As founder of Project Fearless, Merida Miller has made it her life’s work to empower young girls and gender fluid youth to take on new things, fall, and get back up again. Merida was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment where failing was accepted, and even encouraged. Through Project Fearless, she aims to create that safe space for others to learn and fail, and ultimately to grow. Project Fearless offers a variety of activities, but it’s best known for its skateboarding programme. It’s even come to the attention of big brands like Nike. 

Episode highlights:

• The psychology of falling.

• Setting up Project Fearless.

• Before Project Fearless - designing snowboarding clothing.

• Being Hype Girl - cheering people on and creating a ripple effect of impact.

• Boosting confidence through learning how to fall and get back up.

• Role models: more women and gender minority coaches are needed.

• Building teams is an important basis for Project Fearless.

• Merida’s story with board sports - “snow boarding is my first and greatest love”.

• Moving to the Netherlands and getting in to skateboarding - Dorks On Decks.

• Mums want to get involved too.

• Creating safe spaces for girls and gender minorities. “School is not necessarily a safe space, so it’s important to have spaces outside of school.” 

• Find your comfort zone and then get a little bit out of it to get in to your growth zone.  

More about Merida

@mercatmiller

@project.fearless

projectfearless.org

Places and groups that Merida mentions:

@dorksondecks

@womenskatetheworld

@skateparknoord

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fantastic Nick Woodhouse is founder of Sister Motion, a business she set up to close the gender gap in commercial production, led by female teams.

“7% of commercial directors and women are only 11% of creative directors are women and this is why we still have these lazy outdated stereotypes of women in the commercials and the content we’re fed”

She became analytical about gender stereotypes when she had her daughter Nancy. Providing Nancy, and girls like her, with strong female protagonists to look up to, became a driving motivation for setting up Sister Motion. 

Nicky is an avid surfer (and was a skater when she was in her teens) and this passion has spilled in to her work, informing many of the clients that have bought in to her all female talented teams. 

Episode highlights:

• Taking the slams - falling in surfing and falling in the business. 

• Sister Motion - “comes from my own lived experience. I was often the only female on a shoot, other than hair and make-up.”

• “I want my daughter Nancy to have better role models in commercial content and adverts.”

• We need to change the statistics in the broadcast and advertising industry.

• Journey in to boarding - from teen skateboarder to avid surfer. “In an ideal world I would surf every day.”

• The joy of surfing - “surfing is my new high.”

• Social media is encouraging more women in their middle years to try out these sports.

• Surf etiquette - finding your space in a male dominated environment.

More about Nicky:

@nickywoodhouse

@sister_motion

Sister Motion

Groups Nicky mentions:

London Surf Club

Surfing England

@sauntonsurfsisters

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It is good to have some older women showing up and skating and showing that it is possible for all ages.”

Jane Falconer-White is a 49 year old mum who took up skateboarding just before lockdown, and practiced throughout lockdown in her garage. She specialises in freestyle skating and was the only woman from the UK to compete in the European Freestyle Championships 2023. She has documented her journey on instagram @skatejanefw.

Episode highlights:

• Taking pride in bruises - “the more you fall the more you lose the fear of it”. 

• Rock to Fakie - what it is.

• Getting in to skateboarding just before lockdown and then learning at home on the internet.

• Skateboarding has adrenaline and excitement, but it’s also about being in flow and being relaxed.

• Freestyle skateboarding - what it is. 

• Taking part in the European Freestyle Championships with Mike Osterman’s board.

• Instagram - “it helped me to document my journey”. It’s great for networking, but be careful not to compare yourself.

• Skating at home in the garage in the winter. 

• Being supported by family. 

• Skating helps with mental health as well as physical health and peri-menopause. 

More about Jane:

Insta: @skatejanefw

Places and people Jane mentions:

The House Skatepark

@mike_osterman

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefanie Sword-Williams is the founder of the brilliantly named F*ck Being Humble We wanted to feature confidence coaches on the podcast, and Stefanie was top of the list. She helps women everywhere learn how to promote themselves, and increase their confidence. Stefanie tours globally, giving talks and training sessions to employees of top brands as well as individuals. She has written a book about her ideas, and has a large social media following at @fbeinghumble

Episode highlights:

• Stefanie gets on a skateboard for the first time.

• Why Stefanie set up F*ck Being Humble in 2018: self-promotion is not a dirty word.

• The business hit a nerve and went viral.

• Managing imposter syndrome.

• Reflect on the big and the small wins.

• Overcome shame and fear of judgment.

• Stefanie learns a valuable lesson on the streets of New York: “Sit with discomfort - the payoff could be extraordinary”.

• Find a ‘F*ck you’ song and a celebration song.

• Make sure you have a safety net - a group of cheerleaders and positive people.

More about Stefanie:

fuckbeinghumble.com

Insta: @stefaniesw and @fbeinghumble

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Skateboarding always made me happy. It gets your blood flowing, gets your mind off your troubles - it’s a mood changer. I really do think I skated through menopause.”

Skating bowls in her 60s, Marlene talks about skating at an older age, menopause, recovering from falls and coming back to skating after a heart attack. She was one of the founding members of @100percentskateclub in Canada, creating safe spaces for girls and women to skate. On top of this, as @imagemaven, she is a YouTube photography tutor. 

Episode highlights:

• Coming back from a big fall. 

• The journey into skateboarding - from teens to now.

• “I’ve found my tribe”

• Creating community - the 100percentskateclub - making space for women and girls.

• You don’t need to belong to a team and it doesn’t matter how good you are….and it’s exciting and inspiring to watch. 

•  You’re not too old - resisting dissenting voices. 

• “I’m a sensible skater - I don’t skate when it’s wet and I only take calculated risks.”

• The joy that skating brings - the flow. “It can turn a bad day in to a great day.”

• Coming back to skating after having a heart attack.

• Start slow, and find your own group or  start your own club. 

More about Marlene:

Insta: @imagemaven

Youtube: ImageMaven

Places and clubs Marlene mentions:

100% Skate Club

Later Skaters Gang

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“When you get to 40, you realise there’s not much time to do what you’ve dreamt of doing and having time for yourself. I think we always realise that doing things for ourself makes us better parents, better friends and better relationships so I think it’s nice to strike out and push our comfort zones a little bit and try something new.”

Hayley Lawrence aka @middleagedsurfmum tried surfing many times in her life, but it became her whole life in her 40s. She’s now a writer, works with The Wave Project charity as a coach, and founded both a local mums surf group, as well as a travel company specialising in surf holidays for families.

Episode highlights:

• “The ocean is there to humble us.” It can be frustrating at times and some days you just have to give up. 

• It’s not about doing it for anyone other myself" - that makes it easier to deal with the more frustrating days. 

• “You feel really rinsed….it’s the best feeling.” It's all worth it though.

• The long journey in to surfing.

• Surfing with the family and surfing as time out from the family. “It’s the only place no-one can get you.”

• Setting up a surf mum’s group and a travel company.

• Surfing in the Hebrides and Senegal. 

More about Hayley:

 @middleagedsurfmum

Family Surf Co.

Places Hayley mentions:

King Surf

The Wave Project

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As CMO of Habito, a challenger fintech in the world of mortgages, Abba took the company to become the biggest sponsor in UK Skateboarding history. She worked tirelessly to help build and renovate skate-able spaces across the UK and support the UK Skate Championships. 

Skating and mortgages don’t seem a natural match, but it worked. It also mirrored Abba’s journey into skateboarding on a personal level as a 40+ woman. Now 50, she is still an avid skater and surfer. 

She has since joined Circa5000, a UK based ethical investment platform. She plans to connect the brand to surfing, in a similar vein to how she connected Skateboarding to Habito. 

In this conversation, Abba talks about both her branding and her personal journey in to the world of skating and surfing. 

Episode highlights:

• How Habito came to be the official UK Skate Championships sponsor.
• Creating more spaces for communities to skate.
• Don’t be scared of skateboarders - skateboarding can drive out crime.
• We need more skate coaches.
• Circa 5000 and impact investing and surfing.
• A personal journey in to surfing and skateboarding. 
• Boomtime for skateboarding.
• Just get out there and do it.

Companies mentioned by Abba:

Habito

Circa 5000

Jimbo Phillips

Places mentioned by Abba:

Noah Surf House

Bay Sixty6

Groups mentioned by Abba:

Concrete Waves

Skateboard GB

MySkate

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Esther Sayers is a role model to us all. Her name comes up in so many conversations in this community; it seems all roads lead to her. She took up skateboarding at the age of 47, and continues to enjoy the sport to this day, despite a substantial injury to her fingers. She runs the MA Arts and Learning program at Goldsmiths and brings her experience of skateboarding in to her academic work. 

In this conversation, Esther touches on coming back to skateboarding after her injury and overcoming fear to do so; what a drop in is; skating without pads; ageing and menopause, and subverting the narrative of decline; and how skateboarding has changed her relationship with her children. 

Episode highlights:

• The battle scars of falling
• The feeling of skating without pads (when it’s safe to do so)
• Bowl skating, dropping in, and gaining confidence 
• Strategies on overcoming fear (especially after an injury)
• Skating as a family
• Menopause, ageing and skateboarding

More about Esther:

@esthersayers

Dr Esther Sayers

Places Esther mentions:

House of Vans Skatepark

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host - Caroline Keylock

Producer - Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Known globally for her graceful and seemingly effortless moves on a longboard, Valeriya is a brilliantly talented skateboarder and the founder of @the_longboard_camp and co-founder of with @axel.massin. Their Insta films are so popular that one of their clips has been viewed 13 million times. Valeriya now runs sold-out skate camps throughout the year, and hundreds of students have completed her online course.

In this conversation, Valeriya explains what longboard dancing is, and how she came to it; why she set up the Longboard Camp; how women of all ages are stepping in to this arena; the importance of welcoming in difficult feelings of insecurity and imposter syndrome; and how she is now trying to find more of a balance in her life again. 

Episode content and highlights:

• It’s ok to fall. 
• What is longboard dancing?
• Feeling the flow - let your moves unfold. 
• You’re never too old to start.
• Welcome the feeling of insecurity - lack of confidence is a part of it.
• It’s ok to be ordinary and to fail.
• Burning out and finding a balance again. 
• Choose better and set priorities. 
• Taking a break from social media.
• Skating is a happy moment of flow and expression.

More about Valeriya:

@valeriya_gogunskaya

The Longboard Camp

@the_longboard_camp

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host - Caroline Keylock

Producer - Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.