KiteSista Meets: Verda Marley

KiteSista Meets: Verda Marley

Verda Marley, Naish team rider from Hawaii, chef, realtor and mother to be shares some of the wonderful adventure that is her life.

We would like to introduce you to Verda Marley, Naish team rider from Hawaii, chef, realtor and mother to be. Clearly a girl with a lot going on and someone who is balancing the passionate aspects of her life with the professional ones.

This is something we have always been fans of at KiteSista so we decided to speak to Verda and have her share some of the wonderful adventure that is her life.

KSm: Hi Verda, could you tell us a bit more about you?

Verda: ALOHA! I am originally from Istanbul, Turkey I have been living on Maui for the past 11 years, I started kitesurfing 6 years ago here on Maui at Kanaha; been addicted ever since.

Kitesurfing really changed my life, it became a full-time hobby, then a part-time job as I got into teaching and sharing the sport with new comers; I really didn’t mind spending my whole day at kite beach, kiting, telling stories and enjoying the view.

I met my better half Christian at kite beach- obviously! it was love at first sight type of thing – hot Brazilian kitesurfer/ surfer / all around amazing person and after 3 years of adventures and lots of kite sessions together now we are expecting a little baby girl – her name will be Makani- which is Hawaiian for wind- hope she likes her beach crib we picked out for her ;) she is due Feb 2.

Verda & Christian

KSm: You are a member of the Naish family… how do you find your work with them, your obligations and generally maintaining a good relationship with your sponsor?

Verda: We definitely feel like family, I am stoked to be living on Maui where our HQ is based down the street from our home so I can go by and distract them all day long and they like it! These guys work hard, designing, and innovating our gear and they play hard too; and they teach their kids how to kite at early ages which I love to see!

Naish has been very supportive part of my kitesurfing career and definitely made my butt quite famous! haha- I support the team by kiting in my bikini and living the kitesurf life, making kiting look fun and easy ;)

Verda Marley Riding Naish

I also teach with Naish gear, all my students love the new Naish RIDE. Our motto is sheet in and go! and it’s really that simple; this kite relaunches super easily and is fool-proof in so many ways, it’s the best innovation thats happened to kitesurfing since the chicken loop!

KSm: You came to our attention after being nominated last year in the MIGK 2012 competition run by the online magazine inMotion kitesurfing… how did this competition help you in your kitesurfing career and did it present you with new opportunities?

Verda: Well, I was very inspired by all the ladies that were nominated and got all these super cool ideas to make girls kitesurfing movies which I haven’t exactly executed yet but I will someday soon!

KSm: We also know that you are a very busy girl working as a realtor and also as a raw food chef for your own company… how do you manage to fit all your responsibilities together and still find the time to play in the water and make race competitions?

Verda: If you saw my business cards they always have kitesurfer in the back and the front is realtor or chef or jewelry but it’s always kitesurfer slash whatever else. Everyone knows me as kitesurfer chef or kitesurfer realtor so I often have ‘board meetings’ at the beach followed by kite sessions.
Nowadays being 7 months pregnant it is not finding the time thats the issue, its fitting into my harness!!! a little bit challenging ; )

Verda Marley

KSm: We won’t ask you about houses, but raw food? Tell us a little bit more about this and your thoughts on the importance and effect of diet on physical condition.

Verda: We are what we eat and drink and think so I think it is very important to consume the good stuff and lots of it.

I spend a lot of time in the sun and water and it is really important to hydrate and consume collagen AND ANIT-OXIDANT rich raw, organic fruits and vegetables and chocolate truffles haha! I love making raw and chocolatey energy snacks that are durable to be at the beach all day give me energy, nutrition and that yummy feeling ; )

Did I mention I am a huge advocate of raw chocolate and consuming it as much as possible? I don’t mean a chocolate bar, roasted chocolate is a completely different animal than raw cacao which is the highest source of magnesium in any food you can find, array of vitamins, super high vitamin C and antioxidants and minerals and energy boosting stimulants – not caffeine – only when chocolate is roasted it contains caffeine but in its raw form it has offers a clean , happy energy boost without the caffeine. I just simply love raw chocolate!!! and could go on and on about this I think thats an article on its own.

KSm: We assume that you are the kind of girl who needs to be outside and enjoy her life on the beach, playing with the elements and having fun in the water… but we hear that your life is at a turning point and about to change completely. Would you like to share your news with us your thoughts on your future and your new life?

Verda: Yes yes! Well I already spilled the beans above but yeah – we are having a baby girl and she definitely was not planned ; )

I was at the North American kite races in San Francisco when I started to get super nauseous and sick I thought it was just the cold Bay water that was making me extra nauseous ; ) then surprise!!!! Well best things happen when you are too busy making plans right? so I’m putting my kite racing on hold to raise a little kite racer who will be much faster than me when she is 8 probably!

Verda Marley Pregnant

KSm: How did your sponsors react after you told them about this fabulous news?

Verda: Another reason why I love Naish team so much! They were super supportive and excited for us! I saw Robbie Naish on the beach before I told anyone and he knew right away! He told me I look better a little rounder anyway!!! Haha, they continue to be my sponsor and can’t wait to meet the newest addition to the Naish team!

KSm: Are you still kiting?

Verda: I kited with Makani in San Fran under the Golden Gate bridge and we went to Aruba and kited there and definitely on Maui. I kited up to the 6th month and after the 6th month there is no longer the chance of miscarriage and I do not want to have a little premature baby consciously so I will sit out the 7th month as well but once i am 30 weeks babies are usually fully developed so- i’ll be back out there with Makani ; )

Verda Kiting Pregnant

KSm: Which changes and new habits have you adopted since you have been pregnant?

Verda: Seat harness!!!!!! arrrr!

KSm: What are your plans for the first year of your baby’s life?

Verda: Travel!!!! We want to take her to Brazil and Turkey and Fiji and be the best parents we can. If she can stand she can kite is our motto… so we’ll be watching her development closely. she’ll have 2 kitesurf instructor parents so lets hope she is on ‘board’ (literally) with our plan to make her mega kitesurfer princess!

Little family

KSm: Which advice would you like to give to girls who really want to continue their passion for kitesurfing but also have a life as a mother?

Verda: I think it is an incredible honor and joy to be able to share the love and fun of kitesurfing with your babies and kids and I would never think to give up kitesurfing because I’m a mom instead I think after going through the birth i will come back as a much more fierce kite racer- so watch out!!!! and hopefully she’ll love to kite as much as we do and lead the next generation of kitesurfing.

KSm: As is tradition, we leave you free to add some words of wisdom, advice or anything you wish to say to finish…

Verda: Life is such a miracle, our minds and bodies are capable of doing sooooooo much more than we can ever comprehend and biggest thing I learned so far being pregnant and carrying this seed of life is that the best thing we can do as humans is do not get in the way of your own genius, your own capabilities, relax and enjoy the ride as everything will happen as smoothly as possible if we can just TRUST the flow. BREATHE. ALOHA.



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