Manhattan Beach-based Activyst bags hope for active girls in need
Activyst cofounder and Manhattan Beach resident Katie Rock with an early prototype of the “Out and About Tote Bag.” Oh, you’re the girl who surfs, a local stranger said to her. In 2007, Arizona-native Katie Rock had recently finished law school at the University of Michigan and taken her bar exam. At the time, she was indulging in a well-deserved respite in beachside Nicaragua before starting at a major law firm in Washington D.C. She looked around her. She noticed that, fair enough, she was indeed the only girl in the water. As a lifelong athlete and former tennis player for Gonzaga University in Washington State, Rock surfed, jogged and hiked every day during her time there, much to the confusion of local observers. “The entire town was so fascinated and perplexed by me,” recalled Rock, 31, who currently lives in Manhattan Beach, “like, what is this girl doing? What are you running from?” A group of inquisitive local girls, between ages 7 and 10, approached her and asked why she was surfing. “It’s so dangerous, and it’s for the boys. Aren’t you afraid?” Rock, who has studied Spanish since an early age, soon learned that these girls, despite their close proximity to the water…
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