JADA Stanley was surfing at the age of five and later ran a beginners' surf school while studying psychology.
When she had three young children, the Forster mum caught herself wistfully gazing at her battered surfboard.
"I was more indoors than I'd ever been and I remember thinking my board was less than inspiring," she says.
Deciding to create a surfboard to coax herself back in the water and "feel good about myself out there", she drew inspiration from her wardrobe. Namely, the vivid Batik silk fabrics she had collected as a child when her family - her surfer father, mum and three siblings - holidayed every year at Nusa Lembongan, a small island south-east of Bali.
Stanley asked a local surfboard shaper to put a favourite silk piece under the glass of a new board and she posted it on Instagram. It created global interest - Aerin Lauder of Estee Lauder reposted it - and a niche market.
"It was a beautiful product yet there was no expectation to be a good surfer, it was about making you feel good. And between surfs I could put it in a corner of the house and it looked like an artwork but was a meaningful connection to my lifestyle."
As CEO of Nusa Indah Surfboards - nusa inda means beautiful island - Ms Stanley's psychology degree and surfing nous is priceless.
"I understand human behaviour, what people want in a product and how it makes them feel. I saw a gap in the market around women and their needs, desires and role in surfing," she says.
Manufactured in Tweed Heads, Nusa Inda boards for women and men priced from $1500. It also makes custom orders, has collaborated with luxe hotels such as The Cove at Atlantis in the Bahamas and partnered with US Vogue to create boards.
Ms Stanley, who sources textiles from Indonesia and has artists design others, will soon release a stand-up paddle board range. She says her boards are functional, feminine, architectural and aspirational.
"Surfing is so male-dominated," she says, "and my whole life I have heard, 'She'll only do well if she surfs like a bloke,' and I thought let's just make this ultra feminine. You can be both."
