Intentional Life Design with Ryan Paradee

In this episode with Ryan Paradee, we talk about intentional life design, transitioning from snowboarding to surfing, his enthusiasm for longboarding, hunting for good waves, co-owning the Surf Board Collective, and dealing with imposter syndrome along the way. Ryan is honest, heartfelt and imparts many life lessons in this engaging interview. I hope you will listen!

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Intentional life design (and dumb luck)
[08:16] I can't say enough about my van.
[09:32] Don't take that one: Surf tips
[18:32] The most surf specific exercise you can do.
[20:06] Injuries and longevity
[26:15] Back off work and surf more
[28:17] Texas don't surf: Growing up landlocked
[32:37] Surfboard Collective: Longboarding and imposter syndrome

Quotes from Ryan:
"It was always with me internally that the traditional route is not for me, but I wasn't sure what the route was because it wasn't the traditional route. And there's a lot of conditioning and programming, I think with school and culture and society, and not all of it's bad. It's just conditioning."

"The better surfers in the lineup are so active. When you're learning to surf you're thinking, the idea is to paddle out and wait for a wave. But as you progress you actually realize, I have to hunt these waves,  so where do I want to be in relationship to where that wave is?"

"You don't need to take an egg out when it's small. They actually perform even better when it's overhead and pumping. My whole perspective changed. We have customers all the time that are making that same transition. And I love to see it. Not that I have anything against shortboards, but I know how much more fun I was having when I made that transition."

Get in touch with Ryan

• Instagram @rppyayouknowme
• The Surfboard Collective

More about Christine Foerster

• christinefoerster.com
• Instagram @christinefoerster

Chapters

• 0:00 Intentional life design
• 8:16 I can't say enough about my van
• 9:32 Don't take that one!
• 18:23 The most surf specific exercise you can do
• 20:06 Injuries and longevity
• 26:15 Back off of work and surf more
• 28:17 Texas don't surf
• 32:37 Surfboard Collective

Transcript

Ryan :(opening quote) It changed my whole perspective on surfing and then I started long boarding and then started falling in love with that and then started realizing, Oh, you don't need to take an egg out when it's small. They actually perform even better when it's like overhead and pumping. And so my whole perspective changed. You know, we have customers all the time that are making that same transit. And I love to [00:36:00] see it. Not that I have anything against short boards, but I love to see it because I know like how much more fun I was having when I made that transition.

Christine: Hello and welcome to Wilding Fifty. I am your host, Christine Foerster. In this podcast, I will be interviewing surfers for my local breaks and beyond following the surf session, whether you are learning to surf, like me. Keen on new adventures or in the mood for a good conversation. I hope you will find some inspiration with these surf tails in this episode.

Christine: In this episode with Ryan Paradee, we talk about intentional life design, transitioning from snowboarding to surfing, his enthusiasm for long boarding, hunting for good waves,
co-owning the Surf Board Collective, and dealing with imposter syndrome along the way. Ryan is honest, heartfelt and imparts many life lessons in this engaging interview. I hope you will listen!

Christine: Hi Ryan, 

Ryan: Hi. How are you? 

Christine: I'm great. How are you? 

Ryan: Good. Good to be here. 

Christine: Welcome. Well, I wanted to start off with this idea that you have designed your life really well, where you have enough time to surf in the morning, you take your kids on backpacking trips and then surf trips with your friends and longer road trips. So I'm just curious how did you set things up so well? 

Ryan: Oh man, that's high praise. I think it's a mixture of idealism and luck. I always had that kinda idealism where I wanted that life too. You know, I wanted a family and I wanted kids, but I also wanted freedom and the ability to continue to adventure, pursue my passions, which are surfing and snowboarding and camping and being out in nature, essentially, whether that's in the ocean or the mountains.
I think you encountered me [00:01:00] at a point in my life where I'm at the pinnacle of that freedom and responsibility paradigm. It was certainly intentional. There was that, but then it was also just being fortunate enough to get into a career that allowed me to do that. You know, we talked about it a little bit in the water and what I've been doing for the last 15 years was, essentially like a sales and marketing job. Certainly not anything I've been passionate about, but it definitely allows me a lot of free time and enough financial reward to be able to afford to do the things that I want to do in life. The things that interest me tend not to be, you know, expensive or fancy luxury items. 

Christine: So you have been able to prioritize time over money.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. 

Christine: And that's something that grew with time or even if you were to go back to yourself at 18, did you feel that you had that priority straight?

Ryan: Um, that's a good [00:02:00] question. I grew up outside of Dallas, Texas, which was a very traditional place to live. So the values were traditional and the course of people's lives or the trajectory of people's lives, at least from what my experience was in, you know, middle class or whatever, go to school, get good grades, get into a good college, get good grades, get a good job, get married the end, you're happy. And that never felt right to me, ever, for so many different reasons.

I think it was always with me internally that the traditional route is not for me, but I wasn't sure what the route was because it wasn't the traditional route. And there's a lot of conditioning and programming, I think with school and culture and society, and not all of it's bad. It's just conditioning. And then I don't think I [00:03:00] realized the conditioning existed or that I would have to like go against that until I was in my thirties. You know, I think I always knew. That I wanted a different than mainstream lifestyle, but you know, unless you have a direct kind of mentor or somebody to look to for what that actually entails, it's difficult to figure out what that is, especially when you start getting older and have children and responsibilities and, because you get to a certain point, and I did. Where I was living this idealistic life where I did go to college and I graduated with a degree and then I decided like very consciously, I have zero interest in starting a career. Nothing interests me that I want to do. Certainly not anything that anybody's gonna pay me to do. And I was paying bills by working in [00:04:00] the restaurant industry.

I  got a little gig teaching snowboarding and I really liked that. I liked the flexibility of working in a restaurant and it was money up front, cash in hand. And I really enjoyed teaching snowboarding. It's probably the only job I've ever had that I've loved for so many reasons. So that was a conscious decision not to, to move forward and try to pursue a career, but rather to just explore that.
And I did, and I did it in different places and I loved it and I had a great time. But certainly I came to this place where you're like, Man, I'm not making any money, so if I want to do anything beyond this, I have to figure that out because adventure sports costs, so does everything; life, travel is expensive too.

Christine: It does seem that structuring or structure is important. And just as an example, because you guys have grandparents [00:05:00] living up the road. And so we watch you make several trips with the kids and with the dogs. And so you found this way to kind of liberate yourself from time to time.
You drop the kids off, then you have the grandparents involved. And then the dogs are getting walked on the way up and on the way down . So was that intentional or did that kind of organically evolve? 

Ryan: Both, you know, really both. We're so fortunate and blessed having my wife's parents live right up the street and they're amazing people. You know, Michael, Patricia, they fantastic. They're the most supportive, loving people. They're wonderful grandparents and, parents and, I mean, we're so fortunate. You know, not everybody has that. So that's part of like the dumb luck. I married an amazing woman who's supportive and realizes that I'm happiest and [00:06:00] best when I'm pursuing my passions. And that in order for me to do that, I need support to do it and the space to do it and the freedom to do it. And she's awesome. She loves it. We actually moved not far away, maybe like a mile or so away, and we lived there for a couple years. And, and that was also part of that intentional life. We moved into a bigger house cuz we thought we needed it. When the kids were growing, we were renting out our other house and I don't know, we just got to this point where our tenants were gonna move out and we went and we were doing the walkthrough and we were like, Why did we move out of this place?

We love it here. And it, you know, it's a smaller house but it's got a bigger backyard and it’s bright and airy and you know, everything. So we ended up, selling the other house and moving back to where we were, which was closer to the grandparents. So now everything that you're talking about, which I think from an outside perspective might look like [00:07:00] complete, careful design strategy.

Christine: Do you wanna say anything about your van? 

Ryan: I can't say enough about my van. I love my van. 

Christine: Can you just describe it visually. 

Ryan: Well, it's a Ford E 350. It is the passenger van that Ford makes, like the big church vans or big taxi vans. And about a year ago, we cut the roof off and put a big white pop top on it. So now it's got enough room inside to stand and, we built shelves and covers and a bed platform. So now I can fit as many surfboards as I want, but I always have at least four boards in there and that still allows enough room for both kids and a dog and my wife and, whatever other gear we want to throw in there. So it does really well and we designed it also to be able to take up to the mountains in the [00:08:00] winter time. We like snowboarding a lot. We get Yucon passes every year, and we camp on forest service roads or in one of the parking lots and, then just snowboard all day and come back and sleep in the van and live off a peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Christine: Wonderful. 

Ryan: Yeah, it's fantastic. It's awesome. I love it. 

Christine: Yesterday for our surf session was the kind of day that I hope for often where we had gentle and glassy waters. And there was even that pod of dolphins 

Ryan: Yeah, that was awesome. When they jumped out of the water, I can't tell you how many people have come up to me since that, and they were like, did you see the dolphins jumping out of the water? My son was down there doing the junior lifeguard competition, so it was a big talking point for all of them. And my wife was there, anyway. Yeah, it was amazing. It was cool. 

Christine: Really fun. But then you said, you know, if we hadn't agreed to come out, I probably wouldn't have paddled out to this morning. So what was that about? The waves are too [00:09:00] small?

Ryan: No, I like small waves. You know, this happens a lot actually. Sometimes, I'm really good about being in the zone and just showing up to the harbor every morning without looking at it and just making that a real part of my routine. And I can't tell you how many times it looks bad on the cams, but you show up and you're like, so glad I came, it’s so much fun. And I mean the report can be so misleading or inconsistent. It'll say you know, one to two foot and you show up and it's shoulder to head high and I’m glad nobody's out.

Christine: It always from the shore, but it always looks to me that it looks manageable and I get out there and inevitably it just feels so much more turbulent and large.

Ryan: Yeah, for sure. I mean, those cams are much higher and they're positioned way back. So it's definitely gonna look smaller in the cans. But sometimes you go through these periods where like you need a break from surfing and [00:10:00] there's other things. And I like to run, I like to mountain bike. You know, I got a good buddy who I run with. I try to run with him a couple days a week. My wife and I will run, or I do a yoga class. If I'm showing up and I'm surfing every single day, it doesn't leave time for those other things. But it's like if I wake up and I try to weigh my options of whether or not I want to go run or whether or not I go to a surf and I'm relying on the cams and looking at 'em, then yeah, I'm probably missing a lot of good surf sessions that I wouldn't otherwise. So, it's just like life and everything is all about balance. But yesterday I would not have gone out. The cams looked bad. 

Christine: But so many people were out there anyways. Yeah, that's a great answer because you’re not expecting a certain kind of condition or, it has to be this way for me to paddle out. But you're talking about all these other things. That are really cool, good things to do too. So it's where, where do you put your time?

Ryan: Yeah. And everybody's different, you know? So [00:11:00] balance for everybody is different. I don't need great surf to coax me to go out there and I'm glad we went, so thank you. 

Christine: Oh, thank you. That worked out perfectly. This week has been great. Yeah. I have caught a few open greens, but yesterday I really felt like I caught a couple and then I got thrown all around and you know, completely worked as well.

Ryan: Yeah. Learning that's what it's all about. And, it was one of those things too, where like, just prior to that session, I'd been out of town. You mentioned the backpacking. We took my son and one of his friends who’s the son of a good friend of mine and my wife, and we all went up to the sierras and we went backpacking. And it just, it got me outta the water for a few days and I always find that whenever I'm out of the water for a while, my relationship with the ocean changes a little bit, or I'm not quite as in sync with the ocean. I'm a little bit more reluctant to like go surfing unless I see the right conditions. Whereas if I'm just always surfing, then I'm just always surfing [00:12:00] and I have that relationship with the ocean and I'm there and it's just, you don't think about it so much, you know, it comes back quick.

Christine: Most of it time it must, because I was actually gonna move on to catching waves and I've just watched you. I think one of the first times I've actually really watched you carefully surf and you have this real kind of calm ease about it. There were several waves that came and I didn't think they were gonna do anything. And yet you saw it and you positioned yourself, caught it and it was and rode it all the way in. And then a couple of times, of course I'm setting up for a wave and you're yelling at me, that's not it! Don't take that one! So how do you know how to position yourself and identify a good wave?

Ryan: Well maybe you caught me on a good day. I think if we would've had our session today, you wouldn't have said the same thing. I surfed again this morning. and it was just in one of those sessions where it's like you're literally paddling away from the set waves [00:13:00] and your timing is off and, but that's just a good example how surfing is. Sometimes you're on and the waves come to you and you make it look easy and feels great, and then other times you're off and you can't buy a wave. And it's for various reasons. But I mean, the answer to the original question is nothing more than that thousand hours of practice, it's just being in the water and putting in your time. But everybody, even the best surfers, you know, they have bad days too. 

Christine: Yeah. It's really helpful to finally be out in the lineup and kind of watch everybody and how they're moving around and how they're seeing. That you see what they're seeing and then you watch them move and in the right position. There was a guy out there, I don't, I don't know who he was. He was so sweet cuz a couple times he said to me, hey, you wanna split it? Or he would call it out. And I thought that was so helpful. 

Ryan: Was it Seth? 

Christine: No. I know Seth. No, [00:14:00] it was a different guy. There was a moment when I caught one and I saw you on it and I was like, oh man, I think I just dropped in. Right?

Ryan: Doing it on a day, like today is the best day to do, you know? No problem at all.

Christine: Yeah. there was one moment when you told me you watched me catching a wave and you said that I was a little bit too far back on the board. So can you elaborate on that a little bit? 

Ryan: I can. So when I was watching you paddle, and this happens, to like 99.9% of beginners is trying to find that balance between being up far enough on your board when you're paddling to actually get the board to plane and to paddle fast enough to catch the waves. And to not be so far up on your board that when you do catch the wave, you nose dive the board and you end up pearling it. So yeah, I mean, when you're a little too far back on the board, the nose starts to lift up and then you know, as you're paddling, the board is kind of pushing water rather than [00:15:00] plaining on top of the water and it's just much less efficient paddling. But you see people do that a lot, especially when they're learning. And the other thing, this is what I was gonna say with what we were talking about just before this. You mentioned being out there and seeing all the different people, and it's kind of like a little ecosystem out there.

And one of the things that I've always noticed, the better surfers in the lineup and in Oceanside, especially the harbor. There's so many good surfers, like phenomenal surfers, and it's so awesome to be there and to be able to watch 'em all surf like every day, you know? And there's just men and women there. There's so many great surfers there. But one thing I noticed watching all the better surfers out there is how active they are in the lineup. I think when you're learning to surf, when you're a beginner, you're thinking, Okay, I'm on the beach now and the idea is to paddle out and then once I'm out, I'm there and I [00:16:00] wait for a wave and then when the wave comes to me, I turn in, I paddle and I catch it. Right? And that probably is what it is in the very beginning. But as you progress and you start to get better and stronger and have the ability from like a stamina standpoint to be able to do this, you actually realize, okay, I'm out here, but now I have to kind hunt these waves a little bit, you know, so you're paddling laterally, like left and right and you're, and you're looking for where the wave's coming in, and then where do I want to be in relationship to where that wave is?
And so it becomes a lot more active and a lot more dynamic rather than just like, Okay I made it through those waves and now I can sit up on my board and wait for a wave to come to me. When you watch the best surfers out there, they're so active out there and they have such a sense of like where to be and they can see things in the ocean that I don't [00:17:00] think I can see. Most people can't see, you know, and that helped them kind of put themselves in the right place at the right time.

Christine: Today I felt like I was moving around a little bit more. I mean, to be honest, my objective always when I get to the beach is I look for the open spot , and that's where I go, whether there's waves there or not. I always figure there's something I can do. And also, before these last few weeks, I would go beyond the lineup and paddle back and forth. People may be wondering, who's this crazy woman? Just paddling back and forth. Yeah, but I figure that way I'm not in any danger, but I'm just building up my strength. 

Ryan: That's actually not a bad idea. I mean, we talk learning to surf. One of the biggest things is, there's very few things in your life that you can do to condition the muscles that you need to surf that's not surfing or really paddling.
Those are the muscles that you're using. Maybe swimming, but even there it feels very different. Like half the muscles. Yeah, but not all of them, cuz there's so much more [00:18:00] back and neck muscles involved in surfing and the muscles that you're using in your shoulder are different you know, it's just a different thing. So you might be able to jump into a pool and swim and try to get into a certain shape to be able to surf, but it's not gonna get you all the way there. But paddling is, paddling is a phenomenal exercise. And it’s the most surf specific exercise you could ever do. 

Christine: And it's also finding that sweet spot on the board. Where you really, you get to know it. Cause I feel closer to feeling that now paddling. But, you pointed it out to me. The minute I turn around, and I set up for the wave. I'm still, I'm so glad you told me that because I think I probably thought I knew what I was doing, but it's also that hesitation. Because you feel the times you are too far forward and then you completely plummet it and go forward and, that's, not fun either. But I've gotta now find that sweet spot when I'm catching the wave.

Ryan: Yeah. I tore my ACL like seven years ago. I tell this story all the time, so probably everybody knows. [00:19:00] But, well, I couldn't surf for a year and I knew, I was like, man, I don't want to get out of surfing shape, I don't want it to take five, six months to get back. So I went on Craigslist and I bought one of those like prone paddle boards, those huge like ocean going paddle boards, you know, that they race on. I would take that out a couple times a week and I would paddle from like Forester Street or the Harbor or wherever, take it out and I would paddle down to Carlsbad and back and it was, that's a good workout. It was a really good workout and it's really peaceful out there. And sometimes it was just nice to be able, especially like being trapped inside and in a leg brace for so long and all this, it's really nice to get to be in the ocean again. And it helped me stay in shape big time, so that was awesome. It made my transition back into surfing [00:20:00] much easier.

Christine: One of the things that strikes me at the Harbor is generally it's a super friendly community, and everybody on the lineup. A lot of the people, at least in the morning, seem that they're in their sixties, seventies. I don't know if there's even some people pushing eighties, but it's so inspiring. 

Ryan: I know. I think the same thing there is definitely like an an older crew of harbor locals and they're awesome people. And they're good surfers and it's, you're right, it's such an inspiration to see them surf, but not even to just like surf, but to surf that well into their seventies when there's other people in my life, people whose parents or grandparents are getting in and I'm like, man, they're not even close to being able to do that. So, yeah, it's super inspiring. I mean, I think that that's one of the greatest things about surfing is that it's something that you can do for the entirety of your life. You can learn to surf when you're five years old and you can continue surfing as long as your body's [00:21:00] gonna allow you to do that, indefinitely. And surfing itself is a great motivator to be conscious about how you're treating your body or what you're putting into your body because if you kind of lose sight a little bit and you stop paying attention, you're not gonna be able to go surfing like you used to. And it's gonna be harder. You're not gonna surf as one. It's gonna get frustrating. 

For me that is a big thing because I didn't live near the coast until I was in my mid to late twenties. And prior to that I was in the mountains and I was teaching snowboarding. And so I was still active and I was trying to live that outdoor lifestyle, but I was also partying just way too much. And that's kind of part of the lifestyle of that mountain experience. And that's all right. When I found surfing, because [00:22:00] surfing's so temperamental, like the ocean is, it's only good like for a few hours in the morning, at least where we live. So you really have to start picking and choosing, do I want to go out and party or do I want to get up and surf? It progressed from there to where you really wanna start, at least I really wanted to start getting into better shape and maybe dropping a few pounds and eating, more healthy food just to capitalize on every surf session that you get to go have. 

Christine: Yeah. It makes so much sense. I've been making that transition myself for sure. I'm thinking about all the movements that surfing requires because you're in a prone position. And then you've gotta just quickly get to your feet. And there's that whole idea that when you get older that to be able to get off the ground with only using your feet. Right? The good two point contact. And I think that if you're doing that practice every day in the water, man, you're not gonna have any trouble getting up and down from the ground.

Ryan: But you, what a head start [00:23:00] to be like in such phenomenal shape and yoga, like you're a phenomenal yoga instructor in your practice. I'm sure just as amazing the core strength that you have and the balance that you have. And I think that yoga does something where it helps you like change your mindset. So it helps you realize that your capable of more than your mind wants to allow it. Yeah, you're gonna get it. You got it already because 

Christine: Thank you. 

Ryan: It's like you got the bug and you go by yourself and in the mornings and even when it's cold and in the winter you're out there. But yeah, I mean you were already living that like real healthy lifestyle. 

Christine: Pretty much. I think it's just that as time goes on, you get a little bit, I've gotten a little more serious, I've taken out the sugar. And I’ve reduced alcohol, you know, I was a partier too. Yeah, in my twenties for sure. You know, I had a really [00:24:00] bad neck injury and that is what took me to yoga and, and the neck injury was actually body surfing, so

Ryan: Oh, that’s the what you were telling me about. 

Christine: So, and I'm very grateful for it because yoga has just absolutely changed my life. But yoga is also what's helping me learn to surf because I try to practice as much as I can because I feel that it's what's going to keep me injury free. But it also helps you with breathing, and being very present. And that's what I, I try to bring that out in the water because I know that things can happen so quickly.

Ryan: You know, I got into yoga a little bit, not nearly to the extent that that you have, but my wife, she got her yoga teaching certification years ago and she kind of got me started into yoga. But the height of my yoga practice was also pretty simultaneous with that real conscious decision to back off of work a [00:25:00] little bit and to surf more. I don't know. That almost sounds like funny as a 35 year old with kids and a wife and a house and a mortgage, all this. 

Christine: It sounds so enlightened,

Ryan: It doesn't always feel that way. The career job that I've been working, I've been doing for 15 years and for the first 10 of it, I really, I put my head down and there were years where I would travel, 120 days in a year, mostly to the Midwest or New Mexico, but certainly places without ocean and you're eating unhealthy food and then when you're not traveling, you're in an office and you're at a desk and it's a pretty typical thing I think to happen to like a lot of US American men, right?

You're focused on your career and then you have these kids and they take up just as much of your time and it's really difficult to manage that in a way that still leaves enough time for you personally and for your [00:26:00] health. My sales were up and you know, my numbers were looking good. So I was getting a lot of external validation, from the owner of the company or from whoever else. “Hey, great job this month. Hey, you're doing great. Hey, you're right on track.” So you're getting all this external validation telling you like, Oh, you're on the right path and you're doing the right thing. But simultaneously, I'm like overweight and battling depression and just bummed. And you're like, I should be happy, but I'm not. I think it took years to come to that realization that is a fine life. It's just not a fine life for you. And so you have to make changes, in order to be happy. Some of those changes were work less and surf more, which sounds obvious. 

Christine: Good that you realized it early because I think so many people don't. 

Ryan: I wish I realized it [00:27:00] earlier. 

Christine: Well, we can go down that road too for many things. So let's go back a little bit about your history with surfing. I'm curious to know how you learned and, and specifically if there were any challenges, technical situations. 

Ryan: Well, the biggest challenge for me learning to surf was growing up in Texas, and not on the Gulf Coast, but in Dallas. When I was younger, we lived in Southern California, so I spent elementary school years in Mission Viejo, that's where the family was. And so we would go to the beach. My dad surfed a little bit when he was younger. He grew up in New Jersey and his parents had a place out on Long Beach Island. And so he surfed a little bit. And then when we moved to California, he surfed a little bit there too. So we would go to like Doheny, T Street, in San Clemente. We'd go surf there. It was mostly boogie boarding at that point. [00:28:00] I definitely stood up on my first waves at Doheny and got some experience, but it was just being in the ocean, which I think is a huge part of it. Learning to surf is like starting to develop that relationship with the ocean. And then my dad was working for a corporation and he took a promotion and that moved us to Connecticut for like six months and then we relocated to Dallas and that's where I kind of spent my more formative years.

I went to high school outside of Dallas, just a little suburb in Texas, But we would take one or two week long trips every summer to go visit my grandparents and they were on the, the coast in New Jersey. And so I'd rent a surfboard every summer or boogie board, but I was in the ocean, just not as much as I could be.
But that draw to the ocean or to want to surf, never really left. So when I got to the age where I [00:29:00] could start choosing my own destiny a little bit and making my own decisions, I would certainly, if I had the ability to do a trip to the coast and go surf or Boogie Board, no matter how kooky it was, I would do it.
And I then I ended up going to college in Flagstaff, Arizona, which definitely does not have waves, but I got really into snowboarding. And from there I moved to Colorado for a little bit. And after that with a buddy up to Catch, Idaho where there's another ski resort, but we were doing like intermittent trips out to California.

One of the guys I lived with in Flagstaff, his grandparents lived in Newport Beach. So we would go out there and stay with them from time to time and surf when you can. And it was all these borrowed boards and really old like holy wetsuits. And we bought a van one year, all chipped in, got a van and we loaded it up with that stuff and drove down and did a trip down in [00:30:00] Baja for a week or so. And that was really fun. That kind of reignited the passion and then, I went to Costa Rica for like a month with some buddies, after I graduated college. And so we were surfing every day down there and that just really reignited the spark big time. 

So I was like, okay, I've done the mountain thing for a while, and I was ready to move on from that anyway, for various reasons. Mostly the partying, and those small towns get small real quick when you're making bad decisions. I came back from Costa Rica and I was like, alright, I'm gonna move to California. So I don't think I owned more than I could fit in my pickup truck at the time. And so that wasn't hard to do. And I found a place to live on Craigslist with some random dudes in Claremont, which is just up from up the hill from Pacific Beach. I spent a year and a half there. And then I took a job up in Huntington. The rest is history. Met my [00:31:00] wife in Huntington, she's from Encinitas, and then we both relocated down to Oceanside. 15 years ago, and now Oceanside is home. It’s a great place. I love Oceanside. 

Christine: Me too. 

Ryan: It's just a fantastic place. And I keep meeting the most amazing people in Oceanside, whether it's at the yoga studio or surfing at the Harbor. And funnily enough, there's a lot of crossover there, between those communities. And then, I opened the Surfboard Collective a few years back with a friend of mine, Travis Max, who is very much an Oceanside local. He's like a transplanted Oceanside local. Starting the Surfboard Collective, one of the things that was surprising to me, maybe the thing I like the most about it or enjoy the most about it, is all the people I've met through it. You're injected into the community through that business. Even though I work the shop, like the day to day operation of it, very little. You still meet [00:32:00] so many great people and not just customers that come in to buy boards or trade 'em or whatever, but working with the local shapers to order boards for the shop.

And then you go in to pick up the boards and you meet the guys that are sanding them and glassing them and you realize, oh my gosh, that's the same guy that is ripping out at the harbor every day. It's a community within a community. I love it. Certainly growing up in Texas, I struggled to find a group that I fit in with or resonated with. But since I've been in Oceanside, it's like the more people I meet, the more I feel I resonate with those people. So it's a real great feeling. It feels like home. 

Christine: Yeah. So the Surf Collective, is it primarily new or used or what? What is the focus?

Ryan: We're trying to bring in equipment from the local underground shapers. To answer to the other part of your question, it's buy, [00:33:00] sell, trade, that whole deal. We do primarily long boards and alternative equipment, eggs and fish and Mini Simmons, Just basically anything that's not your standard shortboard, your standard thruster. The only reason for that I think is just personal preference between myself and Travis, and that's what we ride. I think that those types of boards are very well suited for the types of waves that we get on a regular basis. 

I had a very personal experience in changing equipment that made a massive difference in surfing for me in my life because when I tore my knee, I couldn't surf. When I went to get back into surfing, I'd been surfing short boards for like 15 years, and that's all I knew. [00:34:00] and I couldn't surf those when I came back cause my knee wasn't strong enough yet. Not to mention my shoulders, they weren't there and my confidence wasn't there. So I got on this mid length, it was like a seven, six single fin. And to me at the time, it felt huge. It felt like a long board. Um, but the more I surfed it, like the more. The more I got it, you know, like I, I was catching more ways and my rides were longer and like my positioning out in the lineup got better.

And I don't know, I just feel like it smoothed out my surfing quite a bit. And it changed my perspective in terms of like what equipment is suited to what, and I think for the surfing mainstream, there's nothing at all wrong with it. And guys that ride thrusters well, those guys rip, I wish I could do that.
It takes so much athleticism to do that. And I'm older, you know, I'm 42, so like I'll use cheater boards and not feel too bad about it. I think that there's [00:35:00] a lot of people that follow surfing and follow mainstream surfing and mainstream surfing pushes that type of equipment because that's the type of equipment that like the professional surfers on tour are riding and that's the type of equipment that those certain shapers are shaping.

The general public, that's what you see unless you look a little bit further. But they're harder to ride, they're harder to paddle, they're harder to catch waves and when I couldn't surf those boards anymore and I was almost forced into a mid length. It changed my whole perspective on surfing and then I started long boarding and then started falling in love with that and then started realizing, Oh, you don't need to take an egg out when it's small. They actually perform even better when it's like overhead and pumping. And so my whole perspective changed. You know, we have customers all the time that are making that same transit. And I love to [00:36:00] see it. Not that I have anything against short boards, but I love to see it because I know like how much more fun I was having when I made that transition.

Christine: That's so interesting to hear. Right now I have this goal of moving down to a board short enough that I duck dive, cause it just feels so fast and efficient. But what you're saying though, you're talking about like actually when you're riding the waves and there's something much more enjoyable, potentially about a mid or length or a longer board.

Ryan: Right. The more boards I ride, the more you learn about it from each board and you learn what you like and what you've done. And some of it's preference and some of it's what's the ocean is doing that day and where you are surfing and what kind of board is well suited to that. But then, I think the boards kind of teach you lessons along the way as well, but I'm super open minded in terms of equipment. I have no preconceived notions. Whatever you want to ride that's gonna make you happy, that's what you should ride. And that's [00:37:00] awesome. I like to ride all of it. I don't ride all of it well, but you know, I'm trying. And if you rip a short board, that's rad. But sometimes the waves are knee high and like long boarding is, it's really fun. It's a new challenge, and it's a different thing. And sometimes, especially the older I get, I'm more often than not in the mood to, I just want a cruise today. So I like having boards that do a bit of the work for you.

You know, Robin shaped your board and I have a board that Robin shaped and I loved. And you watch Robin surf, man, I mean he's always one of the best surfers out there. That guy can ride all these other boards. But he's got, not to sound corny, he's got a wisdom to his surfing, if that makes sense. And he's older, I mean he's not in his seventies, but he's like 45 or something like that. And, [00:38:00] 

Christine: You're cracking me up cause I just turned 50.

Ryan: Well, it's all relative, right? I know guys that are 20 and they're complaining about their backs. Yeah, he's got a wisdom to his surfing where, I know he can ride a 5’5.” And I've seen him do it and he kills it, but he's gonna catch way more waves when he is out there on, a 7’0”. And he still kills it on that. 

Christine: He's so sweet. 

Ryan: Yeah, he's the nicest guy. 

Christine: He's so humble, right? 

Ryan: Yeah, he totally is. Good, good people. The surfboard collective was basically an evolution of my board buying addiction. So I was buying and selling boards on Craigslist, like 10 a year or something like that. And you'd buy it and you'd ride it and you'd love it, and then you'd get over it and you'd want to try something new. So, anyway, I just was like, man, I can't be [00:39:00] the only one doing this. And we didn't reinvent the wheel with the collective, there's another company that was doing it before us, a little shout out to the Board Source in Carlsbad and John's at Luner over there. Those guys are awesome. They're rad. Their selection is killer. They run a very similar company to us. And I bought a few boards from John. In any case, I knew Travis from Surf Ride. Travis was like a manager and a board buyer over at Surf Ride for ages. And we got to talking and he was the same way.

I mean, that guy probably has 30 boards in his garage right now and he's a total board junkie and we're just total board nerds. We were just talking and he'd had that idea independently for years, but he didn't really have any financing. And I had that idea independently and I had [00:40:00] financing, but I had massive imposter syndrome with regard to that company because I'm like, who am I? I'm from Texas. What do I know about surfing or surfboards? You don't know what you're doing. And, and then I met Travis and I was like, but he does and he's friends with like everybody just cuz that's who he is. He competed in long boarding for a long time. So he knows a lot of people through that world and, he's part of the Oceanside Board Riders Club. So he knows people through that world and he knows everybody from professional surfers that are some of the best long boarders in the world to Joe Schmo that is a bartender at wherever restaurant, and just in that network. 

There's a lot of opportunity because a lot of these guys that are the better long boarders, or the best long boarders they're constantly cycling through equipment. So they'll work with their shaper and they'll say [00:41:00] make me this and the shaper will shape it and they'll ride it a few times and go, okay, that was great. We were close, but let's pull it in an eighth of an inch, or whatever it is. They get really specific with it. And then what happens to that board that they rode a few times? It was a help for the surfer and the shaper and us and the customer, right? Because the customer wants access to good equipment, but they don't wanna pay through the nose for it. And the surfer, a lot of times they would buy the board from the shaper, so then they would be on the hook for it, but then they need to liquidate that and turn it into to money to move into the next board. Or the shaper would be on the hook for it and he needs an outlet for it. If they're going to offload these themselves, it's gonna take time out of what they should be doing, which is shaping and designing surfboards. So, you know, we come along and we have a relationship with these guys, and so we'll take those boards off their hands, they get cash in [00:42:00] hand, we get great inventory. Our customers are psyched on it. If it looks interesting enough, Travis and I keep it, or we'll go surf it a few times. And yeah, it just seems like a real win-win. 

Christine: I'm curious about the cycling. Is it primarily just a single sale or is there a way, when you talked about your love for wanting to try all these different boards, does it happen where you'll have a customer that because they've done certain transactions that then they just keep trading? 

Ryan: Yeah. All the time. I mean, we definitely have loyal customers that come and they've bought numerous boards from us. They'll ride a board and if they like it, they'll keep it. And if it doesn't resonate, then they'll bring it back and do a trade or a store credit or whatever it is. We try to be as fair as we can. I mean if they buy a brand new board and they go and they have a few surfs on it and they don't like it and they want to bring it back, we can't sell it for new anymore, but we'll try to be fair with them.

Christine: Right. [00:43:00] So what is your vision for the future, if you don't mind? 

Ryan: That's a great question. Surfing every day. 

Christine: Oh, I meant with Surf Board Collective?

Ryan: I'm just kidding.

Christine: You can't claim being an imposter anymore because you're actually really doing it. 

Ryan: Yeah. I think Travis is doing a lot of it and that's part of me still trying to get over that imposter syndrome and trying to throw myself into that business a little bit more. I'm still working, my quote unquote day job or career job. And so the idea originally was, hey, I'm passionate about surfing and I love it. And you know, Travis has got these great connections and here's an idea that we know works cuz somebody else has already done it. Let's get that started and get that going and maybe I can have that as something that will help me transition out of that day job a little bit faster. So that's kind of the idea behind that, and I [00:44:00] would love to be able to do that in the next couple of years to be able to leave that traditional career and move a hundred percent into the surfboard collective. I think it would be good for the business, for so many reasons. And I think it would be good for me. I still have a little ways to go financially or whatever. You wanna make sure that the family is secure and make sure I'm in a good place before I jump off that cliff. I'm getting closer to it. I think moving into a new location and maybe even transitioning into more of like a traditional brick and mortar store that has regular retail hours, which is also something I think would be super beneficial for the business.

Christine: It's great because we started talking about your life design and you said that we've arrived at this place that seems perfectly set up, but then we've gone through the all the steps to get there, . [00:45:00] And it sounds like you're in this moment with Surf Collective as well. Taking the next step. 

Ryan: It's funny that I've done this, God, so many times in my life and I think imposter syndrome has something to do with it. And maybe being a chicken has something to do with it. Progress is just a lot of times, one step forward, two steps back kind of a thing. I love where I'm at and I wanted to get to this place, but man, I wish I could have gotten here a little sooner and not made all those mistakes along the way or maybe gone into it with a little bit more confidence, or taken a little bit more of a risk so that you could have gotten to that place faster, but I like where I am now. Yes. So it's like, c'est la vie, what are you gonna do? You try to learn from past mistakes and carry that forward. But I think we're doing pretty well. 

Christine: I think you are too. 

Ryan: Thank you.

Christine: Thanks so much, Ryan. 

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. 

Christine: I really appreciate you taking the time.

Ryan: It was fun talking to you. For sure. 

Christine: Thanks.