Nora said, “I feel like a little fall princess.” as she sat down in a lawn chair in front of the camera. Sweater on and adjusting her Icon socks letting us get the perfect shot while we chatted with her a bit.

I am Nora Vasconcellos and I'm a lady who likes to skateboard and surf. I grew up on the East Coast, but this is always what I thought California was. It's just a perfect little zone.

My dad used to take me to the skate park… I was 13, 14, and he would bring me on Tuesday nights. It was ‘girls skate free night’ and I think he thought I’d have some friends to skate with…but there were never any other girls. I love seeing the kids and the younger girls now at skate parks. Sometimes I have this hint of jealousy where I'm like, “I wish I was 8 or 10 now, and have that camaraderie." But at the same time to be able to be a part of it still…It's cool to see that cycle of like, "Whoa, these kids are growing up in a time where they're seeing all different types of people skateboarding versus just this guy." So it's so sick.

I think just being authentically yourself and being genuine. Being uplifting to a community. I think we get really convoluted with that because I think we idolize people who, for the greater good, aren't really helpful or even practicing basic humanity. And I think a real icon is somebody who makes their community better and is able to be their best self while bringing others up with them.

Skateboarding is so much more of an art than a sport. It's massively physical. It's very hard on your body. I love overcoming fear and learning the trick and getting to skate spots that you've thought about forever. I love getting lost in the process versus being stressed out and being like, oh, I've got to land this. I was recently told that anger is not a first emotion, it's just a reaction to fear or pain. And I think most of the time skateboarding, if you're pushing yourself, you're experiencing both fear and pain. And so it's just weird to have anger when you're like, "I love this" and this is supposed to be fun and fulfilling. It's just a balance though and it definitely ebbs and flows. I don't think I express fear and anger through my art or surfing like I do through skateboarding.

I joke that my skating funds my surfing. I was really into it in middle school and high school and actually my first photo in a magazine was in a surf magazine for Surfers ESA little addition thing... It's just crazy, like I changed my path because surfing wasn't super accessible. I started skating transition in parks and stuff because of surfing. When it comes to surfing, you're in this very natural place, you're in the ocean. There sometimes is this survival feeling, if the waves are big. It can be scary, but also with surfing there's this sense of like, "Oh, this is just for me." I don't have to go out here for anybody. I'm not going out here to post on Instagram. I'm not going out here to prove anything. I think we forget that we have to have some things for ourselves, and we get so lost in the performance of stuff that it's very easy, I think, to lose your relationship with things and how it's fun.