Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast
Dave “Nelly” Nelson is a globally published veteran surf and skate photographer with countless magazine covers and spreads to his name. After spending years as a senior photographer at TransWorld Surf Magazine, Dave now shoots freelance for domestic and international publications.
Major action sports brands such as Vans, O’Neill, Fox, and Reef commonly contract Dave to shoot on location for trips locally and abroad.
As one of the best action water photographers in the world, he is usually in the right place at the right time to produce “the goods”. Dave’s relationships and mutual respect with some of the most elite athletes in the world give him access to the best action at the best spots.
Dave’s dedication to the sports of surfing and skateboarding is matched by his values as a person. A true family man, Dave cares about is daughter and wife as much as he cares for his community of Santa Cruz. A consummate role model for young athletes coming out of his hometown, Dave has helped pave the way for some of the best young talent in Nor Cal.
Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast
Episode 3: Zoe Chait
This week, we had an unforgettable conversation with Zoe Chait, an incredible surfer (and a bit of a reluctant musician). Her journey takes us from the stunning waves of Half Moon Bay to the incredible atmosphere of Kelly Slater's Wave Pool. Through her storytelling, Zoe paints a vivid picture of the connections formed in the surfing world and the thrill of conquering Mavericks. Her experiences showcase the beauty of pursuing different passions and how they all blend in her adventurous life.
We delved into Zoe's background, from growing up with Broadway actor parents to her pivotal decision to focus on surfing over other sports. Mentorship plays a huge role in her story, with inspiring figures like Bianca Valente guiding the next generation of surfers. Zoe shared personal stories that capture the mix of fear and excitement when facing massive waves. This episode is a heartfelt tribute to the mentors who lead the way and the experiences that shape a surfer’s journey.
As we talked, we celebrated how surfing has evolved, from the cutting-edge technology of modern wetsuits to the rich history of legends like Barney Barron. We discussed the thrill of planning surf trips, the intricacies of competitions, and the sense of community at places like Norcal. Zoe’s thoughts on mindfulness, yoga (even the not-so-great parts), and journaling highlight the personal practices that fuel her success and happiness. Join us as we reflect on friendships, achievements, and the global connections that make surfing so much more than just a sport – it’s truly a way of life.
this is nelly's magic moves podcast what up everyone?
Speaker 3:nelly let's go, there's someone here I am so stoked to be sitting here across from my friend and ripping surfer from half moon bay, Zoe Chait.
Speaker 1:What's up everybody?
Speaker 3:Little.
Speaker 2:Expendables.
Speaker 3:So stoked.
Speaker 2:Nelly's bumper music. Nelly comes into the podcast game immediately with some of the best opening music in the game.
Speaker 3:That's right, expendables. Thank you so much, jeff and the boys All right, so just a little introduction. A few years ago I heard about this little fireball at Half Moon Bay who was just ripping and, as anybody in the surf world knows, there's not a ton of surfers in Half Moon Bay. So I quickly found out who it was and I got a hold of her dad and we went on a little mission, a little photo mission, and we scored the shot. We got the O'Neill stuff done. That we do and, um, we've been friends ever since and it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:It's a common theme. A guy goes on assignment, work, work, work, and out of it comes a friend.
Speaker 1:Oh, a hundred percent. I mean, I just came into it like oh, like, oh, nelly and I are going to get a few shots like. This is someone I've seen in the magazines like getting all these incredible photos. I'm so excited thought maybe it'd be like a one-time thing I know I'm from half moon bay and that's a little far but it turned into like this really cool person who I've now gone on the trip with and I've done a couple amazing shoots with them and I'm just looking forward to what we do in the future.
Speaker 2:Where was the trip?
Speaker 1:We went to Kelly Slater's Wave Pool, all right.
Speaker 3:That was an insane trip, but we'll get to that later.
Speaker 2:Oh, sorry, didn't mean to bump in on your notes there, no it's all good.
Speaker 3:So, this morning, though, we went on a little mission. We went down to what I call the land of milk and honey, which is where all the gold shots come from, and it's a drive from here. So how long did it take you to get from Half Moon Bay? What time did you have to leave this morning?
Speaker 1:I left around 5.30. I'm used to kind of the early morning drives. Everywhere I go to surf is kind of far, so it was fine. I'm used to it by now and I'm pretty good at driving highway one at this point. I do it every single day, so, um, yeah, I just whipped on down and hung out with the boys and we got a couple of good shots.
Speaker 3:Yeah she said that with a little smart because she was a little tardy this morning can you ever actually be late to the ocean?
Speaker 2:Is that a thing? Can you be late to the ocean?
Speaker 3:We were late because we hit traffic and not only, yeah, we were all kind of bogging. Actually, it wasn't her fault. There was a multiple pickups to be done, lots of Groms, a lot of uh, trying to arrange the surfboards in the car, all that stuff. Is it like your photo shoot? So is the land of milk and honey?
Speaker 2:is there all that stuff? Is it like your photo shoots, though? Is the land of milk and honey? Is there a geolocation, is that a spot? Or, as you sometimes do, you don't want anybody to know?
Speaker 3:We don't geotag nowhere. There's no names, there's no nothing, just code names. Anyone who's shot with me knows exactly what I'm talking about. The water was incredibly beautiful this morning, wasn't it? It was amazing, it was awesome.
Speaker 1:When we pulled up it was like some pretty epic barrels. We knew you were going to get some shots, so it was good to see.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Who else was there?
Speaker 3:We had Jackson Taylor oh right, you said that and Max St Denis.
Speaker 2:Okay. Was he stoked on the shot in the last mag?
Speaker 3:He was stoked. That's awesome. He was really stoked.
Speaker 2:It's funny. We talked about it last week a little bit. Here's the thing you kind of think about it as an up-and-coming little. You know the next generation of surf and Santa Cruz, but it's always the next gen. I don't think it's so much like that next gen, it's just now, right, it's just you're now, because it's almost disrespectful. Those couple of those servers are in like their late twenties, early thirties, because they're still in the game. It's not so much, you know. Uh, in surfing it's funny because you have this, you have, you have an extended career in the water. It's not like the NBA or or major league baseball where you have a five-year, six-year, 10-year career and you're out. Especially, sent.
Speaker 3:Uh, thanks to Kelly Slater. How so? Oh, he's 53 now and he's still going sponsors opening companies.
Speaker 2:I mean still surfing on the CT and and, and not just competing with the best in the world. That's the word competing. Competing with the best in the world, that's the word competing competing with the best.
Speaker 3:He's a career extender.
Speaker 2:We call him. What do you got now?
Speaker 3:um so zo yep um, one of my favorite trips, or actually our only trip at this point, was to the surf ranch with zoe and the coolest thing was he surprised me after you got out of the water. You got about five barrels, did a couple hell snaps, huge layback, we got some shots. But the thing that surprised me the most was you brought your guitar and we all sat around this campfire that night and I had john feldman from goldfinger there and he was playing music and singing all of his hits. You know he's got some massive worldwide hits and he was singing them and I was just like so stoked and you know, we're all sitting around the fire and all of a sudden he passes the guitar over to zoe and she just busts out this song she wrote and it just went pin drop silent and the thing was so insane zoe, it's the most beautiful song ever I was like wow, I didn't
Speaker 1:even know that wasn't in your profile no, I feel like it's just something I do for fun. But I was like dang, this guy's handing me a guitar. He's like an incredible person in the music industry. I'm like there's nothing to lose, like no one here cares if it's like terrible. So I just went and like sang and we had fun and it was really cool. I was glad everyone enjoyed it and it was kind of a cool moment to be a part of after like a really long day of surfing you know whose story started exactly like that.
Speaker 2:no, that was just singing for some friends. They all thought I was pretty good and it was just cool. Landon mcnamara told me in an interview the exact same story, in that exact same frame. He was just basically just hanging and around a campfire, just sang and they're like yo, that sounds pretty good. And then you don't know, what do you what? What's your in? Let's go backwards One. When did you start playing? Who taught you and how did that go down?
Speaker 1:Well, my brother is like an incredible musician, brody, so he is amazing at the guitar but he kind of gets shy to like sing, so sometimes I'd sing for him and my parents were both on Broadway. So we kind of have like musical kind of talents, I guess just from genetics, and we've always been kind of into it since we were very little. But I started playing the guitar after brody played for like a year and he showed me a couple songs and like I know like the basic chords. You know that you can play most songs with yeah, and so it's nice.
Speaker 1:I love like kind of rewinding and chilling and playing the guitar with um my family and singing, and yeah, it's something I enjoy doing outside of the water and then, clearly, you're a lyricist too.
Speaker 2:You write some lyrics.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've wrote a few songs. I kind of uh, that was like the first one. I feel like I've wrote the like I've shared with other people. But yeah, I've wrote a couple and I just enjoy it, I mean it's fun and it's like a cool way.
Speaker 3:No, no, the thing was straight amazing. Believe me.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to let her off the hook because there's two things that really resonate with me because, like I said, I am his co-pilot flunky what other? I am, nelly, but I do exist on the planet Earth. There's two things there. The first one is, you know, from connecting your lyrics to your emotion, unwinding all the things that you do, is it is just poetry when it's all said and done. It's essentially in your mind and it's an emotion. But from that one he's talking about for the audience, I'm not gonna ask you to sing by any means, but do you know like a couple of those lines from that song that you can just kind of say? Do you remember it in your head that you can just say like two lines from that so we can get a sense of, like, what the middle of the hook would be or the verse would be? Do you have it recorded?
Speaker 1:no, I actually don't. I've never recorded anything, but, um, yeah, I feel like it was. It was about like when I would go to surf comps when I was young and I would go by myself and so, or like, go anywhere, I I go. I was very independent, I loved going by myself, but sometimes I'd be like this is kind of a lot like right on yeah especially, I went to brazil for um isa world games and I got really sick and I was by myself.
Speaker 1:So I feel like that was kind of what the song came from, and it was like I feel like the opening line was the day I left, all I thought about was coming home and I was like that is exactly how I felt. The living situation was terrible. Everything was just like very like there was a lot going on, like it was my first big competition too, and I felt like that was kind of in my mind and I wrote the song and that's amazing and it's like, like Nellie said, you did downplay because that by itself is a standalone great line in it, but it also.
Speaker 2:We've all been there and some of us may be at sixth grade camp away from your parents for the first time, at Camp Hammer or whatever it may be. There's a million different stories where you might be blank thousands of miles, but it may as well be another planet, yeah, especially when you're sick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I know, it was like my first time being somewhere fully by myself and just like, oh shoot, I got to deal with this and I got to do it and I kind of struggled through the adversity and surfed really well. So I feel like it was still kind of in my mind after that. I was like, oh, I actually did go through something that was pretty rough, but I went through it pretty well and the song is kind of about the like harder part of it.
Speaker 2:I feel like and the other thing that did not sneak by me is your parents are both Broadway.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And how do two are?
Speaker 1:they from the west coast or east coast? Um well, my dad grew up in menlo park, so it's just over the hill from where I live yeah and then my mom grew up in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, so neither of them like the ocean at all that that was going to be my question yeah, no the question, the actual, of course, the.
Speaker 2:The question I was getting to is how do two broad theater actors, singers, slash whatever, create a ripping surfer?
Speaker 1:They have no idea. I have no clue. I just moved to Half Moon Bay and I was so into it. I played so many other sports. I did triathlon, I was very into swimming and soccer and every couple months that I lived in Halfman Bay one would kind of dwindle away. It just kind of turned into surfing all day, every day. I think swimming was the last one to leave because I had done it since I was like seven years old and my parents were kind of like I had been growing up a swimmer. I was, I was pretty good and wanted to kind of pursue that. And then they were like well, what do you want to do here? You got to kind of choose one at this point, just because, if I wanted to be a professional athlete since I was very little, I was like I need to like focus on one thing and I chose surfing. I'm like that's going to be more fun than swimming laps in a pool for the rest of my life so I'll say, yeah, it's similar to what happened to me.
Speaker 3:Actually, I was super into sports when I was a kid, and surfing and skateboarding came along and all of a sudden I started showing up to baseball practice in vans and uh, the writing was on the wall. Um well, uh let's talk nel. Dog was a little baseball player oh yeah, I was big little nelly that's all I was into little nelly hitting dingers the biggest baseball card collection ever.
Speaker 2:Really. Oh yeah, you still love baseball to this day.
Speaker 3:I do still love baseball Baseball's the best. But you know, like she said, you have to choose. You know what I mean. And you can't do surfing, skateboarding and baseball. It just doesn't work. I'm not after school.
Speaker 2:There's not enough time, right, it becomes the extracurricular Exactly Because that's it.
Speaker 3:You're right. The sun goes down. We all wish that there was more hours in the day. You know us frothers, we like to do so many things. There's not enough. It just gets dark at one point.
Speaker 2:I went to what does not exist anymore, but it was amazing for two different reasons. I went to a school called Morello Prep High School. It was now Gateway, right by the lane, the two-story building right behind the Oblates.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But that was a high school. For like 30 years I went there, and when I was there for a 10-year period, it was open campus for juniors and seniors, meaning that juniors and seniors could leave campus, and so you'd go to school there your freshman year, sophomore year, then your junior year, sophomore year, then your junior you show up and there'd be a ton of new kids and it was all the surfers because they would surf at lunch, got it.
Speaker 2:So they would get a free period, like fifth, and they would leave campus, juniors and seniors surf for two hours, then come back for sixth and seventh period. But it was, um, you didn't have to choose. Those same some of the some of the best surfers of that time, like in our little area, also played football, also played baseball, because they could surf during school. Yeah, and then the school closed down.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I remember our uh remember our interview with Jackson Taylor. He played football for a year, oh, yeah. And then he got sponsored by Volcom and things were starting to get hot and heavy and surfing and it was like, okay, this is going to be like you know you get, you blow out your MCL and football and there goes your surf career.
Speaker 2:There's no doubt about it. No doubt about it.
Speaker 3:Zoe, let's talk. Uh well, zoe's already getting famous for being one of the female charging surfers at Mavericks. Um, I know that one of your inspirations is Bianca big wave, bianca Valente. Is she a surf partner, a mentor, a coach, all of the above? What would you? I mean she's an awesome human. I saw her last year in Hawaii. Is she invited to the Eddie or is she an alternate?
Speaker 1:Yeah, she got an invite to the Eddie just a couple days ago, so congrats for that Love Bianca.
Speaker 1:Amazing and yeah, she's a good to the Eddie just a couple of days ago. So congrats for that Amazing and yeah, it's just a good person to look up to. She's done all the right steps to get to where she is and worked extremely hard and it's kind of nice because I get to some of the roadblocks that she went through as the only woman in the San Francisco Halfon Bay area went through and kind of like will tell me some of the stuff, like like even just stuff with the jet ski. She's like oh, I had to figure all this stuff out by myself and I'm like this is incredible. I have someone who's kind of like speeding up the process for me and helping me out in the lineup and everything. I mean she taught me how to get out at mavericks and paddle out with me for the first time and really took me under her wing, so I appreciate it so much how is that paddle out?
Speaker 1:It's heavy, I get, I get shade all the time because Bianca has a ski and I don't paddle out with the boys. But I'm like, if I get a ride I'm going to go, but I have paddled out um on the right and the left and um, you can either like paddle out through this tiny little like crevice on the left and just hope you don't get smoked by a set right back into the reef and that one's not as long.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not as long, but it's a little bit dangerous. And then the right it's like a real long paddle. You go around mushroom rock and um, take the long way. And the one time I did do it I was stoked, like it kind of gets you in like the mindset like oh, this is going to be a heavy, this is an intense like thing. I'm about to go do Um, but yeah, it's certainly long. You take big waves on the head with a big board. You can't duck dive and yeah, it's, it's interesting. I'll say wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how did you um? Jackson talked about it like a healthy amount of fear, um, especially on the the outset of a lot of the something that's brand new, like that. So you have your experience, um, I'm assuming you kind of build up, hook lane, the normal progression. Then all of a sudden you're there um a lot of times in this podcast. What we like to do is kind of carve out a little bit of of a ted talk kind of like how did you overcome fear?
Speaker 1:yeah, I was pretty fearful when I started surfing, like my brother would be the one who would go out and sit at our little wave the jetty and get the good sets out there with, like Luca Padua and I'd be on the inside catching nothing and be so scared. And now now it's kind of just like one day, a switch kind of turned on. In my mind I think it was really a big part due to junior guards. In my mind I think it was really a big part due to junior guards. I would go out there and they would like the lifeguards, like yell at me and be like you're like an incredible swimmer, like just go do it, like go swim out to the buoy, go do the rip ride at Montero, like everything.
Speaker 1:And one day, one year, I just was just like okay, I'm going to do all of it and I'm just going to go full, full on as hard as I can. And then my surfing kind of also started to be like oh, I enjoy the big stuff, I want to be different and I want to. I I started feeling that adrenaline and I'm like, wow, I can't not feel this now. This is incredible. And yeah, the fear, I definitely felt it this year, a little more than the first year I surfed Mavericks, I think. Um, I had a pretty gnarly fall that really showed me like this is real At Mavericks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at Mavericks. Can you describe it a little bit, because it's not visual so we don't have it? Can you kind of describe what a gnarly fall at Mavericks feels like or went down like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean mine was after maybe two or three hours of surfing already I caught like the most waves I've ever caught at Mavericks. I was having the best time and I think I got a little bit like I can do this, like I'm ready for anything that comes to me right now. And actually Zeeland Hunter told me to turn and go on a wave and I'm like all right, like let's go. He called me into it, let's do it, and I paddle, I'm like right in the bowl, I pop up and I'm like there's no way I'm making it down the face on this wave. It's so cupped out and I jump and I'm like it's fine, I'm just gonna pencil and gonna go right back up to the surface and if not, I'll pull the vest, whatever.
Speaker 1:And I get pushed so far down and I'm like, oh shoot, I should have been pulling that vest as I'm falling. And so I pull my vest and it's it's dragging me backwards like my leg is like up and I'm trying to like climb up my leash. It's inflating but it's not doing it fast enough and I'm like I'm gonna get another one on the head right now and I finally pop up and the weight next wave is literally right there. I take a breath and it kind of washes me down and then I'm fine. But it kind of definitely knocks some sense into me, like you love adrenaline, so you need to be careful and you need to train harder.
Speaker 2:That's, I mean, that's legendary advice right there. How old are you?
Speaker 3:I'm 18. That's rattling Just hearing it. Just you know, I've never served Mavericks. I've been out there a lot but I just can't even imagine that kind of pounding. You know what I mean. I've had, I've been pounded heavily in my life, you know, but never Mavericks pounding.
Speaker 2:But the note in there from a kind of like I always say this for a million different reasons moving away that I was like the local little kid here skateboarding in you know Soquel and surfing the mid, kind of like I was never like a huge hard charger. But the thing you said in Nellie's world that we've talked about quite a bit getting to know him and it's like anything else in the world that there's fundamentals of the job that you do and the way you kind of connected being a great swimmer to kind of unlocking the ability to charge, I don't think that's talked about enough. Like that's a lot of hard work to become a good enough swimmer to swimmer, to go to pipeline to to charge at Mavericks. It's it. People, I think their first thought would be it's like all about balance and it's all about staying on the board. Of course you know understanding the wave and understanding angles, all of that matters, but there's an underlying fundamental there's you better be a great swimmer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what it all comes down to. You know, it's like even for all, all the best surfers in the world are basically fish. You know, I mean, they're in the water 10 hours a day. You know, it's like I'm sure zoe was for her whole time in high school and junior high. You know, the more time in the water, the more you're a fish, yeah, or the more comfortable you are getting pounded holding your breath. All of the above.
Speaker 2:Not panicking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then you're also the more time you spend in the water, the better you get at judging sets and waves and where they're going to break, and the different you know what I mean, the different contours, and you know. You see the best guys like Kelly Slater. They know exactly what the wave is going to do, way before anyone else, because they've just spent their whole life in the water. You know what I mean and they just have this freakish nature of like judging the ocean and seeing what it's going to do. Zeeland Hunter would be a great example.
Speaker 1:Incredible. Yeah, he's just a great waterman and I mean that's what I'm fortunate enough to have is. I go to work most of the days as a state lifeguard and all the people who work with me are incredible watermen and if the waves aren't good, we'll go out and swim at huge Montero. Like we do not care how big it is, like we're going to go all the way out and swim and people sometimes call rescues in on us because Fins or no fins we? Go fins Smart yeah.
Speaker 3:We go fins Smart yeah.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that. Yeah, nellie was getting nervous. Yeah, we like the fins, we like some safety, but yeah, we go pretty big and it's just helped me so much feel a little bit more comfortable in the water and just being an all-around waterman. I really strive to be like John John Florence, who I think is the ultimate waterman, and I want to be like that and show people that women can be in big waves and also in small waves and pretty much do it all like he does.
Speaker 3:Yeah, john John's, another guy who spent more than half of his life in the water, literally. Oh yeah, I went on a trip with him once in Bali and he had already surfed three times. We were sitting in the war on B binging and he wanted to surf again and his mom said no, and he started crying and it was like the funniest thing, because that's all I mean. He was just. Yeah, he was literally purple, he was so sunburned, you know, I mean, his lips were all swollen and, like you know, his mom just said no, you've had enough. You know, I mean, and it was just. That's why john john's, like you, you said he's just that, yeah, he's that comfortable in the water.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Tell me about Eon Banner. He's training you. Are you working with him?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm working with Eon like once a week. He's an incredible like another waterman who has been serving Mavericks for over 20 years and we kind of just linked up last year and he wanted to tow me into a few waves and I was like, oh, maybe next year. Like I want to like really get good at driving a jet ski and just being all around an asset to the water at Mavericks, not having to be like a right reliability for everyone just to have to come and save me. I want to be able to drive everything. I want to be able to tow other people in, um.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I've been training with him. He's been helping me a lot with like pickups and safety stuff and he's been towing me around too, so I get really fast at getting on the rope for toe surfing at Mavericks and it's been amazing Like he's dedicating his time to me and I feel like that kind of gives me a little bit of confidence that someone like that thinks I'm ready to like do the stuff we're working on. And yeah, it's, it's been awesome. We're going to train every week until the swell starts and then we're going to go out and tow and get massive waves.
Speaker 3:Right on. Thanks for correcting me too. Sorry I on. I remember him back in the day. He was like charging the serious widow's peak at Mavericks, like the craziest waves, like he would just send it.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:And I'm sure he still does.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, yeah, he's gnarly.
Speaker 3:So what about this trip? I'm hearing little whispers of a trip to Puerto Escondido.
Speaker 1:Oh, I want to. I might try and pull the trigger next week and go to Puerto Escondido for a big swell. It's a big kind of investment, but I kind of want to go there and I want to feel the power, especially before our season kind of starts, and I won't be missing anything at home. It looks like at this point and, yeah, it'll be a good, good start to the year. I might go with Bianca to Puerto, greg Long might come too, and it would just be an awesome trip to be surrounded by those people for my first time there.
Speaker 3:Wow, that sounds insane. I heard rumors of uh 5.2 feet at 17 seconds. Is that right?
Speaker 1:that's what I see. Yeah, like uh, the sunday I think it's the 13th looks big and um, I'm excited. I'm kind of scared all right translate that five point.
Speaker 3:That's. So if you ask peter mall or skin Dog or any of the guys who've been doing Porto for forever, Coco Nogales, 5.2 feet at 17 seconds equals really big.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's an equation, it's the intervals of the swell. I'm tracking you.
Speaker 3:It's a big swell. It's a big ground swell. Is is a big swell, it's a big ground swell and, um, to put it in perspective, I once went to pasquale's and it was one feet at 16 seconds okay it was eight to ten feet.
Speaker 3:Oh wow, 5.2 feet at 17 seconds is gonna be like big board stuff. You know, I mean, like you, you're not gonna be surfing a seven hour and then you're gonna need like a eight, six or something bigger to you know, have more paddling power. You're going to have to sit way out the back and really be picky about which one, which one, you paddle for, cause you don't want to paddle for one and miss it and turn around to a 30 footer on your head.
Speaker 2:No doubt, Zoe, do you. When you go into a new environment at this higher level, Do you have like a protocol as far as like, is it just local knowledge? Is it you getting a feel for the water? Is there like a little checklist? You do?
Speaker 1:or you just jump in and feel it out. Yeah, I definitely just make sure I kind of do all the steps I would be doing at home, like like a big thing for me is like remembering to warm up, like get my body ready for what's going to happen. And sometimes I've forgotten that and had terrible sessions at mavericks and stuff, just because I get too excited.
Speaker 2:Um, and yeah, just like the checklist of all your stuff, like you want to be prepared, um, shoot, yeah you do like a steph curry kind of activate your muscles, kind of thing is like what's your, what's your pre-game ritual, like as far as getting warmed up, what's a proper warm-up for you?
Speaker 1:yeah, I have like an active warm-up. It's literally like I mean, it just kind of gets like everything in my body like firing and warm and kind of it has like has a bit of stretching in it too, and I've used it for almost four years now, like with tiny little tweaks, and once I started doing that, I felt so much better on my first wave and that's kind of a big thing, especially in big waves Like you don't want to feel bad, like your next, like your first wave is a warm-up, especially when the waves are huge. So I'll do that and I'll just like kind of go based on feeling, like if I'm not feeling it I'm not going to go out, and sometimes it sucks, but sometimes I got that like deep feeling that I'm like this is not it for me right now. Yeah, so I won't go what's your psych up music?
Speaker 2:oh, I guess we should hear those. Was it time?
Speaker 3:Yeah it might be time.
Speaker 1:Super Country. No, oh, no, yeah, I go Super Country, nellie, we've got to come up.
Speaker 2:Well, Zoe's plugging in right now. It's the second episode we're doing this. We'll come up with a branding name for this little segment.
Speaker 3:Tori Meister will be pumped.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's all the boys like Luca and Allah, like all their epic, huge big wave edits, are to country.
Speaker 2:I feel like there was a movie that was Zoe's playlist. Have you ever heard of that? Oh a movie.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Hold on, Do you? Are you all queued up and ready to go?
Speaker 3:You must not like the soundtrack in my car.
Speaker 2:It was a movie.
Speaker 1:Oh, Zoe's Extraordinary.
Speaker 2:Playlist, so this will just that'll be the name of our segment. It could have been Jackson's Extraordinary Playlist. This will be literally Zoe's we can get hey, Zoe, we can get hats and t-shirts for this, because it's already been done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's great Perfect.
Speaker 2:Alright, so no, you just play it and what's it saying? No, it shouldn't be anything. It should be. Oh no, I think this will be. Let's see if we can hear it. Are you playing it?
Speaker 1:Just hit play. Do I just press other, yeah, other device. Try that. All right, this is my song number one.
Speaker 2:Let me see if it's playing it should be playing here we go, here we go.
Speaker 1:Who are we listening to? We're listening to Charles.
Speaker 2:Wesley Godwin. I have my doubts right now. Nellie, oh wait, Country Girl from Half Moon Bay.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we're super country?
Speaker 2:Is it really? Yeah, I guess I don't know that. Do you know that?
Speaker 3:I do know that yeah.
Speaker 2:I need to get up to Half Moon Bay more. All right. There's probably a certain amount of seconds before we get sued. Song number two Zoe. All right.
Speaker 1:Zoe's number two zoe. Zoe's extraordinary playlist this one's not country. I get kind of psyched. I like paramore and like some more, like grunge stuff too, like some of the boys, like the lifeguard boys, are stoked on it now we're getting some warp to our bands. Yeah, we listen to uh music all day long, so I get a whole variety awesome, it's a great song right here. Yeah, I like this song. It's on brian's playlist.
Speaker 2:Do you listen to paramore? A little bit, nelly, or no, nope, nope. Cali Roots Radio.
Speaker 3:Cali Roots Radio for me, nelly's, all he has like the chill vibe going on in his car.
Speaker 2:I like it. I like Paul music. Yeah, that's good, so I'm stoked.
Speaker 3:I know you do All right.
Speaker 2:You got one more to you say it's Cedar, it's a sick song. Here we go. We'll give this a little play Now. So I guess my question is we're listening to this? You answered the question is athletes are different. You're either ramping up to an event or you're lowering your heart rate, kind of like getting the long haul. Are you kind of like I'm going to get over psyched for what I'm doing, or do you try to balance, like where do you try to find yourself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why my songs are chill, because I'm way too excited.
Speaker 3:I like this song right here. This song is sick yeah this song is sick.
Speaker 1:Shout out to my friend D-Don. This is a D-Don special. He's a Mavericks charger.
Speaker 2:This kind of. So we better turn that off, or I don't know.
Speaker 1:Now he's gonna hit me no, he's gonna go, not at all nelly.
Speaker 2:I like our extraordinary playlist segment I do it's good I gotta do nelly's extraordinary
Speaker 3:play, or I'll just be the same. Mine will be all dancehall that's right, but uh, yeah. So we were rocking out this morning. What did we listen? Listen to A little Metallica.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had a little bit of rock going and then like some reggae, I feel like yeah, we had some dancehall. Yeah, some. Burna Boy from Africa, burna Boy. Yeah, that was cool. I like everything.
Speaker 2:Hey, we're going to do a little quick halftime. I almost forgot, but we decided, because we're such caring people here at Nelly's Magic Moments podcast, that the characters that are going to come in have a lot of sponsors, and so we're doing a little timeout, halftime and Zoe's going to talk about a few of her sponsors and then we'll finish it up at the end with the remaining four or five. Good call, good call.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm super grateful for all my sponsors. I'm sponsored by O'Neill they give me clothing and amazing wetsuits Best wetsuits ever Sharp Eye Surfboards they make all of my boards and have been supporting me for years and a local company, Old Princeton Landing. They give me free food and help me with some contest expenses and stuff like that. So shout out to Brian and Old Princeton Landing. And then Creatures of Leisure Awesome traction pads and everything you might need to put on a surfboard.
Speaker 2:Right on. What wetsuit are you wearing right now? What's the now and in wetsuit?
Speaker 1:My favorite wetsuit right now is my four three hyper freak fire. It's the best suit I think I've ever put on it. It gets on so fast and then it's so warm and it's like also flexible, which is.
Speaker 2:I was gonna say movement incredible yeah, the movement's amazing.
Speaker 1:I even wear sometimes my three, two and half in bay because it's so warm and that's kind of a rarity, I feel like, so it's really nice we're doing a long form editorial in the winter issue of vibes on that wetsuit technology at O'Neill.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's part of that. We're doing a at O'Neill yeah, yeah, it's part of that. We're doing a huge O'Neill retrospective in the winter issue and one segment of it they're working on is the the, not just the current tech, but all the way back to 1953 in the first um uh sweater, yeah, all the way back.
Speaker 2:Well, the funny thing about it is, like you know, cause, even getting into some of the newer wetsuits now, as opposed to what we wore in high school, it feels more like a superhero outfit now. The big difference is you used to just be in this sort of a monster suit. It felt like they were amazing because it was what was most current then. But as compared to the technology now and even be able to you know the accessibility, how you get them on and the way you feel inside, you feel a little bit more like a superhero.
Speaker 3:It's pretty crazy, you know, growing up surfing started surfing when I was probably 13, 12, um, the difference between then and now and all the different eras in between you know. Like a lot of the suits, they give you really gnarly rashes and you have these huge gouges and craters on your neck and under your armpits. Yeah, not anymore, you know I mean now they have the, the rubber that's just like so buttery and it goes on so easy, like you're saying, and that's great yeah yeah, I want a barney suit, though I want them to bring back the colors how sick would that be?
Speaker 3:so sick speaking of which we have a barney baron movie coming out. Um, oh yeah, you're over 24th coming out on. October 24th Barney Barron movie at the Rio.
Speaker 1:Josh Palmer filmed it.
Speaker 3:You have to come.
Speaker 1:All right, okay, I'm coming, I'll be there.
Speaker 2:What's the angle? Is it a full documentary? Is it a specific?
Speaker 3:moment.
Speaker 2:Josh Palmer grew up with.
Speaker 3:Barney. They went to Santa Cruz High together. It was Josh Skin, dog, rat Boy Flea and Barney. He filmed everything. He was kind of that's amazing start upstart photographer who didn't you know like he you know he was just beginning and he would film all the behind the scenes stuff barney walking down the quad stairs on his hands and just all kinds of barney isms which there's a million of them Like he was just a special human. He did stuff differently than all of us and he filmed it all. And so there's going to be all this stuff that it's unseen footage of Barney Barron and I'm super excited about that.
Speaker 2:That's the amazing thing about the culture, in a way, the more I'm kind of getting known, nellie, and even through Garen and stuff, is that during a time where I'm talking like way back, like you know, before these phones, um, that culture held in high regard photography and video, and when other times it just wasn't being done that way, it was more, you know, and I think like when you have something like that, there's historical figures like Barney that might've coming through and you'd be like, oh, I wish we had more vote, videos and photos of them. But even in my little cursory view of them, there's a ton on that dude.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because Barney of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, honestly, that the entire culture is just, it's recorded. The surfing and skate culture is a recorded history in an in a higher level than any other comparable histories.
Speaker 3:At that point, but you know why there's so much of Barney? It's because he made you feel good to be around him. You know what I mean. And he was not the egotistical pro surfer and he was always curious what you're into. Anyways, all the filmers loved to film with Barney because it wasn't just like. You know. You don't just go to the laneers, love to film with barney, because it wasn't. It wasn't just like. You know. You don't just go to the lane and film his session and then you bail. What you get in the parking lot's going to be easily as good, if not better he kind of met you in the middle a little bit he yeah, he met you in the middle and he was just hilarious and he just had all kinds of you know.
Speaker 3:Just hanging out on the rail at the lane with him was just it would have been a good comedy act would have been a good podcast guest yeah, he would have been the best when?
Speaker 2:what year did he die around?
Speaker 3:probably eight years ago.
Speaker 1:Maybe now do you feel his influence yeah, I mean may 5th, that's my birthday and that's uh well yeah think of the barney yeah, think of the barney, so we're pretty much connected yeah, wrong person to ask the question.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:No it's, it's, yeah, it's pretty cool. I mean, I, all those guys I think it's cool. At Santa Cruz they did have a lot of like representation and videos of stuff from back in the day, cause there's so many amazing filmers here who kind of like help the tradition of surfing, like start, which is pretty cool, and I always go back and watch like old videos and of barney and flea and I love rat boy and everything like that. It's just epic.
Speaker 3:I love it yeah, we had no shortage of of amazing pro surfers come out of here, starting with the, you know, vince collier, richard schmidt era and all the way up to now, you know, announced, we've got like these upstart groms that are just like mind-blowing. Um, I was. Where was I? Was I going with that? There was something I was going to say I can jump in.
Speaker 2:Cause I got like one that I know Nellie either has on his list and it's coming up or I've been enjoying for the first couple episodes is you've mentioned a couple, but outside of um the one or two you've mentioned, as you're growing up and you're in half moon Bay, you're starting in the water and then you get deeper into the culture, do you have like four or five, like, like, um sort of influences, like, like, like, whether it be style, whether it be whatever it is like that really jump out at you names.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, uh, locally, I'd say probably Luca. Uh, luca Padua and Hunter Hunter Morrison are my big local Mavericks Charger, like people I really look up to, just because of how hard they work and what awesome humans they are, and then for just shortboarding and all around surfing. I've always absolutely loved Carissa Moore. I went to like this camp with her when I was young and ever since then I'm like this is the coolest human I think ever, and so I love her style and I love the way she carries herself, and Brisa Hennessy kind of the same. And so I love her style and I love the way she carries herself and Brisa Hennessy kind of the same thing. I love that. She's a power surfer, a woman Um, she's just incredible. And then, obviously, john John Florence is like my the guy. He's so cool.
Speaker 3:These characters there? Yeah, Um, there's a guy named Ragnar Johnson from uh you're.
Speaker 1:Ragnar's pretty legit too.
Speaker 2:And then at 18, has it it's. It might be a little. I don't think so. Are you? Have you taken anybody into your wing? You're getting to a point now. You're in the water. You've got these accomplishments, are you? Are you starting to kind of like take anybody into your wing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's something I really started thinking about. My friend, matt collins, who was another one, who is another one of my mentors. He um is struggling with brain cancer right now and so we have a lot of like deep talks at this point and, um, he told me he's like one of the most incredible things I've ever done is mentor people, especially like like me. Like he talked about how him mentoring me was a huge, incredible thing in his life. And there's this one girl, phoenix, who I'm trying to get into big wave surfing and she's a lifeguard as well, and I want to start mentoring especially girls from Halfman Bay and get them to want to surf, because we have no real girls coming up who want to surf big waves at this point.
Speaker 1:And I really do want to help and show that I like a lot of at this point I feel like life experience and travel experience that I can be like people from here can do this and even though it is challenging, like it's far travel for everything, um, like we can do it. We have like the waves, we have um people who are here like your town will get behind you and support you, and I like really do want to show those girls that. And yeah, phoenix is probably the first one. She's a couple of years younger than me, probably a 16. And I think she has incredible potential and I want, I want to help and then hopefully it changes from a mentorship to like a partnership, kind of like me and.
Speaker 3:Bianca at this point. Yeah, that's a beautiful thing, it really is. That's a website right there for you. Gotta get on it.
Speaker 2:It's like those little icebreaker question games you do with friends and stuff. Inevitably one of the questions is going to be would you rather give or receive, like a gift? When you really think about it, your instinct's one, but really it is incredible to give somebody something it's not even close. When it's all said and done, it's not even. It's weird because your first and maybe it changes as you're a kid maybe maybe that question from like zero to ten years old is give me that give me the yeah, give me the present man somewhere, somewhere in that thing.
Speaker 2:It's like you touched on something. It doesn't take much to start like looking at life a little different way, and all it takes is for somebody that you see this endless road of all this opportunity.
Speaker 1:Dude gets brain cancer or cancer and you're like whoa yeah, it definitely like like did something for me. I'm like I kind of want to like actually live like every day, like really, like it sounds like cliche, but like seriously and like it's the last one, and just go for it. Like I have this incredible opportunity, like why wouldn't I like do this for myself and then do this for Matt and all these people who do believe in me? And, um, that guy's like a big wave charger who did nothing wrong in his life to get brain cancer and he's got it. So I mean, it's just like why don't I just do what I can to like help people?
Speaker 1:And I feel like at first I was kind of, yeah, like me, me, me, like I want to get the best clip of the day, like I wouldn't be stoked if my friends would get clips when I was young, totally, which is kind of really sad to say, but it's true. And now I'm like, like it's even today, like I'm like, oh, like Jackson probably just got a sick shot with Nelly.
Speaker 3:Like there's or anything. I'm just stoked for him, like, and that's definitely a change just in my behavior that I'm kind of stoked on and want to keep working on I love that awesome. Yep, that's awesome. I remember I was doing an interview one time and this guy asked me a question. It kind of changed my life forever actually. And he asked me what are you most proud of that you've done?
Speaker 3:And it like froze me, because we all move so fast in our life and that we never slow down enough to to realize that we're just kind of going through the motions. Anyway, it froze me and I could only come up with one thing that I was proud of, and it was like I I sponsored this little girl in Ethiopia and I helped put her through school when it wasn't much money, you know what I mean it was a little bit just to get her clothing and pencils and school stuff. You know what I mean. But that's all I could come up with out of all the stuff I've done, out of all the stuff that I've done in my whole life. I'm 57 years old and that's the I can't. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:And that's not to say that I haven't done other cool stuff or rad stuff, or helped other people. You know what I mean, but at that time that question changed me forever. You know what I mean. And so now I slow down enough to think about, like, what I'm doing with my day, what I'm doing with my week, what I'm doing with my month and my year, and try to make sure that you're not spazzing out and just going through life so fast that you're not really doing anything to help anyone other than yourself. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:There's no doubt and I think you I don't think it's, I think I can't think of the words you said where you feel like it's kind of um, uh, you say something and I think we do kind of blow by that thought, like it sounds like something everybody says. But I do think it's, um, I think it's more of a minute-to-minute daily practice. You don't want to overthink it because then you're in the same problem as not thinking about it, right, you're sort of in that thing. But I think conversations like this or whatever practice, you have to kind of like try to find that balance or find your balance to.
Speaker 2:I think mostly what we're talking about is that word in fleeting it's perspective. It's perspective on what a day is, what a life is, all of that stuff and somebody's dying and all of a sudden it's not happening to you, but you think about your existence and your appreciation for it. So I don't know, I think it's one where it was actually editorial that I wrote in there at the beginning of this issue is I met a. It was really good.
Speaker 3:by the way, I have to jump in and tell you that that foreword was really good.
Speaker 2:Well then, it gives to this conversation, though the reason I'm saying is because, at the start, zoe and I basically say I meditate every day. I say two truths can exist at one time I meditate every day, and the alternate truth is I'm terrible at meditating. I can't figure it out. I do, I do to a certain extent, but the but you know what I mean. It's a, it's a practice.
Speaker 1:I get that, I don't get it yet.
Speaker 2:And then I started thinking about meditating while meditating. Yeah, then that's the end of that meditation and I start again. And then I'm like, well, I went 17 seconds and I'm like, well said, really kind of resounded with me is, I think, at 18, if you're already on a path of sort of looking around thinking like things are pretty good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and.
Speaker 2:I can just be kind to other people and sort of appreciate you know, you know, appreciate the small things, and then kind of wipe that clean and then starting in the next day, that kind of that resonated. I liked it yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, again the next day, that kind of that resonated.
Speaker 3:I liked it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So who are some other surfers that I? I know when I think about it? Obviously there's not a ton of ripping girl surfers in half moon bay, right? No? So I know that by going on missions with you, everybody knows you, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean when you're talking about the jackson taylor, max saint, dennis, adam bartlett, like who are some of the other favorite people to hang out with personalities and surfers and why, you know, I mean like yeah, yeah, so I travel um on the qs with like kind of a group because I train with matt myers and he kind of brings like a bit of a family vibe to our like trips, which is cool. Um, and I'm really good friends with the two Olin sisters. They're from Canada, sonoma and Matea. The Sonoma competed in the Olympics, which was really cool and, um, they like really match my vibe. I feel like there are people who really make me want to be better, which is cool. Like they eat so healthy, like they do all the stuff outside of the water that I am trying to work on. So that's helped me a lot. And I love hanging out with Matt.
Speaker 1:We go on trips. We've gone on trips together just like the two of us with like a couple other friends, like we're just buddies, and John Mel like we've gone together out at Mavericks and he's always like kind of helped me out out there and on the QS I've gone on a bunch of trips with him and I also hang out with Nolan Raposa a little bit on trips and he's like I went to Barbados with him this last QS season and just some of the stuff we had some. It was a tough contest for our little group. A lot of people didn't make the Challenges series. He kind of gave us a couple of really cool pep talks and words. It's just an epic group to be around. I'm excited for what's coming up with them. Yeah, I really look up to all those people.
Speaker 3:How good is Nolan. He is.
Speaker 1:Oh, Nolan's amazing.
Speaker 3:He's such an amazing surfer yeah, I'm baffled that he's not on tour yet. I love his surfing. He's so speedy and fast. He reminds me of a little mini parker coffin or something oh, he's insane um, matt myers it's crazy to hear, like to know, that he's a coach now and like I remember when he was the smallest grom, that of all the groms, that shot yeah, he was. He was the smallest. He was probably like I don't even know when he started shooting with me.
Speaker 3:It was like 10 or 12 years old and, uh, you know to watch his whole career go through, shoot with him so much and now and then now see him be one of the world's best coaches.
Speaker 2:you know, there's no doubt it's the coolest thing I didn't know him, I got to know him. We did a long article like three or four issues of back on on.
Speaker 1:I remember that it was in vibes it was.
Speaker 2:It was just. I think it was really kind of.
Speaker 1:I think he's got a legit program way connect more than any other coach there's. That's what I mean. Yeah that's.
Speaker 2:It's like a again in a weird way, not to bring up the basketball game but it's like a steve kerr kind of thing where you can coach x's and o's, you can get them on the spot, but if you can somehow connect to your team, you know, in a different way you can get results.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, he connects to us like he always tells us like even if it's something that's not surfing related, like you can talk to me about it. Um, and yeah, I mean we have like I also just I just love the vibe he brings to the comps, like he's kind of gotten to know me now, like he knows, I don't want to be too amped up like for my heat.
Speaker 1:I need to be chill and, like other people, have different stuff. Like he works with this kid, rex hennings, who's kind of just getting into the qs and he needs to be like super stoked, super super amped, but still like level headed. So I think it's cool also getting to see how everyone else needs to be ready and he's very much like oh, show up for each other's heats, like be a team. Totally, I love that yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3:So let's hear, barbados is coming up or Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:You're going to have to say hi to all my boys out there.
Speaker 1:Oh, I want to.
Speaker 3:We might as well say hi to them now. What's up, alejandro and Dylan Graves? Brian Toth, otto Flores?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're going to hear it, they're going to see you. That's the weird thing about this.
Speaker 3:I was already going through.
Speaker 2:This is trippy N nelly a little humble brag for nelly um, because we've been doing this podcast management with vibes last year and it's it's, whatever we do, our thing. This one dropped and the downloads are fantastic. But the more amazing thing was that it um because apple analytics kind of shows you not only like the downloads but the continents, and this one within like 24 hours, that first one hit like all seven continents wow, yeah, and it wasn't like that would have been early.
Speaker 2:It was only like it was weird because it was trippy, because we posted it and then, with like an hour and a half, I'm like let's look at that map. I'm like ding ding, australia, ding, ding. And it was just really weird because it wasn't like crazy numbers. At the beginning it was you're talking before we get to like the four or five hundred downloads or whatever it is. Now it was like 17, 24, 30, but right around 80 downloads. I'm like let's hit the whole planet. Wow, it's a testament to your guys's again your culture again.
Speaker 2:Like you can't just basically, um, like you know, if you for some reason wanted to be an engineer and you want to make a phone, you'd stay in one zip code and probably have your career there. But the career you're choosing, you're going to go these places and you're going to see the world. He's, he's seen the world. You're going to see that world. I think it's just a really unique aspect of not only this podcast, but like where it's going to take you.
Speaker 1:I mean the second. I told Nelly I was going to Puerto Rico. He's like oh, like you, do you? Are you good there? Like do you need like some connections? I'm like that would be so cool, like it's incredible to have people who look out for you and, um, then you'll have like friends around the world, which is something that I think is insane and I want to like kind of have more of 100 yeah it's just uh.
Speaker 3:Puerto rico is one of my favorite places, and mainly because of the people are so cool yeah, sweet um palooka, one of my friends, palooka. He comes up and stays with me all the time and we go to surf ranch together and he lights his boards up with with lights and we do night shots and I've seen some of those shots, right he's just the man.
Speaker 3:When I flew into yeah, yeah I uh flew into puerto rico with my family. He was there at the airport like that minute was that just last year, a year and a half ago.
Speaker 3:It was during covid during covid you're right, years ago, yeah but you know, he took us straight from the airport we were all tired, we had been flying for like 13 hours or whatever 14 hours and took us straight to this guy's house on the bay and it was like in this house that was overlooking the bay and the guy gave us some some Puerto Rican dinner with plantains and all this amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like just that, that kind of Aloha Ohana feeling like Hawaii gives you. They have there in Puerto Rico for sure, and they're just the ambassadors of, of the positive vibe warriors, I guess you call them.
Speaker 1:I love it, I'm excited. I'm excited to kind of see the culture and go somewhere I haven't been before. A lot of the QSs like once you do them a few times you're like, oh, like we're not going anywhere new. But this is a new event and it's a big one and I'm excited. It's also left and I've been working like super hard on getting better at going left because I'm from the land of rights and so it's been I'm like excited just to show what I can do and have a contest with some real waves.
Speaker 3:so it'll be fun so you've got the east coast qs leg coming up after puerto rico, correct?
Speaker 1:yeah, I have the supergirl in jacksonville, so we have like two important events like right in line with each other and so florida yep and jacksonville.
Speaker 3:I've never been to florida. Believe that or not? Um oh, the state never been to florida you're not really missing out too much, I'm not gonna lie I I totally agree was? Was it hit by the hurricane that just happened? Yes, yeah, it was yeah it would have been a little bit. So do you know anything about that, or is it?
Speaker 2:no, I think it whipped. It was on the. It was on the east side of the eye, so they would have gotten more of like just kind of the whip they like rain and they got rain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're not like caroline and devastation like the ask?
Speaker 2:no, no oh, you're asking if the event's still on big prayers out is that what you were kind of getting at no more just like did it?
Speaker 3:do you know? I mean, the stuff I've seen is just devastation. I think yeah I don't.
Speaker 2:I think the human condition is is no one's okay through that path right now, but we forget about it after three days in the news yeah, that's, that's a whole different.
Speaker 2:Hey, and the one thing I wanted to get to also is um, this is the hardest. It's the hardest thing to do is brag about yourself, but when you're on a podcast, we're going to make you and the question is sort of a backward forward question, which is a little bit like looking up to this point right now. What are some of your biggest achievements that you could say out loud, like if you had a little resume? Do you kind of have some few things you're like that result or that moment? Do you have some like a little other highest stoke moments in the past?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd say probably my biggest one is getting fourth in the world at ISAs. Um a couple of years ago in Brazil. That was just like kind of showing me that I could hang with the top girls and, um, definitely a good confidence boost. So that was really cool and like struggle through adversity is like a hard comp, um, and that's the precursor to the Olympicslympics right yeah, yeah, the um.
Speaker 1:I did isa juniors, so that's like under 18 um, but yeah, it's like everyone from around the world and I got to meet so many cool people, so it's just a great experience. Um, I'd say like, probably getting my first wave at mavericks two years ago was a big one, like just incredible for my career and everything, um, um. And then one probably not surfing would be when I went through lifeguard training was maybe one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life and, um, it was really rewarding.
Speaker 3:So, probably those three graduating high school oh, graduating yeah that wasn't really one I'm not gonna lie one of my favorite things is uh, and we haven't talked a lot about it is not only good. Not only is zoe good at big wave surfing, but she rips small waves and medium-sized waves. You know, I mean. And so I saw her out of the lane one day and she just came down the line from the slot and just did the hugest power gouge ever and I was like whoa, like hugest fan out the back and like I didn't know that she had that much power yet, you know, I mean. And so, um, it's exciting to see. You know, I'd love to see her at jay bay or one of the waves, that's just, you know, highlighting her, her power and yeah what about airs?
Speaker 3:you like airs or?
Speaker 1:I, I can be like straight airs. I really want to like progress in airs. Um, I sometimes like really get caught in like the competition spiral a little bit and just like working on finishing turns, like getting better at like what I'm good at. But yeah, I do want to get better at it. Um, yeah, and I mean I want to get to jay bay, so I need, uh, get through these small crappy waves first, which kind of is a little bit annoying, but it's also like I need to be the best all around surfer I can be. So let's do it Like just take it as a challenge and try and find the fun and adrenaline and surfing those tiny waves Awesome.
Speaker 3:Awesome. How fun would it be to go out to Waco with like Bella Kenworthy or Sierra Kerr? Like we got to make some of that happen, you know, I mean once.
Speaker 1:I yeah, that'd be amazing.
Speaker 3:See you ramp out. Yeah, I'll ramp out, I'll give it a shot.
Speaker 1:I mean I've been really close. So I think I just need like a repetitive wave to maybe give it a couple more tries. But yeah, I mean I want to be good at everything, so I'm sure you already are.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I mean, I want to be good at everything, so I'm sure you already are.
Speaker 2:So that was the, that was the back and the forward, like immediate goals, long term goals. You have some stuff in your head that you kind of like want to achieve or just keep going forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a couple pretty big goals. I mean I would love to qualify for the Challenger Series this season. I need some big results to the back half of the year. Like the first, the start has been a little slow for me, but I feel like I'm on the right path. And then for Big Wave, I really want to go to Jaws and give that a try and that's a big goal for me just to go there and catch a wave and just toe surfing. I do want to catch the biggest wave possible and go down the line and do turns. That sounds pretty sick.
Speaker 3:Heck, yeah, um, do you know any of those guys in Maui, like you know your Albies and your?
Speaker 1:Um, I've met Tori a couple of times, so I have a little connection there. Um, izzy Gomez, who's a really good big wave surfer, um, she has invited me to come and I've invited her to come to maverick, so maybe we'll get that hooked up this year. And yeah, I mean um I'm down for anything.
Speaker 3:When you come to the north shore this year, we'll cruise over and talk to tori and see what's up and uh yeah, sounds good.
Speaker 2:To me that sounds epic we'll do our part two, zoe podcast. We're going to be over there podcasting for the first week in february oh really yeah, and so they. We got good nelly's. Of course nelly's got some good guests lined up.
Speaker 2:It'll be fun cool, so you've got four more sponsors we need to talk about one more question before we get there, because that'll be kind of the closing it out, because we're close, um, but the um, uh, the thing that another one like the Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist. The other thing we kind of ask in each podcast is and we touched on some of it is like is there something daily, like if you were giving advice to somebody that you do daily to be excellent at what you do? Do you have a daily practice of any kind to kind of be good?
Speaker 1:kind to kind of be good. Um, one that I struggle with a lot would be yoga. I would say, if you can do yoga like three or four times a week, like good on you, like that's I. I'm like really trying to work on that. It's hard for me to get started, but then once I do, I feel really good. Um, and then also journaling, like through, especially through contests and um, I try and keep it like consistent throughout the year. Like I'm on a pretty good streak right now of like maybe like seven days in a row, but it just feels good and um, yeah, um, uh. Those are probably my two.
Speaker 2:That's really good, and I in fact the the meditation um my crappy meditation. You can write the next editorial on terrible yoga.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, love to do that. I'm so bad, I try and I yoga is also, so I'm not even joking.
Speaker 2:That might be an amazing. Like closing editorial is zoe talking about? It would be perfect to balance out bad meditation with terrible yoga yoga. Okay, now, now nelly, we can get I love journaling.
Speaker 3:Personally, it's like I've had I have journals from all my travels oh cool, I didn't write every day, and then I still love reading them. It's like I've had I have journals from all my travels oh cool, I didn't write every day, I still love reading them. And it's like I read this one the other day. It was from 1997.
Speaker 2:Amazing, wow.
Speaker 3:And just to look back on that, like trip, and remember this stuff that I completely forgot about is just, it's the best ever. You know what I mean, and it's it reminds me of photography. You look back through old slides and you're like, wow, you just all these old memories.
Speaker 2:Yeah, flying back, no doubt.
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:All right. Now to the sponsors. Nail dog.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you have four more sponsors. Um, let's hear about them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, rakuten, they sponsor the Warriors. Actually, we have a rep in Pacifica, hideo, who saw me actually working as a lifeguard. He's like I need to support you. You are so I feel like I see potential in you. I don't want you to have to work to be able to go do what you want to do. Rakuten started supporting me, which is awesome. Powerlines Productions, kurt and Eric, they get all my clips at Mavericks. Yeah, boys.
Speaker 3:Yeah, boys, you guys are the best. Love those guys.
Speaker 1:Give me the merch, they just hook it up. He has so many connections. Kurt introduced me to Nick Von Rupp last time he was here and I got to just hang out with all the boys and it's just an incredible local company. Um, hume, supernatural. They're a deodorant company that um is really good for. It has like, no, like bad stuff, no preservatives. Um and um, it's just, it's good for the earth and um no garbage. Yeah, no garbage. That's about it.
Speaker 2:That's what it's all about.
Speaker 3:So I remember this one day I was just just timing, maybe I'm getting too many stories but I was cruising up no, you bet Never and uh, we were going on a little surf mission to go shoot and I drove by NorCal surf shop.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's my last sponsor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, perfect, hey, I looked up and there was a huge picture of Zoe on the window and I was like, yes, that's my shot. And that was the first time. That's amazing it was the first day that I ever met Zoe and to see it there, like I'd never seen the photo, you know, until I drove by it and I was like we're just in time to see it, it wasn't even planned, amazing.
Speaker 2:And that might be the greatest sponsor bump of all time that you hadn't said it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was about to say it A natural story about the sponsor.
Speaker 2:She was just going to say their name. Yeah, and now there's an emotional connection.
Speaker 1:Oh, norcal's the best. They make my guns, sean Rhodes. Sean Rhodes makes my guns and gives me so much support. And, yeah, nellie and I got an incredible shot our first time working together and they wanted to put it on their window. And I'm right next to John John Florence, which is pretty much my favorite thing ever. Um, yeah, they're just an awesome shop. I love all the boys who work in there. Um, and yeah, I mean they support me and all the local support means everything. So thanks, boys.
Speaker 2:And then do you have any? We're kind of winding out here. Do you have any um uh handles? Where do you want to direct people? Just any social handles where they find you.
Speaker 1:Um, you can find me on Instagram at Zoe chate surfs. Um, yeah, that's about it for me. So thank you guys.
Speaker 2:This was awesome.
Speaker 3:N was awesome, nelly, amazing, amazing. That's one of my, one of my favorite podcasts. So far so, but there hasn't been that many, but hey, but uh hey, you know, zoe's one of my favorite people and, um, I'm just really grateful that you were able to come down and come on with us today, so thank you see you on the north shore see you on the north shore zoe.
