For a long time, I believed that winning was the ultimate goal: medals, titles and records. All of this seemed to represent the culmination of a career. But, as my trajectory developed, I realized that the most important achievements were not just on the podium, but also in the structures that I needed to challenge by simply existing in an environment that was not occupied by women.
Being the greatest medalist in the history of the X-Games does not just represent sporting excellence. Symbolizes resistance. It means that the girl who entered a sport considered masculine, being told countless times “this is not your place”, moved on and prospered, even when discredited.
Being in these spaces meant attracting attention and, often, carrying extra pressure just for being different. But, far from paralyzing me, this became fuel to show who I really was.
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I was the first and, for a long time, the only one. The first woman on the Nike Skateboarding team. The first skateboarder with a shape signed by a global brand. Guinness record holder for being the athlete with the most medals in the X-Games. The only woman in the world to win three gold medals in a single year. But none of these achievements make sense if they don’t serve as a reference for other women to understand that they too can get there.
One of the most symbolic moments of this journey was assuming the presidency of the World Skate Technical Committee. There it was no longer about competing, but rather deciding, structuring and influencing the future of sport on a global scale. Being in a leadership position within an international federation made it clear that breaking barriers goes beyond physical talent: it means occupying chairs that have historically never had a woman sitting in them.
And, when it seemed like I had already experienced everything in skateboarding, I chose to start over. I switched to motorsport (an old passion) and, today, competing in the Porsche Cup alongside a team made up entirely of women is another chapter in this search for spaces where we have not yet been seen. This transition is not just sporting; it is structural. Occupying unusual places requires leaving your comfort zone, taking risks, accepting new beginnings. It means understanding that the impact of a trajectory is not in the time it lasts, but in the doors it opens for those who come after.
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Outside of the track, I discovered a new way of transforming realities in entrepreneurship. As a partner at Mamba Water, a canned water brand as a social and sustainable enterprise, I understood that success and responsibility can go hand in hand. Bringing clean water to vulnerable regions connects me to something bigger than sport.
When I decided to form a partnership with OnlyFans, some people were surprised. What few know is that this movement is part of an attempt to reposition the brand itself. My choice to be there was not about reinforcing stigmas, but precisely about dismantling them: occupying that space showing who I am beyond labels, sharing trips, training, behind the scenes and family moments, with autonomy. In the end, I realized that innovation, sometimes, is not about creating something completely new, it’s about having the courage to challenge old perceptions and open paths so that other women also feel free to choose where and how they want to tell their own stories.
If before I faced bullying and disbelief about my ability to be who I am, today I am proof that it is not necessary to fit into structures to build a legacy. Sometimes, for a woman, winning is not enough. Sometimes you need to change the rules of the game. And, when that happens, the real trophy is not just the medal, but the path opened for those who come after.
