8
Q & A
WITH WOTBIKINI’ S
EMMA LOVE
INTERVIEW: PETER TRANTER PHOTOS: GRAHAM WOOLLVEN, WARWICK REDWAY, KAT PARKIN, RITA FILIPPOVA, DEL CLARE, CHARLIE HEWITT, RUBEN STARMER, WENDY ATKINSON & EMMA LOVE FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, SUPM HAS BEEN HONOURED TO SHOWCASE EMMA’ S INSIGHTFUL Q & AS, WHICH HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN HIGHLIGHTING
THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF WOMEN IN SUP. AS THIS MARKS THE FINAL ISSUE OF
SUPM, WE FELT IT WAS FITTING TO EXPLORE EMMA’ S JOURNEY, FROM FOUNDING
WOTBIKINI STAND UP PADDLEBOARDING TO BECOMING A PADDLE UK DELIVERY PARTNER IN 2021. OVER TO YOU, EMMA …
Before we start, Emma, please tell our readers a little about yourself, your background, your family, etc. Growing up in Norfolk, my childhood memories are of climbing( and falling out of) trees, long bike rides, and walks on the beaches. Weeknights were packed with school netball, gymnastics, and hockey practice, and the weekends meant team matches or sailing our little wooden dinghy with my brothers – my dad’ s favourite, if rather short-lived, hobby.
I would have loved a job in sport or the outdoors, but in the early 1980s, those kinds of opportunities for women were pretty much unheard of. After filling out one of those firstgeneration computer questionnaires, my school careers officer confidently told me I’ d make a very good secretary!
Instead, I followed a different path: training and working in the visual arts. Later, after moving to the East Midlands( where I’ m still based), I took a leap into something new – qualifying and working as a full-time youth worker in both the statutory and charity sectors.