Passion Over Practicality | with Kelia Moniz

Kelia Moniz had the talent, the titles, and the perfect setup for a lucrative shortboarding career. But was it enough for her?

Born into a legendary surfing family, Kelia Moniz seemed destined to follow a specific path. Her dad, Tony Moniz, was a professional surfer and one of Hawai‘i’s pioneers in big-wave riding. Surfing wasn’t just a sport in their household, but a way of life.

Moniz ‘Ohana

Growing up in Kuliʻouʻou with four brothers, all of whom surfed, Kelia spent her childhood in the ocean, catching waves before she could even remember learning how. With a tight-knit family that built its livelihood around surfing, including a surf school in Waikīkī run by her parents, it only made sense that Kelia would follow in their footsteps.

And for a while, she did.

By 16, she had proven herself in competitive shortboarding, winning a national title. The next logical step? Committing to the professional shortboard tour, where the structure, sponsorships, and financial opportunities were more stable. It was what most people in her position would have done.

But Kelia wasn’t like most people.

Choosing What Feels Right

Despite her success, something didn’t feel right. The grind of shortboard competitions didn’t excite her the way surfing always had. She wasn’t drawn to the pressure of chasing points, rankings, and heat wins. Instead, she found herself captivated by the timeless, fluid style of longboarding, a discipline that, at the time, had little financial backing and no established career path.

“So I basically told my dad…I don’t want to shortboard anymore. I’m going to longboard.”

Her dad, a surf industry veteran, didn’t sugarcoat it. “You’re going to have to work really hard,” he told her.

Unlike shortboarding, which had a clearer professional path with competitions, sponsorships, and financial stability, longboarding at the time was far less structured. Choosing longboarding over shortboarding meant stepping into uncertainty.

There were no guarantees, no major tour, no big sponsorship deals. It was a passion-driven choice, not a practical one. But Kelia wasn’t looking for the safest option, she was looking for the one that felt right.

Carving Her Own Path

Kelia could have easily leaned on her father’s name to make her way in the surf industry. But she never did. Instead, she made a name for herself by trusting her instincts and putting in the work.

She remembers the first time she saw the Roxy girls in Waikīkī as a kid:

“It just seemed like this endless disperse of really cool looking girls that were wearing these cool looking bathing suits.”

The effortless confidence, the camaraderie, the way they made surfing look like the most exciting thing in the world. She knew, in that moment, that she wanted to be one of them. It became her dream.

“I’m like, I need to be a part of this. So ever since that day I was like, I’m going to be a Roxy girl.”

At 13, she made that dream a reality. So, as she transitioned into longboarding a few years later, Roxy helped her do more than just compete. She became a global ambassador for the sport.

Kelia found a way to blend competition with lifestyle branding, traveling the world, starring in surf films, and working with brands that resonated with her vision. She won two longboarding world titles. But, more than that, she became a face of modern women’s longboarding, proving that success doesn’t have to come from following the most obvious route.

A Trailblazer in Longboarding

By choosing longboarding, Kelia didn’t just follow her passion; she redefined what was possible in the sport, even earning the nickname “Honolulu’s Sweetheart.” She became one of the first to bridge the gap between competitive longboarding and mainstream surf culture, proving that longboarding could be just as influential and respected as short boarding.

Her success opened doors for future generations of longboarders, especially women, to pursue careers in the sport. Through her style, presence, and influence, she helped elevate longboarding from an overlooked discipline into a respected and thriving part of the surf world.

Bet on Yourself

Pursuing what you love isn’t always easy. It takes discipline, resilience, and an unwavering belief in yourself, even when the path ahead is uncertain. Kelia didn’t just follow her heart, she backed it up with effort. She trained relentlessly, seized every opportunity, and showed up ready to prove herself, even when there was no guarantee of success. Passion may light the fire, but hard work is what keeps it burning.

Not every passion comes with a clear career path. Not every dream seems secure. But, Kelia’s journey proves that when you love what you do and work relentlessly to make it happen, you can open doors that didn’t even exist before.

“If you just trust yourself, you trust your passion and you work hard, you can go places and you can really move things and you can build things, and you can do whatever it is that you really, really want.”

The safest choice isn’t always the right choice. Sometimes, the right choice is simply the one that makes you feel alive.

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