Run a Google search on Kassia Meador (pronounced “met-her”) and you just might be as overwhelmed as you are impressed by the amount of press she has generated in her short but illustrious career as a professional long boarder. Meeting her in person you can easily see what all the buzz is really about: while she was chosen by Paper Magazine as one of the “beautiful people of 2006” there is also an internal spark about her, an easy sort of joy both calming and infectious making her a favorite amongst contest judges and sponsors as well as a hit as a host for MTV and Fuel networks. Yet, there is no nonsense in her demeanor; she is poised and articulate with the specific gravity of certain athletes and performers whose time and energy is well spent.

I caught up with her just before Thanksgiving as she was preparing to head out to Sunset Beach on Oahu for the return (after a four year hiatus) of the Roxy Pro Hawaii.

Recovering from a hip injury incurred a month prior when surfing in the Maldives (dreaded backwash caught her by surprise as she was doing a backside re-entry on a wave) she expressed hope that she would be ready for surfing while there as part of the Roxy Team. We were tucked away at her favorite local café and an older gentleman was eavesdropping--- he asked her how she got hurt. She told him surfing, he smiled and then asked her what she did “as in for a job”. When she told him she surfed for a living he could not hide his amazement, his eyes grew wide “People make a living doing that? Really?” She met his smile and nodded, seemingly just as amazed as he. Perhaps that is what makes her so successful, she is stoked to be who she is, doing what she is doing and at a great time in the history of her sport while taking none of it for granted.

What would a perfect day look like for you?

Waking up, going for a surf in perfect 3-5 foot a-frames, eating a big breakfast, hanging out with friends and surfing again; doing some yoga and then having a big BBQ where we just get to sit around and talk…I love that.

And where would this be?

Anywhere. On a boat. Anywhere warm and fun but I really like boat trips.

Where is the most memorable spot you have surfed? The spot you want to go back to more than others?

I will always go back to Indo. Phenomenal. I would also go back to New Zealand; it is just so amazing there. The breaks are mostly cobblestones like here which I think make the best long board waves.

Did you feel challenged by your first trip to Indo?

Definitely. I was sketched. I had been to the Maldives just before I went to Indo but the waves in Indo are a lot heavier, the reef is much sharper and in your face.

What was your first big challenge as a surfer?

Paddling out to the outside for the very first time with my dad at this spot called La Conchita just south of Rincon. My dad told me to go for a wave and I did and I caught it and it was the first wave I caught like that. I had never caught a green wave before; I had been only in whitewater before that. I remember catching it, my first drop and everything and I looked back at my dad and was like “If I die it is your fault!” but from that moment on I was truly hooked.

So you did not start out with the goal of becoming a professional surfer?

No, no not at all. It was just something I could do with my dad. It was just for fun. I am amazed and stoked that I get paid to surf. It just started out as something I love and became something more.

Any advice for those going or seeking the professional route?

Do it because you love it and the rest will come. Seriously. I see so many parents really pushing their kids to do well in contests and it is kinda sad. They should let their kids be kids and allow them to just enjoy it. I was really lucky in that area. My parents supported me, went to contests and never said a word about how I did. They were happy if I won and happy if I lost. No pressure.

A lesson for us all in “Follow your bliss”.

Totally.

Tell me about your first contest.

My dad and a friend of his Rob were like “You should do a contest, you should do a contest” and at first I was like “uhhhh”[mimics wide eye hesitation] and then I realized it would be a cool way to meet other female surfers and that motivated me. Because up until then I was surfing with my dad and his friends who were forty-year old guys and I was this fifteen year old kid. So this one day Rob picks me up and the contest was at Churches --- it was actually a Waterdays event. I did alright, I think I made it into the finals and I was stoked.

And from there?

It just took off for me. I met a lot of girl surfers that day and of course they lived up and down the coast but the next summer I was surfing regularly at Malibu and joined the association [Malibu Surfing Association] because it was an excuse to start surfing more. Then I started traveling a lot with them up and down the coast from Santa Cruz to Baja doing all these club contests. Then some girls were going go to Costa Rica and I was like “okay” and that was my first international surf trip.

Who were your major influences?

Definitely my dad. I went surfing with him a couple weeks ago in Malibu; I made him play hooky from work and it was so much fun. Lisa [Anderson] was it when I was just starting. Roxy had there thing going by then and she was Roxy and then she was on the cover of Surfer Magazine and that was incredible [“Lisa Anderson Surfs Better Than You” Feb. 1996] but because I was a long boarder I was more into the old black and white long boarding movies…I think my favorite is “Five Summer Stories”. People like Linda Benson were big influences and as a long boarder I really looked up to Joel Tudor.

What would you say your next biggest challenge is as a surfer?

I think my biggest challenge would be to win a world title, I have never done it and this was the first year we had a legitimized, ASP sanctioned world championship [Kassia placed 5th at the event in Biarritz] I wish it was a tour and not just a single event but that is something I would like to win. Not that contests are my world but for myself I would like to say I won a world championship.

Many professional surfers or professional athletes in general will sometimes lament the amount of time surfing or their respective sports has taken up in their lives, feeling like other areas have been neglected. Do you ever feel this way?

Sure, I missed out on the last two years of high school, the social life. When other kids were hanging out I was doing contests and at the time I was a little bummed about it but then I was making friends that would become life long friends. And some of my friends will talk about college and I realize that is a huge transition in many peoples lives where you leave home and learn a lot about yourself and I missed out on that…but then I was traveling the world and learning the same sorts of things about myself just in a different way. So yes, I have missed out on some things but I have gained in others. And there is definitely some neglect still sometimes of my health and my personal life because you are gone all the time… but over time I have learned how to have more balance.

It sounds like for you there is not much difference between say, your personal surfing time and your professional surfing.

No, not really. Surfing is something I love to do and yes there are days when you are super tired, sunburned and hungry and the surf is perfect and the lighting is epic and you have to paddle out and you almost do not want to do it but hey if you are going to wine about having to surf…that is when you would have to slap yourself, wake up and be like “c’mon”…

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Kassia gave me directions to a local spot in Oceanside but I looked at my watch, feared getting stuck in traffic on my way back to Los Angeles and decided to pass. But a few miles down the freeway I felt the pull and stopped in San Clemente. The tide was too low, the waves at Churches were at best waist high and mostly blown out but I caught a few corners and as the sun was setting, I realized I was having the best session I had had in many, many months, maybe even a couple of years. Kassia’s words “do it because you love it” had genuinely inspired me. Is there ever a better reason to paddle out?

THE END