I’m a marketing/media professional, journalist, world traveler, and polyglot. I love telling stories that allow me to dive headfirst into the communities where they take pace around the globe. Over the past decade, I’ve executed stories on five continents and spearheaded the marketing efforts behind surfing’s Olympic debut. In 2024, I covered surfing at the Olympic Games in Tahiti as a journalist.
When I was 29 I decided that my dreams were bigger than a dream job. I left my career in the surf industry — on paper, everything I ever wanted — and bought a one-way ticket to Brazil to steer my life in a new direction.
When I studied abroad in Chile for a year when I was 21, I learned about the magic of immersing yourself in a foreign country, a new language, an unknown world. I blissfully drowned in the lack of normality and divergence from routine, enthralled by having left my comfort zone to experience a new universe. Once I had that taste, I had to have it again.
When I stepped on that plane to Brazil, I was continuing those dreams sparked on the Chilean coast. I was following a mantra that I (perhaps too stubbornly) follow in life: Be true to yourself and carve your own path.
That trip to Brazil grew from a six-month detour into a three-and-a-half year globetrot across five continents and 20 countries. I learned two new languages, made countless new friends, climbed volcanos, surfed the best waves of my life, and built a life as a digital nomad.
And I wrote.
Through that “dream job” at surfing’s Olympic authority, I unlocked a passion, and skill, for bringing stories to life.
While I traveled, I reported on international stories such as how the Sri Lankan financial crisis affects the country’s small businesses, and how Lebanese men and women seek happiness in ocean sports amid war, inflation, and government negligence.
I compiled, edited, and wrote portions of my late father’s memoir. I wrote branded content for outdoors companies. I wrote dozens of posts on my blog analyzing what I learned during my travels.
And now, to top it all off, I am working on a memoir of my own to encapsulate everything I learned and went through during that period of my life. (Stay tuned!)
I grew up in Santa Cruz, California, in and around the ocean. Breathing salty air and roaming among the famed redwood forests forged my connection with the outdoors. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and believe learning languages is the best way to connect with and understand a culture. My motto, as cliché as it sounds: Be the change you want to see in the world.
-EQ
