Keala Kennelly started surfing as a child and had much encouragement from friends and family.

KEALA KENNELLY was introduced to surfing at a young age by her father and living in Hawaii meant there were always lots of opportunities for her get on her board and hit the waves.

Here she talks to us about some of her biggest surfing successes and how she has worked hard to give women chances to compete in and enjoy the sport.

Read on to hear about her work as an actress as well as some of the big projects she has planned for the year ahead and beyond.

When did you start surfing and who inspired you to start out in the sport?

I was just a baby when my father taught me how to surf. I began surfing with all the neighborhood boys and some of those boys were very good and that inspired me to want to be better.

Keala grew up in Hawaii which gave her plenty of opportunities to surf.

Who were your biggest surfing heroes and mentors at the beginning?

In the beginning I looked up to my Father, Laird Hamilton, Christian Fletcher, Martin Potter, Sunny Garcia and my friends Andy and Bruce Irons.

Keala has been successful competing against men as well as women in the sport.

Tell us about where you grew up and the opportunities it gave you to surf?

I grew up on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Surfing was super accessible and my parents both surfed so it was something we all did together. They would pick my brothers and I up from elementary school with the surfboards strapped to the top of the car and we would go straight to the beach. It was an awesome place to grow up.

What do you see as your biggest achievements in the sport?

Breaking barriers for women. Especially in big wave surfing. When I won an open gender category at the XXLBIGWAVE awards last year that made a pretty big statement.

As well as her surfing career Keala has also worked as an actress.

Tell us about your work as an actress and what are you currently working on?

I had the pleasure of working on Blue Crush with John Stockwell and Brian Grazer and that lead to me being cast as a season regular on David Milch’s HBO tv series John from Cincinnati. I loved working with David, he is an absolutely fascinating human being. As for what I’m working on now… it’s still in the developmental stages so I can’t share too much at this time.

Keala is looking forward to 2017 and the opportunities it will bring for her and other women in the sport.

What plans or exciting projects do you have lined up for 2017 and beyond?

Well I am really excited that we have a few big wave events for women this year. We just completed the first ever WSL women’s Peahi challenge over in Maui and they will have a women’s heat at the Titans of Mavericks this year for the first time ever! I have been battling for years to get women invited to some of these events and so it’s really gratifying to see it finally coming to fruition.