Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Megan Peters. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Surf Salutations was born out of a deeply personal journey through physical challenge and seeking more balance in my own life. My athletic background and high-stress career in tech sales had me constantly eager to push my limits, running on adrenaline, which I thought I thrived on, but was teetering on the edge of burnout in reality. Eventually, the toll became impossible to ignore. In my mid-twenties, I was diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases, which was a wake-up call, making it clear that my body was mirroring the imbalance in my life—stress and exhaustion were manifesting physically in ways I could not ignore.

Around that time, I took an opportunity at work to help build out a sales team in Sydney, Australia, where I lived for six years. My time there was transformative, as I learned to embrace a slower, more balanced approach to work and life, finding joy in a lifestyle centered around wellness, and started teaching yoga alongside my corporate career. Almost three years ago, I became a mother, and that deepened my commitment to and prioritization of a life filled with balance and well-being. This journey inspired me to create Surf Salutations as a community for mindfulness, movement and play.

Through the years, in my own movement approach, I struggled to find the right balance between strength and flexibility. My physical therapists were constantly advising me to shift my approach—sometimes I wasn’t stretching enough, while other times, I was overdoing yoga without enough strength and stability work; both paths led to injuries, especially with my hyper-mobility. This push and pull made me see a significant gap in the wellness market. I often needed two memberships or multiple class packs to get what my body truly needed: one for yoga and another for strength-focused classes. I craved a small, close-knit community with highly trained instructors and a motivating, boutique aesthetic and atmosphere. Larger gyms offered a broad range, but they often lacked the tailored and community-focused approach I was looking for.

We moved back to California and settled down in Oceanside, CA. Surf Salutations grew into a physical space and community here, from my desire to bring everything together under one roof—a single membership offering both strengthening and lengthening in one place. Here, you can find the balance of yang and yin, strength and stretch, push and pull; all essential to a well-rounded fitness and wellness journey. Surf Salutations is designed for busy, modern people who, like me, have felt caught between the worlds of slowing down and speeding up. At Surf Salutations you’ll find a balanced, holistic approach to movement in a community that understands the need for both physical and mental well-being.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a wife, mom, golden retriever lover, travel enthusiast, DIY-er, volleyball player, and perpetual beginner surfer. My yoga journey began 15 years ago and deepened as it became essential to sustaining my health and active lifestyle while navigating chronic illness. Over the past five years, I’ve trained under inspiring teachers in both Australia and the U.S. like Duncan Peak and Stacy McCarthy and taught power vinyasa, yin, sculpt, and pre/post-natal yoga, blending classical yoga philosophy with modern vinyasa and yin for a well-rounded, functional fitness approach. I also hold an ACE certification as a Group Fitness Instructor, specializing in strength and HIIT classes. This diverse background allows me to bring motivation and community-building into my classes, fostering a sense of team support while encouraging individuals to deepen their practice.

At Surf Salutations, we provide a unique blend of yoga, sculpt AND strength/endurance training (HIIT), allowing clients to develop a well-rounded and sustainable fitness routine that balances their physical and mental well-being. Designed for the busy individuals, our classes are 45 minutes and all include 3 minutes of breathwork at the start and 3 minutes of active REST at the end. We also provide family-focused classes including Mommy and Me yoga sculpt, prenatal yoga, and kids yoga classes, helping to build a supportive community for busy parents to focus inward as well. We have a fantastic team of instructors who don’t take ourselves too seriously and bring a light, fun and uplifting spirit to the studio.

What I’m most proud of is the welcoming and fun community we’ve built at Surf Salutations, where people can connect, share their journeys, and grow together. I want our future clients to know that our studio is more than just a place to take yoga or workout classes; it’s a place of personal transformation, designed to help you embrace your wellness journey in a nurturing and supportive environment. Chill out,

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When I first entered the corporate world, I expected to have my head down until I retired, focused solely on climbing the ladder and achieving success, because that’s what everyone else I had looked up to did and thought that was the best path. With my goals set high, a “go-getter” mentality and type-A personality, this path initially felt exciting right. During my time working in San Francisco and Sydney, I was fortunate enough to work at several successful Silicon Valley based teach companies, where I gained invaluable experiences, including being part of one acquisition and one IPO. Each of these journeys was a remarkable opportunity that shaped my professional growth and taught me so much about business and resilience. However, after spending 12 years in tech sales, I realized that those years were a gift because I learned so much about business and they provided me with the financial stepping stones I needed to take the leap into entrepreneurship, since the fast-paced path and high stress no longer served me.

With some of the success I found in the tech world, I began to reflect on my savings goals and asked myself, “What was I always saving for?” Life is what I’m living right now, and I wanted to invest in something that aligned with my passions, values and dream life to be able to show up as the best version of myself every day. I decided to invest in opening a physical space for Surf Salutations. This decision was a very scary leap, but it was also an exciting opportunity to bet on myself and pursue a more balanced life to come home to my family with a full cup rather than a drained one. I love working, but I craved the chance to focus on something I am truly passionate about—creating a space where others could find wellness and community. Let’s learn to cheer up, slow down, and chill out together.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I’ve always loved working hard and embracing a good side hustle. Over the years, I dabbled in various ventures—food and travel blogging, photography, content creation, and teaching yoga—each one fueling my entrepreneurial spirit and creative side which I didn’t always get to express in the corporate world. During my time in Sydney, I decided to test the waters by combining my passion for entrepreneurship with my love for teaching yoga and building community, and that’s when I started Surf Salutations.

Originally, Surf Salutations began as surf and yoga retreats, yoga workshops, and other wellness experiences around Australia. My husband came up with the name “Surf Salutations,” a fun coastal play on the traditional sun salutations in yoga. This name perfectly encapsulated the essence of what I wanted to create—a space where people could learn to go with the flow of life, like the ebb and flow of the ocean, while nurturing their bodies and minds through yoga, movement and play. I worked on this project alongside my corporate job, gradually bringing my vision to life and executing 6 successful retreats, various workshops and other specialty classes. I taught some of the sessions myself, but I also built a fantastic team of instructors who ran various events, allowing me to focus on the broader aspects of the business that I also loved – the sales, marketing, and finance side of things.

As Surf Salutations started to gain some traction in Australia, my husband, son and I were simultaneously planning our move back to California. At this time, Surf Salutations’ events in Australia were selling out and receiving positive feedback from our clients, which gave me the courage and timing to transition from side hustle to full-time business. Instead of returning to my corporate job after maternity leave and our big move, I decided that I wanted to take the leap to build a physical space for community, movement and mindfulness in California. I’m excited about the future of Surf Salutations and to see where it ebbs and flows to!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.surfsalutations.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surfsalutations
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganfunkpeters/

Image Credits

Laura Costa Photography
Spindrift Stories Photography