Melbourne, FL & Costa rica
Eva Woodland
"There's always enough light for the one who wishes to see it."- Imam Alias
Eva saw this quote on a random wall while in the Caribbean side of Costa Rica four years ago with her friend Olivia.
Surf
Meet Eva
Joining the team around 2014, Eva is one of our longest standing true advocates. She originally came to Surface because we had the only sun care brand that didn't make her sensitive skin breakout due to our hypoallergenic formulas and loved how all of our products are reef safe. Surface has seen her grow in so many fields from surfing, to modeling, and to her passion for advocating about mental health.
How it started
Born but not fully raised in Florida, Eva recalls her earliest beach memories of spending her summers at her aunt and uncleโs beach house in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. Surprisingly not wanting to step foot on a surfboard, her dad, Woody, found the best alternative was pushing Eva around on a boogie board. Although her stubbornness proceeded she finally gave surfing a chance; at the age of seven Eva caught her first wave in Dominical, Costa Rica (very fitting since she is now on the Costa Rican surf team). After one wave she went back to the olโ faithful boogie board until she went to her first surf contest when she was 10 in elementary school with her two best friends who were in the contest. She randomly decided to enter the โpushโ division and actually ended up winning! From there her passion was created and she would become the impressive surfer you see today.
Eva and Costa Rica
Being that Eva first started her surfing journey in Costa Rica at seven, she actually has some major roots there. Her mom is originally from Turrialba and to quote Eva โI have been going to Costa Rica since I was in the womb!โ Hopefully that gives you some idea of how far those roots go. When talking with Eva about Costa Rica, you wonโt hear her stop saying how grateful and blessed she is to be able to have dual citizenship (makes going through customs a lot easier). Having majority of her family live there she has been immersed in the culture whether it has been going to the markets everyday to pick up fresh produce, flattening tortillas with her grandma on the porch, to seeing howler monkeys on her walk to go surf. If you ever find yourself in Costa Rica make sure to go catch Eva ripping at Pavones.
Growing Pains
Growing up means youโre probably going to go through some hurdles, learn some lessons, and find new passions. She has found other hobbies in cooking, baking, yoga, and secretly wants to participate in a poetry slam. Something that has really shaped Eva into the person she is today is her journey with mental health. From an early age she has struggled with depression and anxiety which at any time can take a major toll on you. She had to find a way to navigate her feelings which she found in writing. Eva has been very open about her struggles with mental health on her Instagram and by going to high schools around her area to educate others on speaking up for themselves and wants to destigmatize the stereotypes around mental health. One of the biggest lessons Eva has learned is forgiveness because in the wise words of Trudy Goodman "forgiveness is the most selfless act someone can do,โ and she believes especially if it is towards yourself. There is no better way to summarize this than what Eva said, โI believe that acceptance and forgiveness walk hand in hand. I have accepted that I am probably going to lose a lot more than Iโm going to win and being able to forgive myself has made surfing a lot more fun.โ
The little details between and what the future holds
Eva is a well rounded individual when it comes to her resume. Sheโs a pro surfer, model, and house painter (which people find hard to believe). At her dadโs painting company she does all the grunt work and she loves all of it! From taping off every door and window in a big house for hours to chipping paint off every base board. For some reason in that environment she finds her zen; it also helps that if the waves are good she can skip work to surf and not worry about getting fired. As most of you know sheโs a model as well as a sponsored surfer. She says thereโs nothing like being able to go on these amazing trips to beautiful places with her friends all while making a career. She loves modeling for the creative side and how it is a constant learning process of seeing how her body language will transfer through a camera. Surfing is a complete zeroing in mode for her and another learning process as well because she wants to experience all different types of boards and fins. In the future we can see Eva doing what she does best which is having fun surfing โpreferably in warm placesโย but she is also currently in school to get her masters degree in psychology to become a sports psychologist.ย