Flybe / July 2019

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76 / Flight Time / JULY 2019
Me & My Business
“Keen to keep up our surfing and beach
lifestyles with our young children, we’d tag-
team surfs and work commitments, between
watching our babes waddle around in the
sand while sharing picnics, chasing our dogs
and keeping each other sane! Our friendship
and business idea was born from family days
on the beach.”
The couple were both freelancing in
different jobs at the time, and came up with
various business plans (from a beach crèche
for surfing mums to beach fitness holidays),
to enable them to juggle surfing and beach
life with families and finances. By the time
Celine was pregnant with her second baby,
Hayley was already chasing her down to team
up for a Family Surf Co. partnership once the
baby was born. Then together they came up
with the business plan to make it work.
They had some business experience
between them. “Celine had already set up an
event business prior to having children,” says
Hayley, “then went back to managing a kite-
surfing school in Egypt whilst also working
for one of Cornwall’s most luxurious eco-
hotels. I’ve been a freelance copywriter for 15
years, specialising in travel and tourism.”
Says Celine: “We did a lot of market
research into other surf travel companies and
found that none of them specialised in family
surf trips. So we thought about the key
elements behind the perfect family surfing
holidays and sought out the finest family-
friendly hotels beside the waves in areas
we’d each travelled to. These are the sort of
places where you’ve got everything on tap –
from surf tuition and family activities, to a
babysitter or a cocktail by the pool.”
“Once we’d got our product we learnt
the ropes as travel agents,” explains
Hayley, “joining up with the Travel Trust
Association to ensure that all of our holidays
are 100 per cent financially guaranteed and
that we can offer bespoke packages including
everything from flights and car hire to
transfers and other activities.
“All of our holidays are road-tested, so
we can offer in-depth advice, surf and travel
guides for families, and even packing lists,
to make holidays as stress-free and well-
planned as possible.”
“On one research trip we hit the road
with all of our five children (from nine
months to nine years old),” says Celine,
“so we know which places are best for
different ages of children and different family
dynamics. We also make sure there are other
activities for non-surfers in the family.”
As it’s early days, they have yet to define
their roles within the company so they’re
both chipping into all the different areas of
the business.
Says Hayley: “We naturally complement
each other’s skill sets – Celine is much better
at the design and administration, while I’m
more experienced with copywriting and
marketing. We’ve both travelled to different
areas and have different family dynamics,
so we break up the enquiries according to
where our personal experience lies.”
Juggling business and family life isn’t
something that fazes Hayley and Celine.
“Surf, travel and work have always been
a huge part of our family lives and will
continue to be,” says Celine. “Hayley’s three
boys are all at school now, and the children
are already becoming such a big part of the
business (in a research and travel capacity),
so it works around family life, too. It can be
challenging but we’re very used to juggling
our working lives around our families.”
They have big plans for Family Surf
Co. “In a year’s time I’d like to see us with
more destinations on board – Costa Rica,
Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, France and
Spain, for starters,” says Hayley. “And we
want to be covering Japan in time for the
2020 Olympics. Plus we’re translating the
website into French and German, so we’ll
be branching out to a wider European
audience.
“As well as selling fantastic family surfing
holidays, we hope to have built a family surf
travel community where people can come for
advice, information and support to inspire
them to surf and travel with their families.
“And while travelling is becoming an
unstoppable beast that’s destructive to the
environment, we hope we can educate
families to travel responsibly and make the
most of nature’s playground that is the ocean,
whilst also helping to protect it.” Hayley, Celine and
their five children
Celine and daughter
Flo enjoying the surf