Aged eight Ella Williams wrote on a surf poster that she wanted to be the World Champion and put it up on the wall beside her bed so every day when she woke up she saw it. Less than 10 years later in 2013 at Brazil's Joaquina Beach her dream cam true when she became the first, and only, Kiwi to win the Women's World Junior Championships. Williams was taught to surf aged just four by her surfing parents Janine and Dean and by the age of six she was competing in under-12 contests around the country alongside big brother Braedon. However after her World Junior win Williams spent the next years surfing on the Qualifying Series trying to qualify, with a best finish in the top 30 in 2015. In between her competitive travels she works at the family business at a surf shop in Whangamata. The Williams took over the shop in 2002, and which continues to serve holiday-makers at the Coromandel beach holiday hotspot and managed by her brother. In 2019 Williams earned a provisional place in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo courtesy of her results in the ISA World Surfing Games. It’s a safe bet to say that all the Williams clan will cheering her on in person Japan, and that the surf shop maybe a little understaffed.