Meet Christiana Smith!
Finding your personal freedom + creating your individual rhythm is exactly what pro-skater Christiana Smith carved out in her love for skateboarding! Blocking out noise, distractions and all negative vibes, Christiana paved her own path into her passion while shredding stereotypes in the process.
Originally from Southfield, Michigan, Christiana discovered her love for skating at 11 years old. Sharpening her skills, she consistently began placing in the top 10 of her competitions with ease. While progressing she noticed more unwanted opinions and push back. Instead of shutting down, she flipped the energy by creating her empowering “Skating In A Dress” YouTube video in 2014.
She states in the video, “When you’re young you overthink everything. Then you get a little older + wiser and you realize people are going to judge you for the rest of your life. If you let that affect you, you will never be happy. So do what you want and don’t care what other people think about you.”
Soon after she gave creative birth to A Positive Seed Co. created with the mission of planting positivity and sparking a movement of inspiration + kindness!
Let’s get to know Christiana a little better…
Originally from Michigan, what first inspired you to start skating + how was the skating scene at that time?
What originally first inspired me to start skating was competing with my brothers. I have two older brothers and they went through phases of trying different sports. One day they got a skateboard and I ended up using it more than them. A combination of that, the video game Tony Hawk Pro Skater (me just thinking skateboarding looked like the coolest thing ever) then eventually getting invited to a birthday party at a skate park when I was 11 years old.
At the time I was very young and unaware what a skate scene even was. All I knew was I was the only girl at the skate park. I spent days in my driveway with my best friend Justin and my mom taking me to Modern Skate Park , aka, my second home. I was so in love with skating that I wasn’t even thinking about the scene itself. I definitely received a lot of backlash from males as my skill level progressed and they became intimidated by my presence. Looking back, it was very cliquey but again I was so in love with skating that it didn’t matter.
You created your barrier-breaking video “Skating In A Dress” at 18 to shred stereotypes for girls and girls of color, why is it important for you to open up doors for the next generation?
It is very important for me to open doors for the next generation because I needed a video like “Skating In A Dress” to help me when I was a young girl. I was so timid, shy and insecure. By me being the only girl and a black one at that, certainly didn’t make it any easier for me. There were many times when I wanted to quit. Not because I didn’t like skating but because I cared more about what others thought about me and the negative comments, that it was felt as if it would be easier to just quit. I never want another person with a love of skateboarding to go through that without having support and someone to empower and motivate them to press on and never give up on something you love because of what others think or say. I didn’t know it was ok to just be myself and do what makes me happy. It is so true that people will judge you whether you like it or not and if you let that affect they way you live your life, you will never truly live and reach your full potential. Not to mention being happy and living with a sense of peace and purpose.
High school can feel uneasy because you’re constantly trying to discover who you are + oftentimes faced with a lot of opinions surrounding you, how did you stay true to yourself + navigate your way to your dreams?
High school was very difficult for me. I simply did not fit in and refused to “go with the flow”. I suffered from low self-esteem and depression through most of it. I had to fight through feelings of inferiority and eventually dropped the idea of doing things because of what others thought of me. I realized that at the end of the day, “they” don’t matter and neither does what they have to say about me. I was fortunate enough to find something I was passionate about and that became my main focus, I blocked out the background noise and tunneled into what I loved. After school it was straight to the skatepark almost everyday.
Your amazing company + powerful movement, A Positive Seed, is all about planting the seed of kindness and respect both in + out of the skate scene! How can one act of kindness start a flame of change in the world?
A Positive Seed truly is all about planting a simple seed of kindness. I have seen the faces of young girls/boys light up when I give them one of my stickers or compliment cards and then tell them to do the same for someone else.
You never know what people are experiencing and one kind word at the right time just may be enough to save a life. It doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t cost a thing to smile, speak or simply listen. We are all fighting our own internal battles and at any given time, we can all need to know someone cares enough to be kind.
Skating gives you the freedom to be who you are! Has there ever been a time you were nervous to fully step into your authentic self?
There have been many times when I was nervous to fully step into my authentic self. I think the hardest time for me was middle school/high school years just trying to fit in, wear what was trendy, make jokes being a class clown to mask my own insecurities.
I have made many a joke at the expense of someone else’s feelings just be be accepted by my peers and make them laugh. That is something that I regret to this day. That was certainly not who I was. That time in my life made me contemplate giving up skateboarding entirely because the opinion of others made me believe that skateboarding “wasn’t for girls, especially black girls”.
What’s one mantra or positive quote you live by?
The one mantra or positive quote I live by is GROWTH is not found in comfort.
What advice would you give girls who want to follow their dreams and passions but are nervous or intimidated?
For girls who want to follow their dreams and passions but are nervous or intimidated, my advice would be to find positive influences in your community, social media, etc. that will help you get through the “questioning yourself “stage of coming into your authentic self. It is so important to believe in yourself and find someone who believes in you as well.
Time for faves! Artist? Food? Movie?
Favorite Artist: Sampha
Favorite Food: Elote (Mexican Street Corn)
Favorite Movie: Going to have to throw it back to my favorite childhood movie I can still watch and recite and sing all the words to today, Mulan.
Follow more or Christiana’s journey here!
facebook comments:
