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Nique Miller is an athlete, making waves in the world’s coolest extreme sports. She’s an Afro-Latina surfer, a rarity in a sport that rarely features dark-skinned women of color. Nique is self-taught and is breaking the mold in all sorts of ways, earning major awards and sponsorships from brands like Sun Balm and OG surfers Billabong.
© Nique MillerNique, born Dominique Miller, is of African-American and Mexican-American descent. She grew up in South Texas and Michigan, areas that aren’t really associated with the surf scene. Still, she was an athlete since she was a little girl, ranking as one of the top cross country stars in the nation while also becoming an All-Star Lacrosse player.
After high school, Nique earned an athletic scholarship in the University of Hawaii and her life took a turn. Following a cross-country trek, Nique, who’d always loved the water, started surfing. The rest is history; within months, after learning how to surf by watching others do it, Nique was participating and winning in surf competitions.
© Nique MillerNique rose to prominence over Instagram, where she earned thousands of followers. She is now one of the top 10 female competitive stand-up paddle surfers, a vein of surfing that’s similar to the more popular longboard surfing, with big boards and the addition of paddles that help surfers maneuver waves.
She has over 234K followers and regularly posts clips, photos, and videos of herself surfing with style and grace. As a hobby, Nique pursues surf photography, something that’s obvious once you scroll through her carefully curated Instagram feed. She balances pro-surfing and being a digital influencer, two time-consuming professions that constantly need attention and hard work.
© Nique MillerNique is likely training hard for the upcoming surf season, which took a break due to the pandemic and is starting to kick into full gear. You can catch her on Billabong ads -- where she became the first Hispanic and Black athlete to be signed -- and Sun Balm sponsorships. Also on a variety of surfing competitions, where she’ll surely leave an impression and take home the gold.
