At first the goal was easy: build a few boards for me and some friends. I really never thought about it becoming a commercial endeavour. After 20 boards or so, I thought I was getting pretty good. Around 500, I realized it was going to take years. At about 2000, I understood it was going to take most of a lifetime to truly master.
Around the same time I was exploring the craft in my garage, Sepp Bruwhiler and his brother Raph, were well on their way to becoming Canada’s first professional surfers. A good friend and now renowned photographer, Jeremy Koreski, had brought up the idea of making Sepp a few boards. I did, and got pretty lucky with his first board. He rode it religiously and I started getting a little bit of recognition for my efforts. Not long after, I had a waiting list and within two years, I had outgrown the garage.
With demand growing, it was time to make a decision about production. I thought about moving operations offshore where I could rip-off other shaper’s designs, use sweat and child labour to increase profits, and brand my product as Canadian. Just kidding!