Meet the Badass Women Who Are the True Face of Surfing in the West

Lara Einzig grew up on the Sunshine Coast of Australia, but it wasn’t until she moved to California that she became a bona fide surfer. The former fashion exec, who worked in marketing for Top Shop in London and as fashion director at Goop, was living in Los Angeles when her sister died by suicide.

To help heal her grief, she turned to the water and learned firsthand why so many people immerse themselves in surfing for reasons that run deeper than the thrill of catching a wave. The surrender, the rhythms of nature, wide-open spaces that require us to yield to what is: All those things and more captivated Einzig, and soon what started as a pastime became an obsession.

Diving into the culture and the media surrounding it, Einzig saw few women chronicled or celebrated and wanted to change that. The result is the beautiful and inspiring coffee-table book Women Making Waves: Trailblazing surfers in and out of the water ($35; Ten Speed Press), which is, as she says, “about real female surfers from around the world who live a life of purpose, are driven by social impact and charging some of the best waves on the planet.”

Rather than simply chronicle professionals, which she does quite well, Einzig also included “civilians” who, like her, were drawn to the water looking for something beyond themselves. There are environmentalists, board shapers, activists, and, yes, pros photographed in and out of the water exclusively for the book by nine female surf photographers. The profiles recount each woman’s impact on surfing and in turn surfing’s impact on them. We spoke with Einzig about what it was like to work with a few of the many women from the West who appear in the book. 

Joyce Hoffman, San Juan Capistrano 

Photo by Anne Menke. Reprinted from Women Making Waves Copyright © 2022 by Lara Einzig. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House.

“Joyce grew up in San Juan Capistrano. Her father, Walter, created the first Hawaiian shirts. She was literally the first female surf superstar. She was the one getting all the endorsements and press and fame. There are so many firsts in her career: first woman to win back-to-back surf championships, first woman to surf Pipeline, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, to have a surfboard named after her. She is an absolute badass. She’s an absolute legend. I was lucky enough to watch her statue get unveiled with hundreds of people from the community. She was the first woman featured in the Watermen’s Plaza in Dana Point, and rightly so. She doesn’t take any of it for granted and says surfing gave her everything in her life and that a lot of men helped her along the way. She will tell it like it is. At the photo shoot, I wanted to brush her hair and put a little bit of makeup on her, and she was like, ‘Don’t even go there.’ What captivates me is that it’s not just that she’s surfing in her 70s, it’s that she’s still charging. If she’s coming, watch out. Do not get in her way. And if you do, she will blow you down.” 

Kelis and Malia Kaleopa’a, Honolulu 

Photo by Anne Menke. Reprinted from Women Making Waves Copyright © 2022 by Lara Einzig. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House.

“Kelis and Malia are a mother and daughter who embody the native Waikiki surf life. Waikiki beach is their playground, and they’re there every day. It doesn’t get more Waikiki water family than this. Kelis was homeschooled and then graduated when she was 16. Her attitude is: Surf all day with my friends, and if I can compete, that’s what I’m going to do. In 2019, at just 15 years old, Kelis became the youngest ever female to take first place in longboarding. She’s legit. Now she has sponsorships from various brands, and both she and her mom are Roxy girls. We shot them over a few days, and they’re so humble. It was very much the beginning of Kelis’s career, still discovering what this whole life was going to be like. They took out one of the big canoes, and we shot her on the north shore. We put them in grass skirts, and they were up for it and it was beautiful. Like they say: Surfing is a dance with the wave, and you let the wave take charge.” 

Textured Waves: Hawaii, Santa Cruz, and Honolulu 

Photo by Anne Menke. Reprinted from Women Making Waves Copyright © 2022 by Lara Einzig. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House.

“While coming up with the concept for the book, I started seeing a little bit of press on Textured Waves, and a little bit more popped up on social media. The founders Chelsea Woody, Danielle Black Lyons, and Martina Duran are all surfers and women of color, and found each other on Instagram. They were all individually searching for the imagery that they were looking for, and the representation wasn’t there. They decided that between the three of them, they could bridge the gap and create more representation and inclusivity. I learned so much from these women. We shot the book during the pandemic, and on an emotional Zoom call they shared about the Middle Passage and the concept of generational trauma and healing and the water. We went to shoot them with the photographer Anne Menke in Santa Cruz at Pleasure Point, which has the longest point break. We shot at dawn and at night, and it was just beautiful. They came out for the book launch and represented Textured Waves at an event in Malibu. We’ve developed a mutually supportive relationship over time, and I’m grateful that it’s a relationship that will continue.” 

Get the Book

Reprinted from Women Making Waves Copyright © 2022 by Lara Einzig. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House.