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Podcast Guest

Clarissa Kusel

Founder at The Ocean is Female & Sea Blue Collective Marketplace

Clarissa Kusel was born in Northern California and taught herself how to surf when she moved to Santa Barbara, California for her undergraduate degree. After meeting one of her best friends, Tiare in the dorms, they became determined and taught themselves how to surf.


As surfers who began their surf journeys using only banged up Craigslist boards and hand-me-down wetsuits, they never resonated with the glossy models displayed in surf shops. This is the origin story of The Ocean is Female. Motivated to fight the narrative of “hot girls surf” they shared the stories of over 1,000 surfers from all over the world - highlighting diversity: adaptive surfers, moms who surfed, and communities of color fighting adversary to paddle out.


More recently, Clarissa graduated with a Master's in Social Entrepreneurship from USC and, motivated to take The Ocean is Female to the next level, launched the social enterprise SeaBlue Collective with her co-founders Tiare and Lauren Sander. SeaBlue Collective uplifts small business owners (many of whom are female surfers from the Ocean is Female!) by banding them together on one marketplace ( www.seablue.co ) and empowering them to produce products that are ocean- friendly and plastic-free.

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 Clarissa Kusel
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