If you’ve been tuning into the webcast for the Rip Curl Pro Raglan, you would have seen Jess and Tru Starling showcasing their verbal dexterity as commentators. The sisters from Narrabeen are accomplished surfers, articulate pundits and established entrepreneurs. Tracks recently caught up with the dynamic duo for a magazine interview. The following story appears in Tracks issue 605.
Over the last decade, Tru and Jesse Starling have become one of surfing’s most influential sister acts. Whether competing, commentating, coaching or launching skincare brands, the duo’s success is underpinned by a confident and professional approach to anything they undertake.
Growing up in Narrabeen, Tru and Jesse had to figure out the ruthless ‘Northy’ lineup while claiming their place in a boardriders club that proudly surfs under the Jolly Roger, pirate flag. The competitive Narrabeen arena combined with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry saw them become formidable competitors and both enjoyed contest success.
However, Jesse and Tru were blessed with talents beyond blasting lips, and their passion for surf culture led them to create their own online women’s surf publication, ‘MurMur Mag’. In recent times their paths have grown more divergent as Tru (25) pursues an honours degree in psychology and a coaching role for Surfing Australia, while Jesse (23) is investing more energy in top-flight commentary and surf media. Although regularly on the road, they both still live at home with mum and dad (now on the NSW north coast), and work on Mureco Skin, the company they co-founded. Below, Jesse (JJ Noodles) and Tru (Boots) discuss how their unshakeable bond has helped them navigate the volatilities of the surf industry and different phases of their lives.
Jesse on Tru
Inseparable Siblings
Tru and I did everything together growing up and we really had each other’s backs. Whether it was surfing, parties or going to mate’s houses, we even played in the same basketball team at one point. My parents always drilled into us, “Stick together and never leave a man behind”, we still hear this saying to this day before every night out. Growing up, Tru was everything I wanted to be, you know she got to have her ears pierced first, have sleepovers, enter surf comps, you know all the usual eldest born things you do, so as the fitting little sister I am, I used to do anything to be like her.
Competing Against Each Other
The first one I can remember was at the BL blast off I believe in 2013, pretty sure Tru smoked me in this one haha. Don’t worry I got her back.
In the early days of competing Tru got me a lot, she was a way better surfer than I was and I’d say a better competitor as well. We’re 16 months apart so every second year I would surf up in the older division and come up against Tru and a lot of the older girls, which was pretty daunting. I honestly can’t remember an exact time she got me but the winning count (although she doesn’t like to admit it) really started to even out as we got older.
Hug it Out
“Hug it out!” haha this is always what our mum would say after heats. We’ve always been told family comes first so there was never a question of anything getting in the way of our connection. Although, I had a better backhand than Tru and Tru had a better forehand than me so if we drew each other in a heat my dad would always say, “Jesse you sit on the left bank, Tru you sit on the right and don’t hassle each other”.
Victory is Sweet
… I wouldn’t say Tru and I ever had a rivalry, but the drive to beat her was real. You always want to win but there is something about beating your older sibling that feels pretty sweet.
Other Fields
Tru was always really good at soccer; I tried it for a while and kept tripping over my feet haha. She’s also a lot more academic than I am, she is one of the smartest people I know and has an incredible ability to retain information. I’d say I got more of the creative jeans, hah.
I Got Your Back
Honestly, I’m usually the one getting us into trouble and Tru has to back me up but there was this one time out at Narrabeen. Tru and I paddled down the beach to a bank by ourselves, another surfer paddled out and immediately started hassling us and dropped in on Tru. We both exchanged some words with this surfer, but Tru went crazy haha, I was there for moral support and completely had her back, but she fully sent this person in to the beach… they paddled in too… I was like damn Tru, ahah.
If you know Narrabeen you would know that the old boys were pretty stoked from this.
Differences
I’ve always explained Tru and I in a pretty simple way, she sees the world in black and white, where I see the world a little more grey. Tru loves things in linear, which I can really appreciate. Everything has a home; she has an answer to all of her questions and loves a problem to solve. Myself on the other hand, my lines are quite curvy, my room is organised chaos, and I don’t like problems haha. So we really do balance each other out, when I need some straightening up she helps me find order, when she’s a little too stuck in her ways, I help her loosen up. It’s always been like this.
Although don’t cross her, she may be small, but she is feisty.
Navigating the Surf Industry
There is no way I could’ve done it without her. We used each other to help pave a new path in the industry, which I don’t think either of us could’ve done alone. Whether it was commentating, getting waves or moving 10 hours away from home to a new surf town, we figured it all out together.
The Narrabeen Tribe
Tru is really feisty, so she had a really strong persona in the lineup, which made it a lot easier for us to get waves. In all honesty though, Tru and I were spoilt for love at Narrabeen. It wasn’t hard to get waves because we all respected each other, I know it may look daunting and heavy from the outside but once you’re in the Narrabeen tribe, it’s like having an extended family. We were always looking out for each other.
Making ‘MurMur’ Together
Awe ‘MurMur’! Our first passion project, which really helped us get to where we are today. Tru and I loved ‘MurMur’ and had a great working relationship, she was very good with the structure of it all where I came up with a lot of the ideas. ‘MurMur’ will always be my first love.
Commentating Together
Tru would have to be my favourite person to commentate with just based off how easy it is to work with her. She gets me and I get her. We both really know our roles as well when on the mic and we don’t overstep each other’s line. The energy we have together on the mic I haven’t felt it with many other people, we just bounce off each other so well and know exactly what to do.
Trusting Each Other’s Feedback
If you’re not open to feedback, especially from the ones you love, then you might be doing something wrong I’d say. Well at least that’s the way I feel with my family. Tru and the whole Starling tribe are my biggest sounding boards, and myself for them. Tru and I know we both have each other’s best interest at heart, so an open dialogue is always there.
Overcoming Hardship or a Challenging Situation
…I learnt a lot from Tru’s mistakes growing up so I always knew it was my duty to help her get through tough times. Tru recently had a bad run of boyfriends, and I don’t think seeing your sister get heartbroken will ever get easier, but I will always pick her up and put her back together no matter where or when. I am very protective over Tru, and she knows I won’t accept anything less than what she deserves so we bounce off each other a lot for big life decisions as we’re getting a bit older. We’ve got each other for life, my ride or die.
Beat Boxing
Tru thinks she can beat box after two, red wines… she definitely can’t but it makes for great entertainment, it’s amazing.
Tru on Jesse
Sharing
Jesse and I are really close. We would share basically everything. She would ride my surfboards all the time, we would share clothes, we had some of the same friends. Out of all the people in my life she is the most important to me, so she knows everything, no secrets between us.
Sister vs Sister
I can’t exactly remember the first heat together, but I remember surfing a few with her and I absolutely hated it. I would always get more nervous for Jesse than I would for myself so when we had heats together, I was always wanting her to get through as well and it sort of distracted me!
This was the one and only time she ever beat me… We were surfing, I think it was a Rip Curl grom search at Jan Juc one year, and I was coming second the whole heat and Jesse needed a score, and she got a wave in the last minute or so and ended up getting the score and progressing and I remember being so rattled. I was so stoked she made the heat but was also like what the hell just happened.
A healthy Sibling Rivalry
We would always try to beat each other in surfing, cooking, training, school, commentating. Whatever it is, we had a really healthy rivalry between each other, for me it was never to be better than her it was more to keep up and be a part of the journey. But I will say it always felt good to get a win over her.
Teeing Off
Commentary. Every day of the week. I also got kind of into golf, not playing games but going to the driving range I found it really therapeutic but when Jesse started coming and being better than me at it, it became less therapeutic and more annoying haha. So I haven’t gone to the driving range with her for a while…
Backing Up Jesse
I am really protective of Jesse. There has been a few situations where I have wanted to go into bat for her but she wouldn’t let me. I remember one moment in school and girls were being girls I guess, and I remember being really angry with one girl in particular and a switch just flipped and I saw red. There are not many things that get me really angry but crossing my sister is one of them and I would back her up every time. She has actually told me to back off a bit haha, so most of the time I hold my tongue and wait till I feel like I can step in. Usually, it’s a nod or a vibe I get and that’s when I know it’s okay for me to step in.
Differences
… I go from zero to 100 really quickly and tend to be quite emotional but she is so patient and calm. She is also really creative; she has the most incredible ideas whereas I don’t have a creative bone in my body.
Carving Paths in Surfing
Oh 100%. I seriously don’t know where I would be without her. We created a few pretty amazing paths together in the industry growing up, competing and commentating together and I think that without her to do it with I wouldn’t love it as much.
Narrabeen
Growing up in Narrabeen it was tricky to navigate the scene at first because there was so many guys and it was quite scary, but I knew I could do anything with her at my side. We would always be in unison and supportive of each other and I knew no matter what that if we had each other out there then we were going to be just fine.
A Good Working Relationship
Yeah, ‘MurMur’ was such a cool experience for us both. Jesse brought the creative vision to the table. She would come up with cool articles, artwork and I was good at the execution and structure of things, I guess. I wrote a few articles and spent some time interviewing people because I really love asking questions and finding out things, but we would usually work really well together to get projects done. We worked really well together, We always have a pretty honest and open line of communication and that doesn’t really change in any sort of situation.
Open and Honest
We always have a really open and honest communication system with each other. There was a time when we definitely did not, and we learnt that that didn’t work for us at all. Being open and honest while also listening to each other is huge, we would honestly sometimes be so in sync with each other that sometimes we wouldn’t even need to say anything we could tell by a look and know what the other is thinking.
In Sync on the Mic
…We know each other so well that we just know what the other is thinking by either tone of voice, eye contact or body language. It is pretty crazy how in tune we are with each other. We can definitely bounce off each other well for sure, I haven’t commentated a heat with Jesse for a while so I’m not sure about now because she’s all celebrity on the CT now haha, but we definitely have a lot of fun together and I’m so proud of her for pursuing her dreams.
Everything is on the Table
… We talk about everything – weird random things about our day, what we ate, how we slept, things like that. We honestly cover everything!
Spare Time
Jesse and spare time don’t live on the same planet haha. So, in the rare moments she has spare time she is usually with me, mum and dad, her friends or Joel being social! Otherwise, she was watching a show called Black Bird I think on Netflix, which I also got into haha.
