Roundtable: Nora Vasconcellos, Samarria Brevard, Nicole Hause and Jill Perkins
As women in action sports that had no real blueprint to follow.
Nora Vasconcellos, Samarria Brevard, Nicole Hause and Jill Perkins forged their own way as pro skaters and snowboarders at the cusp of when women’s representation in the scene was certainly not about the talent.
Individually, each have proved the girls can hold their own and then some. Following is what four of the most talented and respected sporting professionals have to say when you get them together and forget to give them a time limit on how long to talk for.
Nora: I brought you all here because I have a plan. There’s a secret clock in a mountain (laughs). No, no. I wanted to bring some friends in who I feel all share in a sisterhood, and we all got to watch our careers explode around the same time.
Jill: We could all go around the circle and say something nice about each other.
Nicole: Oh god.
Nora: Nah we can all introduce ourselves. My name is Nora Vasconcellos, I’m from Pembroke Massachusetts. I turned pro in 2017.
Nicole: Woah.
Nora: Jill’s turn.
Jill: My name is Jill Perkins. I grew up in California. I moved to Salt Lake City almost ten years ago. I recently turned pro in 2022.
Nicole: Yeah you did.
Nora: Jill is the most recent one, which is a little crazy.
Jill: Snowboarding historically does it a little late. I think it was the most appropriate time.
Nora: Yeah it’s not like the beginning of your career, right?
Jill: It’s like the midst of it, a lot of times people miss the mark. If it’s too early it can kind of bite you in the ass. For me, I think I would have gone through a self-destructive phase. I’m happy with the way it worked out. Nicole you go.
Nicole: My name is Nicole Hause. I’m from Minnesota and I live in LA now. I turned pro in 2022. September 9, 2022. Got to name the date.
Nora: Is that Virgo or Libra?
Nicole: I’m a Virgo pro.
Nora: Samarria, your turn.
Samarria: My name is Samarria Brevard. I’m from Riverside California, currently residing in the Bay, and I have no idea what year I turned pro.
Nicole: I feel like I remember. It was the end of 2017 right?
Nora: It would have been because you got on Enjoi.
Samarria: I had a board with Hoopla.
Nora: I think Hoopla was in 2015.
Nicole: Samarria is the longest pro on the team.
Jill: You’ve been pro for ten years. So pro for Hoopla in 2015, and then pro for Enjoi in 2017.
Samarria: That’s it.
Nora: Fun fact. There was a point in time when Nicole, Samarria and myself all rode for Hoopla.
Samarria: Gang gang.
Jill: Wait, I feel like some people might not know what Hoopla was?
Nora: Hoopla was a skateboarding company out of Skate One Distribution. A Mimi Knoop and Cara-Beth Burnside little side project. They were trying to establish a female-run brand and skate company that would just really highlight girls coming up who were not getting flow from anybody.
Samarria. Yeah. No one was. I thought I was just going to be hanging out with the homies all the time.
Nora: Did you ever send footage to brands around the Hoopla days Samarria?
Samarria: No never. My journey was from meeting people, and always showing up to all the events that were going on. I met Lisa (Whitaker) who introduced me to Mimi who set that whole thing up for me getting on Hoopla. But nah I never sent any videos. I wish. I wish I had some videos.
Jill: When they established Hoopla were you guys already on?
Nora: I was getting wheels from Bones at the time and they asked if I’d like it if they flowed me boards. That was right before the time I moved to California. I remember meeting Nicole around then too.
Nicole: I manifested being your friend.
Nora: You wanted to be my friend?
Nicole: I really did. When you showed up to Combi, you fucking won with your thong out.
(All laughing).
Nora: Dude. The last day in my whole life I’ve ever worn a thong. Ever.
Nicole: And I wasn’t close enough with you to tell you.
Jill: Yo your whale tails out.
Nicole: Like someone’s got to tell this woman.
Jill: No we’ll just publish a photo instead, that’ll let her know.
Nora: I have the photo. I remember being on the deck of the Combi bowl and looking down at somebody’s phone and it was a photo of me, but from behind doing a frontside air. An innocent kid came up to me and was like ‘I took this photo. Your underwear is sticking out.’ But the funny thing was, jokes on all y’all because I won that competition.
Jill: And you looked good doing it.
Nora: We never had any style back then. Except for Samarria because she was skating like ten stairs.
Jill: I think it was the day I met you Nora I skated in a dress that was rolled up into a shirt. I just remember I went over the fucking birthday cake in a dress.
Nicole: We’ve all come so far. Moral of the story.
Nora: We figured it out.
Nicole: I’ve got a question, who was the first person on Hoopla?
Samarria: I feel like it was Allysha Le.
Jill: Wasn’t it Alana Smith? I remember seeing a Woodward edit where she did, I guess it was a fly-out back three.
Nora: A backflip?
Jill: She probably did a backflip too.
Nicole: Alana was crazy. We would just go to a park and she was just air over everything. 360 blunt to fakie.
Nora: She did a drop in blunt fakie on a vert ramp.
Nicole: And not even warming up.
Jill: I feel like everyone kind of went through Hoopla, right of passage in a way.
Nora: Yeah it was a right of passage. If you were on Hoopla or getting boards from Hoopla like you’re going to be a pro for some major company that didn’t think you could do anything three years before.
Nicole: Literally. That’s exactly what it was. A stepping stone for all of us.
Nora: It was cool though like it was the first time most of us had a brand treat us like skateboarders. It wasn’t like I was getting free shit because they felt bad. They were very much hitting us up seeing what our projects were, seeing if we were shooting photos or videos and linking us up. Like Lisa, I mean she wasn’t a part of Hoopla but she ran her own side project which became Girl Skate Network. If you were living and or visiting California, Lisa would reach out and be like come on these sessions. And then that’s where you met everybody.
Samarria: That’s where I met you. So wild.
Nicole: The Girls Skate Network.
Jill: Yeah you girls killed it on that.
Nicole: We should bring it back.
Nora: And then before that Elyssa Steamer, Marisa Dal Santo, Leo Baker, Vanessa Torez, Amy Karon that crew that was doing it. You can watch Marisa’s part and it’s still the best fucking part.
Nicole: I always watch that and go wow.
Nora: I genuinely think it was like watching Welcome to Hell or Jump Off a Building, it was the next version of that level. She was the next person to put out parts which showed everyone what women were capable of. You weren’t watching it being like girl power you watched it being like fuck this is the best video part. Ever. The same way I watch Dylan Rieder footage – you're watching someone who leaves an imprint in skateboarding who is unerasable.
Jill: Why did Hoopla stop?
Samarria: I feel like it always comes down to marketing. They didn’t know how to market girls and just continued to do the same thing they always did.
Nora: It was a boys club. Every brand was. Even every way that a layout in a brand works, people who work inside the brand. From the top of the CEOs all the way down to the salespeople to the people who fucking pack boxes - they’re not hiring women. And then from that, all the ambassadors and the people who put the product out into the world. Who is our branding… why would we need to put a girl in?
Nicole: Skating went through its own ebbs and flows of being financially stable and then no one liked skateboarding and then now it is cool again and all that. Finally, now, though, I feel like it’s in a good spot.
Jill: I mean all three of you have had an impact on sales in skateboarding and not only being seen on the brands but on entire markets. I was just curious to know Nora, if your pro model board is the best-selling board on Welcome?
Nora: Yes.
Jill: That’s pretty cool.
Nicole: Yeah that speaks volumes. More women in skate, it pays off.
Nora: I feel like what Lisa is doing with Meow is like what Mimi and Cara-Beth were doing with Hoopla. Lisa has such a good eye and she’s paying attention. She knows who’s coming up and brings them along. I feel like when I’m working with other women on a brand or something I get more motivated. Is that motivating to you considering Meow is your board sponsor Samarria?
Samarria: Oh god yeah, super motivating. Especially because Lisa was the person who took me on my first skate trip. Everything that I’m able to do now is because of Lisa. It’s a full-circle moment. Especially last year because I was injured for most of it. I tore my back up and couldn’t even walk for months and to still be on with Meow after all that.
Nora: All the footage that we know you’re sitting on Samarria, where’s that going to go?
Nicole: I’ve been wondering about that footage. I want to compile. I’m jealous of what Samarria’s done to be honest. I feel like I’m always rushed to put out my footage. I wish everyone had a time limit that they could go on social media. Like only twenty minutes a day.
Jill: It’s tough because I wouldn’t be here without it. But do I like it? No I fucking hate it. But I can’t be like it’s hindering 100% because that would be denying its undeniable help in getting me to where I am.
Nora: I think social media allowed us to bypass the gatekeeping. We could put our ability out there. A whole network that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.
Jill: I think it’s another factor for progression in the sport. Before you wouldn’t see a trick until a year later when it came out on a film to understand the level everyone was playing at. Now we have access at our fingertips. If I see someone do something that is sick I want to go out and try it. At the same time if I’m not putting anything up on the internet I feel like I’m not doing my job. And the pressure of that is so shitty.
Nora: And when you come back from an injury too, to put something up that doesn’t suck. Jill: Are they paying you to drink Juneshine on this right now Nora? Nora’s just buying Juneshine so her stock goes up. Nora give us a question and make it juicy.
Nicole: Make it nasty.
Nora: I’d like to know what your biggest hurdles have been? Samarria it sounds like recently you were in that with your back?
Nicole: I feel like I’m constantly jumping over things- there’s always something to be fucking jumping over.
Samarria: It was vicious. I tried to get up and was like, ‘oh, I can’t move.’ Yeah, I mean I was optimistic when it first happened but after a while I was like, ‘holy shit am I ever going to heal?’
Jill: Throughout my career, I’ve definitely spent some time being injured and for some sick and twisted reason it always happens when I mentally need to settle down and realign. Even though I might be having phenomenal momentum within my career, my shit is falling apart on the other end and I’m using my career as a crux. I can honestly say the best year I had filming was when I was the saddest. I think a lot of athletes are similar in that way. Last year I fractured my sacrum, and I was out for nine months. And because it took me out of the sport for so long, I came back and had way more love for it. As shitty as injuries are sometimes, they happen at the best time.
Nicole: I agree with that.
Jill: Through injuries, I found a way to love every other part of life that isn’t snowboarding and that almost contributes to the greater good of why I love snowboarding so much.
Nora: Just side note. It’s crazy that you (Jill) didn’t even start snowboarding until you were like eighteen. People that you compete against and who have parts coming out that are on the level that you’re at, have grown up on the mountain their whole life.
Jill: I mean yeah, I came into snowboarding because I loved it. I was never trying to stick it to the man or prove anything to anyone.
Nora: Just us all trying to figure out our own things. I think I’ve seen you girls all do things where you're like, ‘okay, this is where you change the game.’ Like when Nicole quit doing the Olympic shit to go do skate trips and get footage. She still does the biggest airs but she’s going to get clips. And then guess what? That worked out. And with Jill, she’s just going to do whatever she wants to do and still have better style than 95% of the guys snowboarding. And then Samarria just moves down to Riverside. It’s cool to watch people actualise themselves.
Jill: On other hurdles though, I might add. Sexual harassment. Probably my biggest one.
Nora: Yeah, you were the first one of us to actually legally and contractually change your plan because of sexual harassment. Like, we’ve all experienced it, but you were the first to be like, ‘fuck this, not doing this.’
Nicole: Yeah, I think that’s one of the hardest things to do in our industry, speaking up for that stuff.
Jill: Yeah, it was hard. It’s a very important topic. Women have to do things that make them uncomfortable just for money all the time. When I came out and said something, the amount of people who used to work or be with the brand came forward and said thank you for saying something- this has been going on for way too long. The decisions you have to make about its impact on your career for speaking out though. Man! Like will these guys even believe what I have to say? Will they take it seriously? Will I be accepted back into the community? But my experience wasn’t like that at all. I had the most support. More than what I could ever imagine or ask for to come forth. From my friends to colleagues, bosses and the boys I film with.
Nora: I mean you had to forfeit a cheque with a massive corporation in order to feel safe and comfortable. You could have created a coup, gone rogue on Instagram and called names out. It’s crazy that stuff like this happens to someone as big as you with your ability and popularity.
Jill: Totally. And to be completely honest even the people that turned a blind eye and said ‘oh it’s just guys being guys.’ Like, no, that’s not an excuse. I just hope that it’s not those people in the future making brand decisions.
Nora: I’ve spoken about this before but a lot more lately there’s been a man come up to me and be like ‘hey now that I have a daughter, I’m just so grateful to you and everything you’ve accomplished.’ And I’m always like, it took you having a fucking daughter? My being and love for skateboarding and this path is now worth a fragment of your time because you finally have a lady in your life? Then I just feel bad for the daughter. Like if it doesn’t interest them it doesn’t exist.
Jill: Anyway I’ve got a question. What is something that you’re proud of as women in relation to where we are now in action sports and where would you like to see it go?
Nicole: I am proud of all my friends. We had to create opportunities for ourselves and now we’re all in a place where we have to say no to things because there’s so much going on. Seeing my friends' names on pro wheels and boards. I’d like to see us go in the direction of having more women in the workplace, in skate companies and in the media. That’s where it’ll be set in stone when women are more involved in important decisions. Get some more women presidents in sports.
Samarria: More women in the workplace being able to have more of a say.
Nicole: Definitely, because we’re selling more shit for sure.
Nora: Dad’s not going out to buy anything ever unless it’s Home Depot. Women buy everything. Duh. I also think accessibility. We have people who are blind who are able to be professional skateboarders and inspire people. I think more typical sports really provoke elitism without taking into consideration the breadth and differences in people. When it comes to women, we’ve been trained to be so competitive with each other because opportunity has been so scarce but now it’s time to be supportive of women who especially don’t look like us. You have to stand for all women, not just the ones that you want to see. Trans, bisexual, anyone who isn’t white. I think skateboarding is doing a better job with that because there are so many community-based efforts out there like Skate Like a Girl, Nation’s Skate Youth, Skate After School. A lot of grassroots things are being run by women which is the place where we’re going to see the biggest changes. And then definitely more women in the workplace.
Jill: Yeah, I had a female manager and she did a lot for me. She had a voice always being like, ‘take this person seriously or fuck off.’ I think brands are seeing the difference it makes from having a wide variety of people. And sure, brands were putting people on to check the boxes but they are now seeing a return on it. Curse that for it being the reason for them finally giving those people a chance, but it actually translates now. Now that I’ve seen what a world could look like with more women involved, I’ll go to a skatepark now and I see a girl and I’m like, ‘what’s up,’ where as when I was younger I definitely didn’t do that.
Nora: Only if they’re not there to just watch their boyfriends. I love seeing the little crews of girls. All getting along and they don’t remember a time opening Thrasher and the only girl that looked like them was a Hubba Wheels ad. That was the only representation of girls and it was fucked up. But now they just get to be a part of everything as they are.
Nicole: The little girl posses are so sick. I’m actually really jealous of them. Imagine if we all knew each other at nine or ten. It wouldn’t be fair to the dudes honestly.
Nora: I like when they come up to me and ask my name and she’ll be riding my wheels or Nicole's board and there’s some crossover from my life. They don’t know who I am but they’re just talking to me like that would any other kid in the skatepark. That is the coolest shit. I love that.
Jill: Yeah it’s really cool when kids come up to you and ask questions. If I’m burnt I just go hang out with the kids and it just refuels me and reminds me why I love it.
Nicole: I got high and low hopes for those kids. But I think they might be all right.