An interview with Mahfia Boss, Kim Woozy

2015 // GRILS IN SKATEBOARDING // KIM WOOZY

KIM WOOZY // NAM-CHI VAN

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KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

JUSTYCE TABOR // KIM WOOZY

HE GIRLS SKATEBOARDING INDUSTRY HAS ALWAYS TAKEN A BACKSEAT TO MAINSTREAM SKATEBOARDING AND MEDIA BASED AROUND THE SUBCULTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SCARCE, BUT NOW IT IS A MOVEMENT THAT IS GAINING MOMENTUM. KIM WOOZY, THE FOUNDER OF MAHFIA. TV IS ONE OF A NUMBER OF WOMEN WHO HAVE TAKEN THINGS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS TO CREATE AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR THE GROWING NUMBER OF GIRLS AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE TAKING PART IN SKATEBOARDING TODAY.

KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

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LIZZIE ARMANTO // KIM WOOZY

- What is MAHFIA.TV? MAHFIA.TV is the leading digital global destination for girls action sports media, which is under MAHFIA Productions, Inc. We produce our own original video content, branded content for other companies and also curate the best of girls board sports content on the web.

- When did you launch it?

We originally launched in 2010 and focused primarily on video production for other companies. In 2012, we saw a growing need for a media destination so we focused our efforts on launching MAHFIA. TV which went live last month. We teamed up with Southern California based design firm Mittun and we’re very excited about the new platform.

It’s the only place on the Internet that features curated female action sports video content. We’ve got over ten different video series showcasing various crews around the world and we’ll be continuing to add more soon.

- How large is the audience base that you have & what areas of the world are they in?

Our combined fans totals about 70K+

and our audience comes from all over the world. Aside from here in the US, we have a lot of fans in South America (skateboarding is huge down there). We also get a lot of love from Asia & Europe. With the reach of the internet nowadays there really are no boundaries; we have fans from places like Bulgaria and Singapore.

The idea of people from all the corners of the world watching our

videos and being stoked on girls shredding is what keeps us really inspired.

- What inspired you to create it and why was it needed?

I wanted to create MAHFIA.TV because there wasn’t any media that spoke to me personally. The main core skate/ snow/surf mags rarely featured any

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girls content at all and other media outlets/magazines “for girls” were mainly focused on beauty and fashion.

I created MAHFIA.TV as a way for my friends (female pro riders who I was working with at my old job) to get more exposure and develop their careers and also because I wanted a media outlet that I was personally stoked on – something that was an authentic representation of girls who ride. Once we got going, I found out that there were tons of other girls who were stoked on what we were doing too.

- What is your role at MAHFIA.TV and what does your job involve?

I definitely wear a lot of hats.

I split my time between production

KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

(filming video & shooting photos) and handling marketing and curating content. A big part of my job is keeping tabs on all that is going on in girls skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and wakeboarding. What makes MAHFIA special is our network. I spend a good amount of time connecting and collaborating with the most influential females in action sports and I’m a huge supporter of all the girls who are working hard at making their passions a reality.

on post-production. I met Johnny in college where we were both media majors and worked on films together so when it comes to producing content we work together pretty seamlessly.

We recently started working more with freelance filmers and photogs such as Hayley Gordon (surf) and Nam-Chi Van (skate) and Nico Ricoy (lifestyle/fashion) which has been great. They are insanely talented and I am always inspired by their work.

- How is all the content produced?

- Do you skate, surf, snowboard or wakeboard?

I do a shooting and work my right

I love all four and have gone through phases where I’ve spent more time doing some than others. When I lived in San Diego I got in the water

majority of the filming/ of video and photo content with our video producer and hand man, Johnny Varsity,

KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

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more. Nowadays I snowboard as much as possible in Lake Tahoe and most recently I’ve spent more time skating in the Bay Area since I joined Skate Like a Girl’s SF Chapter – we have monthly sessions and clinics at skateparks around the Bay. Shout out to Kat Sy, my little ninja sister who has been encouraging me to progress.

- If you skate what’s the story around when you started & when did you realize you couldn’t stop?

I fell in love with snowboarding first so in high school I got a longboard and my friends and I would bomb the hills around my neighborhood. After that, I really wanted to get into trick skating so I got a board but there were no skateparks around when I

I FELL IN LOVE WITH SNOWBOARDING FIRST SO IN HIGH SCHOOL I GOT A LONGBOARD AND MY FRIENDS AND I WOULD BOMB THE HILLS AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD.

VANESSA TORRES // KIM WOOZY

was growing up and I didn’t know anyone that could teach me. After college while working at Osiris Shoes, I got my first taste in skating. We had a mini ramp and a quarterpipe in the warehouse and my buddy Will taught me the basics. It was hard to stay motivated as a beginner in the following years, especially being around pros all the time but since moving back home to the Bay Area and finding Skate Like a Girl SF, I’ve been skating more than I ever have. The Skate Like a Girl community is really inclusive and friendly, it’s like having a built in crew and family to skate with regularly which is clutch. I’m 30 years old and still learning to skate - you are never too old to learn!

going to ASR Tradeshow for the first time and being like oh shit this is awesome! Senior year I landed an internship at Osiris Shoes. They were just starting up a girls brand and needed someone to manage their MySpace page. Eventually I became a full time graphic designer there and got my hands in marketing naturally since I skated/snowboarded etc. I spent 3 years there total and when I left I was in charge of Girls Brand Marketing and was also the Girls Team Manager where I helped foster the careers of young skaters including Leticia Bufoni and Allysha Bergado who were just starting out as groms then.

-What’s your work history relating to video and action sports?

The biggest challenge we face is having to “chop down a path in the forest” so to speak. In the past, most core brands spend little or zero of their marketing budget on women’s specific initiatives and if they did, that was the first thing to get cut when the economy tanked in 2009. Finding brands to partner with was a bigger challenge when we first started the company but now things are starting to change and we are seeing more companies who want to invest in and grow their

In college I interned at a video production company and also worked at the outdoor gear shop on campus at UC San Diego – we sold and rented surfboards, snowboards, camping gear, etc. That was my first taste of the action sports industry -- I remember

- Did you study or gain a degree of any kind?

I got a bachelors degree in Visual Arts Media (film/video) from UC San Diego.

- What have you found most challenging about managing the website?

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KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

In snowboarding, because it’s newer and stemmed from skiing (as well as skateboarding/surfing) there has always been more acceptance and support for women. There were female executives at the first snowboard brands like Airwalk, Sims and Morrow so from day one women were included and there wasn’t as much of the “boys only” mentality. Surfing is complex – although there is a very developed infrastructure for the professional level of women’s surfing (sponsor $$, pro contest tours, exposure, etc) over the years it has become highly sexualized since the majority of the decision makers are men and also because surf culture became intertwined with mainstream advertising and media. So now, in order to make it as professional female surfer you pretty much have to be a model too which is really discouraging for young girls who just want to focus on progressing on their board. There is a lot of pressure for young female surfers to look a certain way and curate an image of themselves in order to make it on the professional level.

and stay in it, having to deal with all the haters.

Thing is - the more girls you see doing it, the less intimidating it becomes for a girl to pick up a board and start trying. Now that there has been some more support and visibility for pro female skateboarders (largely due to the internet and social media), the scene is growing exponentially for women. Right now is an exciting time for women’s skateboarding – it’s really just the tip of the iceberg. There are all types of girls skating, all ages, ethnicities and with different styles -- that to me is the best thing about the scene right now. On the pro scene you have girls like Alana Smith, who just turned 14 and is competing with the boys in megaramp but is also an amazing street and bowl skater.

There’s Samarria Brevard, the first African-American female to skate in X Games (in any sport) who is an absolute powerhouse. Then you have Lacey Baker who has become a style icon around the world and she’s dropping new film parts online.

There’s of course Leticia Bufoni from Brazil who has been backed my major sponsors, has dominated the street contest scene and just signed a multi year contract with Nike who is promoting her in major advertising campaigns. You also have bowl/vert skater Lizzie Armanto who is riding for Birdhouse and skating demos around the globe with Tony Hawk. All these girls are all under 25 and represent a bright future for women’s skateboarding. On the community side you see organizations like Skateistan that empower young girls through skateboarding in a culture where females have almost no rights and aren’t even allowed to ride bikes. The ratio of female skaters to male skaters in Afghanistan is 50% -- absolutely amazing.

- Why do you think there is a big divide between men and women in skateboarding?

- In your opinion how do women approach skateboarding differently to men?

I think because skateboarding is rooted in rebellion, counter culture and the “don’t give a shit” attitude – the foundations of the culture were influenced by aggression and masculinity. Having females doing the same things on a board alongside the guys against this idea being a “tough guy” so from the beginning it was seen as something that was just for boys. It took a super confident girl to go out and learn to skate

I think women are eager to learn new things but generally want some instruction and basic knowledge first where as guys just go for it without thinking too much about it.

I remember wanting to learn how to skate when I was younger but hit a wall because I had no resources to learn. I had a subscription to SG Magazine where I could see photos of pros like Vanessa Torres and Amy Caron and got stoked so I went out

female customer demographic. More non-endemic / mainstream brands are interested in girls skateboarding and action sports in general. That’s where the majority of the growth of our business and things for women in the industry is coming from.

- Do you work another job or do this full time?

When I first started the company we were doing a lot of other freelance video production work but now I’m focusing on MAHFIA full time.

- How are women perceived differently when participating in board sports other than Skateboarding?

LIZZIE ARMANTO // MAHFIA

and bought a board. There were no skateparks around me and I didn’t know anyone who skated that could teach me. Now there are youtube trick tips online, public skateparks popping up everywhere, and female specific clinics and camps from orgs such as Skate Like A Girl as well as brands that specifically support women in skateboarding such as Hoopla and Meow Skateboards.

- What are the main skateboarding events for women?

Right now XGames is the biggest contest. It’s sort of a double-edged sword because the prize money is solid

KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

but it’s only held once a year so it’s not always the best representation of women’s skateboarding. This year Kimberley Diamond Cup added women’s street in South Africa and that was legit. There is also Mystic Cup which is a smaller comp in Europe.

Skate like a Girl has been putting on a grassroots showcase/contest/get together called Wheels of Fortune in Seattle that to me is one of the best events for female skaters period. It’s inclusive to girls of all ages and abilities (beginners to pros) and is more fun than any other event because it encompasses what skateboarding is all about: making friends, epic sessions,

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friendly competition and good vibes.

For transition, XGames had women’s vert up until 2011, pulled it and then they had women’s park (bowl) in 2013 but didn’t bring it back this year. The other main bowl comps are the Van Doren Invitational at the US Open in Huntington and the Girls Combi Classic at the infamous Combi Pool in Orange County. There are a handful of other vert & bowl events such as Ultra Bowl & Vert Attack in Sweden and Underexposed in San Diego. While contests are great, there has also been a movement on the ground level where girls around the world are using the internet/social media to create communities to meet

up, skate, hang out and encourage each other. This is definitely really important for the progression and growth of the entire industry – directly affecting the pros, brands, retailers, media, etc.

- What’s your advice for the girl who loves skateboarding but is living in a small town where she’s the only girl skater?

My advice to her would be to definitely keep skating!! Get online and check out media of other girls skating – that will help inspire and motivate you for sure. There are so

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KIM WOOZY INTERVIEW

many girls out there skateboarding, no need to feel like you’re weird or different for being the only one in your town. Even so, being different from everyone else is actually the best thing that you could be when you get older. Find other girls and guys who you like to skate with and as long as you’re having fun, keep doing it.

You can also take it to the next level and start your own FB group or instagram account, there are probably other girls in your area that would be stoked to shred with you. Real talk, skateboarding will change your life so you should definitely stick with it if you like it.

- What are some of your favourite companies/media outlets in skateboarding made for women?

I work closely with Mimi Knoop (founder of The Alliance and hoopla skateboards) as well as Lisa Whitaker (founder of Girls Skate Network and Meow Skateboards)

and of course Skate Like A Girl. I’m a huge fan of these organizations and the women behind it. In addition to being my friends, they are super passionate, talented, hardworking, good people who are truly invested in the growth of the girls skate scene – and that’s why I support them. At the end of the day I’m a huge fan of anyone who pursues their passion and helps others along the way.

- In your experience why is it important to initiate projects yourself?

KIM WOOZY // SUZIIE WANG

If you don’t like how things are or you wish that something existed that doesn’t, you really just have to take things into your own hands and make it happen on your own terms. That’s the attitude that everyone who has accomplished something meaningful has had. Don’t expect anyone to hand you anything on a silver platter or things to change if you’re not actively doing something about it.

Starting small and keeping things simple is always a good mentality to have in the beginning. Don’t get discouraged if things aren’t awesome and epic right away, nothing great happens over night. One step at a time – slow and steady.

- What is your advice for women who would like to pursue a career in the skate industry?

I full support women who are interested in getting into the skate industry. We need more women in our industry in order to grow it in the right direction. For a long time, it’s only been dudes at the table and the skate industry could really use some diversity. Find other likeminded women (and men) to support you and give you encouragement – that’s major. One of the most important pieces of advice I can give is to support other women along the way -- you’ll find success much quicker this way and quickly see how valuable it is to have a strong network. Plus, it’s way more fun to have a bunch of friends as opposed to enemies. There is no way I would have even thought about doing half the things I’ve done if I didn’t have the support of other women in the industry – the same women who have become my lifelong bffs. www.mahfia.tv