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🧡Tell Us About Yourself: Hello! Elissa here, I'm 31 (you're never too old to start skating) and from Christchurch. I'm one of those people who likes to do a little bit of everything! Variety is good, but it makes it very hard when you've got too many hobbies you want to take up haha. I grew up as an arty, non-sporty kid and only later in life discovered that I just hadn't found the right kind of physical activity that I enjoyed. Aikido was what started it all for me, followed by skating, which then led to all sorts of things :) 🧡Tell Us About Your Boardsports Journey: I started skating back in late 2010 when my brother got a longboard. I jumped on it and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I did in fact have balance, and the free feeling of gliding along asphalt got me hooked. Back then, I never thought I'd get into downhill skating, but a relationship breakup led to me giving a bunch of activities a really good go in order to find myself again, and skating just kind of stuck. 🧡 Reasons You Love Boardsports: So many reasons haha. It gets me outside, it's great exercise - good combo of strength, agility, and balance, and it just feels damn good. You can do it both on your own and in a group, and it can be whatever you want it to be - therapeutic, expressive, competitive, challenging, relaxing... the list goes on! I think it is also really empowering being able to buck stereotypes and participate in what's typically considered a male-dominated field. 🧡Your Favourite Boardsports Memory: Bit of a cop-out, but I don't have a favourite memory - skating and other boardsports have been such a big part of my life, that everything is intertwined. I've been to places I never would've been, and met people I otherwise would never have met (including my partner). It's fostered a strong sense of exploration. 🧡What Other Ways Do You Cherish (Manaaki) Yourself? (Personal Well-Being) I have a lot of food allergies/intolerances, so I cook often and enjoy learning about food and keeping a healthy (but balanced ) diet. I want to keep skating and doing other activities I enjoy for as long as possible, so that means looking after my body. I do yoga and bouldering to stay flexible and strong, but knowing when to rest is important too! 🧡What advice would you give to other wāhine wanting to pursue a boardsports lifestyle? Go for it - the best time to start is now! Don't be intimidated by people who look like they know what they're doing, everyone started somewhere and people will be more than happy to help you learn :)  If you loved hearing her story give her some love on social or leave a comment below she would love to hear from you.
Follow Her @_hazecat on Instagram. Check Shining Sister! Arohanui WR Crew
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 🧡Tell us a little about yourself: I am a primary teacher who grew up in Hawkes Bay and I now live in Warkworth. My wife and I have been lucky enough to enjoy traveling around the world together and are constantly on the lookout to find cool new spots to skate, surf and snowboard. 🧡Tell us about your boardsports journey: Before becoming a teacher, part of my job was helping run youth camps. My first camp was a snow camp and snowboarding on the field at the bottom of the Chateau Tongariro on a day when the mountain was closed, was my first experience of snowboarding. I was hooked. This was the start of my love for snowboarding and in fact, boardsports. I have always loved the idea of skateboarding and have even tried a few times to get into it. I like trying new things, I get really into it, buy all the gear but the novelty seems to fade and I move onto the next thing without making connections with others with similar interests. Until, as a 30+ adult, I discovered Wellness Riders and other amazing groups of wahine like Skate Seen and Girls Skate who make everyone welcome no matter what their experience and level of skateboarding is. In the last year, summer means days, weekends and holidays at the beach surfing. Every day is a new wave, and another chance to challenge yourself to get better and enjoy that feeling and thrill of standing up on the wave or laughing together after an epic wipe out. 🧡 Reasons you love boardsports: I love being out in nature and enjoying different experiences out and about in our amazing country. Boardsports helps you connect with others, and gives you a challenge to keep learning new things, no matter how old or young you are. It is something you can share with others and encourage them to join you on your journey and learn together. 🧡 Your favourite boardsports memory: My favourite memory is snowboarding fresh powder in Japan. The small crowds and deep powder made for the most enjoyable days on the mountain I have ever had. My favourite skateboarding memory so far is the first day I learnt to drop in at the skate park and then helping my niece do the same.  🧡 What other ways do you cherish (manaaki) yourself? (personal well being) For me it’s about keeping it simple. Finding out what is good for your mind, body and soul and making time for those things. Keeping active has always been an important part of this for me, which is why boardsports fit in so well for me 🧡 What advice would you give to other wāhine wanting to pursue a boardsports lifestyle? Do it! Try out something new even if it scares you, even if you aren't great at it to start off with, because that's where everyone starts. You may fall, I still often do, but you learn to get up and give it another go because the people you meet on your boardsports journey are encouraging, supportive and are there for you. Search them up, find a class or event, get out there and give it a go because they are waiting for people like you to connect with.   Wāhine Rider Series
Meet Becky @beeeckii 🧡How did you get into boardsports? I got a surf lesson when I was 15 and was hooked. Then I wanted to try snowboarding and skating after that.⠀ ⠀ 🧡What do you love about board sports? ⠀ I love that all board sports are similar yet so different at the same time. For example, if I'm stuck in the city i can go for a skate and imagine I'm surfing . ⠀ ⠀ 🧡What are your top three ways of cherishing yourself? ⠀ 1. get out for regular adventures to make sure i get good work/life balance. ⠀ 2. Surround myself with awesome positive people. ⠀ 3. Be thankful for all of the blessings in my life.⠀ ⠀ 🧡What advice would you give to others girls keen to get into board sports? ⠀ To go hard, practice pays off, but most of all make sure your having fun! Yeow!  Olivia Hoebers ✨Wāhine Rider Role Model Series 🧡Tell us a little about yourself: Kia ora e te whānau. E mihi ana ki ngā tohu o nehe, o Taupō-nui-a-Tia e noho nei au. Nō Olivia ahau. Hey, my name is Olivia and I live on the beautiful south-western shores of Lake Taupō. I'm a passionate outdoors woman and feel most alive and aligned when learning new things and exploring new places. 🧡Tell us about your boardsports journey: I am so grateful that my highschool had a snowsports curriculum up Mt Ruapehu as part of their PE program, without it I wouldn't have discovered as quickly my love of mountains and snowboarding. I was obsessed with riding every weekend and after Year 13 took a gap year to work and save up for my first trip overseas to ride in Canada and the USA. I've since explored Japan and the ski fields in the South Island multiple times. Last summer I got into wakeboarding after receiving a wakeboard for my birthday and was hooked! I mean, it would be crazy not to ride the massive lake that's on my doorstep! I'm really looking forward to getting out there after a short-but-sweet winter. 🧡Reasons you love boardsports: The sense of calm mixed with pure bliss and love and all the warm fuzzies that flood your body after that one run down the mountain. And then you get to go back up and do it all over again! Being out in nature is joy in its purest form. The people you meet and get to know along the way make it that much more enjoyable too. 🧡Your favourite boardsports memory: I've recently come back from the most epic couple of weeks in the South Island (got back the day Level 4 was announced nationwide) snowboarding and trying my hand at something new - splitboarding! In my mind, this combined my two favourite activities, hiking and snowboarding, I was more than intrigued! I spent 4 days in the backcountry skinning up faces, summiting mountains, and riding the most incredible powder slopes I've experienced in NZ. The pics on this post are a few from that adventure.   🧡What other ways do you cherish (Manaaki) yourself? (personal wellbeing) My journey inward has developed a wonderful sense of self-love that I continue to cultivate through grounding meditations, education and reflection, and being out in nature. I also prioritise restful sleep and staying connected to my close friends and family. 🧡What advice would you give wāhine looking to pursue a boardsports lifestyle? Everything is better together when you're first starting out, so finding a supportive and fun group like Wellness Riders to encourage and show you the ropes is really helpful to gain confidence and skills. When you're comfortable, NZ is your oyster and is just begging to be explored! Olivia HoebersGet in touch if you would like to connect with Olivia.  Jordana Holloway @jorrr.danaWāhine Rider Role Model Series🧡Tell us a little about yourself: I grew up in Calgary, Canada and started snowboarding at a young age. I remember catching city transit to our local ski hill after school and on the weekends, and rode with a small crew of local girls. After graduating high school I got a job at the ski hill for the winter. One season quickly turned into 3 and during the third winter is when I met my partner, Matiu, while riding up the chairlift together. Fast forward 13 years and a few countries later - with a slight pause to study Ski Resort Operations and Management at Selkirk College - snowboarding has provided me with a lot of awesome opportunities. I have been able to meet a lot of amazing people (some of my closest friends I met while riding!), live and explore some of the coolest places, and importantly, gain a lot of life and work experience from frontline jobs in rental/retail shops, snow school instructing and management, catski lodge assistant, to currently working at TCB Ski Board & Bike Shop in Ohakune.  🧡 Tell us about your boardsports journey: It took me a few years to learn to snowboard and really get into the sport. Now that I am older, I look back and see that I was introduced to snowboarding at the right time and it really helped me get through the middle school and high school years. Unfortunately, my parents went through a divcorce later in my teenage years and going snowboarding provided me with a regular and safe constant in my life, as well as a form of “escape” from reality sort of speak. I could go out riding and completely forget about all the troubles and stress I was carrying. It didn’t matter if I went riding for only a few hours or full day, I would always come home feeling happier. I have always enjoyed park laps, as growing up and riding at Canada Olympic Park that was one of the main things people would ski/ride there. I have had some amazing powder days riding around Alberta and British Columbia ski resorts - especially at Retallack Lodge and Whitewater Ski Resort, and the seasons I’ve done in Niseko, Japan. I now call Ohakune home and regularly go riding at Turoa on Mt. Ruapehu.  🧡 Reasons you love boardsports: I love snowboarding because it provides me an outlet for creativity and self expression, and allows me to be in the elements of nature, surrounded by mountains and fresh air. Snowboarding, like mountain biking, is a way that I am able to take care of my mental and physical well-being. I also love how snowboarding, like all boardsports, brings together like minded individuals from different backgrounds to have fun and provide a sense of belonging and community. 🧡 Your favourite boardsports memory: Wow this is a tough one to answer! I am fortunate enough to honestly say I have had so many amazing memories that it is truly challenging to single out one specific moment! Overall a regular memory that I always reflected back on is from spending winters working as a snowboard instructor. Watching students challenge themselves and fight fears of learning a new skill and being able to watch their progression throughout the process - that’s quite an amazing feeling to know you can be a part of someone’s journey (and memory!) of learning a new boardsport!
🧡What other ways do you cherish (manaaki) yourself? (personal well being) Alongside snowboarding, I love to go mountain biking and walking our dog Figaro, as well as spending time with our families and friends. As I’ve gotten older I have learned that my “me” time is also very important too, as well as keeping a healthy balance between work and life. Since living in Ohakune year-round, I have really gotten into gardening and crafts. A room in our house has been shifted into an art studio and recently we completed a greenhouse in our backyard. These hobbies help provide me time to chill out and slow down, and take the time to reflect on life and dream about future adventures. I also love to garden because it provides us with a source of healthy food to eat while at the same time learning about nature and caring for our environment.  🧡 What advice would you give to other wāhine wanting to pursue a boardsports lifestyle? Honestly, if you dream of pursuing and living a boardsports lifestyle then chase your dreams! Sometimes I wonder who I would be today if I did NOT follow my passion for snowboarding. Snowboarding has helped fuel the adventurous side of me to explore and grow as an individual, and helped make me who I am today. Don't be afraid to reach out for help and ask people for advice and guidance - a lot of us have shared very similar experiences while pursuing a boardsports lifestyle and we would be more than happy to talk. We may even have recommendations or people whom we can connect you with to help on your journey! Jordana Holloway ✨Follow Her - Insta @jorrr.dana  Tisha Yang AKA. Coach Teesh Lead Skateboarding Instructor @eatmeimtoast 🧡My WR Mahi... In 2016, Gina (WR co-founder) messaged me on facebook to do a 5-week longboard course. We didn't have longboard gear then; my friend (Larry) generously lent us a bunch of longboards to do the session! From then, WR grew picking up term contracts with schools, sessions with youth groups.. Wasn't long till we started getting funding from Auckland Council Local Boards too! 🧡 My boardsports journey… I got my first skateboard when I was 16. I practiced for weeks before I could ollie. 'Why do you make it look so hard?' said one of the skaters. A year later, my friend Nico, introduced me to longboarding. The coleman slides looked so cool and I loved the smoothness of the ride. Skating was my commute in Uni. I made friends who skated, we pushed each other to progress, it was fun. 🧡Reasons you love boardsports… It is a humbling sport, it takes hours of practice to master. You think you've got something and the next day you've lost it. It's never a bad time, there is so much to learn, you make new friends, you're moving your body, the more you learn the more fun it is! 🧡What other ways do you cherish (manaaki) yourself? (personal wellbeing) I love to dance, have been enjoying learning salsa and bachata! Must be why I also enjoy dancing on my longboard heh. Also enjoying making food for friends and family, especially eating it! 🧡What does being a part of the Wellness Riders Crew bring to your life? It’s exciting being part of a movement in providing a platform for wahine to skate! So stoked to see so many girls and woman enthusiastic to learn, pushing their comfort zones, growing in their confidence and ability. It's awesome belonging to a supportive, positive gal crew with a sense of adventure. 🧡Advice for those learning to skate? Wear your helmet. Skate within your limit, put some music on and don't give up! Check Out Other Tips & Tricks section on the blog I have put together to help you on your journey! Follow me on Insta @eatmeimtoast  ☀️ Creating a space for wāhine to SHINE through boardsports has been a dream, here is a bit about how it all came to be... ☀️ In 2016 ManaakiFit Ltd was started from our co-founder Gina's desire to have a lifestyle designed around board sports and having more wāhine to do them with. She was previously a snowboard instructor and had just become a personal trainer so was looking for a way to combine all the things she loved into something she could do everyday. The business set out to teach more wāhine to skateboard, surfboard and snowboard to improve their fitness. In 2018 Wellness Riders was started from our co-founder Sarinah's desire to connect her wellbeing knowledge as a naturopath with physical activity as she felt a lot of the common health problems she was seeing in her practise would be helped through increasing peoples sense of connection and physical activity. Wellness Riders was started as a social wellbeing group that provided a space for social connection & being active. Gina and Sarinah met at Snow Planet at the start of the ManaakiFit journey in 2016 and their friendship led to them working together to run a womens skateboard therapy programme that involved skateboarding lessons taught by Gina and womens wellbeing sessions led by Sarinah. They loved working together and this was the programme that showed them the magic of combining their joint experiences. As their friendship continued and their shared passion for boardsports and using them as a tool to enhance wellbeing grew, they decided to create a combined vision, one that incorporated ManaakiFit and Wellness Riders together. It was a perfect fit for them. Gina with her coaching/sports background and Sarinah with her wellbeing knowledge to create a holistic approach that felt right to them. Their friendship and caring one another is the foundation of all the mahi they do to together. The co-founders decided to trade under the named of Wellness Riders and keep ManaakiFit as the Maori name for the business as well as the legal name of the business. ManaakiFit remains an very important name as it represents the Maori roots of the business as well as our mission to bring Te Ao Maori practices into our mahi (work). Wellness Riders represents the ethos around our mahi as we ride boards for our wellbeing to feel connected to ourselves, others and the environment. Manaaki means cherish in Maori, ManaakiFit represents looking after ourselves, others and the environment through broadsports. Since 2018 Wellness Riders has been privileged to welcome in the talents and good vibes of other awesome wāhine. "Manaakitanga" is our guiding principle - to cherish & look after. As a crew we look to cherish ourselves through living a life that is true to us, we look to cherish each other through prioritising friendship and supporting one another and cherishing the environment through maintaining our connection through board sports.  Check Out Our Crews Personal Journeys in the About Us page. Gina ReedCo-Founder Wellness Riders Our CWO (Chief Wellness Officer) Sarinah (Ree) @sarinah_maya 🧡Tell us about your mahi with Wellness Riders? I'm a co-founder of Wellness Riders and have worked as a clinical Naturopath since 2008 (holistic health consultant)! Combining movement, social connection and wellness conversations to improve mental and physical well-being has been a dream goal come to life. 🧡Tell us about your boardsports journey… My journey began at age 28 when my husband surprised me with my first surfboard (7.6ft) and introduced me to wakeboarding. My boardsports obsession continued when we moved to the French Alps a year later and I switched from skiing to snowboarding. At age 34 I took up skateboarding during a trip to Sydney and the spark was ignited to find friends who ride and vibe together in Auckland. The power of positive visualisation worked as I met the amazing board lover Gina at Snowplanet and together we formed Wellness Riders. 🧡Reasons you love boardsports… Boardsports provide the ultimate mind-fitness workout for my mental and physical well-being. I love having a board for every season and how they all feel similar to ride. This helps to keep my confidence up year round. I also love how they connect me with nature and friends and for solo time to clear my mind. I'm super attached to all my boards and can’t bear to part with any of them. You need a lot of space when you become a board hoarder! 🧡What other ways do you cherish (manaaki) yourself? (personal well being) Spending time with my precious baby Ella, whānau and friends, exercising in nature, listening to music, enjoying delicious and nutritious foods and increasing my wellness knowledge. 🧡What does being a part of the Wellness Riders Crew bring to your life? Wellness Riders has brought an abundance of fun, good vibes and new soul sisters into my life. I'm forever grateful for the amazing people who join our growing crew and our inspiring coaches who help empower wāhine to shine through movement and wellness.   ✨Meet the Crew ✨ Our COO (Chief Operation Officer) Jenny 🧡My WR Mahi... I'm so stoked to be part of the Wellness Riders team. My mahi for this awesome company is all related to the skills and experience I have gathered from 20 years of working in sports. I started off helping out where I could, assisting the coaches at skate sessions, and now I manage the operational side of the business. I like to think of myself as the 'get the house in order' person, who can help tidy things up, make sure we have processes in place so things run smoothly and safely, allowing the rest of the team to shine in their roles without worrying about the 'boring' stuff! 🧡 My boardsports journey… I came to boardsports later in life as I grew up around more traditional activities like tennis and football. I had a surf lesson in my early 20's, followed by a snowboard holiday with friends. Then I had some kitesurf lessons (and have been an eternal beginner in that sport for over 10 years!), then I started paddleboarding in my mid/late 20's and then finally skateboarding in my 30's! 🧡Reasons you love boardsports… I think it must be the connection to nature - water, mountains, the outside air, plus the flow/mindfulness that concentrating so hard on something creates, and finally the sense of satisfaction that you've got out there and done something cool! 🧡What other ways do you cherish (manaaki) yourself? (personal wellbeing) I’m so mindful of taking care of myself physically and mentally. I set pretty strict boundaries so I know I'm not rushing around trying to do a million things in one day. I love to exercise and that could be a quick HIIT, or yoga session on youtube, but my favourite is running with my dog Bo (and husband Shaun) through the forest or at a local Parkrun. My ideal day starts with a beach walk and a dip in the sea (even in winter!) I read every day before I go to sleep, eat chocolate every day, and go to bed pretty early each day too! 🧡What does being a part of the Wellness Riders Crew bring to your life? Getting to know Gina and Sarinah and the rest of the WR crew has meant so much to me. To be part of this crew inspires me every day that you can create a life where your passions and interests can be your life - not just a thing on the side or on your to do list. I love the values that we share around empowering women like me to get out there and give it a go, and giving women the confidence to try things that are a little different from societal expectations! #wellnessriders#getonboard#love#peace#skate#snow#surf #cherishyourslef#cherishothers #cherishtheenvironment  ✨Meet The Crew✨ Our CSO (Chief Shine Officer) Gina 🧡Tell us about your mahi with Wellness Riders? I am one of the co-founders of Wellness Riders and the Chief Shine Officer. So really I do a bit of everything from instructing at sessions to business planning and most importantly keeping the vibes high and our vision to empower wāhine to shine moving forward. 🧡Tell us about your boardsports journey… I worked at Mount Ruapehu when I was 18 and learned to snowboard. I loved it so much I became a snowboard instructor. I then got into skateboarding after a snowboarding friend asked me to go for a skate with her. Then I decided to start learning to surf as I loved the beach lifestyle too. 🧡Reasons you love boardsports… I love the feeling of being in the elements, especially up the mountain or in the ocean. Nature revitalises me and makes me happy. I love the cruisey feeling and flow of riding along weather it be down the mountain, along the footpaths or waves. It's all so great. I also love when I get to hang with my friends and meet new friends doing them. 🧡What other ways do you cherish (manaaki) yourself? (personal well being) I spend time with my wee whanau my fiancé Joss and pup Stella. We love cuddling up and relaxing together at the end of our day. We also love going on surf and snowboard adventures. I love a good pamper session with a nice facemask, a positive podcast playing and a yummy herbal tea. I enjoy my alone time to reflect and day dream. 🧡What does being a part of the Wellness Riders Crew bring to your life? It brings me purpose. I love working with awesome wāhine who inspire me and creating something meaningful together. It is the BEST! Its my second whanau. |
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