Kula Barbieto learned to surf from her uncle at age thirteen. She moved to Maui and graduated from Lahainaluna High School, attended Kapiolani Community College, and worked as a flight attendant for Hawaiian Airlines. When she was furloughed on January 1, 2003, she began filming "Surf Girls." She was chosen out of 6,000 women who auditioned for the show in California, Florida, Hawaii, and North Carolina. During the show Kula contracted chicken pox in Samoa and dislocated her shoulder in Tahiti
