You know we are lucky to have such a cool family of characters that really push our boards, our brand, and my shaping. I love them all. We wouldn't be where we are today without them.

That being said, there's two that come to mind: Curtis Purdue - his style and body control on a longboard is so pleasing to watch. He surfs days when it's literally freezing outside, New England cold is another level of cold. You have to want it when it's that cold, and you can tell he loves it. It's pure why he's out there. He's always fun to shape for.

Another joy to work with is Jesse Hines. In a totally different way, he is never satisfied and it is always a challenge when working with someone like that. Jesse is after a feeling, he knows whether the board is good or not in like 3 sessions. What he does in big gnarly waves, often times on our Channel Twin is incredible. No one believes he is on a Twin until he flips over his board after just getting spit out of a barrel.

All of the crew of people that ride our boards surf really well, but I'm more stoked on them as people. Most of them work jobs, have families, responsibilities, bills, etc - but they all find time to get after it in the water. They all are pushing themselves in life. They all pay for their boards, and as a small company that is so huge, they believe in what we make so much they rather pay then being handed something free from bigger companies. That is what inspires me.