Chapter 1 - Leaving School
- By Author
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
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Chapter 1 - Leaving School
Leaving school at 18, my ambition was to build my life around surfing, I was passionate about body boarding, but not very pumped about competitions, so although I picked up a sponsorship from Lifestyle Surf Shop I kind of new I would have to find another avenue to make ends meet.
I started as a salesman in the shop (Also not really my forte), and then tried tagging along with Craig and the early LYB crew and started to film their sessions with an old VHS recorder, this didn't last too long as I battled to sit on the beach if the waves were firing .
However, Tich had a knack for creating multiple avenues. He gave me the space to mess up and learn. I ended up learning to finish boards with Tich and Craigs guidance, and my ratio of shop time slowly became lobsided factory time, and this was actually foundational to the rest of my life. Both Tich, Craig and Dave were mentors, but also like family.
Working with my hands was what I really loved, it wasn’t glamorous, but it was completely rewarding on so many levels, and when I wasn't doing that I enjoyed riding my bodyboard at the Crayfish Factory and the Outerkom, it was a life of hard wipe-outs, but great contentment, plenty of smiles, and irreplaceable lesson's. These formative years seemed like they would never end (Well I didn’t want them to end), travelling, surfing, good times with mates, but my ambitions grew....
(Let's call this chapter 1, I may continue this little story, or I may not, the important thing is I started it #Happy 50th Birthday Lifestyle Surf Shop, thank you!!)
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