Inspiring Women: Karen Jonz

Four-time world skate champion, a mostly male-dominated practice, Karen Jonz shows that it is possible to excel in the sport and not do everything you expect from a woman.

She always rowed against the tide of what was envisioned for a girl, being one of the only girls in school who actively participated in physical education classes and especially in "boy's" sports, such as football.

Karen Jonz's trajectory

Karen was born in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, in 1985. She grew up in Santo André, in São Paulo ABC, in a middle class family.


Unlike many male competitors, she began her career relatively late. Only at 17 could she have dreamed of skateboarding, when she collected a few bucks and was able to buy one. She says she asked her parents for a skateboard for many years, but never earned it.

At this stage, Karen had difficulty seeing skateboarding as a profession, due to the lack of female representation in this area. This made her afraid of not being accepted and framed the sport as just a hobby. This is how Karen began to consider other professions, which led her to earn two degrees, Radio and TV and Graphic Design.

Read also: Inspiring Women: Rachel Maia


Lack of support and references

When he became interested in skateboarding, his only references were male. Not because she admired only the work of men, but because there were no women on the skateboard with the same prominence received by men. If it is hard to find women in some sports today, imagine more than 15 years ago when access to information was even more difficult.

The passion for skateboarding never went away, despite the difficulties. At first, for lack of space and exclusively female categories, Karen competed with men. He has won numerous awards, including the gold medal at X Games, considered the Olympics of extreme sports. Other achievements also came with time, such as the European Championship and four times the World Championship, the most recent being in 2014, a year before her daughter became pregnant.

Gradually, with the maturity and passion for the sport, she was encouraging other girls to face skateboarding, which changed some things in major skate competitions. In the year 2000, in another attempt to bring the sport to women, Karen participated in the founding of the Brazilian Women's Skate Association.


The lack of references reflected on every aspect of her life, even the way she dressed. Karen has already said that to be minimally accepted into the sport, she had to wear the same clothes as boys, because if she were female, no one would take her seriously. After questioning this, the skateboarder created a women's clothing brand from skate style and also a women's tennis line with one of its sponsors. It is misleading to think that these clothes were dresses swirled. Karen's concern has always been to create clothes that are comfortable for the sport but that fit the female anatomy.

Fight for equality in sport

In January this year (2018), there was a competition with huge dimensions and had female categories. This may even be cause for celebration in a society that gives so little room for women. It should be normal, which unfortunately is not yet. But the celebration stopped there when the prize money given to the winning woman in the competition was three times lower than the prize received by the winning man in his category.

Also read: Inspiring Women: Elza Soares

Karen spoke up and showed her indignation at the incident: "It is this ecosystem of inequality that makes many people around us think it's okay?" an award pay three times more for the male champion. Are we women who are the daughters of men, sisters, friends, wives, mothers of men, worth so much less?

The skater makes it clear that equality within the sport is already at a more advanced level, but it does not yet exist completely. "Our struggle is to make half the people who live on this planet (women) feel as capable of following their dreams as the other half (men)!", Says the sportswoman.

Motherhood without idealization

In addition to her career as a skateboarder, Karen maintains a YouTube channel, the? Unicorn Garage ?. In it she constantly talks about motherhood in a dismantled way. Married to Lucas Silveira, lead singer of the band Fresno, Karen shares the daily life of the family in humorous videos, but at the same time breaking paradigms.

She is a living example that becoming a mother does not mean losing one's individuality and being able to devote oneself to other tasks.Karen encourages many women to resume their activities after becoming mothers, but makes it clear that it is OK if the woman wants to devote herself exclusively to motherhood. In fact, what matters is making your own choices.

What you can learn from Karen Jonz

1. If you don't have a reference, be a

We do not choose what we will like and want to dedicate our life and history to, but on this walk many stones may appear. On Karen's path, she didn't find references right away and didn't give up. Gradually she was meeting other women with whom she identified and today she is one of the biggest names in skateboarding in the world. Imagine how rewarding it is to know that you are a reference and inspiration to someone?

Read also: Sorority: Empathy and Solidarity Strengthening the Women's Network

2. Standards are not for people

She always liked "boy stuff", which caused many to begin to even question their sexuality. On her YouTube channel, she says the process of accepting can be painful, but it can encourage other people too, creating a mutual support network. ? You don't have to give up what you are to be happy? ? Precious advice to write down in a notebook and read every day!

3. Believe in yourself

From the moment you decide to do anything that is out of the curve, you will experience difficulties. Has being the only girl in the middle of a bunch of boys ever made Karen go through hard and unforgettable moments? not in the best sense of the word. If she didn't believe in herself, no one else would. Be sure of one thing: you are more capable than you think.

4. Opponent only exists in competition

Inside the skate park there are opponents, that is a fact. But this? Rivalry? stay there. There is room for everyone, and especially among women, a support network needs to be created. Remember when we talked about sorority here? Offer help to the women next to you, they need it just like you.

Is Karen an inspiration or not? There is no such person in this world, we do not need to fit in boxes that were made to standardize individuals. Be yourself, fight for what you love and believe and be the reference you haven't found yet.

Inspiring Women Series - Ep. 1: Karen Jonz (March 2024)


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