The Oceanriders Podcast

I was intrigued when I found out that the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) near Noosa, Australia, announced a new course called "Geography of Surfing" elective for Bachelor students. In the wake of this announcement, I had to talk to the course's coordinator, Dr Javier Leon…

Javier is a USC professor, a bodyboarder and a longboarder, who has a PhD in Coastal Geomorphology. His passion has always been the ocean and his research has enabled him to work along the world's coastlines to fulfill his "duties" as a scientist. Javier has been spending the past 3 years preparing a new course called "Geography of Surfing" for undergraduate students. It's a field elective at the USC near Noosa. He has and has curated a set of surf related subjects and research studies for his lucky students. He has convinced the crème de la crème of Australian surfing legends to teach some of the subjects that you'll find about in our conversation.

During the episode, we find out what students learn, how to sign up and what guest star teachers students will have the privilege of meeting.

My guests today are two wonderful surfers from California: Tiare Hoegerman and Clarissa Kusel, the founders of The Ocean is Female.

About a year ago, Clarissa and Tiare decided to launch an Instagram account, and a Blog, called The Ocean is Female. The idea behind this side hustle, was to give an outlet for women surfers who want to share their stories and to find women who really surf and whose image doesn’t just boil down to a supermodel in a tiny bikini.

What started as a project in October 2017, is snowballing into an encyclopedia of inspiring and empowering female surf stories.

Today’s conversation is a tale of all tales. It’s an opportunity to meet the people behind this beautiful and refreshing non profit project. Clarissa and Tiare have a contagious sense of humour and share their story about the inception of the project, how to be a part of it, and their hilarious personal surf and travel stories.

In today's episode, I will be taking you to Peru where my guest Amy Schwartz is running a remote working experience for surfers with wanderlust. Amy's family business (she created it with her partner, John) [Unleash Surf][1] has been featured in The Inertia, GQ magazine, and even Forbes as THE destination for digital nomads, entrepreneurs and freelancers who want to take a step back from their 9–5 grind and put a new perspective on their careers. We talk about the untouched surf spots of Peru, the challenges of running an international business, and of course surfing!

Today my guest is Simon Short, also known as The Average Surfer. Simon is from England but he lives in sunny California. He is a writer. He has been a regular contributor to The Inertia, one of the coolest surfing magazines on the planet.

In 2016, he attracted a lot of attention when he published an inspiring article about Surfing, Depression and the Need for Identity. The success of this intimate and moving story inspired him to continue writing.

Fast forward 2 years later and next Monday (November 19th) Simon is launching his first book. It’s called "The Average Surfer’s Guide to Travel, Waves and Progression", it’s a true story and a riveting read. Simon reached out to me about a month ago, and sent me his book, and once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. The writing is wonderful and Simon really nails it when he defines what an average surfer is and how surfing affects us. Beyond business and entrepreneurship, Simon and I discuss how surfing is more than just a sport : it’s an identity, a community, it’s a lifestyle and as Simon would put it, "it breeds in us the love for the the environment, for travel, for adventure and for other people. " Simon is a living breathing example of how we can prioritize our passions to become happier people and better humans. And this is his story...

Welcome to the Oceanriders Podcast, conversations with creatives, entrepreneurs, thinkers and dreamers who also happen to be surfers.

Episode 5 is the second part of my conversation with Scott Martin, Multipassionate Marketing Entrepreneur (I would also call him an amazing Marketing Guru ;) ). If you didn’t get a chance to listen to Episode 4, I highly recommend downloading it first, because it’s packed with really interesting and useful information, and Scott is an amazing storyteller. In this episode, Scott tells us his story of a year of personal growth in the hands of the one and only Tony Robbins. We also get to discuss building businesses that have a value proposition beyond just selling products or services. He has a really interesting point of view on the businesses that base their strategies on giving back to local communities. We talk about the numerous online communities Scott has created and the perseverance it takes to build social media accounts with tens of thousands of followers. Finally, we discuss surfing and how Scott manages to weave it into his life/work balance.

Today my guest is Scott Martin. Scott is an ambitiously lazy marketing guru from Canada. He shares his incredible story about growing up in a freaking cold country. He tells how he replaced going to college with real life experience in Hawaii, and how he still travels the world in search of waves and warmth. The story of his epiphany that changed his career path when he got stranded in Miami airport with only $80 in his pocket is well worth a listen.

As a marketing geek myself, our discussion gets a bit nerdy. We talk about his take on sustainable growth marketing, creating online communities and what I would call the holy grail : passive income. This is a must-listen if you are involved in any way with social media, building an online business and growing a sustainable community of followers or clients. If there are any digital nomads listening, this is definitely an episode to save and replay. Even if you’re not a surfer!

Confuscius once said, "Find a job that makes you happy and you'll never work a day in your life again" and Aviv is one of those people. Aviv is a video storyteller and he has acquired recognition from the movies he has produced with his drones. In this episode we discuss what career choices have lead Aviv to video storytelling, what it takes to run your own company and of course, surfing!

Aviv is from Israel and shares some cool information about the waves of Israel, so if you're planning a trip there, you may want to pack a board...

But if there is anything to take from the episode, it's the fact that you have to keep on learning, trying, and sometimes fail to find your passion. All experience (good or bad) is worth it.

Welcome to the Oceanriders Podcast: conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, thinkers and dreamers who happen to be surfers.

In Episode 2, my guest is all four of them: her name is Eve Isambourg and she is a stunning, brilliant and inspiring young woman from Mauritius. At only 19, she created a movement to raise awareness about the importance of ocean conservation. This May, while she was sitting her second year college exams at Sciences Po Paris, she created the ["I Speak Blue Too" campaign][1] that went viral.

In this episode, Eve tells us her story, and shares her experience of creating and leading an activist campaign in favor of our oceans. We discuss what it takes to dive into the world of activism, how social media plays a great part and what you learn on the way. 

Find out how to build your dream job from pure joy, self motivation and believing in your values.

This episode is a conversation with Colin Kuit, entrepreneur, educator and surfer. Colin, is from South Africa and runs two outdoor education companies for International School Students, one in Bali and the other in the Kruger National Park. In this particular niche, Colin is an expert in teaching outdoor activities with an activist twist. Colin tells us his story and path and how he has evolved from being a lifeguard, teaching PE in the UK, to becoming the sports coordinator at Green School Bali and then taking the big leap and going solo. We get into what it takes to run an outdoor education business and how to fit in spare time for... surfing! Colin also tells us how he is preparing for the M2O Paddleboard World Championship, a mythical 52 kilometer crossing of the Channel of Bones, the shark infested strait of water between Molokaï and Oahu.

He also provides us with some interesting info on surf spots in Bali.