Juliette Marzio is the underdog that we're all rooting for! She burst onto the scene with the most powerful flat-ground flips (mostly sideflips haha) that most of us have ever seen a girl do. I predict that Juliette's rocket legs are going to take her far indeed.
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How long have you been training?
I’ve been training for just under 4.5 years now.
What got you into parkour?
My parents actually were the ones who introduced me to Parkour. They had bought a 3 class pack for the parkour gym near our house- Parkour Visions, and I took a class with my sister. I feel in love immediately, and she left the class about 15 minutes in, she absolutely hated it. At the time I was 12, I’m 16 now. I started in May of 2013, and that Summer, I was at the gym constantly, I really enjoyed learning new skills and getting to feel like a super cool human By October of that year, I had gotten into level 2, and was at the gym 2 or 3 times a week.
What do you do for a living?
So I’m 16, I don’t really make a living. Basically I train, go to school and like lay in bed and watch Netflix. One of my biggest goals is to be able to make a living through parkour. I want to be able to travel and train and make money doing it.
How do you manage fear when going for something scary?
When I find a challenge or a skill while I’m training that scares me, I do one of 3 things If it’s something that I’m 100% sure I can do, I like to picture myself doing it, both from first person and third person views. Seeing myself doing it well helps me commit to challenges that are more fear based than challenge or strength based. If I’m not sure that I can do it, I’ll measure out the challenge in my steps, then I either do the same thing on the ground or in a less frightening environment, like a gym. If it’s something like a kong pre or something that there isn’t a ground level version of, I’ll just write down the size of the challenges and as many specifications as I can. I’ll just head to the gym in the next couple of days and build the challenge. I only do that if I really want to get the challenge, and if I feel like it would make me get that rush of accomplishment. The third option is I just walk away. Sometimes that challenge just wasn’t meant for me. Could be it’s too physically challenging, but more often than not, with fear challenges, it’s just a mental battle.
Do you have any obstacles that interfere with your training? If so, how do you deal?
My main challenge when it comes to training is definitely not having enough time. I’m a junior in high school, I spend 7 hours a day at school, and then have homework to do afterwards. I do my best to train daily, and I do post dailies to Instagram, but sometimes I just straight up don’t have the time to train because school is so time consuming. Other than that, I’m pretty lucky, Seattle has so many amazing spots, and my parents are very supportive of what I’m doing. They allow me to fly around the US by myself for parkour events, and soon I’ll hopefully be traveling internationally by myself. I also have an amazing community of fellow athletes, both in Seattle, and through social media that I’m able to get inspiration from.
What piece of advice would you give to someone starting out?
The best piece of advice that I could give is just don’t be afraid to fall on your face and look stupid sometimes. Do you think all of the big name athletes were just born with all of their talent? Of course not, they were right where you are at some point. You have to fall down to learn new skills, and it doesn’t always work out first try.
Who is a woman that inspires you and why? (in or out of parkour/freerunning)
It’s hard for me to pinpoint one or two big inspirations that I have. Honestly all of the other ladies in the parkour community inspire me in one way or another. Whether it’s a pro athlete who inspires me through their movement, or a first time student who is willing to put themselves out there and be willing to join this male dominated sport. I’m inspired by women who are throwing dubs onto concrete, and by women who are just stepping foot into a parkour class for the first time.
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