Women in Action Sports Conversation Space

Alba Pardo

Conversations with leaders, athletes, professionals and makers of the action sports industry. Hosted by action sports media expert and founder of the Women in Action Sports Network Alba Pardo, these conversations touch on current, relevant and very important topics about our personal and professional lives tied up around the passion for action sports and its community.

  1. 12/07/2022

    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 and Kyiv's Double Triple Fest.After receiving the  news that her team in collaboration with the Ukrainian snowboard brand Holy Wood Boards 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 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.

    Julia Sosnovska on Ukrainian urban culture, action sports events and charity projects
  2. 10/24/2022

    Kimmy Fasani on advocacy, discomfort and hope

    About Kimmy FasaniKimmy 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 where the only female riders featured. But also stood up for equality and progression hosting events like Amusement Park and Amusement Mountain 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 and support the the Benchetler Fasani Foundation here.

    Kimmy Fasani on advocacy, discomfort and hope

About

Conversations with leaders, athletes, professionals and makers of the action sports industry. Hosted by action sports media expert and founder of the Women in Action Sports Network Alba Pardo, these conversations touch on current, relevant and very important topics about our personal and professional lives tied up around the passion for action sports and its community.