisa started her business venture on her own and with very little resources, but soon after her company started growing and she has been the proud owner of Wheelie Creative for 13 years. These 13 years have been full of big shifts, growth and changes. From getting unintetionally stranded in Montana to setting shop there for 10 years, to expanding to a team of more than 30 people and 2 offices in two different states to more recently going completely remote and deserting their office and sticking by it. Lisa’s and Wheeliess journey is exciting, inspiring and most importantly relatable. No fairy tales, but as she says: just GOOD WORK. On the basis of CRAFT, CONNECTION AND CHANGE she has build a little empire of her own. And I must say after this conversation with her I couldn’t sleep for two nights straight, just reflecting and taking in everything she tells us, how authentically she talks about it and how brutally honest you have to be with yourself to thrive.

13: Kimmy Fasani on advocacy, discomfort and hope

About Kimmy Fasani Kimmy Fasani has been a Professional snowboarder for over twenty years. She has always pushed the female snowboarding scene, not by only achieveing tricks never done before, like when she was the first woman to land a double backflip in a snowpark and in the back country back in 2011 but also by pushing the limits everywhere she could. She was one of the only women to film with Absinthe Films and she earned her parts in male dominated crews and movies, like the one in the Standard Films movie 2112 where her and Anne-Flore Marxer [https://open.spotify.com/show/2M9FWUO1N9ytlBaLZuRLOW] where the only female riders featured. But also stood up for equality and progression hosting events like Amusement Park [https://www.snowboarder.com/featured/kimmy-fasanis-third-annual-amusement-park-at-mammoth-mountain/] and Amusement Mountain [https://www.snowboarder.com/amusement-mtn-part-getting-into-the-backcountry-kimmy-fasani/] which were events to help expedite women’s learning curve and progression in snowboarding. In 2017 she won the Snowboarder’s Women rider of the Year Award and after that in March 2018 she became a mom. Then an there she did another huge step advocating for equality when she announced that she was planning to continue her career as a professional athlete and had negotiated the terms with her main sponsor, Burton Snowboards, to not only support her through this journey but put policies in place to allow others to do the same in the future. If you don’t think this is an inspiring life story just yet, let me tell how in 2019, just few months after having her second baby, Zeppelin, Kimmy was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive inflammatory breast cancer. She underwent 10 months of treatment, including 6 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and 30 rounds of radiation. As of now, Kimmy has had a complete pathological response to chemo and surgery so she is cancer free. Throughout this difficult journey Kimmy has shared her experience very openly on her social media channels and has become an inspiration and a source of strength and hope for many. Today I have the pleasure to sit down to talk to her about her journey, her choice to go “public” on this challenging times and the things to come. We get real and dig into the uncomfortable topics and hard moments, but if there is one thing I can tell you is that Kimmy is no stranger to the discomfort and nor scared to embrace it, she sheds hope and positivity like I have only seen few people do. Tangible tools and lessons learnt are just her gift to us at the end of the conversation. So if you are only going to listen to one podcast this month, make sure this is the one. You can follow Kimmy's journey on her Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimmyfasani/] and support the the Benchetler Fasani Foundation here. [https://www.instagram.com/thebffoundation/]

12: Nikita Ducarroz on the journey from an anxiety victim to an Olympic medalist

Nikita Ducarroz is a Swiss American BMX Olympic Medalist Athlete who discovered BMX on Youtube in the safety of her room whilst she wouldn't dare to go out in the real world due to her severe anxiety. In this conversation we talk about her discovery and the progression of the BMX, which is now of course an Olympic sport and she got to grab a medal in the debut of the sport in Tokyo, but most importantly we talk about her journey to get there, her inspirations and her aims. We talk about the importance of prevention, support and personal work as well as the authenticity on showing oneself to the World, specially as a professional athlete and public figure to keep things real and authentic is her goal. In this line she tells us about her project MindTricks and what is she looking out for the future. Nikita rides for Red Bull, Mongoose Bikes, Omega. Riding Culture and Troy Lee Designs. You can follow Nikita on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/nikita.ducarroz/] and also her project MindTricks [https://www.instagram.com/m1ndtricks/] about mental health awareness.

11: Michaela Schmid on keeping only the things that bring you joy

Michaela Schmid is originally from Davos, Switzerland although she is now living in  another Swiss mountain town: Laax. Michaela is the Chill Foundation Coordinator for Switzerland and also a tidying coach. She gathered and extensive experience with marketing and social media whilst travelling around the globe until she came to a point of burn out that made her re-evaluate her choices.  In this conversations she tells us all about this unconventional path of simplicity and joy as well as her work with the kids and young adults in the Swiss program for the Chill Foundation and how snowboarding becomes a tool for integration and value education.  Michaela describes herself as a versatile person who loves contrasts: the mountains and the sea, being active and chilling, her home and nature.    Follow her on her personal accoun [https://www.instagram.com/lamichaaaa/] @lamichaaaa or her coaching account [https://www.instagram.com/michacoaching.ch/]  @michacoaching.ch [https://www.instagram.com/michacoaching.ch/] and learn all about Chill on their Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/chillfoundation/] and website [https://www.chill.org/]. Thinking about volunteering or working for a non-profit like Chill, here you can [https://www.chill.org/about-us/careers/] check out their open positions.