Robin Nielsen met with business partner and life-long friend
Lynne Steffens on a recent Thursday morning for a ritual they share
at least once a week.
The 42-year-old wives and mothers weren’t getting together for a
cup of coffee or a chick flick.
By Lori Stuenkel
Robin Nielsen met with business partner and life-long friend Lynne Steffens on a recent Thursday morning for a ritual they share at least once a week.
The 42-year-old wives and mothers weren’t getting together for a cup of coffee or a chick flick.
Decked out in neoprene wetsuits and armed with nine feet of Plexiglas, they paddled out into the Santa Cruz break for a morning surf session.
The women are translating a passion they discovered three years ago into a business that is catching on with women in the Bay Area and beyond.
Surf Sol Sisters offers surfing retreats for women of all ages who want to jump-start a healthier lifestyle or try something new.
Nielsen, a full-time nutrition educator, and Steffens, a stay-at-home mom, take a small group of women away from their normal hustle-and-bustle lives and immerse them in a weekend of healthy eating, yoga, massages, and, of course, surfing.
“Even if you can’t surf every day … it’s the experience, the whole concept of the here and now, and experiencing the moment and really living for the moment that we hope you carry home with you,” Steffens said. “There are other ways to incorporate that. Surfing for me certainly does that, but there are ways, like through nutrition and wellness, to jump-start a whole process.”
Nielsen and Steffens know that the idea of surfing can be intimidating for first-timers. They only took up the sport three years ago, after years of watching their husbands and Nielsen’s sons surf during holiday gatherings.
The life-long friends grew up in Santa Barbara but eventually both migrated north. Nielsen lives in Morgan Hill where she has a nutrition education practice – her surfboard can be seen perched atop her car in a Main Street parking lot – and Steffens lives in Los Altos, caring for four daughters.
They meet to surf at least weekly. Lately, Steffens has been getting surf sessions in most days of the week.
But since they first learned to surf, they’ve discovered how invigoratingly addictive the activity can be and, they say, how much it can affect a person’s overall well-being.
“We’ve just been going out ever since, and really wanted to build a business around it, because we really, really enjoy it,” Nielsen said. “Men’s surfing is such a big thing, and there’s such support for men’s surfing, but there isn’t for women, so we wanted to build support somehow.”
“There are a lot of surf camps out there, but I think ours is a lot different in that we are really addressing the wellness aspect, and surfing is one way you can really get well and feel good and get in shape,” Steffens said.
The two women were considering a few business options to “follow their passion” when Surf Sol Sisters happened, somewhat accidentally, as they simply did what they loved to do. Nielsen and Steffens gathered together some of their friends who wanted to learn to surf and, to make a weekend of it, rented a house in Santa Cruz, where Nielsen cooked and Steffens led yoga.
“We went down and just had the best time,” Steffens said. “We kind of put it together and when everyone was leaving they said, ‘We want to do this again.'”
The women have put in several thousand dollars each to get their business up and running, and worked out an agreement with a Web site designer.
“We’re about break-even at this point,” Nielsen said. “We’re still a fairly young business, so it will take a while to get going.”
Although marketing is on a small scale at this point, their retreats often sell out.
More than a year later, with six trips under their belts, many of their customers are regulars, a fact which delights the two because they hope the retreats will give women a boost that will translate to healthier living that lasts.
The surfing lifestyle starts with a weekend retreat, but can be applied differently by each woman who attends, they say. One woman went on a retreat and has used some of Nielsen’s use of organic, whole foods to lose 30 pounds.
And surfing’s impact on the entrepreneurs themselves is made evident by muscular arms and shoulders and a year-round tan.
“I’m so excited for people to get on a health-food kick or get on whatever kick they need to feel better and avoid disease, and this is a great avenue I have for doing that,” Nielsen said.
Ann Lauer, who owns a Berkeley restaurant, said she had a great time on a Surf Sol Sister retreat in La Jolla in January, and felt “cleansed” by the meditation and food.
“It was wonderful, very relaxing,” she said. “When I was much younger I had done some surfing, but since I’m in my 40s, it has been a while.”
The women received some surfing instruction Friday night in advance of a Saturday morning lesson. They watched a video and talked about what the surf would be like.
“I was definitely wanting to really learn how to do it,” Lauer said. “It was a little too scary just to do it by myself.”
Another Surf Sol Sister client, Debbie Munro, 43, is looking forward to putting her newfound surfing skills to use during a Hawaiian vacation.
A mother of two and friend of Steffens’, Munro has been on two retreats.
“The whole thing is a great treat to yourself,” she said. “It’s not only physical, it’s eye-opening and teaches you that it’s OK to take time for yourself.”
To learn more about Surf Sol Sister, including upcoming retreats, visit www.SurfSolSister.com.
