Sensi is a professional kitesurfer, business owner, motivational speaker, Slingshot team rider, and now, wingfoiler. Read our interview with her here.

Continuing our waterwomen series is none other than Sensi Graves. If you read our sister magazine IKSURFMAG, you’ll have no doubt heard of her. Sensi is a professional kitesurfer, business owner, motivational speaker, Slingshot team rider, and now, wingfoiler. She might just be the busiest person in watersports… Read Jack Galloway’s interview with her below.

Hi Sensi, as one of our cover shot stars from last issue, we’re super excited to have you in our Waterwomen feature this issue! How’s your summer been so far?

The start to my summer has been awesome so far! It started with a trip to Alaska and now that I'm back in Hood, it's been full-on with kite and wing events happening most weekends and the wind and sunshine continuing to deliver. It's a balance in the Summertime--taking days to rest and recuperate because with the sun setting at 9pm, there are almost too many hours to play!

Sounds amazing! How’s your wingfoiling going? What skills do you think transferred from your kiteboarding career?

I have been absolutely loving winging. Funny, because when wingfoiling first launched, I thought “what a stupid sport!” ha. After over a decade as a professional kiteboarder, it’s been really fun to have a new challenge. Wingfoiling has provided that perfect fusion of challenge and reward that you get when learning something new. It’s a super engaging sport. 

Certainly, my foiling skills have transferred over from kiteboarding. Although now, my kite foiling has also progressed due to how much time I spend on the wing foil! Also my knowledge of the wind and then, of course, board skills. It all builds. 

Hood River has been an absolute mecca for windsports for years. It now seems the place is becoming even bigger since wing foiling and downwind foiling took off. Are those bumps really as good as they look?

Hood River is an epic kiteboarding and windsurfing location, but it’s not world-class kiteboarding. Meaning, that we have wind almost every day, but it’s often gusty. We also have rolling river swell, but not breaking waves and we don’t have flat water. It’s a great kiteboarding location, but it’s not perfection in terms of prime conditions for kiteboarding. 

But it’s PERFECT for winging. The combination of big windy days and the river current flowing in the opposite direction creates massive rolling river swell that is so fun to tear up and down on the foil. Unlike the ocean for wingfoiling, you don’t have to deal with gigantic sets breaking on your head and the best waves are often situated in one spot on the river. You pump up, walk into the water and enjoy amazing conditions. We also have a LOT of wind and winging in strong conditions is the most fun. I can’t lie – it really is that good. 

Will we see Sensi Graves joining the downwind SUP crew? Must be tempting when you live on the Gorge?

You know, I see those gals and guys paddling down the river and I am nothing short of awestruck by their skills. Maybe it’s because I always have something in my hands while on the river, whether a kite or a wing, but it’s intimidating to me to be out there with just a paddle and board. They are true water women and men!

I can’t say that I haven’t been tempted to try it (I love new experiences), but we’ll have to wait until I’m bored of winging. 😉

Can you tell our readers about your park style kiteboarding? What would you say are the highlights of competing as a professional athlete?  

Park riding, or wake style is the discipline in kiteboarding where you ride across rails, sliders and kickers that are floating in the water. Much like riding a terrain park on a snowboard or riding at a cable park–we slide across hard chunks of plastic, formed into fun shapes and try to make it look good. Park-riding was my first love in kiteboarding and I spent 8 years traveling and competing as an athlete on the Kite Park League tour. 

It’s a very niche discipline but I found it to be the most fun and a super engaging thing to do on the water. You have to be really present when you’re aiming down the line of a 30-foot rail. My highlights of competing as a professional athlete are almost certainly all related to the crew, or family of riders that I got to travel around the world with. We’d meet up in various locations around the globe, all vibing on doing the same things. It was a true family and I have so many amazing memories of shredding, partying, and just doing epic things with the crew.

Do you think you’ll be competing in any foiling events going forwards?

That’s a great question. I’m certainly not making it a priority to compete but if I find myself at an event and I feel like my skills are up to par, I’ll be tempted to throw my hat in the ring! I did compete at the Gorge Paddle Challenge last year and took third in the wing race, but because I’m not “training” for competition, it’s hard to stay competitive, and I don’t like to lose. 

You’re actually so much more than a waterwoman and professional athlete. You run your own swimwear brand (congrats on 10 years by the way!), organise kitesurfing trips, are a motivational speaker, the list goes on.. How do you fit it all in? Is it difficult to choose what to prioritise?

I believe that life is a big experiment and the more that you can go into things thinking, “what can I learn here?”, then the greater chance you’ll have of not only enjoying the process but uncovering more and more about yourself.

I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur and even before I became a professional kiteboarder, I had launched my swimwear brand. It really just worked out that both careers grew simultaneously and really supported one another. I’m also a bit of a growth junkie and am a big believer in calling your shot to get to the next level. The past decade of running my company and traveling as a pro kiteboarder has really set the foundation for uncovering who I really am, what my purpose on this earth is, and how I can be most effective. 

My mission is to empower humans that look successful on the outside to feel successful on the inside. I feel this as a calling in my heart. Everything I’m doing now supports that mission and therefore I prioritize what is going to have the most impact on that mission. I believe that we will always do more for others than we will for ourselves and therefore by staying focused on how I can serve, I feel more motivated to work and more focused on the things that matter.

It’s all a balance of trying, learning, uncovering and trying again. 

I bet. We love that Sensi Graves Swim has gone completely sustainable in its materials. How hard was that to achieve?

When I first launched my swimwear brand, I knew that I wanted to be as sustainable as possible. I looked to Yvon Chouinard and what he was able to accomplish with Patagonia, in terms of consumer education, environmental policies and initiatives. I don’t know that I would have even launched my brand, had it not been for the inspiration that Patagonia provides to do things better. 

At first, I was overwhelmed with the whole process and was intimidated by how to make a brand truly sustainable (I’m not convinced there exists such a thing yet). But then I chunked it down and addressed it one piece at a time. It’s more important to start than to be perfect. 

Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.". Therefore I believe that you start small and you start from where you can and then you educate yourself along the way. Take it one step at a time, and keep going and eventually you’ll look back and think “wow. I did that?”

How did you get into motivational speaking? It must be very rewarding to have such a positive impact on so many people?

I started going to Toastmasters about 8 years ago, which is a global public speaking club. My coach at the time recommended that I go and was thrilled at improving my skills. As I got more confident with my voice, I saw what a difference being well-spoken made for my business and kite career. That served as the basis.

But it wasn’t until I got fed up with instagram that I started sharing motivational content. I found myself not enjoying the platform anymore but felt the need to show up on there for my sponsors and business. I was very much caught in the rat race and needed to get out of it. So I decided to start sharing things that I learned and being really vulnerable and authentic. 

I have a shiny life but deep down I’ve struggled with not feeling good enough, not feeling successful and not feeling confident. When you feel that way, you hold yourself back and I knew that if I felt that way, other people were feeling that way. I started sharing challenges, educational and inspirational content and generally treating my platform more as a place of service. I’d ask “how can I serve my audience today?” Not only did this make instagram way more enjoyable again but it sparked a fire in me to speak to larger groups and audiences. 

My own life has been hugely impacted by great speakers and I feel called to share my message through this form of communication as well. 

You’ve been riding for Slingshot for a year or so now? What’s it like being a part of the team? What’s your go to wing gear?

I love the Slingshot team! We have such a great core group and there are a lot of a-players that are a part of the brand. I really feel at home with them. Not only that but the gear is awesome. Because my husband, Brandon Scheid, is the head of testing and r&d for Slingshot, I get to see a lot of behind the scenes work and gear and it leaves me even more inspired to ride their stuff–I know how much work they’re putting into it. 

I’m currently riding the 30L Flying Fish board when I want to practice jumps or the 50L wing craft board for rolling swell days. I have a few wings in the Phantasm range and I’m currently loving the PTM 926 front wing, with the 80cm mast. 

My new favorite wings are the V3’s! They’re just so solid feeling. But the Javelin’s, our new boom wing, are launching soon and despite breaking my wrist on a boom wing (yikes), I really like how the wing feels with the boom. You can ride one-handed and the control feels really nice. 

Thanks so much for your time 🙂

By Jack Galloway

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