Vitória Mendonça, where nobody achieves anything alone

Back in 2023, it was just another day—plans for Igrejinha and a drink at Antù. Out of nowhere, I heard Maité’s unmistakable voice. She hugged me, chatted a bit, and invited us for a drink with the Adidas team. Later at Antù, we ran into Vitória Mendonça, Sam Navarez, and Diego Sarmento—some of my biggest inspirations! Vitória for her style, Diego for his work—they’re the perfect duo.

Fast forward, we connected on social media, exchanged a few words, and then the unexpected happened: Diego proposed an interview with Vitória. Of course, I said yes! I gathered some questions, Diego led the conversation, and just like that, a “little” big interview was born. Welcome, both!

 

 

Diego: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening Betesga girls! Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Diego Sarmento, I’ve been a photographer and skateboarder since I was ten years old. I’ve done a lot of works around the world and for some time now I’ve been working with Vitória Mendonça .

Vitória: Hello girls, how are you? Vitória Mendonça here, I’m 25 years old and I’ve been skating since I was seven years old.

D: Good. I’m going to start by telling you a little bit about how I met Vitória and then she’ll also talk about it and complement it.

I ended up finding out who Vitória Mendonça was in 2016, around then, on her 15/16s, through a mutual friend called Ian Filipe. At the time I was working as a photographer, for a specific brand, here in Brazil. We were looking for girls to get into the team and he brought up Vitoria’s name. As soon as I saw her videos I got really amazed by her style. Some stuff happen in between and I ended up having the opportunity to work with Adidas Skateboarding in Brazil.

So I started to get in touch with Vitória in 2017. We went on tour and she met the Team. We started a long conversation, until 2018, when she actually joined the Adidas Brazil Team. That was the starting point. We started going on trips and filming and that’s when the friendship really became something much bigger. 

V: I met Diego in 2017  and we’ve been working together since then. I joined Adidas thanks to his connection and our bond only got stronger after that. 

D: To summarise, we’ve been working together for over six years now. So it’s a journey that we want to keep for years.

Jumping to some questions:

How did it start? Where did your passion for skateboarding came from? How did this whole story began?

V: I started skating when I was 7 years old. I used to play a lot in a park near my mother’s house, in the neighbourhood called Vila Nova, in Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro. I used to run around the park, to slide and get in the way of the kids who were there skating. They use to complain and ended up calling me to skate so I wouldn’t get in their way. And so I started.

I started going to the park, not just to run on the park, but also to skate. I used to go out there every now and then. At first I only drooped sited with my ass on the skate. But then I started going more and more to other places, other parks. I started taking part in some of the championships...

And almost 18 years after, I’m still here!

 

About that, nowadays you have more accesses, but in your time and especially in mine, it was very difficult to get into the skateboarding scene. 
What can you say about skateboarding in Brazil and especially women’s skateboarding in Brazil?

V: Dude, 11yo, 2007, I started skating, it was very different from what it is today, you know? Like, totally different. Back in the days it was very rare to see girls skating in the same area I lived. There were a couple of girls that I got to know, but they stopped and it ended up being just me there. Now it’s grown a lot compared to that time, 2007 by 2024 is really crazy! Is not just in Brazil! You see so many girls on the street, around the world, killing it in the park, on Youtube...

And that’s crazy!

With the evolution of that also comes the supposed evolution of the skate industry. When did you start to get support? Where was your first trip outside Brazil? With whom? What was that like?

V: My first trip was to Argentina in 2018, with the OFF Channel Cup from Brazil, a television channel. They paid my ticket and Grazi’s, who is also a skateboarder, journalist and photographer. 

We went on this trip, it was me, her and Vitória Bortolo, another friend of mine who also skates, and Fred, who was one of the filmers and it was incredible! I met a lot of great people in Argentina, with who I had very little time to hang out with. It was great. 

 

 

And which trip has marked you the most so far?

V: The most challenging? I have to say Copenhagen. 

Vitória was announced Pro by Element Skateboards at CPHO. 

It was surreal when I went through the process of getting my pro model out. I really wanted to have other friends at CPHO, but Marcelinho and Giovana where there and they left their mark at that moment. Looking at so many people with my shape, holding me up and celebrating me, celebrating this victory. Bro, do you realize how crazy this is? It was surreal.

D: This trip was a milestone!

My personal impression, of course, with all my humbleness, that was a milestone for women’s skateboarding.

V: I think we’re at our best right now! Obviously it’s not even close to being equal, right? Compared to men and everything. Like in terms of brands always having more men than women. Sometimes we have one or two girls in a brand, but seems like they are trying to fulfil a quota, but man, it’s been growing! It has been growing during the last years, our strength in the brands and in the industry in general.

I can see that! Getting back to Copenhagen, to your trip. How was it like?  Everyone expected it to happen in Copenhagen the way it did?

V: The feeling has changed a lot. I’m pressuring myself a lot, you know? It seems that when you move on to the next chapter, there’s a bigger responsibility attached to it.

And did you expected something there? You had a feeling that was going to happen at some point?

V: I was waiting for the day like: “Well, what about today? Is it going to be?” I mean, the days went by and nothing happened and, fuck, I don’t think it’s going to happen anymore? And then there was a day when everyone was acting weird. I thought it was for something else. Everyone seemed to be hiding something.  People were hiding their phones, running away from me in the bar...

What do you do when you’re not skating? What else goes on in your day-to-day life?

V: I write poetry! I don’t consider myself an artist, but I also think everyone does some type of art every day. Like skating, you know? It gives you a mindset, your own style, your own way of skating. 

I like to write poetry... I write music too. I like playing the guitar, singing, but I don’t consider myself an artist. I think I just do what I really like.

Vitória has now several collections with her poetry in it. Her art is now being shared around the world. She might not feel like an artist, but she thinks like one!

Who are your sponsors today and what’s it like dealing with them?

V: Today’s sponsors are Adidas, Element, I think we can also say Sigilo, BAW, which are from Brazil, and Bones. 

D: Nice to work with these guys!

V: Really good. It’s really crazy, I think everybody in skateboarding has always been with some brands that make them feel like part of a family. I’m happy to be in brands that I really like. Do you realise how much I identify with them? I identify with the brand, the people! I can call them friends, so that’s the majority. I’m at a moment in my career, in my life, that everything is where it should be!

D: I share the same opinion! Everyone is so easy to deal with. And going back to Copenhagen, it was also something I worked on for a while without Vitória knowing. Together with Element people, also in partnership with the Adidas Team. I think it was a job that flowed, and with all these people it was very smooth. They always bring cool ideas and projects for us to carry out together. The good thing about everything is the support of all these people. 

Getting into your pro model, how was it like to design your shape? 

How was it like to do this first job for a board and now the clothes and shoes?

V: The partnership with Jeff, from Unity, was very organic for me. I once commented to Alex and the CEO from Element about Jeff and made super sense for them to have him as the artist of the board graphic. Alex was the first one to make that connection with Jeff, and then he text me asking several questions about my vision, what I wanted to create, the vibe...He wanted to reflect all my thoughts in his work. 

Several people helped me realise what was happening in my life. That’s the meaning of the several hands in the board. It’s an allusion to all this people that helped me through the years. It’s also an allusion to unity and to one hand helping the other, the mentality that we’re nothing on our own, you know? Nobody achieves anything alone.

D: Tottaly get it! I’ll jump to one question the girls sent me. Is actually from Tiago, the creator behind Skate Snake Zine, a more Politic Skate Zine from Portugal. Great Tiago! 

“Wanted to know the biggest difficulties you’ve had to face in the world of skateboarding and also, in general, how do they connect with your personal life in everyday life?”

V: I think the biggest difficulty for me was staying on the skate scene. Keep going and stay motivated anyway. I went after what I wanted, which was to be a professional skateboarder, to live of skateboarding, and helping out with the family. That was not easy, it would have been easier to give up... like doing something else, because we know that skateboarding isn’t easy for women. It’s not an easy thing to live from, you know?

My biggest difficulty was keeping myself motivated and believe that it could work. I worked to make this dream and a lot of others possible.

So, what message would you pass to the girls who are also chasing this dream of becoming a pro skater? Those that are beginning to skate, who have also gone through and will probably go through some difficulty? 

V: You should ask yourself how much you want it. I think that’s what I asked myself the most. I kinda gave myself this certainty. We’re going to have a really hard time, but we need to keep pushing. I’m the proof that girls can skate, that is possible to achieve your dreams. I think it’s about staying motivated, finding strength. Don’t give up! I know it’s hard but try not to give up.

I tried, I didn’t give up and now it’s working! I hope it keeps working. 

With that in mind, I have my final question: Next steps? Three years as a professional?

V: Three years. Man, it’s motivation. It’s crazy to be human. If we believe in ourselves our dreams come true. After one, it comes another, and another, and you keep making them real. I really want to go to different places, different countries. I want to make several video parts too. I want to learn new tricks. I still have a lot of dreams. That’s it. I think living is about dreaming!

Well, I’d like to thank you once again, ladies, for the space, for the opportunity.

D: Thanks for the opportunity to do this interview. And I can’t wait to go to Porto again, to Lisbon. Hang out with you girls. That’s it, we’re together. Thanks for the space.