NIKITA CLOTHING #FORGIRLSWHORIDE WITH Grace Mayernik

Nikita Clothing Grace Mayernik

From young-gun shredder riding a few years ago, to lifer and co-owner of new vintage shop Vantage in Salt Lake City, Grace Mayernik has done a lot in the 20 years she's been on this planet. Never one to see an obstacle as a stopping point, she's continuously pushed on to live life exactly the way she wants to.

Read on to get to know where she came from, what drives her, and where she's going next!

Hey Grace- we’ll start with the basics, how old are you?

20

Just 20 and killing it already! Where do you come from and where do you live now? 

I grew up in Virginia, but have been living in Salt Lake City, Utah for the past 7 years.

Grace Mayernik Nikita Clothing

Another basic question to check off the list here- how long have you been snowboarding?

7 years.

Lucky number 7 😜  What or who got you into it?

My older sister Amy got me into snowboarding. She was the first in my family to move out West and whenever we had a break in school we would fly out to visit her and board. It got to the point where we would spend weeks longer then we were supposed to and my whole family kind of just said, what the heck, and made the move to Utah.

That's a big move for a family to just get up and do! We need to meet all of them some day, they sound awesome.

Snowboarding has it's ups and downs. The ups are what keep us coming back, but dealing with the downs and coming back to ride again is what makes a real snowboarder. Have you ever had any downs? How did you deal with that? 

I would say the biggest challenge that I've faced in snowboarding was tearing my ACL and getting knee surgery three years ago. It was really unexpected and definitely put me in a funk at first. I never knew if I would snowboard like I did before the injury and now that I have recovered and regained my confidence I would say the ongoing goal in my snowboarding is to do it for fun, and because I love it.

That's the best kind of attitude to have, and the goal of having fun is what it's all about.  Speaking of fun- what’s your favorite trick right now?

Is riding powder a trick? If not, I'll say handplants.

Riding powder definitely counts as a trick! Handplants do too, we love those choices and need to do some of both ourselves ASAP.

What is your must-have for a day of riding?

I have to start my day with lots of food and coffee. Another must-have would be friends to ride with.

Every snowboarder has a place they’re dying to get to. What’s your dream destination?

Japan!!!!

Oh Japan. That's a place dreams are made of, definitely on the list of places to go.

@vantageslc

A post shared by Grace🌹 (@gracemayernik) on

But you aren't just a snowboarder. What else do you do?

I co-own a vintage clothing store in Salt Lake City! @Vantageslc We've been open now for close to six months and its been an awesome experience, and a lot of hard work. Between balancing snowboarding and owning a business I also just got into yoga, I play guitar, love photography, and skateboard as much as I can!

You own your own shop? Tell us more about Vantage, please!

Vantage is a vintage clothing store in Salt Lake City selling carefully curated 80's and 90's clothes. We opened doors for business in July and before that there was little to no talk of starting something like this.

Grace Mayernik Flea Market

It began with my boyfriend, Paul and I, having a booth at the flea market. We had little expectations for it but it ended up going super well and thats when we realized maybe something like a store could work! Our friend Andrew happened to collect and sell online so we rounded him into the deal and immediately started talking business.

I saw an ad for a space available in our local newspaper and we went to check it out- the space needed a little TLC but it was exactly what we were looking for. They were only asking for a year lease so we figured what the heck, lets do this for a year, see if it works, if not we'll still be able to live working our second jobs. Well, 5 months later, our second jobs no longer in the picture, we couldn't be more happy how it has worked out. It was a leap of faith to get it started but if you ever have the opportunity to start a business with your friends, do it!

We heard you had some cool people drop by one afternoon, who was that again?

We had the band HAIM in the shop before a show once! I wasn’t even there when they came in *laughs* [but Paul was and] he got a pic with them. I guess one of their songs was playing on the radio and Kevin (gravedigger) was like, "Oh are you ladies going to the concert tonight?"

And they were like, "Uh yea that’s us!"

After all of that, how do you unwind after a long day?

Since I've started a business my days are usually packed with things to do, so my favorite thing to do as of now is cozy up on the couch and watch a movie or go to a yoga class and clear my mind for an hour!

You've got the right recipe for everything and it's obvious you push yourself a lot to be exactly who you want to be. Do you get influenced from the outside? Who would you say inspires you the most?

Anyone who paves their own path. Someone who never gives up, who is creative, hardworking, and genuinely happy with the life they live.

And finally - how do you feel about eBay?

Are you asking this question before or after I got banned? (Long Story) But now that my boyfriend lets me sell from an account in his name, eBay and I are still in good standings. For now. 

 

Put this playlist on, grab your board and start getting inspired out on the snow! Thanks to Grace for taking time out of her busy day to catch up with us, stop into Vantage if you're ever in Salt Lake City and stay tuned to Nikita Clothing to catch the next feature #forgirlswhoride