No Products in the Cart
By: Joanna Brashear, Ambassador
Grab your gear and head up to PowMow this Wednesday (Feb 3rd) afternoon for an epic time with the ladies of Shred Betties.
If you don't know who Shred Betties is than take a quick read about who they are, what they stand for and how to be involved with this amazing group of women. I had the chance to pick the brains of Kelly Vance, the Executive Director and Diana Sciandra, the Director of Development. These rad women both provide a different role and aspect to the company and being able to interview them proved to be enlightening.
I started Shred Betties with my friends Julie and Sara after we had spent too much time complaining about the lack of information available for female snowboarders. We wanted to focus on product reviews and feature female riders that didn't get much attention. Two years ago Shred Betties became a nonprofit and were excited to see what the future holds. Julie is still doing our graphic design all these years later!
As for what keeps me involved.. Well I've actually tried to step away a few times in the past few years due to being pregnant because I felt someone who had more time could do a better job, but it never really quite worked out the way I planned and I have always gotten re-involved. I am proud of what we built and I don't want it to just end up going nowhere.
I am the Executive Director, which basically means I am in charge of making sure all the pieces and parts work well together. My biggest challenge is funding. I often have to do jobs that I don't really know how to do because we don't have the money to hire experts!
Powder! I'm old now, so especially not so fond of the park, but I have never really been much of a park rider. I'll occasionally go into a park to work on specific skills, but I would much rather play on natural terrain. My home mountain is Mt. Bachelor, and we have enough side hits, cornices, and other fun natural features that I don't often feel the urge to head into the park.
I am a mountain biker in the summer, and I have two small kiddos so I love doing fun things with them.
We are really looking for girls who are committed to progressing women's snowboarding in whatever discipline they are in. We get a lot of applications, and it is SO hard to pick just a few riders from all of these awesome ladies, but what really stands out to us is media content. The girls that have a great edit, or fantastic photography have a huge edge over girls who have just a few competition wins on their resume. So trade off holding the go-pro with your friends, get out there and get shooting. Show us (and other potential sponsors) what makes you unique as a rider.
It’s really hard for me to pick favorites! For hard goods, I have really been liking what a bunch of brands are doing, there are so many fun products out there. Arbor, Bataleon, Rome, Salomon and Union Bindings are a few.
I am mostly a 90's punk/hardcore girl and at risk of saying something old lady-ish about not understanding the youth of today and their music... I would have to say stuff like... Operation Ivy, Propaghandi, NOFX, Jets to Brazil and All.
I met Kelly about two years after Shred Betties was born. I was one of those females who wanted to connect with other female snowboarders like me. I was simply drawn to what Kelly and Julie had going on because it was the only entity, and still is, that is out there for news, tips, and personal stories from other female snowboarders. Kelly was up at Eclipse Snow Park in Colorado, which actually never opened. We set up a bunch of features and towed girls around all day. It really was a supportive progressive environment that Kelly and I wanted to duplicate over and over again.
I keep working at Shred Betties and the reason I convinced Kelly and Julie to turn it into a nonprofit is because we lose too many females to injury, lack of funds and other life issues in snowboarding. I just wanted to diminish that and help these girls continue to live the life they dream. Plus the issue of equal prize money, and bitchy, unapproachable female athletes still gets me fired up. Being an athlete, especially a professional athlete is a super power and I believe certain attitudes and lifestyle choices that some female snowboard athletes make or break our sport. Choosing to be anything other than respectful to yourself and others alienates and keeps other girls from choosing to snowboard. I'm so not down for that because snowboarding has had such a positive impact in my life and I would hate for anyone to miss out on that.
Kelly stated if you donate towards a campaign that we are running for a female snowboard project, such as "Outta the Kitchen" a film for female snowboarders, than most of the funds raised go to the project (for Outta The Kitchen, we donated 100% of the funds raised to the film).
We also fund raise for operating expenses, so that we can keep the magazine running, and for events that promote women's snowboarding.
I have big dreams of equal pay initiatives within the industry and equal prize money. I would also love fundraisers for an injury fund for any girl who might need help financially during an injury. Also we would love to create a scholarship fund for anyone wanting to pursue a career behind the scenes in the snowboard industry as an online magazine editor, blogger, or product review specialist to mention a few.
My role is Director of Development, basically I come up with crazy ideas, hand them to Kelly and together we make it happen! Of course funding is a challenge but we are getting better and better at that. Running a nonprofit definitely takes time away from family and friends which can be hard to balance. Not only do we make sacrifices, our families do as well.
Honestly I prefer a park, however last year at the age of thirty-seven I shattered my arm in the park and decided it was time to switch over to the fluffy white stuff! Good thing my home mountain is Powder Mountain where we have the best snow in the world. I have been having some amazing days that I never thought possible outside of the park!
Being present with my family, hanging out with them. I also love skateboarding and yoga and cannot wait to get into stand up paddle boarding this summer.
Anyone who gives back and supports females like our shred besties at Sheshreds.co, also Smith, Anakie Outerwear, Niche Snowboards, Nikita, Ride, Gnu Pom Pom, Roxy and many more!
I am a 90's gangsta rap kind of girl, always will be. When I am trying to be Zen... I love the yoga station on my Pandora radio.
Someone purchased a
