Nick & Miguel - Founders & Co-Owners of Semente Surfboards, Ericeira, Portugal

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Following on from the Cement Surfboard Factory tour with Miguel and a forty-five minute conversation with Nick in the Shaping Bay, Miguel and Nick sat down together to talk about their journey, cement surfboards, and everything surfing related.
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We hope you enjoy the colourful conversation with two of the best in the industry.
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In Portugal.
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Sorry.
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I'm Miguel, next partner.
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So we started doing uh cement surfboards, that's what we started to do, like uh 82, 1982.
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And and we're still here.
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We're still here in the Riba Map.
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That was the beginning and not the end yet.
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So it's that 45 years or something like that.
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43, wannabe 44, yeah, yeah.
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So how does a Portuguese uh and uh American surfer meet?
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How does uh how does the history where where we met?
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Oh, it was funny.
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Ironicosha Caprika, I was side of the was that just in the We were just to a surfers, not not doing surfboats, and that was in 1979 or 1980 when coming in 1979, and and I didn't like the fucking Yankees.
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Yeah, we didn't like each other.
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We did like each other, you know.
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Under what the fan.
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I I looked at he looked like he was too cool for a shirt.
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And he didn't want to talk to America.
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I was like, yeah, okay.
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When we first met, we didn't like each other, you know.
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But then with time, we we we we we stayed really good friends.
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Yeah, and we held out and uh he was doing surf bots there, uh another label with a Portuguese guy.
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Uh and during that time we were really good friends.
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And and uh his partner, you can tell the history nickel.
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Yeah, there was uh um we kind of I think things were going kind of a bit sour, not the way I used to.
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Really nice guy, yeah?
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We all were really friends, we were all really friends.
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Super nice guy, the other guy, and a very talented guy, but things that just became always uh it was a heavy period in Portugal for heavy drugs, and there was a lot of you know that going on, Costa Caprica, and I didn't, you know, I just came to the conclusion that that's not what I wanted to be involved in at the time.
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So I kind of wanted to get out of there out of the environment where I was living, because I was living with this guy in the house, was becoming kind of a heavy environment in that.
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And Miguel at one point had stated that he would, if I ever wanted to, you know, if he had wanted to do surfboards somewhere else, give him a shout, you know, we'll do something.
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And I, you know, I remember one morning he came by and he said, Hey, let's go surfing.
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I said, Ah, I don't feel like it.
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It was kind of a party night night before.
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He said, Ah, I don't feel like it.
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He said, Ah, what's the matter with you, man?
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Surf's cooking.
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And he left, and I remember sitting in bed thinking, I gotta get out of here.
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And I went to the beach and met Miguel and said, Miguel, get out of here.
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Let's, you know.
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And so we went ahead and said, When are we gonna do this?
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And like I told you before, we picked the most amazing place to do it for lifestyle watch, but not for business.
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It was out.
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Oh, yeah, yeah.
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Yeah, dude.
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We wanted to surf, you know.
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And this was Oh, main goal in the beginning.
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Wow.
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When we started, we never thought that we're gonna remember.
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If you if you ask us on the first month or on the first year that we're here, uh what you're gonna do in the future?
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We don't know.
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Let's go surfing.
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She makes some surfboards up in the side, which was at the time, you know, now it's like 25 minutes from Lisbon.
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The time you're talking, two hours, two hours, two hours.
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Tell me I write an asking united.
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And so it was like not many people had cars back in the day.
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The roads were horrible.
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You know, there wasn't a lot of extra money rolling around.
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So I mean, to do a surfboard building company, and if you still had the wrong place at that time, we didn't even have a car, you know.
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Without a car, you need resident run, you need blanks, you need fiberglass, you need to go to the city, you need to sell boards of people that live in the city by bus.
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I mean good business plan.
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That's how it well known or well, there weren't many people here, but how did you guys find out about the waves?
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Was it just from traveling and just moving up and down the Portuguese coast?
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Well, everybody had it you said on a map back in the day, eh?
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I mean it was.
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I heard some people that surfed before me.
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You must go because I was surfing Kirkavel, Lucho Costa da Caparique, and people they were surfing before me.
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You must go, you must go it says there is really the wood waves.
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So we're coming back, yeah.
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It was a little adventure, you know, going it says big times.
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You serve like taking trips to North Shore, man.
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Big times, and there's you know, five guys one guy had a car, it might have been Miguel, it might have been some other guy.
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So you have five guys get together, gas money for everybody to drive up here, you know.
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And you came, he's no one.
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No one, yeah, no one around.
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No one in the surf, you know.
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So it was it was adventure, and then it pumped and it was beautiful, and you know, you could, you know, back in the day, camp on the beach in Rebecca Villas, you know, with no one, a little river mouth, and a guy had a little snack bar there, and it was just just different periods.
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Like like I say, the rest of the world was like that.
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I was telling you earlier, you know, the world world moves on, and it's all you know, you know, but so empty lineups, good waves, positive environment.
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Yeah, because that was uh aim for that and you stay.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Back gammon, backgammon, a bong here and there, you know.
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Good time back in life, you know.
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We were young.
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Yeah, like I I was 22, he was 23.
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So you imagine, you know, we're living together on the same house.
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The the the factory it was behind.
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How do you say behind?
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In Baj?
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Below.
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Below?
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We lived up above the factory, you know.
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So if if the surf is bull, you're going surfing and then we stay all night working if we if you have a order or you know.
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Get on it.
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And it was uh yeah, times when you'd be out of cautious, and you know, big day, you'd be out of course, something.
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Someone rocks up, you're like, come on out.
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You know, happy, want some company.
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It was, you know, it was crazy.
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It was difficult.
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That different period, I'm sure, was like that in a lot of places, you know.
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Yeah, anyone started who starts a business will empathize with this, that it's a lot of risk, is uncertainty.
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It's very difficult to know what to do, but when you find a nice place and you have an interest and a passion, you gotta start to get my.
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Yeah, and we had really a passion, and it was a it was a lot of nature at that time, Nick.
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The lizards and a lot of nature that nowadays with the buildings and that, uh not anymore.
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And and we love nature, and so we went to the nature too.
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Yeah, right.
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Surfing, taking photo taking photos of you had a camera.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Camera was like take photos with you, lizard lizards, you know.
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Surf, you know, whatnot.
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We had big lizards, green lizards.
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Right now.
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Now you don't see them anymore, you know.
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But it was also um, it's funny, um Miguel's father was very business.
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So when we loaded us the money.
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Yeah, he loaned us some money to start.
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And it wasn't a lot of money.
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We're touched what?
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Uh milk school.
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Uh today nowadays it's like 1,000 euros.
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Uh doing start the business.
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Okay.
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It wasn't much, but it tossed the money.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Well, do you messing, messing, you know.
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So but I mean, still a thousand euros.
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It wasn't that much.
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But I mean, if if we think about when I flew over, my flight, when I first came over, my Freddie Lakers flight was like a thousand bucks, and it was the cheapest flight on the market at the time from California.
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Round trip with nothing, no food, no pillows, no blankets, nothing.
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Freddie Lakers, remember those flights?
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Yeah.
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Out of London or whatever?
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But that was a thousand dollars.
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So we pretty much started the business with a thousand dollars, you know.
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And but we had to present a plan of how we're gonna pay it back.
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You know, yeah.
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We have absolutely, you know, okay, it's a thousand dollars.
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You know, we gotta buy our blanks to get our resin, because I didn't really take anything from the other place.
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And you bring like two or three blanks, I reckon.
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Yeah, maybe just a few things, a bit of fiberglass, yeah.
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You've been sending it.
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Maybe it gets crazy, period.
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Perhaps ten kilos of resin.
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Yeah.
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And we're like this is the factory, we missed the Where Where was the first location then?
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Where did you uh thousand bucks?
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How'd you find it?
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200 meters from here.
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Yeah, down the road.
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On the road to Koshus right there.
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Yes, if you clear to the Koshus, there's a road that instead of going to Koshov straight down, it was right down there.
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Just a little two-story apartment thing, and we had the we lived above and did the factory below.
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But the fact I mean, we did miserable little factory setup, it was enough in the beginning.
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Not like we were fighting people off for orders, you know.
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No, it was just me and him working, and it was enough.
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We didn't have the orders enough.
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Yeah.
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Maybe that time.
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Maybe less surfers, but also less shapers as well, less people with the nook.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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There was no one at that time when we started.
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It was uh Jasper.
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Yeah.
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It was uh the South African guy in Cashk.
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Robbie.
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Robbie.
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But the far line, not many.
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This is what was the beginning.
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You were doing it a month.
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And Tony was still making boards in coaching.
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Yeah, and Tony still was making boards.
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But we were doing what, five, six boards a month?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Like nothing.
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But it was enough.
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Yeah.
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For surviving and surfing.
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We had a and buy material again, you know, because we must buy material again, you know.
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We had a friend up in Alvarez, Zay Barbalez, who has since passed away, but we would call him like, Zay, good friend of ours, you know.
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We need a drum of resin.
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And he would come down his van.
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So we had no car, you know.
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He'd come down his van, drive over the river.
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We were buying it from a company over near the uh Villa the Franc, over that way.
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We bought, put it in the van, bring it up here.
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He was like our savior.
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Zay would come.
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So we get the get the resin drum up here.
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There isn't a space for three months or six months.
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And we finally got to a point where we figured, hey, we could probably import some blanks.
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So we got what, fifteen blanks or fifteen or fourteen, twelve more less for for from uh from England.
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Yeah.
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Oh, we got blanks from England.
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From England.
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We ordered some blanks, but we didn't have park from or what they uh I reckon it was park from, but from England.
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We imported from England.
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But we didn't have money for the transportation that so we went to the six blanks, I reckon.
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Six blanks.
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The biggest importation guy in Portugal, the biggest like uh uh customs guy in Portugal.
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And we went and we marked a meeting with him, and we sat down with a guy.
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We said, Hey, uh, you know, we got we make surfboards up and so we got this plan, we're gonna bring these blanks from the guy she has coat and jacket and all that, and the tie and all that sitting by in his big desks, these two like surfers in front of me.
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He said, We're gonna we want to import these blanks and that, you know, and we wonder if we do the transportation for us.
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Yeah, okay.
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He said, The only problem is we don't really have an old money custom because it was no CE.
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Yeah.
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Also custom.
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The custom dispatch, dispatching, the you know, getting out of the custom.
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Francis, all the duty importation, all that.
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But also, I know France, it was it wasn't like nowadays.
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Nowadays is open.
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England not anymore, but so we thought we need all this shit, you know.
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South together, and we said, but we want to do this.
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Okay, but we don't have any money for that.
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And he looked at us, says, So what you want me to be the bank?
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He said, I look like a No, I'm asking.
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You could loan us, you could loan us the man in the tree.
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And Sam, hey, you look at me like I'm a bank.
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Okay.
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But then he laughed and he said, Tell you what, you got a kick out of the whole thing, I guess.
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He said, Tell you what, okay, I'll do it.
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In the first one.
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So we did and we paid him back, and like from then on we rolled our own ball on the paid around building that.
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But you know, we work with his son now.
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The guy passed away probably.
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Yes, we still know 50 seconds company.
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But we still work with them, you know.
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Sometimes you need these little breaks, don't you?
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Yeah, but the and he was always like super stoked, you know.
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He was always come up.
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He was a really nice guy, and it was a funny little story for him to tell, I'm sure.
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These kids came here and asked me if I could, you know, foot the bill for him in the first importation.
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But also, also Luis Falcão.
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Falcão, we thought like he was the first big importer from blanks and uh reports.
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He started with Quicksilver in Portugal.
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And he we we at that time we were like buying 20 blanks or uh to him, but we asked him, hey, like a loan.
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And he was the same, hey, I'm a bank, he was the same, but he was loving it.
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Hey, hey, uh Mr.
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Falcon, but we pay you like in two weeks, we pay you one set, two weeks later we pay you the other set.
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We made a plan with him.
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And if the plan wouldn't be correct, like days before we would call him, hey Mr.
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Falcon, like in two days I can't pay what I promised.
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It's more perhaps one week, is okay?
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Okay, because you're serious and you call me, you know.
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No, no, no.
00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:36.720
Very good.
00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:38.720
We're in mid-flow, I did something silly.
00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.000
I should put a fresh one in so well.
00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:40.799
Okay, okay, okay.
00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:41.679
So okay, okay.
00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:57.360
So yeah, a catalyst uh we went for just a few boards or something locally, so it sounds like getting those blanks, uh that first shipment, and then the next thing you're talking about, that seems like a bit of a shift in Yeah, it was like death.
00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.720
After after how long it starts to be more solid?
00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:09.200
I think probably more than a year.
00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.679
Yeah, was it two long years, two years?
00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:15.120
It was when when like the first year we moved after one year, we moved.
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:15.679
Yeah.
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.519
We got another factory.
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:19.519
So where you went?
00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:23.679
So we were one year in this house, after one year we went to this one.
00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:25.039
We had to move the other factory.
00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:26.799
So that was a big move.
00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:29.519
But the factory was like half, just half.
00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:30.960
Not even less than half.
00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:36.159
Because the the the yeah, they're the they're the uh mechanics uh cars.
00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.200
It was auto mechanics shop.
00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.039
That pavilion we're at now.
00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:48.320
It was all mechanics shop, but then they wanted to be smaller, and we were knowing, and we say, okay, we stay with this uh with this area.
00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.240
We kept half of the little less than half.
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:50.559
Yeah.
00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:52.480
And then they eventually left, we took the whole thing.
00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:52.799
Right.
00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:54.320
That became our factory.
00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:59.200
But our the business was slowly growing along that period of time, you know, throughout the whole period of time.
00:13:59.519 --> 00:13:59.759
Okay.
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:01.360
All right, what are the new factories?
00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.519
Did that bring more people into the business?
00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:05.440
Yeah, but yeah, slowly, slowly.
00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:10.240
We put uh Alfonso, we had one even in the house, we had the first employee.
00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.639
Yeah, we had one guy in the first factory that came and helped us, you know, for a while.
00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.320
And uh when we started the other factory, thing is the numbers started to grow.
00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:19.600
You started to do more boards.
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:25.360
So then you need to teach guys a sand, need to, you know, teach you gotta glass, we go and take care of no business.
00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.919
So we got more people in the factory, you know.
00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:33.600
I start with him, he he he teach me how to glass, how to paint.
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:47.519
We were doing the fins, I was doing the finger plates, I was doing the hot coats, I was polishing, and Nick was shaping, was sending, dry sending, and was shaping the fins.
00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.159
So then then we're both glue in the blanks.
00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.879
We are national blanks, and then slowly you you need someone else more to help.
00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:58.480
So we put another one.
00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:08.080
I still was there working with with the phones and then and then slowly I start wanting out and business doing the numbers, numbers, numbers.
00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:09.120
That's normal.
00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:10.960
Yeah, you have to get many different hats.
00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.639
Just the lucky.
00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:17.360
Because I love numbers, he hates numbers.
00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:19.519
I don't hate numbers, I don't like it.
00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:20.720
It's a bit like that.
00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.879
Like like you you love um handwork, he loves handwork.
00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.279
Doesn't matter what it is, you know, and I hate it.
00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:33.200
So I say we're lucky because if we both just love members, personal good.
00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:38.559
If we just both just I want also to be a shaper, oh I shaped like 50 bots and act all day, Nick.
00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:39.600
Fuck the show, you know.
00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.639
I don't like this shit, you know.
00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.879
I mean lucky in this way, you know.
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:58.639
Like there's one common ground, like with both of us in different ways, but we both enjoy people and get on with people, and we're good with people, both of us in different ways, you know, but it's communication-wise, it's been yeah as far as the company goes.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:06.159
There's a famous uh uh American industrialist, he said about Charles Cook, and he said uh any good relationship.
00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:11.679
Private or commercial is shared values, shared vision, and then non-overlapping skills.
00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.960
So if you have the first two things that you see, you have a passion for symbols.
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.399
Community throw them at me, yeah?
00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:20.399
Shared vision, shared values, and non-overlapping skills.
00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.919
So you don't want two people made on boards, you have two numbers of people.
00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:25.600
You need to have bringing something.
00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:26.240
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:27.039
You need both.
00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:27.600
You need both.
00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:32.080
Yeah, you go, yeah, yeah, you go.
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:33.919
I'm gonna do white save business path.
00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:35.120
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:35.840
Yeah.
00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.759
Yeah, so that makes a lot of sense.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.720
Okay, so um yeah, new factory, starting to employ some people.
00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.279
What what kind of what kind of boards were you making then?
00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.919
The single fins was like in the 70s, early 80s.
00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:49.039
Oh, twin fins.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:54.000
Did everything single fins, um and the three fins, three fins started, you know.
00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.720
But the we were doing like all in the beginning, it was all glass-ons.
00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:03.840
On all the the three fins were all glass-ons, you know, and any quads we made with glass-on fins, boxes or anything.
00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:06.640
We we only thing we were doing anything was on the single fins.
00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:07.279
We had boxes.
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:07.440
Yeah.
00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:07.599
Yeah.
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:14.799
But the rest was glass-on fins, which was making our own fin panels, cutting fins out, foiling fins, gluing them on, you know.
00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:20.640
And at that period it was like if the board wasn't working, sometimes with T-mod we'd knock the fins off, put them in a different position.
00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:24.400
Yeah, change the outline and the fins off it work much better, you know.
00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:31.440
But you must take all the fin outs, you know, and put new fins in our you know, when the fin systems came in, it was, you know, whole different balls.
00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:42.720
Sometimes it was just because a bit of the angle, or uh he he then was exploring all those things and uh the position also just changing a bit the yeah, it was fun.
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.680
A lot of work, but it was a fun period, you know.
00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:52.799
Do you are you surfing the boards, getting a feel, and then going back in uh and iterating the designs, or are you not having input from other surfers as well?
00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:53.440
What's that?
00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:56.799
Iterating the designs, like the fin placements and so forth and rails.
00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:07.279
Yeah, that was all through surfing or trial and error with different, you know, athletes and and looking at other people's work too, because I mean it's always been Portugal's always been a melting pot for a lot of people come to surf here.
00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.079
Contest history is old in Portugal.
00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:22.240
I mean, there's been contests since the eighties, you know, where the pros came over, and that's a our factory was in a place where a lot of international surfers would come to surf and a lot of really good surfers, so we had a lot.
00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:33.200
Australians, South Africans, Americans that they want to come in this year, so they saw cement, they go there, you know, so he talked, he talked with them and let me see your board and that and that.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:33.839
So he landed.
00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.000
You know, Richard Dodd Marsh came through years ago.
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:42.160
We, you know, changed, put it that changed the edge on his board because he said it had too much edge or too less edge, one or the other.
00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:44.079
We either put more edge on or took it off.
00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:52.400
I can't remember now, but you know, I w met Dog ages ago up here, you know, and I mean we we had access to it to look at, you know.
00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.359
I mean, people that are traveling pros are traveling, hey, can you fix my board?
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:58.160
Yeah, it's okay if I look at it and measure it up, yeah, no problem.
00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:05.359
So had access to a lot of boards and saw what was going on in the rest of the world via the surfers that came through at the time, you know what I mean?
00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:10.160
So it was a it's a it's a good place to be, I think, to pick up, you know, a lot of information.
00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:14.480
Like, you know, we were on the center of friendships, you know, that's we both have friendship.
00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.000
You were more friends of Neville Hyman's, you know, Neville Hyman out of Australia.
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.119
Morris Cole did boards out of our factory at one point.
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:30.000
You know, there's been you know a lot of guys you've met along the way, shapers, so that and shapers outside their own country that were apt to open up and talk a bit, you know, I think.
00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.880
Bruce Smith, one of the Bruce is really nice guy, you know.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:34.000
He leaves in Chile now.
00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:35.039
Uh for many years.
00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.359
Uh one that works with 50 Grace.
00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.359
Phil Grace, you know Grace, yeah.
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:40.720
Phil Grace came down on.
00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:45.200
Yeah, there's been a lot of good shapers through the factory and a lot of information.
00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.279
Yeah, but it was all trial and error.
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:55.839
Like I said, when we first came up here, we have these short little wide things with, you know, big blocky rails with an edge way out here, you know.
00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:58.960
And you drop in a coast and when you hit the bottom, you'd spin out.
00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:07.440
So we gotta change rails, we gotta change outlines, we got, you know, with the matter, we had to change all kinds of stuff, you know, for the ocean, the waves we were surfing up here.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:09.759
So it was a learning period when it was good.
00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:11.839
This is all handshake.
00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:14.240
At that point it was, yeah.
00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:14.880
Yeah.
00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:16.480
We had another armor.
00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:18.319
We had this why I that's why I say it.
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.359
We had this we had this national blank.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:31.519
That was uh like parts of these blank, then he knows I've done them all up north, and this thing would come down the deck line, it would come from the nose.
00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:43.200
I mean the nose was probably that thick, you know, it'd come down the nose, hit the middle on the deck, and it had like this big camel in the middle of it, which was probably nine inches thick, something like that.
00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:49.920
And Neville called Miguel at one point, said, Yeah, ma'am, come on over, come on over to Portugal, can I do some boards, mate?
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:50.559
He said, Yeah.
00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:52.240
Miguel says, Well, line some boards up.
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:54.799
Yeah, maybe I'll do maybe 20 boards, 25 boards.
00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:07.440
Neville comes over and he gets here, and he got one order for Nunu Jonet, who's a a good friend of ours and that for stuck to start with, you know, and he there's a black light.
00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:08.720
Yeah, that's black.
00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:10.000
No, well, that's a more crop.
00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.599
He did one, and he says, Yeah, you know, I'll do one more, but I don't want to do more.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:14.640
I get two boards.
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:16.640
And just think preaches off the blank.
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:17.920
I must show that to my mates.
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.200
I must show that to my mates.
00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.240
I can't believe this thing.
00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:21.920
You guys are working with this, Mike.
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.039
And he did like he did two boards.
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:26.799
He said, I'm not gonna do any more, you know.
00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:28.880
Yeah, it wasn't easy.
00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:34.880
It was you'd start like planning crossways, and then you go back and forth when you get the once you get the hump out of the middle.
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.079
That was crazy.
00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:36.640
Yeah, wow.
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:37.440
Yeah.
00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:38.240
Yeah.
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:39.599
When did that well?
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:46.160
No, when when we really think the work that we had to do about compared with nowadays, is no work.
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:47.359
Nowadays, yeah.
00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:48.799
If you're thinking everything, yeah.
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.200
They still want to be fins.
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:54.400
Like the the uh even the leash plug, we are doing the bridge, you know.
00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:55.680
Yeah, we're doing the bridges.
00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.839
Glass on fins, uh making machines, you know, the shaping machines.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.119
Yeah, that's crazy.
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.480
I mean, polish at that time, Nick.
00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.359
Nick, at that time all boards were polished, you remember?
00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.720
Yeah, all polished.
00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:10.000
Much more work.
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:14.000
After the drice, polish more resin, more.
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.240
Yeah, it's a big, big difference these days.
00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:18.799
But polish we do with fixed fins.
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:21.839
Like with the fins, so you must be careful.
00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:22.880
Yeah.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:28.319
Every time you caught a fin, you riffed the woolly or boar flew off the rack or whatever.
00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:28.559
Yeah.
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:31.839
Nowadays a lot of horror stories of polishing.
00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:34.400
So you can go with the machine like that, you know.
00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.599
You saw him sending.
00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:36.720
He can go zzz zz.
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:39.599
But it's the fins were there.
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:49.680
Went from that to, you know, eventually like importing two and three containers a year from Clark Foam in America with the resin with the glass, with the foam, with everything, you know.
00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.240
And it, you know, when it became more of an industry.
00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.000
Took years, but I mean it happened.
00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:54.799
And we were, you know.
00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.400
Okay, we import foam.
00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:57.359
Maybe we have containers a year.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:57.680
Yeah.
00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.000
Yeah.
00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:58.559
Probably.
00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.680
Yes, yes, yes.
00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:04.079
Yeah, two forty-foot high tops with resin, with glass, with blanks, everything.
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:04.880
Paint.
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:06.559
Black green.
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:12.079
Foam finished, then we start in resorting uh textual.
00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.000
Not Bennett first.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.319
Or text or Bennett, maybe Bennett.
00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:16.960
I don't remember.
00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:17.920
Or yeah, one or the other.
00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.079
Or from Australia or from Brazil.
00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:23.279
But imagine the blanks feel different for shaping.
00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:28.319
Any any craftsman's gonna have a a sense for working with a different uh element.
00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.880
But for the surfer is what they feel.
00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:32.640
Do they can a surfer feel the difference?
00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.240
Are there different attributes to plac?
00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:35.839
Some string or durability?
00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:41.759
I'm I'm the I drive this guy crazy because I'm always like beating the blank, feel the vibration with a blank or a finish board.
00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:43.119
And say, hey, why are you a beating dick?
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:45.039
Why are you eating something like feel a vibration?
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:46.880
Oh, it's the pros they can't feel.
00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:47.920
Yeah, I don't feel it.
00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:48.880
Yeah, same thing.
00:23:49.359 --> 00:24:00.480
John Doe, you know, can't feel it, but uh a pro can definitely feel different between a like sensible board with a uh a real sensitive board with springy blank as compared to a dead study blank, you know?
00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:05.279
Because there are blanks that are more springy and more alive than uh, you know, than others.
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:14.079
And the flex and the feed, you know, the feedback get off them, but like you know, the more talented the server, the more it makes, you know, he's gonna feel it, the more he's gonna feel that sensation.
00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:15.359
That's his paranoia.
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:16.960
I like him because of that.
00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:17.680
That's good.
00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:23.759
It's because I joke with him, you know, but it's good, it's good.
00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.400
We hear the same thing when people come to the pool.
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:36.960
Uh and they say, like typically it's true that Boydse is different in the salt versus fresh eater, but for 99% don't feel 99% Your surfing's the brother, bro.
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.799
Yeah, the board doesn't right, right.
00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:43.039
I I I think you're probably it's exactly the same pro guys for sure.
00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:47.440
The top 1% will be able to feel maybe some difference and dial it in.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:50.559
But that's one of those crazy things we're talking about, like online things.
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:57.920
Like you get someone comes and says, Yeah, I want to get this um this board, but you know, I'm gonna be surfing more, and they see this online and they get in their head.
00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:02.240
I'm gonna be surfing more like in uh wave pool than I'm in the ocean.
00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:05.839
So make sure that the leaders are in you going, like, oh, give me a break, man.
00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:07.680
You know, but that's the way it is.
00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:11.920
People read stuff online and it's you know, so it's normal.
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:12.240
Yeah.
00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:25.680
You're talking about this earlier that the customer journey of uh that's why digital media seems to be so important in this world because people go out and do their research, they have a passion for the sports, uh, they want to compare, they're trying to make a decision.
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:27.279
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:27.920
So it's normal.
00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:29.119
It's normal when it's offered.
00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:34.480
And it's so many information nowadays that they even don't that's normal, you know.
00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:36.559
They go here and go, uh, then they go there.
00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:43.519
Oh, they say another different thing, or so much information, so then they they do these questions, but that is normal.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:51.759
It seems very much the case that yes, marketing's important and all this stuff, and that probably what funnels most people's potential.
00:25:51.839 --> 00:26:10.880
But as soon as you meet a good shaper on Brad, and then start that relationship, and actually then that the personality comes out, knowledge comes out, then it's like a whole different world of I have this cord, and then it's you know the comments say you well start like this, or okay, wait, you should try this, and then you also sell a good idea.
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.480
Yeah, they must stress right off the rack.
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:18.240
I I want to serve like this person that's using it, it's a very different experience.
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:22.240
Uh I think it's really super important that like if you can if you can bridge it.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:43.599
I mean, if you can you can extend or express that personal thing that you want to give that to a client, but try and express that online, you know, and and make it a package so that if someone does get here, they're gonna get if they do make it to your door, they're gonna experience what your company has to offer, but keep it warm and cozy online also.
00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:44.480
You know what I mean?
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:49.759
Try and but it is important to have that the online part set up.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:51.759
For sure, like yeah, yeah.
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.200
That's just the world we need it.
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:58.000
Maybe let's talk about your uh current lineup or your products and boards.
00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:05.599
Obviously, uh what you talking about a little bit earlier, but um Nick was saying that you guys are the boards are specific for certain waves.
00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:14.880
You're based here in our cellar, Portugal's got certain waves and certain surfaces, so you're very well known for um good waves, good surfaces and so forth.
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:20.880
But maybe you could just talk about what your broader line up now in your boards are, as you can cater for.
00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:24.799
Just just a question to talk about or certain more than ranges.
00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:42.160
Well, from the beginning, I think, yeah, that's uh like I say, I was telling you before, the base of as a shaper, the base of our growth, you know, the base of designs and all that always played uh a strong part of it's always been the feedback from good surfers who you're you know team riders, yeah, team riders and good surfers.
00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:52.559
But also from all of friends and that have been, you know, followers and people I've worked with for years making surf for them, you know, older guys and all that.
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.119
So it's like complete.
00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:59.759
I think our the whole if I look at the package now that have it's it's it's directioned at everybody.
00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:19.839
You know, beginners, uh you know, travelers are coming through that want, you know, boards for local waves, uh people that are looking for mid-lanter lawn board, people bring their kids up that want a board they're starting on, they want to get involved in competition or whatnot, good surfers from other countries that know that if they come here, they're gonna get a high performance board for whatever waves are in Portugal.
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:21.200
I think it's pretty complete.
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:27.680
You know, I can't I can't define like what our business is these days to just one little niche of the market, you know what I mean?
00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:31.599
And we do like say like Midlands are in the trend, twinies are in the trend.
00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:41.519
If we've got, like I have with Daniel working with me, and also we've got you know high high line products on those points, those trends that people are, you know, fully focused on today.
00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:43.680
Like, you know, even it's like say the fads company.
00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:51.119
You have many, many different types of models, twinies, so is what he says he's he must be step up for all markets.
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.799
Yeah, it's not just these or debt or yeah.
00:28:55.039 --> 00:29:00.559
And so for a normal person who applies the brand, they come they don't just have to buy off the shelf.
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:01.599
They can come to you, right?
00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:05.519
And they can talk to you about their needs and their board and you're you're engaged communicating.
00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:06.799
They just talk about that.
00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:10.240
Maybe the people don't know that they can actually have access to you guys.
00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:12.720
Yeah, they can talk with the shaper or yeah.
00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.400
Yes, it's famous all through the extra.
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:17.759
Many people want to talk with the shape because they have doubts.
00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:30.799
If you're like at you know, a warehouse now we've got uh people that know how to even Jakey, she knows already one order about the boards when they came here and they she can explain that or that.
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:33.759
We have also Mario that works here for 70 something years.
00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:38.799
He knows many things about boards to explain the customers when they come here.
00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:42.000
Yeah, if they can find something off the rack, all good.
00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:51.200
If not, you know, there's God once you come over and order a board, or we'll either come over to the factory, meet them here, or they'll be sent over and we'll sit down in front of the computer and design up a board for 'em.
00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:51.599
You know.
00:29:51.839 --> 00:30:02.720
And you were saying before that you couldn't have a conversation in the email, phone call, or you can create a board which you like using, and you guys will definitely start for the conversation.
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:02.960
Yeah.
00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:06.480
Yeah, we'll have a like you say, we'll communicate by email.
00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:17.519
Uh a guy can come and order his head if I'm not around, you know, leave me a telephone number and I'll call him and I'll talk about what he what he's, you know, anything you know he wants to talk about as far as what he wants on the board.
00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:25.039
You know, if we think it's important for him to come around to show me what he's got or, you know, to show me something else or talk to me a bit more, he'll come around, you know.
00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:32.720
But yeah, it's like I say still keeping it kind of personal because it's uh No, I mean, yeah, we still keep you.
00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:34.720
Yeah, it's just a We will fashion, you know.
00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:40.559
Pump I I I like I will, you know, the old fashioned you know, like talking, not just email.
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:47.359
Bringing in, bringing in fresh people to modernize because there are parts of the business that be modernized, yeah, or you will die.
00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.279
Yeah, you know, you'll disappear.
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:58.160
So you have to modernize your business, you have to bring it up to beat as far as like information goes, as far as your computerized stuff goes, you know, your stocking, all that stuff, you know.
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:00.480
And social media wise, yeah.
00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:01.599
Yeah, pretty much.
00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:03.680
When we started it, it was nothing about that.
00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:04.160
Nothing.
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:06.640
No computers, no no mobile phones, nothing.
00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:08.480
Oh, we saw some good faxes.
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:08.720
Yeah.
00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:10.480
But that was the faxing.
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:12.799
When we started, it was no faxes.
00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:18.559
I remember saying to my old man, to my father at one point, hey dad, you know, you should get you like this computer thing going.
00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.839
She get like, because we can do emails to each other.
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.640
That's the computers, nah, that's for your generation.
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:27.279
My dad's saying that computers, I don't want to know about it.
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:28.960
You know, that wasn't too long ago.
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.880
But I mean the quick knowing.
00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:35.359
I'm in the faxes, like yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:35.599
Yeah.
00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:37.839
And it was, wow, it was top, you know.
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:39.359
And then the girl's father.
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.359
Can't save the facts, you have to take a photocopy of the facts.
00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:46.880
Because because the facts really disappear.
00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:50.880
If you don't take a photo, it disappears.
00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:54.960
So he teaches it and must take a photocopy of the facts.
00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:04.559
It's true, if you remember, even if you go with a finger like that, you remember he was doing black, black for all day, man.
00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:05.519
Classics.
00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:09.519
Okay, so what's uh what's interesting for you guys in surfing at the moment?
00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:10.720
Where's the brand going?
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:12.640
What's what do you think the future is?
00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:18.559
Either in board design or what type of people or where do you think the brand's gonna be found, like with white pools?
00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:20.400
What's what the future look like?
00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:23.759
I think um I'm off start, Neil, and fill in on that, Miguel.
00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:38.960
I think um our intention, I think, is you know, that the brand, you know, we're not gonna live forever, and we're not gonna be in the business probably forever, but uh we'd like to see the brand carry on, you know, and then our intention is to keep the brand carrying moving forward.
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:46.640
And, you know, just for me, the most important thing is keep the core, not lose the personal part of it, not lose the communication part of it.
00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:53.680
You know, keeping that alive in an old school way with, you know, with fresher people around it too, because it is important.
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:58.319
You have to get up to speed with the rest, you know, progress in the world in general.
00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:02.559
And um, I think surfboard design, we're always I'll always be involved in.
00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:03.839
I always want to be involved with it.
00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:10.799
We always, you know, will be up to speed and want to be up to speed on that, and creative in new things in surfboards also.
00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:19.519
And I think, you know, looking to like bring our clothing label back into because that was a big part of it back in the day.
00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:21.039
It was huge at one point.
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:22.799
We'd like probably get that rolling again, eh?
00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:23.359
Yeah, yeah.
00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:25.839
I think that goes hand in hand now with the digital.
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:32.240
Uh the merchandise can be, if people associate with the brand and they want to be, you know, part of that journey.
00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:35.119
I think like you see the online guys, they have to have merchandise.
00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:36.079
Yeah, yeah.
00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:39.920
Maybe stop that you're you're sporting the original logo, right?
00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:40.960
It is.
00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:42.400
So what does that stand for?
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:45.039
What is the uh what's the uh the growth?
00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:45.839
Something new.
00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:46.400
Something new.
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:48.400
Something new that was gonna grow.
00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:50.319
Sumat means seed.
00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:51.440
Which is that, right?
00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:58.400
Now the idea was, you know, something that was gonna grow, something that was gonna sprout and start and you know, carry on.
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.640
I was putting it on the other one here.
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:01.519
No, the other one?
00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:04.160
Yeah, yeah.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:06.880
There was a no, there was a one after that.
00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:16.159
There was one later on, a design we did, that was like just seed with a bunch of sprouts coming out and a bunch of surfboards under the sprout.
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:16.800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:17.920
Had to raise a light in that.
00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:23.760
It was kind of like uh looked like one of the posters from San Francisco Haight Ashbury days, you know, from way back there.
00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:25.599
But it was a really nice t-shirt, that one.
00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:31.920
It was like that was to what not quite what after about 25 years or something like that, you know.
00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:35.360
But yeah, so that was the original idea.
00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:43.360
Was you know, let's think of something that, you know, and probably in the beginning, honestly, if we would have picked an English name, we probably would have been better off.
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:45.760
That makes a lot of sense.
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:46.800
For you.
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:48.880
No, no, but I mean in general.
00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.719
And then generally, you know, selling a brand with a pipe.
00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:57.280
Selling a brand with an English name is always easier than like put with you know what national on it.
00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:59.119
You know, and it and I'm glad we did.
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:10.719
Like it's Portuguese, we're trying to what it says in that, but but now we we're gonna stick with it after 43 years.
00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:13.119
We're not gonna change it.
00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:19.039
Well the good thing is uh surfing has also created me and uh you know different designs and stuff like that.
00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:27.519
So you talk about fresh flowers, it must be yeah, there'll there'll probably be some opportunity there for some keeping the original DNA, but a little bit of fresh blood coming in.
00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:28.880
Yeah, and that's very important.
00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:30.559
Yeah, Jakey, you know?
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:31.119
Yeah.
00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:35.280
We start to just she she's starting to make these uh Zinvolverum quizzes.
00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:44.719
Uh yeah, my daughter's getting involved in like uh starting to move on uh some of the new closed stuff weird stuff and just like she laughs for messing.
00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:48.639
Okay, Jackie, please do me that, you know.
00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:50.320
That's normal.
00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:51.440
That's a that's normal.
00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:52.000
There you go.
00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:57.760
And and we must keep we must keep like also going with with the world, you know.
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:03.920
In case the computer world disaster doll falls in.
00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:12.639
I've got the accounts dipperish and already she starts to say things.
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:14.480
And she says, Hey dad, yeah, yeah.
00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:17.199
Like my kids, hey dad, come on, you know.
00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:21.199
So no, yeah, that that's we need, we need, you know.
00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:22.400
That's normal.
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:25.760
All all companies uh Yeah.
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:32.320
I mean, one thing that strikes me from having met with guys this morning is uh uh kind of authenticity, a genuine passion.
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:41.360
You know, we talked about saying like shared values and vision, but just even the the team rivals you have, the brand what done with it, it comes from a real place of authenticity.
00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:45.440
That you just love surfing and love that kind of uh that freedom you get from it.
00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:48.159
Like it's that's gonna be quite important to keep going.
00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:50.159
That's kind of what your brand represents as well.
00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:50.719
Yeah.
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:51.360
Yeah.
00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:52.320
Oh, it has to be.
00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:59.599
I think, you know, like you say, if you know, I hate to think of a life with a job that I have no passion for.
00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:06.559
You know, I mean, something that like totally didn't interest me to spend my whole life doing something that I didn't want to do, you know, that'd be horrible.
00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:11.840
You know, I remember I was I I worked under my dad at the Hilton and Beverly Hills as a waiter.
00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:16.320
And I thought to myself at the time, if I had to do this my entire life, man, geez.
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:19.920
You know, it was banquet service that was hectic and it was crazy.
00:37:20.079 --> 00:37:22.480
And there were people that were old that had done that their entire life.
00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:23.440
They'd worked in that business.
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:25.679
I thought, man, I would never want to do this, you know.
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:30.960
So I think we're very fortunate to have done something we like to do all these years, you know.
00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:35.920
And I think, you know, that's it, it's super important is you have to have passion for what you do.
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.400
And that makes a total difference in the success or failure of a business for sure, also.
00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:42.239
Yeah, I think people resonate.
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:47.760
Uh if they they s if they smell that you're just doing something just for money, I think it repels people.
00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:54.320
But when they find like uh someone who's just passionate and just fully yeah, yeah, I think it changes people's minds.
00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:56.719
Yeah, they just keep the real and wow.
00:37:57.599 --> 00:37:58.000
All right.
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:02.480
I've taken loads of your time already, done facts with the tool, put that on as well.
00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:04.960
Um don't give me another link.
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:07.280
This is it, do the link together.
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:08.559
Link somebody else.
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:11.039
I'm trying to like uh link questions.
00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:17.360
So the question before was about uh sustainability and said, well, that was uh uh come from another uh shaper.
00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:19.519
The next people I'm gonna get and see, next shaper.
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:21.840
Maybe there's a question from you guys.
00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:27.039
Uh and again, maybe I just you come up with a question, which I'll get asked to the next person.
00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.280
And it can be fun, it can be serious.
00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:29.599
Okay.
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:36.800
You can stitch them up and you can uh why are you doing that?
00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:42.239
You're gonna it's another shaper?
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:43.119
Yeah, another shaper.
00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:43.440
Yeah.
00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:46.719
Ask him why why he says, why do you continue doing it?
00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:47.199
Okay.
00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:47.840
Great question.
00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:48.800
Why do you continue shaping?
00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:49.440
Yes.
00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:50.719
Okay, great.
00:38:51.519 --> 00:38:52.000
Awesome.
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:52.719
All right.
00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:54.000
Yeah, all of it, guys.
00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:56.079
Okay, thank you, James.
00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:56.719
Nice to meet you.
00:38:56.880 --> 00:38:57.440
Good luck to you.
00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:58.480
Yeah, pleasure, man.
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:00.480
Alright.