Vans flow rider Sam Narvaez is a total skater’s skater: always down to go out, pushing as fast as possible and skating anything in front of her. Whether she’s on the board or in the kitchen, Sam operates with a level of drive that only a select few are born with. And you need that determination when you grow up skating in Key Largo; a tiny island off of Florida’s southern coast about an hour’s drive south of Miami. Key Largo—to put it mildly—has limited spot options. But what the island lacks in spots or skateparks, Sam made up for with raw creativity and the DIY spirit that has permeated skate culture since the beginning. In Sam’s view, a downed telephone pole or displaced chunk of sidewalk after a hurricane becomes an ideal spot. No ledges? Build your own in an abandoned tennis court. Sam carries that outlook with her off the board, and into the culinary world, where she’s fast becoming an accomplished young chef.Boardly is a video series that spotlights people from all walks of life who share one thing in common: a passion for skateboarding that has shaped who they are in equally different, yet unique ways. In Season 2 of Boardly, Style Notes, we explore what skateboarding means to six emerging voices. More than a sport, skating is a powerful form of self-expression. An identity. An art. Above all else it is raw creativity in its purest form.
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