Wendy Di Marco Shannon Reporting interview on Olazica and surfing

The Wendy Di Marco Shannon Reporting interview for Women Making Waves covered why Di Marco created Olazica sunscreen for herself and her daughter, the women's surf sessions she remembers most at Barra de la Cruz, and her decision to enter the Mom's Triple Crown. She also spoke about building a business as a single mother without giving up surfing.

What did Wendy Di Marco say about Olazica sunscreen?

Wendy Di Marco said Olazica is a tinted SPF 50 sunscreen she developed to stay on during surfing without the thick feel she disliked in other high-SPF products. It has seven ingredients, and she spent more than two years working one-on-one with a chemist in a Florida lab to refine its texture.

Di Marco said the formula uses clear non-nano zinc for a finer finish, titanium dioxide to help reach SPF 50, and iron oxides for its tint. She added the titanium dioxide despite its white cast because she wanted to reach that SPF level without compromising her ingredient choices.

She described the sunscreen as fragrance-free and said she chose shea butter and jojoba oil for the way they feel on her skin. An earlier version used beef tallow, but she changed to shea butter during lab development because the tallow expired faster. She now prefers the smell of the shea-butter version.

Although Shannon Reporting said the product remained on during a four- or five-hour surf, Di Marco drew a firm distinction between that experience and her recommendation as the owner: she could not recommend wearing it for more than its stated 80 minutes.

How did Wendy Di Marco start Olazica and choose its name?

Wendy Di Marco began experimenting with zinc in Mexico before her daughter was born, then started making sunscreen at home for both of them after the birth. She named Olazica for Playa de Zicatella, where she was living when she created it, and for her daughter, Zicatella, who was born there.

Making sunscreen at home in Mexico

Di Marco first bought inexpensive zinc products from a pharmacy rather than rely on the sunscreen available to her. After her daughter arrived, she wanted something natural to put on their skin while they spent time outside. She bought powdered zinc and cacao, mixed early versions at home and kept them in the refrigerator.

Friends began using what she made. A few years later, she had an early batch of Olazica made at home with cacao and beef tallow. The eventual lab formulation retained her focus on the feel of the sunscreen while replacing the tallow with shea butter.

Playa de Zicatella and her daughter

The name came to Di Marco after months of thinking about what to call the brand. Its connection to Playa de Zicatella mattered to her because the place and her daughter were central to why she made the product. Her daughter had just turned six when Di Marco spoke with Reporting.

What did Wendy Di Marco say about women's surfing at Barra de la Cruz?

Wendy Di Marco said the women-and-children sessions at Barra de la Cruz gave her some of the best surf sessions she can remember. She valued both the chance to choose waves in a quieter lineup and the encouragement of seeing women and young surfers share the water.

A session with Corral and Amina

One day stood out: Di Marco recalled that she, Corral and Amina from France were the only three women in town, and the waves were pumping. Two men joined them near the rock to help them position for takeoffs from behind it, then let the three surfers pick their waves.

She remembered taking off on waves she would normally have watched someone else ride. The session lasted two hours, though she said she could not keep surfing for the whole period. What stayed with her was the quiet, the energy and the opportunity to try those takeoffs herself.

Reporting also raised the children-only surf time at La Punta. Di Marco said she would like to see more beaches make room for women and young surfers in ways that help them get waves. For her, the Barra sessions showed what that access could feel like in the water.

Why did Wendy Di Marco enter the Mom's Triple Crown?

Wendy Di Marco said she initially hesitated to enter the Mom's Triple Crown because she was hard on herself about both her surfing and her story. Encouragement from its creator, Danielle, helped her decide to submit a video, and putting it together made her feel proud of what she and other mothers had done.

Reporting described the event as a video contest for surfing mothers that brings their surf clips together with their experiences of motherhood. Di Marco said sharing that journey made her stop and consider what she had accomplished in the years since having her daughter.

She said she was having fun assembling her entry after deciding to participate. The process felt inspiring to her because mothers could show not just their surfing but what they had put into continuing it. She was also encouraged by the prospect of mothers surfing at the tour level, which she saw as a sign that women need not abandon one ambition to pursue another.

How does Wendy Di Marco balance surfing, business and raising her daughter?

Wendy Di Marco said balancing surfing, Olazica and raising her daughter full-time as a single mother has been difficult, but she does not want to give up any of them. Surfing gives her a break from her troubles, she said, and helps her return to parenting more present.

She had been a single mother for a little over three years. Looking back on that time while preparing her Mom's Triple Crown entry, she described tears and pain alongside the satisfaction of building her brand and keeping her place in the water.

Di Marco put her view of her own surfing plainly:

I'm surfing better than I ever did in my twenties. I'm more confident now than I ever was before.

Beach days in Huntington Beach

Her daughter shares that enthusiasm. Di Marco said the six-year-old wants to body surf when they visit Playa de Zicatella, and described long beach days with a growing group of children near Northside in Huntington Beach. The younger kids body surf and boogie board while older ones surf.

At a desert wave pool, Di Marco took two sessions while her daughter joined a learn-to-surf class. She said watching her daughter catch waves brings her as much pleasure as catching them herself. She also sees more young girls surfing, competing and training than she did while growing up; those surfers, she said, are role models for her daughter.

Keeping all three priorities in her life means making trade-offs elsewhere. Di Marco said she socializes less, rarely drinks and prioritizes sleep. Time with the children and other surfers at the beach has become an important part of her social life.

When did Wendy Di Marco say Olazica would launch?

Wendy Di Marco said Olazica was available online in a small batch during a soft launch, with a broader retail launch planned for spring 2027. She hoped to begin that next stage by February but still had branding work to finish, so she presented the timing as a plan rather than a fixed launch date.

She directed customers to olazica.com and the Olazica sunscreen Instagram account. In the meantime, she was creating lifestyle content, visiting wave pools and planning travel with her daughter while introducing people to the product. The brand remains personal to her: it grew from something she first made for the two of them at the beach.