Last Updated on May 14, 2021
Paula Rosales is an accomplished watersports athlete and creative consultant. After her stint as a commercial model, brand ambassador and talent for various brands in her younger years; she decided to put her talents in the watersports and tourism industry. In 2015, Paula started her own company called Blue Kiteboarding Inc in the Philippines, housing the very first kiteboard terrain park in Asia. As an Intellifluence influencer, Paula has a reach of over 14,000 followers. You can learn more about Paula and view her current ventures at www.radheart.com
Tell us about Radheart, Blue Kiteboarding and what led you to branch out into the watersports and tourism industry…
Okay so to start with when I was young I’ve always loved the ocean, I love water sports, and I was trained to be a model, I was a former model in the Philippines, I also love theater and all this like media stuff and then I just thought that it would work if I crossed all my passions together.
And I was a competitive athlete for quite some time I was a Roxy rider in Southeast Asia and that’s when I started to think about ambassadorship and also using my voice to help those that want to get into the water sports not just the girls but also the companies that want to get into it and start up their business so that’s why we have blue kite boarding. And Radheart is just my blog basically and if somebody wants to read me that’s my website.
Can you describe your ah-ha moment when you decided influencer marketing was something you wanted to pursue, and when did you recognize that you are an influencer?
So when I got sponsored for the first time I was actually really surprised that I was sponsored because I wasn’t really a champion and I thought as an athlete for you to be sponsored by a brand you have to be a champion. And when I asked the person who wanted to sponsor me like “why are you sponsoring me” and they’re like “there’s only going to be like two percent champion in the entire world but we’re not after that. We are after the way you are as a person the way you communicate to other girls, to other people” and they found it really inspiring. So I always thought like okay so sports has always been an outlet for me to be a better person and if I can communicate that to people then I guess this is something that is a great message for the brands. I studied communication as well and I always thought that as communications expert we have the capacity to influencer other people and it’s always good that we present them that it is positive.
Your Instagram is comprised of blue skies and beaches, but I’m sure that’s only part of your life. Can you describe how you structure your average day so you can get everything accomplished that’s on your list?
Right, so I am a five a.m. wake upper. My mom trained me really well since I was also an athlete it was always 5 a.m. is always the start of the training so I’m always used to waking up that early. At five o’clock in the morning I get up, I have breakfast, and then I usually have a list already that’s prepared for me during the day, which I’ve already prepared the night before and then I go to yoga. If the surf is great I’ll go out straight but I usually start my day with yoga and then I come back home, I do a little bit of work and then I have lunch and I work a little bit, I do my conference calls like now cause it’s lunch time and the wind is starting right now so I’ll be out in like three hours in the water again. And then at this time this is a window for me to shoot my products and also do the interviews, do the photo shoot, do like client calls, and then after that I just hang out at the beach with my friends and then come back home have dinner, read some books and then prepare for the next day and then go to sleep, that it.
Can you tell us a little bit about your training with kiteboarding?
So to begin with I was a competitive swimmer when I was – I started when I was in sixth grade so that was a benchmark for me to get into a really strong routine for training and when I transferred to water sports it was easier for me because it was much more of a fun sport than like doing two hundred laps in the pool so it was easier for me actually to have that.
I do cross train. I do a lot of yoga and strength training at the gym which also led me to a lot of being an influencer for a lot of, how you say this, work out brands because it’s a – kiteboarding is a very small sport but of course combining it with training indoors with the gym and also the recovery process and the yoga, you know, this other fun stuff in between that’s, yeah that’s basically what I do. I also like to cross train because just to change things up.
In a recent post, you brought up the importance of unplugging from time to time – what do you like to do in your free time away from the office – whether it be an actual office building or your other office, the beach?
Well I usually stay in the beach number one or I go underwater, I go diving. I also love hiking. For me being close to nature is one thing I really need so if I’m not facing a computer I would rather be outdoors. Actually, right now I’m outdoors so I still have fun.
What are some of your goals as it pertains to influencer marketing in the next few years?
So I made this promise to myself that I’m going to start only promoting products that are climate neutral. It’s quite hard as of the moment because not all companies are on that train yet but it’s getting better. It’s also I think my part to introduce them to being climate neutral so that’s one of the things that I’m trying to get myself into. Maybe in the next three years I would like to just promote brands and work with brands that are climate neutral.
Andrew is the Head of Client Services for Intellifluence and has a background in communications. He is committed to helping brands get the most out of their campaigns and is the co-host of the Influencer Spotlight series.
