Vans on the Wall – Ally Cruz

Today host Holly Chen chats with Ally Cruz. Ally is a Trango Grassroots Athlete and a USAC Level 3 Routesetter with a decade of climbing experience. Her routesetting career began at her university's climbing wall and quickly graduated to a commercial setting job at Edgeworks Climbing and Fitness in Seattle, Washington. From there, she bounced to Utah, back to Edgeworks, and eventually settled in her current position as Assistant Headsetter at the Seattle Bouldering Project Poplar gym. She has set and chiefed for many USAC-sanctioned comps and most recently set for the Vail Citizens event and helped with the Vail NACS as well. Ally has also set for notable affinity comps, such as Crux Fest and Impact. Outside of climbing, Ally is a well-rounded outdoorswoman; she loves mountain biking and surfing. In today’s episode, Holly and Ally take a nuanced look at tokenization. They discuss the signs that someone is being tokenized, the unseen harms of tokenization, and how it can pigeonhole setters into roles that limit their progression and professional development. Ally is a real trooper as she and Holly dive into a vulnerable topic about how tokenization can lead minorities to perceiving other minorities as competition, rather than support. But they do turn the topic around to the bright side and discuss tangible tips that setters, headsetters and chief routesetters can employ to make sure tokenization does not happen on their teams. And if you’re wondering what tokenization has to do with Vans shoes, be sure to listen to the full episode below. Thank you Trango and EP Climbing for your support! And thank you Devin Dabney for your music!