New hobby leads to life-changing moments for woman, hundreds more

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A Cincinnati woman picked up a new hobby, not knowing it would change her life, plus hundreds of others.

Megs Gelfgot started a skate collective, Keep Her Wild, two years ago to help teach women how to skateboard.

She says it all started organically.

After struggling as a new mom, being diagnosed with Wolff Parkison White Syndrome, and losing her sister in a car accident, Gelfgot picked up a skateboard to try something new.

“So, at this time, I had the thought of what are the things in my life that I had regretted never trying, that I was never brave enough to try, and at the time, I think I was 29, and skateboarding was at the top of that list,” Gelfgot says.

Scratching that off her list, she took her skateboard to parking lots to practice falling occasionally but getting back up.

She documented her journey on social media gaining an audience she never expected.

“I had more and more people reach out to me not only about skateboarding but especially women that were wives, new moms had been in a career for a long time that had things that were a little more outlandish that they had always wanted to try and just hadn’t so this community started to form,” explains Gelfgot.

Her solo sidewalk surfing quickly became group rides with women of all ages across the city learning new tricks together.

The rides led to the creation of Keep Her Wild.

“When I started Keep Her Wild in Cincinnati, we had close to 80 women sign up for our very first event,” she says.

The program has expanded over the years.

Keep Her Wild is now in seven countries with close to 20 chapters around the world to teach women to skateboard along with retreats and workshops.

Gelfgot says she was an athlete all her life and worked in the corporate world at Anytime Fitness when she felt the itch to do something more.

While taking on skateboarding was empowering she says it also came with some challenges.

“I really experienced a bit of imposter syndrome in that I was not a professional skater, I wasn’t even that good to start with,” Gelfgot said. “And that culture wasn’t particularly inviting. Not only to someone who was new, but specifically a woman who was you know in her 30s and a mom at that point, that’s not who the skatepark is really welcoming.”

But she kept showing up getting better each day.

“I was showing up with that beginner attitude of really embracing being bad at something, whereas in other areas of my life, even professionally, I didn’t want to be the person who didn’t have the answers and so it allowed me to grow and stretch and had ripple effects way outside of the skatepark,” Gelfgot says.

Her attitude led to her new role as a certified brain health trainer at Activate Brain and Body in Montgomery, which her husband and his business partner opened in 2022.

Gelfgot is far from the end of her journey.

She’s continuing to pour her energy into health training plus planning more retreats for Keep Her Wild.

As for a new hobby, she is starting to lean into surfing.

Breaking Through Series

This story is part of a weekly segment called Breaking Through.

FOX19 NOW will be highlighting those who are stepping forward to pave the way for a better future.

If you know a woman making a difference in the community, whether it’s a business, teaching, or volunteering, we want to hear from you.

Call 513-421-1919 or send an email to desk@fox19now.com with “Breaking Through” in the subject line.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2022 WXIX. All rights reserved.