Paizley White
Snowboard · Colorado
“I was born in Texas and fell in love with snowboarding. I have been snowboarding since I was 2 years old.”
Meet Paizley →What is Tough?
Our mission is to support female athletes in action sports.
Tough exists to highlight female athletes beyond the podium: the work, the setbacks, and everything that goes into chasing a dream.
Action sports are one of the most honest training grounds for mental toughness, the kind forged through failure, uncertainty, risk, and perseverance.
By making that journey visible, Tough gives girls role models worth looking up to, tools for working through challenges, and connects the athletes to the support and community they deserve.
Why action sports?
Because there’s no coach calling the play and no teammate taking the shot. When she’s out there, she decides her next move. That decision is hers, and so is what happens next.
And if today she decides not to go, that’s respected. There is no other sport where backing off earns respect instead of letting the team down. That’s where discernment gets built.
This is where she learns to trust her gut, find her line, and follow through.
And those are the skills that will carry her beyond the sport.
Their story is our story
Meet the girls we’re talking about.
We don’t tell Tough’s story. They do.
Emmy Ross
Mountain Bike · California
“I've been riding a bike since I was 2 years old and fell in love with competing in cross country and downhill mountain biking.”
Meet Emmy →
Alexandria Pasowicz
Mountain Bike · California
“My goal is to get the gold medal in the Olympics. I've been riding bikes since I was three years old.”
Meet Alexandria →
From our founder
Hi, I’m Angela, mom of three, ICU nurse, and founder of Tough.
I used to think being tough meant sucking it up, proving yourself, and dealing with it. I learned the hard way that real strength is doing the hard thing, and sometimes that means walking away.
Here’s what I know: no one can convince you of your self-worth. You have to collect the proof yourself. That’s the beauty of these sports: they test you. They give you plenty of chances to fail, adjust, and figure it out over and over again, and that’s the part that actually builds you. And when it finally clicks, because you didn’t give up on yourself, you walk away with confidence, self-trust, and life skills no one can take from you.
I started Tough to put the right role models directly in front of my girls, so when the world gets loud with unrealistic standards for how they should look and live, they’ll remember growing up watching girls who chased dreams, showed up for their friends, and trained their bodies and minds to be strong.
So yeah, this might be a slightly unhinged way to raise my girls. But we’re gonna roll with it.
Big hugs,
Angela
Where to start
Show her what other girls are doing.
Meet the athletes. Bring your kids to an event. See what happens next.