We’ve always enjoyed Finisterre’s vibe, encouraging everyone to get out in the fresh air and cold water of the UK.
So, when we did a piece on the world’s coolest action sports offices and they were included, we wondered what important ladies might be part of their team. Here is one of them and here is what she does…
Hey, I’m Rebecca and I’m the trading manager at Finisterre. Basically I’m the bridge between the product design team and marketing.
I come up with commercial ways to tell our customers about our products and make sure we’re on track with our sales targets.
I’d been a fan of Finisterre for a while, there weren’t many surf brands out there that inspired me as a woman spending most of the year in a 5mm wetsuit (prancing around in a bikini isn’t much fun in February), so when they tweeted ‘Do you love spreadsheets and dogs, then we’ve got a job for you!’ I knew I had to go for it.
I’ve been here for three years now and it’s so exciting to see the appeal of cold water surfing take off.
Working here is chaotic! We’re a small team of passionate creative people so it’s not your regular workplace.
The beauty of being part of such a small team is that things aren’t as rigid as they are when you work for a large organisation. We work really hard, but we definitely have fun while we do it.
My arrival in the office is usually announced by a loud howl from my dog Tyler, so everyone knows when I’m trying to slip in late having been for a dawny (the dragged through a hedge backwards hair and makeup gives it away if he doesn’t).
Each day can be very different and there’s a good variety in what I do. One day I can spend the whole day in spreadsheets looking at sales forecasts, then the next I might have a meeting to look at what products to put in our next catalogue and spend the afternoon putting together a promotion for our website.
Despite growing up in landlocked Oxford my dad loved surfing, so most of my childhood holidays were surf trips. He always encouraged me to push myself and keep up with him.
When the waves were too big for me to join him out back on my surfboard he sent me out on my bodyboard instead, so I could get out and keep surfing with him.
I’m not a massive adrenaline junkie, so the slower pace of longboarding seemed like the obvious choice to me. I like to sit, take my time and just enjoy being in the water.
That said I love the challenge of riding a longboard in bigger surf. Recently I’ve been enjoying trying out different types of boards, taking a bellyboard out on an onshore day with a few friends and hooting each other into closeouts.
I’ve always loved photography and that ability to see through the eyes of another person, despite shooting film I’m addicted to Instagram!
I feel like I’ve become a bit immune to those perfect tropical barrel shots though, I don’t feel like a can relate to them or see myself there. I’d much rather see real people going off and having adventures in their own backyard.
I saw North of the Sun at the London Surf Film Festival a few years ago and it was just incredible. Two regular guys taking a break from their normal lives to experience the winter. I’ll never complain about the cold ever again!
There are two things guaranteed to get me in a rage: sexism and waste. Don’t get me started on the inequality in the surf industry, we could be here all day, but it’s great to see an increasing proportion of women saying they’re not happy with it, and magazines like Cooler opening up the debate.
This winter the storms brought a plague of plastic litter to my local beach. It’s so sad how inescapable disposable plastics have become in our lives.
I’ve been helping out with local beach cleans and doing 2 minute beach cleans as often as I can, picking up all the stuff that’s washed up has helped me change my shopping habits and reduce how much plastic I use.
Rain or shine, if the surf is good I’m out there. A perfect sunny day would be to take good friends, dogs, a selection of boards and a BBQ down to my favourite local spot and stay for the whole day.
On a flat sunny day I take my biggest board out for a paddle and explore the coastline. If it’s raining and flat then I’ll sulk indoors with a good book and plenty of food until the dog drives me crazy for a walk. Wind is the real enemy though, I’d rather take a month of rain than a month of onshores.
You can follow Rebecca and all she gets up to here:
