Who wouldn’t want to work at Lets Go Surfing?

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Hello! My name is Brandon Adam and I am an intern at Let’s Go Surfing in Bondi. I am studying marketing at Bowling Green State University in Ohio in the United States. I have been in Sydney for eight weeks with an internship abroad organization called IES Abroad. I started my program at the beginning of June 2022 and will be leaving Australia at the end of July. I applied to IES Abroad Sydney with very little expectations of what would come of it. I had applied to several different internships with companies in America, but coming to Sydney during my summer break was definitely my first choice. I wanted to have a unique internship experience and working in Australia is certainly that!

After I got accepted into IES Sydney, my program coordinator connected me with Marty at Let’s Go Surfing. I had a video call with him where I learned a little bit about the company and I told him what I was hoping to get out of my internship. I shared my interest and experience in marketing and that I wanted to be able to make a positive impact on the company during my time there. Marty told me that my responsibilities would start small and as long as I kept proving myself, I would gain more freedom and be able to work on more important tasks and projects. At the end of the call I was offered the job and I told him that I would love to come work for LGS. Even then, I didn’t realize how great that decision was going to turn out to be.

On my first day, Marty took me for a walk around Bondi so I could see a little bit of the town and the beach. I was amazed with its beauty and was in awe that it was going to be the place where I would be working for the next two months. When we got back from the walk, Marty told me to get a wetsuit on and to get ready to partake in his next surf lesson. Being from Ohio, I had never surfed in my life but I was so excited to give it a try! It was tough at first, but by the end I found myself being able to stand up on the board…at least some of the time. Needless to say, I was still a long ways away from being a good surfer. Marty told me to try to go out for a surf during my breaks each day so that I could have fun and keep getting better. Most places that I have worked at in the past would just give me fifteen minutes to eat lunch so I was stoked for the opportunity to surf for forty-five minutes at Bondi Beach almost everyday! 

I later met with Louise, the marketing director at Let’s Go Surfing. She gave me an idea of some of her thoughts on what I could do during my time here. She expressed to me that if I had any ideas of things that I wanted to do to share so that they could get accomplished. She started off by having me put together a competitor analysis of the other surf schools near each of the LGS locations. She also assured me that if I worked hard and did a good job, then I would continue to gain more responsibilities. 

I spent much of my time working in the shop, learning about the business, and interacting with customers. When I first started, it took me a little bit to get used to working for a new company (especially one that specialized in something I knew nothing about) and working in a new country. The more I worked, the more I learned and the more comfortable I got. All of the LGS staff were so helpful and friendly to me which made the transition go smoothly. I enjoyed interacting with customers and I loved seeing how happy people were to come in and get a surf lesson!

A few marketing jobs that I had while at Let’s Go Surfing were constructing a SWOT analysis of the company and each of its locations, producing a video of a surf lesson, and creating content for social media. During the course of constructing  the SWOT analysis, I spoke with some of the managers at LGS to get some insight about the company. I used that information as well as my own observations to identify where the company was at and what opportunities they could take advantage of. 

For the video that I produced, I had some of my friends from the same internship program as me come to Bondi for a lesson. They all had either never surfed before or surfed very little so they were so excited to come! I loved getting to show them where I worked and what I get to do almost everyday! I was able to film a large amount of the lesson and edit it into the final product.

My experience during my two months at Let’s Go Surfing has been incredible! I have been very pleased with the work that I have been able to do, the experiences that I have been able to have, and the people that I have been able to meet. A year ago I would have never guessed that I would work at a surf shop in Australia. Working somewhere as beautiful as Bondi has been unbelievable. These two months in Sydney have truly been some of the best times of my life and working at Let’s Go Surfing has been a big part of that! I cannot thank the staff and everyone at Let’s Go Surfing enough for the incredible experience!

Women on Waves

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Australia’s Women’s Surfing Revolution


Surfing is widely considered a mainstream sport in Australia however 20 years ago the chances of finding a woman’s surfing program would have been difficult.  Fast forward to 2019 on the back of recent economic and social changes, that notion is a thing of the past. Women’s surfing programs are selling out; women and girls of all ages are hitting the water, eager to give surfing a go!

This shift has been led by inspiring women pushing boundaries at all levels of the sport. A significant change was the World Surf League’s (WSL) 2018 announcement of equal pay for men and women across all WSL sanctioned events. The announcement delivered by the WSLs’ first female CEO Sophie Goldschmidt was a pivotal day in women’s surfing. The WSL has proven surfing a progressive and dynamic sport accessible for all. By awarding equal pay surfing has established a genuine career path for young, talented female surfers. Read WSL’s press release here. With surfing’s inclusion into the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo this pathway has been strengthened. Women’s surfing will be on the world stage in Tokyo, increasing the sports exposure and inspiring more women to have a go.

At a grass-roots level surf schools around Australia have removed barriers-to-entry for women and girls with an understanding that learning to surf is as much about having fun and making friends as it is about learning a new skill. Let’s Go Surfing is at the forefront of women’s surfing and currently run the popular Women on Waves (WOW) program in Bondi, Maroubra and Byron Bay. The WOW program was an initiative of Brenda Miley; a champion of women’s surfing in Australia and founder of Let’s Go Surfing.

The WOW program is a 6 week course with a focus on fun, fitness, friends, skill development and experiencing different surf conditions. The course is taught with a relaxed and supportive vibe by experienced female coaches eager to give back to the sport. Participants learn the importance of surf safety and cover the basics from checking conditions, warm-up routines, paddling, ‘pop-ups’, catching waves through to more advanced skills such as bottom turns and cutbacks. The Let’s Go Surfing’s WOW program has become a blueprint for others like it, with various surf schools around the country running similar programs. Since 2010 there has been a 20% increase in female surfing participation nationally. With the 14-17yo age group having the largest increase of 60% (Roy Morgan Market Research)! Check out other stats here.

This strong commitment from surf schools and grassroot coaches is producing a seamless pathway for beginners to advanced surfers and has changed the way women approach the sport of surfing. There is a great opportunity for women to improve their skills and catch more waves in the surf, the line up is less male dominated and you’ll likely see other girls in the water. Interestingly in the 50+ age group there was a 45% increase proving there is no age limit to give surfing a go. Let’s Go Surfing support women of all ages to engage in the program. One of Byron Bay’s most loved WOW members’ first tried surfing at 70yo and has continued to come weekly three years later! What an inspiration!  

Women are pioneering change for women in the surfing industry. It’s a compliment to ‘surf like a girl’. In a recent interview 7x World Champion Stephanie Gilmore comments on this idea “It’s funny, people say to me, ‘you surf like a guy’. But actually, no, the greatest guy surfers surf like girls!” Women bring style, beauty and grace to surfing and it’s wonderful to watch. We’re in the midst of a women’s surfing revolution! Get involved today and sign up to a women’s surfing program near you!

Sounds fun? Book your WOW course here.

Ecotourism Certification

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Leave only footprints

Lets Go Surfing is proud to announce we have achieved Ecotourism Certification for our Surf and SUP schools with Ecotourism Australia.

Brenda Miley started Lets Go Surfing out of the back of a Kombi van on Bondi Beach in 1995 as an idea to encourage more women into surfing.  In the years since, the team has grown to help thousands of people from all over the world learn to surf, developing confidence, focus and strength and most importantly…. have fun!

Lets Go Surfing understands the importance of looking after our environment. We live, work and play in the ocean, therefore we want to do everything in our power to preserve its beauty. Whether our feet are on the sand, on a board or in the office, our eyes are fixed on the horizon to ensure the future is bright for the next generation.

We strive to achieve our environmental goals by making positive changes in our daily operations. This includes, but is not limited to; plastic bag free, using environmentally-friendly wetsuit washing products, working with third party suppliers to minimize plastic usage, receiving surfboards and wetsuits in biodegradable packaging, choosing lower emission vehicles, limiting water usage, recycling in all of our locations, providing all our team with reusable water bottles and coffee cups and organising environmental talks with student groups.  

“As surfers, our life revolves around the ocean.  We love the water and our amazing beaches, so it is extremely important that we respect and cherish our environment.  We are so lucky to have such caring and passionate environmental warriors on our team who lead us on our ‘leave only footprints’ mission” – Craig “Wacca” Wachholz

Lets Go Surfing is very proud of being Ecotourism Certified with Eco Tourism Australia, embracing the opportunity to educate people from all over the world about our ecosystem and its importance. We look forward to continue to share Australia’s natural beauty and beach culture while only leaving footprints.

 

Be Bold For Change….Change Your World by Brenda Miley – The Business Woman in Boardshorts!

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21 years ago, as I walked out on my job as a PE teacher, my mum said ‘Please don’t leave teaching, it’s such a good job for a woman‘.  I agreed, but kept on walking into my own business, where luckily, I was still a teacher, just a teacher of all things surfing.  I’d left the security of a full time teaching career, to the unknown of this new idea of trying to make a living out of teaching surfing.  Rewind to the early 90s, there were not really any surf schools, a fledgling surf school industry was developing but everything had to be created from scratch.   So with an adventurous spirit and a preparedness to take risks to follow a passion deep within me,  I set up Lets Go Surfing (LGS) in 1995 out the back of a van at Bondi Beach, with 5 surfboards and an idea to promote women in surfing.

My life as a surfing instructor started then, but my journey in the ocean,  started way before that.  Way before there were women’s wetsuits (that actually made you look OK). Way before it was universally accepted to be a female surfer in the line up.  It started with a passion for the ocean that came from within when I caught my first wave on my dad’s back when I was 3.  It continued as I bodysurfed the shore dump at Coogee at 8. It continued as I walked everyday of the school holidays from Coogee to Tamarama  with a bodyboard under my arm, to spend 6 hours in the water and then to walk home again at the age of 12.  When I turned 14 I started riding a coolite at Tamarama, then as I progressed to a fibreglass board at 16, I cut my teeth at Maroubra and then finally Bondi Beach!

With the surfing bug fully entrenched in my life, I competed in all levels of competition from club level through to Australian titles, and discovered the absolute joy of travelling the world to surf.   It was often daunting, being the only woman in the surf.  I wanted to change the way girls experienced surfing and wanted to encourage them, so teaching surfing was the next step.  After setting up LGS, there were a lot of women who also wanted a women’s only boardriders club.  I set up Bondi Girls Surfriders Club (BGSR) in 1999 with some other like minded surfer girls, so women could feel safe to be able to compete in a girls only club and not feel embarrassed when constantly being compared to the boys.

Armed with a passion for teaching, surfing and making a difference to women’s lives, I discovered running a surf school was exactly what I was meant to be doing.  Fast forward to 2017, LGS is an award winning business, operating at Bondi, Maroubra and Byron Bay.  It is an equal opportunity employer for both men and women.  I am surrounded by an incredible team of women working in a range of areas from surf coaching , to marketing, business development, customer service and accounts.  I have proudly supported women to develop careers at LGS , having families along the way, without ever thinking about a glass ceiling!  When I look out to the surf and see women of all ages catching waves, I feel a sense of pride and happiness.   I still love a tropical surfing holiday and continue to search for new locations and adventures, all the while being the “Business Woman in Boardshorts”…. Sorry mum, sometimes you’ve just gotta change your world to live the life you want!

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