WSJ #046 Ken Lewis

The Wave Sliders journal

ENTRY # 046

Written By: Ken Lewis

Intro By: Jack Ventura

INTRO:

I met Ken a few years back at the Boardroom Show, our booths side by side — it was one of those first impressions that sticks with you.

I knew Ken from Instagram and wasn’t sure how he’d feel about some no-name guy making surfboard bags being posted up next to his booth. But I was completely taken back once we started talking.

He was genuinely stoked to meet, excited to exchange stories, and, in his endlessly curious way, eager to learn more about FARO.

Ken’s spirit is a reminder of why so many of us were drawn to surfing and counterculture in the first place — a life guided by passion and happiness, shared with people who also see the world differently.

While San Diego and the surf/skate industry around him have shifted, Ken has remained an anchor, sharing vintage boards, stories, and helping guide the younger crew on what truly matters.

I’m honored to call him a friend, and I hope his words inspire you to learn from someone who carries deep respect for surfing’s past while carving his own path forward.

Who are you?

Share a few sentences explaining who you see yourself as these days...

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Who I am now is the sum of decades of experiences. I’m just a guy learning like the rest of us. If a title is necessary, well then, I am a recovering marketing director and veteran of the once interesting surf and skateboard industry.

What was your first job?

First jobs reveal a lot about who we were.

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My first job was a newspaper delivery kid. I worked a little route in my pacific beach neighborhood. Dropping off the morning and evening newspaper, collecting fees. I was only like 11-12. My first “real job” was Taco Bell when I was 15. I wanted to save up some money to buy myself a new surfboard. My mom was a single mother raising two boys and money was tight.

If I wanted something, I needed to find a way to get it on my own. The job was brutal as far as self confidence goes. Being that young and fragile with one’s sense of self, with fellow students coming in and giving you a hard time was not rad.

What have you learned through surfing that translates to everyday life?

What you have learned from surfing and how those lessons help you through daily livin'...

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Surfing taught me everything. Just the act of learning to surf is beyond humbling. Then when you did learn, you had to navigate the beach life. The hobos, the locals, the bullies, the drug addicts, the assholes etc.

Every session in the water was a learning experience, not just about riding waves, but also about yourself. What crumbled you that session? What breakthroughs did you experience? How sitting there in nature can calm your soul and give you peace. I look back at my 40 years of experiences and surfing has been the one relationship that I have that has always been there for me and always showed me something about myself. It inspired me to travel the world, take chances and do things that most people will never do. While my personal love for it remains, the relationship has evolved many times over my life. When you begin to work in the surf industry, the soulfulness of it and the things you love about it also become commoditized and that part Ive struggled with many times over the years.

We are stewards, sometimes gate-keepers, and the people who are attracted to the lifestyle are not always as heartfelt and sincere in their love of whatever this thing is. Some just want to exploit it for a dollar. Others inspire greatness even though they are part of the wheels of change. Those are the people, who in spite of the commercialism, still maintain the soul and heritage that made surfing so appealing to us in the first place.

So what did surfing teach me? Respect, empathy, humility and to not take myself so seriously.

What is something you'd like to accomplish in the next 10 years?

Share a goal for the next decade, and how surfing might have influenced these aspirations.

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I don’t know if I have a decade left in me Jack. But if I do, the goal is to give back. To share the lessons I’ve learned to help others navigate the rocky roads that we all encounter. Mentorship is a HUGE part of surfing. We’ve all had someone show us what boards we need, spots to surf, maybe they drew us a map to a secret spot, but more so, the people who have shown us how to carry ourselves when times are tough.

The mentors who helped steer us back into the light when we were in dark places. Those mentors meant the world to me and my goal is to help others as I have been helped. The world is filled with plenty revisionist history dorks, huge egos and surfers who pat themselves on the back and give others a hard time instead of helping the scene and community be better.

What Ken Is Stoked On Lately...

Someone in the surf community you are stoked on:

This one won’t be a big secret to anyone who knows me, but that would be Skip Frye. I've been luck enough to be friends with him and have him in my life since 1987. I've watched him navigate times when his boards didn’t sell for much and how he and his wife navigated business and his passion for what he does.

His pure love for surfing and craftsmanship are second to nobody in the surf world. But the bigger thing Ive watched is how he makes people feel. His enthusiasm, his endless stoke and how he gives endlessly to the sport with his designs and to the community with his time is inspirational.

There are many people in surfing who rip or who I have met and really like. But Skip is True North. Ive learned more from him, not by words alone, but his actions, that I could fill up dozens of notebooks. Its the twilight of his generation. There’s not many of em left and when he’s gone, there will be a huge hole left behind. Not only of designs, the first hand history, but also his mentorship to hundreds of surfers and shapers.

There are plenty of us walking down the path that surfers like him and others had to clear the way first. Now, as far as modern surfers go, John John and Mikey February are the truth.

There are others but watching how they surf with such style is an absolute pleasure to watch and I’m excited to see what they do in the next bunch of years.

A quote you like?

“When going through hell, dont stop, keep going.”

The other is:
"Keep doing what your doing and you'll keep getting what your getting."
This one is huge.

If you don't grow and change and learn about self responsibility, you'll be spinning your wheels for years to come. Learn, change, grow and become better.

A place you want to visit that you have not been to yet?

This one is easy for me. New Zealand. Ive been to some amazing places and had the opportunity to be there when they were still uncrowded and unspoiled.

New Zealand has been on my list for decades. Not just for the surf but for the open space and people. Hopefully ill get to check that one off before my times up.