Debra Brockelsby had her “dream job”.
Based at Cambridge’s velodrome, she worked as a performance and technique analyst for the New Zealand Olympic cycling team.
It allowed her to “travel the world” – one weekend she could be in Chile and the next in Colombia.
Then she fell off her mountain bike and hit her head.
Brockelsby suffered a brain injury and “the worst pain I’ve ever been through”.
“My headaches were the worst of my life – it felt like my head was in a vice, like literally being squished.”
Brockelsby took 18 months off work, being cared for by her partner and parents.
That was when she realised “life is short”.
Brockelsby – who now lives in Rotorua – quit her job and decided to sell wearable towels.
She founded StokedNZ in November 2017 “and I haven’t looked back”.
“I’m so glad I did it.”
Brockelsby told the Rotorua Daily Post she was having “a fun day out” with friends when she had her mountain biking accident in September 2015 at Ōkere Falls near Rotorua.
She rode over a 0.5m to 1m-high drop and went over the handlebars. She landed hard on her left ear and her bike hit her on the back of her head.
“My brain kind of got like a real shake-up.”
Brockelsby suffered a brain injury as a result, the impacts of which became more apparent in the following days.
By day five, “I was seeing stars”.
An MRI scan showed bruising on her brain.
Brockelsby said she was “in a dark room” for about four months.
The injury affected her depth perception, meaning she could not cross the road by herself for “months”.
“I wasn’t able to drive for a really long time.”
She took medication to manage the pain but lost “all independence” and was forgetful.
“It was a pretty rough time.”
Brockelsby regularly saw a neurologist and occupational therapist for cognitive rehabilitation.
After she recovered, she returned to work part-time.
As an avid swimmer, bike rider and nature lover, Brockelsby said she would use a “towel poncho” after going for a bike ride in the rain or as a “portable changing room and a towel”.
“I’d already had one, but I have eczema. They were always micro-fibre and I really hate it on my skin.”
Brockelsby said she had not sewn since high school but her grandmother’s best friend, who she had known for most of her life, knew how to.
She asked her to help sew some “towelies” using Indian cotton.
Then she remembered she had a Turkish towel which was “still going strong” after 10 years.
Brockelsby said she travelled a lot with her old job, “and there’s nothing worse than putting a wet towel back in your suitcase”.
“I love that Turkish cotton was super quick drying, they take up no room ... and I hadn’t seen them on the market anywhere.”
Brockelsby started selling Turkish cotton “towelies” at markets. She sold 14 at her first market in Mount Maunganui.
At the start of 2018, she received a wholesale order for 1000 towelies.
“So, I booked a ticket to Turkey.”
She met with two suppliers and now works with three Turkish families to make the products.
The designs are hand-drawn by Brockelsby, her friends, or local artists.
She said the business had grown every year since its inception, now employing six people.
“We’ve hustled ... but it’s bloody cool and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
The name StokedNZ came from Brockelsby always saying “stoked”, having lived in Revelstoke in Canada, and being “stoked to still be here” after her accident.
Brockelsby is organising a “topless swim” at Lake Rotoiti near Rotorua on October 11, with all profits being donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation.
She said her friend was a breast cancer survivor who had a mastectomy but did not get reconstructive surgery.
“She was super self-conscious swimming [and] going to public changing rooms.”
Brockelsby gave her friend a “towelie”, who said it was life-changing.
“It’s given her the freedom to change and swim again.
“I was like shit, you can’t be the only one.”
Brockelsby said StokedNZ did a campaign last year called “show us your tits” when customers drew their breasts and sent them in to be “weaved” on to towels, “towelies” and hair wraps.
She donated $39,000 to the Breast Cancer Foundation from their sales.
Brockelsby said this year’s fundraising event would be bigger.
She said the topless swim event was about “normalising that there are other people that look like you”.
“I reckon it’s going to be bloody incredible and so empowering.
“Basically, everyone’s just going to go swim and hang out with cool people and have great food and mulled wine, and you’re doing it for charity.”
Tickets are available on the StokedNZ website.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.