INSIDER MAGAZINE: How Brooke Farris rode WA waves to the very top of iconic surf brand Rip Curl

Surfing great Kelly Slater once said to excel in the sport mental toughness is just as important as physical strength. The ability to keep a cool head when the sea forms a 15m high tower above you. Patience to brace the conditions and wait for just the right wave. And perseverance to paddle back out into the deep, blue, unpredictable waters after being thrust from your board and into the depths. Rip Curl’s newly appointed, WA-raised boss Brooke Farris says it is these types of lessons learnt from a lifetime of surfing that have defined her leadership style. “The rawness, the open conditions and the challenging waves taught me to be agile to change but also to take challenges head on,” she says. “You get so used to getting knocked down and getting back up. I’ve realised now how much that upbringing and the world of surf has played a part in how I’ve been shaped as a person.” Growing up in Perth around the northern coastal suburbs of Carine and Watermans Bay, and with close relatives living near Margaret River, white sandy beaches and glistening waters were a part of everyday life for Farris, and days at the beach were synonymous with family time. Her parents wasted no time getting a board into her hands and by the age of eight, Farris started surfing. “I don’t know when I first stood up, it wasn’t a big deal, I had older brothers who would go surfing, I just did it too,” she recalls. “I don’t ever remember there being a learning process. It has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.” The passion never faded and throughout high school Farris kept improving and rising up through the ranks of the sport, spending most weekends at surfing competitions across WA and interstate. SURFIN’ USA Sometimes you can pinpoint a moment that changes the course of your life, the kind of event that can be traced back as a defining time. A chance encounter on a surf trip to the Golden State holds that significance for Farris, however a culmination of hard work, her personable nature and a stroke of right place, right time luck has meant this is not an isolated event across her career. After pooling together her savings, Farris flew to Los Angeles with a friend from Perth for a surfing competition, bursting with energy and ready to take on new waves. In a sign of the young, carefree traveller’s mindset of the early 2000s, the pair touched down at LAX without a place to stay, but just a few calls later they were given a room in a share house by Seal Beach. That’s where Farris met seven-time Australian world champion surfer Layne Beachley, who was to become a prominent figure in her life. “When we were put up in the house it just so happened that Layne was staying there as well,” Farris recalls. “She got knocked out of the contest early and I did too ... so we had a chance to hang out.” With their sights set on chasing the swell, the surfers decided on a spontaneous holiday to Mexico. “I fell into a trip to Mexico with Layne, who was becoming one of the most famous surfers in Australia ... and now I still consider her one of my best friends.” THE BEACHLEY YEARS Still buzzing with enthusiasm and excitement from the impromptu Mexico trip, the adventure continued when Farris asked Beachley if she could stay in Hawaii with her and partner at the time, US surfer Ken Bradshaw. While Farris had a lot of personal surfing planned, in Perth she had been studying journalism at Curtin University, and quickly realised her communication skills could help Beachley with her career and commitments. “Layne was a one-time world champion when I met her, she won her second world title when I stayed with her in Hawaii,” Farris says. “I started helping her with ghost writing stories and things that were connected to my desire to be a journalist. Then as we became better friends and she asked me to be her PA (personal assistant), that’s when I fell into the other side of surfing.” Farris’ experience with towering, rough waves in WA’s South West also meant she was able to help Beachley train during the harsher winter months. “Layne had someone who was willing to go out in any conditions, any size and that means a lot when you’re a professional surfer, to have that person to go surfing with and keep you inspired,” she says. “But I think Layne also shaped me to have a stronger resolve. She is so resilient and I do think that rubbed off on me.” Long days turned into months, and months turned into more than five years working with the surfing world champion. After Hawaii, Brooke decided to try her luck learning to surf on the less powerful east coast waves. “I had no intention of leaving Western Australia, I love it, it’s absolutely home, but things kept rolling and I got new opportunities and new challenges,” Farris says. “I’ve been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and be working hard where I’ve been given these opportunities to keep the connection going.” GLOBE TROTTER In 2007, Farris packed up her bags and made Queensland her base, taking a job as women’s tour manager for the World Surf League. While Farris was organising the circuit there were eight different international stops which kept her out of Australia more than 50 per cent of the year, spending more time on the road than at home. But it was Peru that captured her heart the most when her team managed to establish a brand new competition in a small coastal town in the South American nation. “Surfing was at a real all time high in Peru so I went there to see if we could get sponsors and government support for an event and we did. We had the event in a little town called Mancora, which back then was like Byron Bay 30 years ago.” “The goal of having the event there was meant to grow tourism and turn it into a surf town and that’s exactly what happened. To feel like you have played even a small part in that is really cool, and seeing how surfing can make a difference in that way.” While in Peru, Farris and the surfers trekked to the 15th century Inca site Machu Picchu, one of the seven modern wonders of the world. “That’s one of my fondest memories of my time on the road with the athletes, we still reminisce about it when we get back together,” she says. After three years in the gig Rip Curl approached Farris and offered her a position as in-house international events and women’s team manager. “I wasn’t ready to leave because I really did love my job as women’s tour manager, but I also knew opportunities in the surfing industry didn’t come up very often, particularly back then,” she explains. SINK OR SWIM Farris was given her big break at Rip Curl in 2016 when she was appointed to the newly created role of general manager digital, responsible for growing the company’s ecommerce platforms. Kathmandu chief executive Michael Daly, who was head of Rip Curl at the time, let Farris know how important the role was, telling her it was a “sink or swim” moment. “He said it in a challenging tone, but I remember him saying ‘I understand that this is a big step ... I think you can do it (but) it will be sink or swim’,” she said. “We were coming from behind ... having started out as a predominantly wholesale business and then finding our feet in retail. “It was a pretty foreign concept in the business. I really had to educate our crew as to what our role was and how it was important for ecommerce to be part of the way we operated.” But Farris certainly didn’t sink, as digital sales surged more than 200 per cent over four years and Rip Curl introduced a number of new platforms to accelerate digital growth. “We achieved a lot during this time and it put us in good stead to be part of the conversation moving forward and continue growth in direct to consumer channels,” she says. RISE TO THE TOP Farris was appointed chief executive of Rip Curl in August, marking the first time a woman has held the top job in the iconic surf brand’s 52-year history. As she went through the rigorous interview process, Farris said she drew heavily on the skills she had developed across her surf-immersed career to stay in the zone. “All along it has been my love for surfing that has been the common thread throughout it all,” she says. “In looking at going for this job as the position of CEO I wanted to be really clear on what my motivations where for the role and it certainly comes back to people and the crew and how I can help them to be the best people they can be.” As she takes the wheel at Rip Curl, she says investing in and empowering the team would be a key focus under her leadership. “I encourage others around me to have an opinion and to provide input, I’m all ears,” she says. “We have a lot of long-term employees at Rip Curl with a lot of expertise in the business. It’s really important that their voices are heard so I try to always provide a platform for that. “I'm very aware of adapting my communication style depending on who the audience is in order to get the best out of people and ensure they are comfortable in the environment. I'm really passionate about showing everyone equal respect. “I’m not one for for hierarchy, it’s all about treating one another as equals because everyone, no matter their demographic, their gender, their age, their time in the business, has something to offer.” In her 11 years with the company to date, she has spent a lot of time working under Rip Curl founders Doug (Claw) Warbrick and Brian Singer. When Warbrick reached out to Farris to send his congratulations, his advice for the new boss was to be aware it can get lonely at the top, when all the responsibility falls onto your shoulders. NEW DIRECTIONS Taking over as chief executive during the COVID-19 pandemic has posed its challenges, but Farris says it has had its silver linings too. “There’s a fair bit to juggle but I’m enjoying it because it’s helping me to get across the detail really quickly and work closely with my executive team,” she explains. “You learn really quickly when there’s lots of things being thrown at you.” Supply chain delays have been an ongoing problem for the business, like many other companies, but a wave of new customers trying out surfing for the first time amid lockdowns has kept sales buoyant. Farris says environmental, social and governance targets are playing a bigger role at Rip Curl too as the expectations of customers, employees and investors evolve. Rip Curl is in the process of completing its ESG strategy as it strives to be accredited as a B Corp business — a verification granted to companies which track their ESG performance. To be eligible businesses must make their operations and supply chain publicly transparent and commit a certain percentage of profits to purposeful ventures. “I feel like there’s a real need and desire from people to want to feel like they’re doing good,” Farris says. “Doing good for the world, doing good for themselves and being motivated by that purpose. “It’s so important to feel a connection and feel passionate about what you do.”

INSIDER MAGAZINE: How Brooke Farris rode WA waves to the very top of iconic surf brand Rip Curl

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