Hello Sonevians,
My name is Sunny, I am the founder of Soneva Surf, the world’s first fully sustainable surfing programme that offers a luxurious surfing experience in undiscovered surf breaks in the Baa and Noonu Atoll. I am humbled to be sharing my journey at Soneva here with you today.
I began my Soneva story in September 2017 as part of a management in training programme in the Innovation & Quality team. We were a two person team managing SOPS/PNPs, Best Practices, conducting quality audits, and encouraging innovations (big and small) amongst our Hosts. As part of my tasks my manager asked me to create and implement a new idea.
After having been on a couple of surf trips in the Baa and Noonu Atolls with my friends I realised the potential for waves here; they were great with zero crowds. I thought to myself, what if we were to offer surfing as an experience for our guests and all our products and equipment were eco-friendly? I worked on putting together a proposal and I pitched it to Sonu and Marketing & Sales team. To my surprise, they agreed and allowed me to lead the creation of Soneva Surf.
I wanted to share this story with you because I never thought my passion could turn into a career. Ever since I caught my first wave six years ago in Hawaii, I fell in love and was hooked. I never wanted to do anything else but had always been told that surfing could only be a hobby, it was something I would save up for. Soneva Surf has been a dream come true and it still seems surreal to me that I’m where I am and doing what I’m doing.
It has been 10 months since I first started working on Soneva Surf and I am humbled that it has come to fruition. I knew nothing about starting a business; I had no idea what I was doing. The learning curve was huge and fast, the journey challenging and rewarding.
I hope my story can inspire you to never give up on your passions and dreams. Life can be carved as you wish by the choices you make and the intentions you set. Soneva is a place that believes in innovation, creativity, development, and growth, and I am eternally grateful to Sonu and Eva for believing in me and allowing me to create something I had only dreamed of.
Love,
Sunny