Father's Day / Almond's Origin
I truly believe in the value of being perpetually curious about life—a skill I think I picked up from my Dad.
Almond Surfboards can trace its roots back to a series of projects that I did with my Dad from 2006 to 2008. (The first surfboard we ever built began as an idea in June of 2006 and was completed July 23, 2007.)
In that 12-13 months from inception to completion, I read every piece of material I could get my hands on, sketched endlessly in my notebooks, and talked with whoever I could; in order to get a better idea of how to tackle this project.
At that point, I was quite certain this would be the only surfboard I would ever build, so we wanted to take our time. Insert new life motto here: “build it like it’s the only one you’re ever going to do.”
That first board ended up being a 6'5 Balsa wood single fin with 5 redwood stringers and a glass-on fin.
My Dad and I have always bonded over our love of doing projects together, but this one has extra-special significance, because it really sparked my interest in surfboards, and got me day-dreaming and sketching ideas that would (through unforeseeable events and friendships) later become my career.
The heart behind Almond remains the same today as it did in its early formative years, I love the process of diving headlong into a project. To take something from a far-fetched idea into a tangible reality is a process that runs through the veins of everything we’re attempting to do here.
There is a certain level of delayed satisfaction in doing the process right, that makes the finished product (the juice) worth the time and energy invested (the squeeze). I am very thankful for my Dad’s engineering mind, and wisdom, and the example he sets to be a student of whatever it is he is interested in. This Father’s Day, I really wanted to pause and share a bit of this story, because it is really the foundation of the man I hope to be, and the brand we’re striving to become.
I still never surfed that first balsa board, it hangs on the wall at my parent’s house. It’s a great reminder of our humble, curious beginnings, and to the commitment of sticking to the process.
This one is a thank you for all Dads out there, but especially mine. Thank you Mark Allee for instilling a spirit of curiosity.
What's Next?
