The Passion! June 5, 2013 – Tags: , , , , , ,

Passion in my definition would be anything that drives you to pursue the subject, not worried about the consequences or whether people stand by you & your passions.
It’s a beautiful thing to see people pursuing there passions, these people also more often than not succeed, day in day out they think about & follow there dreams of fulfilling whatever it is that consumes them. Which brings me to the blog & long before it. I moved to the Sunshine Coast when i was 8 years old. I liked the beach, but after seeing an old fella blue in the face being resuscitated on the shore of Maroochydore beach i had my reservations. Basketball & video games took precedence over my life as it does a lot of young kids especially in the 90’s .
Fast forward a few years & i’m in high school. Maroochydore High School was a big public school, it was a sink or swim kind of place like a lot of high schools around the country i would imagine. Basketball wasn’t very cool anymore, surfing, parties & girls were & i knew next to nothing about all of them. Luckily for me i had a couple of friends that surfed who plugged me into the pipeline & my brothers were actually shredders which meant nothing to me until i reached high school.
I surfed because i wanted to fit in, i sucked at it, i actually enjoyed skateboarding more because i could do it at my home which was 20 minutes away from the beach. But the day my new $250 skateboard got stolen from the port racks i went to my brothers place near the beach, grabbed his Locally shaped 6’3 & went to the beach & surfed, the conditions were perfect for me, i remember i liked reforming ones where i could paddle into wash & then the waves would wall up again. After that day i was hooked, every day i possibly could, school became second preference & i surfed my head off.
I was making new friends & living the surfing lifestyle, it made me so happy that i had this thing in my life. I looked up to so many people back then, every one of the older guys around Maroochydore that surfed well. I watched surfing videos religiously, loved Occy & all the aussie contingent on the world tour. If the surf was bad or i got stuck at my house with no way to the beach i read surf mags & watched Taylor Steele’s The Show on repeat i knew that video backwards. I have attached Shane Dorian’s section out of the vid for you guys to check it out, maybe you remember it or it does nothing for you. It takes me back so far & gives me goosebumps thinking about where i have been.
At some point partying took over. Surfing was always there though to pull me out of the ditch when i felt like i was there. My mate & now business partner Sedz was setting the surfing world on fire back in those days, he would be flat out entering a comp without winning it & i went along somewhat for the ride, met a lot of people & had a whole lot of fun. The best thing about my passion for surfing & the industry was that i only had to show up for the fun, i had no talent so no one expected much of me other than be ready to party. Like everything in the partying arena you grow up & get over it, but Surfing remained a big passion of mine & i surfed & followed the sport closely. Which brings me to Tradewind surf .
Sedz & i started the business in 2007 but it wasn’t really taken to seriously until around 09. I worked as an agent for Lost surfboards when they arrived to Queensland [I practically begged them for the job] & famous Accessories, both companies which i am still tight with now. I have worked so hard building this business up, no big start up capital, investors or hot shot advice. As the journey has progressed my love for the industry has grown, there is so much this sport has to offer. I am one of the most ordinary surfers amongst my friends, & to be honest i’ve been cooked over the years by my mates for how much time i’ve spent around the industry. But that’s cool, i can wear that, i’ve had more free clothes, boards, accessories & hook ups from free nights on companies to the accommodation that goes with it. The networking is a major plus to as this social network grows with the sport itself.
The thing i am most proud of is the business we have grown though, purely on passion & who we know not what we know & I believe our customers can tell the difference, its hands on & i love meeting the crew who support us & hearing there stories on surfing & what gear they need. The passion for Tradewind surf is what sets us apart from other businesses & i believe as the program grows people will further realise that we are here to put back into the industry & the experience with us is better. I wanted this blog to be Three paragraphs max! But what can i say, passion drives you to go the extra mile, write a bit more be a bit better, i’m not even going to proof read, this is my passion in words & whether it bored the hell out of you or you felt what i’m saying, is not too worrying to me right now, it basically feels good to put it out there, the bottom line is that i didn’t write this for you or for me i started writing & couldn’t help the rest!
Peace