Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast
Dave “Nelly” Nelson is a globally published veteran surf and skate photographer with countless magazine covers and spreads to his name. After spending years as a senior photographer at TransWorld Surf Magazine, Dave now shoots freelance for domestic and international publications.
Major action sports brands such as Vans, O’Neill, Fox, and Reef commonly contract Dave to shoot on location for trips locally and abroad.
As one of the best action water photographers in the world, he is usually in the right place at the right time to produce “the goods”. Dave’s relationships and mutual respect with some of the most elite athletes in the world give him access to the best action at the best spots.
Dave’s dedication to the sports of surfing and skateboarding is matched by his values as a person. A true family man, Dave cares about is daughter and wife as much as he cares for his community of Santa Cruz. A consummate role model for young athletes coming out of his hometown, Dave has helped pave the way for some of the best young talent in Nor Cal.
Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast
Episode 1: Pancho Sullivan
What does it take to become one of the world's best power surfers and a true ambassador of Aloha? Join us as we embark on an inspiring journey with Pancho Sullivan, whose life story begins at Taylor Camp, a unique hippie commune in Kauai, and leads us to the powerful waves of the North Shore of Oahu. Pancho and his longtime friend Nelly share heartfelt stories from their 30-year bond, reflecting on the deep sense of Ohana (family) that has shaped their lives. From personal relationships built through surfing to the full-circle moments of living in the same places at different times, this episode is a beautiful tribute to friendship, family, and the incredible journey of a surfing legend.
Experience the magnetic pull of the North Shore through Pancho's eyes, as he takes us back to his early days of surfing amidst Oahu's green valleys and awe-inspiring waves. Hear about the legendary moments that defined his youth, like Michael Ho’s iconic Pipeline Masters win that inspired him to push his limits. This narrative captures the essence of surfing culture and community on the North Shore, highlighting its blend of challenge, respect, and camaraderie. Learn how Pancho secured his first sponsorship with Billabong at just 13 and how surfing became a sanctuary from the chaos of home life, fueling his passion and commitment to the sport.
Discover the personal stories that shaped Pancho’s career and life beyond professional surfing. Auntie Karen, a beloved figure in the North Shore community, played a pivotal role in supporting young surfers, and her influence is warmly remembered. Pancho shares his awe-inspiring experiences with big wave surfing, the evolution of the Island Days brand, and the delicate balance between career ambitions and personal integrity. From thrilling competitions to family life and the constant pursuit of self-improvement, this episode is a testament to the ever-evolving journey of a surfer dedicated to his craft and the bonds that matter most.
This is Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast. I'm Brian Upton. Nelly's sidekick To my right is Nelly. Get us started, nelly.
Speaker 2:What's up, everybody, all right? Well, I am super excited to introduce our next guest, one of the world's best power surfers and ambassador of Aloha, poncho Sullivan. What's up, ponch?
Speaker 3:Right on, nelly. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Nice to meet you. Yeah, pleasure meeting you as well.
Speaker 1:You want to give a little credit to your intro music.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's the Expendables right here.
Speaker 1:Sacrifice.
Speaker 2:Let's go One of my favorite bands um kick us off now well, one I was just gonna say.
Speaker 2:One of the raddest things to me is that not only we've been friends for over 30 years, but I feel like I'm friends with your whole family and, uh, I love that, you know, I mean, and it's like, um, my wife Christy's been friends with your wife for a long time. They were running around Pipeline with Kira and Kiala when they were babies and you know, just having Kira come over to our house and stay with us, it's like she's part of our family. And when Kiala comes over to Kwai and stays with you, it's like I know she's 100% safe and she just looks at you like you're the best uncle in the world. So, um, you know just the value of that. Just that ohana that we've had for so long was just so valuable. So I just want to start it off with that and, uh, I guess we could just start from the beginning. Poncho, yeah, um, so you were born in kawaii and you were born in Kauai and you were born in the Taylor camp, correct?
Speaker 3:I was. Yeah, I was born in Taylor camp in 1973, which was kind of a hippie commune social experiment. The property was owned by Elizabeth Taylor's brother, robert Taylor. It was an 11 acre piece of property and he just said, you know, he let a bunch of hippies move on to the land. They started building houses up in the trees because of the flooding. You know they weren't legally supposed to build you know permanent structures, so they were sort of like these bamboo, you know makeshift type homes. There was a you know communal garden. There was a little stream that ran through that everybody bathed in, washed their dishes in, and it was sort of a little bit of a tribal vibe to it.
Speaker 1:I want to go there right now.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I was really little when we I mean I was born there and then when we left I think I was two years old, so I don't have a whole lot of memories. You know vaguely remember swimming in the stream and being on the beach and you know there was, they would play volleyball, they'd play music and, you know, have bonfires and it was right there at the end of the road. So a lot of you know people that live there would just consistently go and hike in the Poly Coast or go surfing out front. You know it was just a interesting time. You know, kind of the tail end of the Vietnam War, and I think I was going to say it sounds like Haight-Ashbury, this is like the seventies, right Late sixties, early seventies.
Speaker 3:Yep, and yeah, so that was my. You know, I was born there, and then in 1978, we moved to the North shore of Oahu and in 1978, we moved to the North Shore of Oahu Rad. Yeah, so, but thank you for the intro, by the way, your guys' friendship means the world to us and just so blessed to have you guys in our lives and have all of the experiences that we've had. And to see our daughters now, their relationship evolving as they become young women and off to college and all that. It's just wild.
Speaker 2:It's just, it's wild. It's been amazing, you know, and I always trip out like I was looking at some photos that I took of you at your house up 20 years ago, and then the ironic thing is now I live there 20 years later and you live back on Hawaii, it's just like the weirdest full circle. You know, yeah, absolutely. I think the stoke I have is like it's just like the weirdest full circle. You know? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I think the stoke I have is like it's because, even doing the tiny bit of homework, these things usually start with all of your accomplishments, right, that that's usually the way these interviews start is on some level. But it's got to feel pretty decent when somebody gets very personal, that that that's a that's intimate. Yeah, yeah, that's kind of rad. That's kind that's intimate. Yeah, yeah, that's kind of rad. That's kind of a nice intro rather than uh, cause that's more who you are than what you did?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely yeah, I mean that's just.
Speaker 2:You know I've been blessed to to compete and surf and travel around the world, but you know for me, it's been the relationships that I travel and do, the things that I love, and you know I'm very, very fortunate that I was able to do that. Come over to the North shore and shoot with Poncho Sullivan by flame for surfing magazine. And in my mind when I was growing up, my heroes were Larry Bergelman, buttons, mark Liddell, sean Thompson you know what I mean. And then, after they were coming to the end of their career, Poncho was right at the top of that list and so right when he told me you're going over there to shoot with Poncho, I was like, oh boy, you know what I mean, because I was like Give me a ballpark.
Speaker 2:Poncho was a hero.
Speaker 1:What was the ballpark time frame we're talking about? Just for my frame of reference, because I'm already out of the commune 25, 27 years ago, yeah, okay, all.
Speaker 2:And I was like, oh, and I tried to get his number or something. He's all, he lives right there at Aukai. So I like walked over to the house and like I was so intimidated, and this is competitive.
Speaker 1:at this point you were, you came, or where was he at in his career at this point when you first took the picture? Like what level were you competing? I think at that point Before he made the tour.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so.
Speaker 3:I was given the opportunity with Ripcrow Um, that was, they were doing their search program, um back in 1995. Uh, they sort of gave me the option. They said, hey, if you want to go the competitive route, you can and we'll support that, but we would rather you go on the search uh with Tom Curran and you know their whole uh marketing campaign was built around just surf exploration and right on. And I was like wow, that's. I never really enjoyed competition that much. I preferred surfing. You know waves with less people in the water and just having those type of you know those type of experiences, just being away from crowds and things like that. So to me that was like it was an easy pick.
Speaker 1:You know like I want to go on the search, let's go. So how's it digging in? This is where Brian represents the people. That's what I do. That's my. My obligation is. So how do we go from a co-op to rip curl? I feel like we missed a huge part of the story, which was how do you get a board in your hand? How do you get to that? There's the little middle part there, leading up to when Nelly was was taking that photograph.
Speaker 3:So we moved to Oahu. I believe it was 1978 and uh, 77, 78. And my neighbor, um. They had a, a surfboard and there was two brothers I became good friends with and their stepdad actually took us out and and um would push us into waves. He would make the three of us tread water and we'd each take turns and he'd push us into a wave and then we'd paddle back out. We'd have to paddle back out, get off the board, hand it over, tread water and then it was the next it's kind of how we all live was this.
Speaker 3:May like this was like, um, right in at green valley road in pun Puna, there's just this little river mouth and the wave barely gets I don't think it gets bigger than like waist high on a huge like trade winds swell. But so, yeah, that was my first little experience and I just remember the light bulb went off and I was like this is the coolest thing ever, this is what I want to do, and I begged my mom, you know, for a surfboard, but she was a single mom and didn't, you know, wasn't making much money. But she had a coworker at a Queen Lima it was the Hyatt Queen Lima back then and she worked there and and that friend actually had he was like a you know surfer that I don't think he was sponsored but he had a but enough surfboards that he was like, oh, I'll sell you a used board, he had enough surfboards that he was like, oh, I'll sell you a used board, but again you'll get to know me a little bit.
Speaker 1:But for me, what drew you in? For me, the first time in the water everybody has their own story. Is it the power of it? For me it was that perspective of looking back on where I usually drove the car, where we sat on the beach First time in your water laying horizontal. It's a perspective that kind of sucked me in. What was it like? What clicked?
Speaker 3:you said the light bulb, kind of a yeah, I think it was exactly what you were saying. I think it was just that perspective of looking, you know, being on the wave, feeling that, that glide, feeling the power of the way pushing you along, and then and then you know, finally, when you got to a point where you, you know you could get to your feet fairly easily, and then you're start to look around and you're like, wow, you know, green Valley is pretty spectacular on the on the windward side of Oahu and there's, you know, it's a big, beautiful green Valley. And I just remember looking directly up the Valley as I'm riding these little waves and thinking, wow, this is, this is like another dimension.
Speaker 2:Yeah, also, surfing is a great escape from everything in life and I mean, if you have problems, you go out for your first time, or your first few times. It's like well, like yeah, it's like all you're worried about is where, the waves breaking and how you're going to catch it, and all the problems in life go away, you know yeah, I remember surfing a couple hours.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember surfing being the first time I felt like I was in nature. Yeah, like all this, other shit happens eventually you have these moments in the desert or in the redwoods, but surfing is the first time you ever feel like you're inside of nature, which is a trip when you're seven years old yeah, years old, or whatever. It is all right, right. So now you got the board, you're doing the laps, doing the turns. We're still pretty far away from you getting on gnarly waves.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we, we actually ended up moving up to turtle Bay in 1980. And then I started to make friends over in the sunset beach area. You know I love playing sports. I was playing baseball, ended up meeting a bunch of friends that lived, some of them lived at sunset point, some of them lived down near pipeline and, um, you know, I would come down for baseball practice and hang out at their house after school and I was like, wow, this is a whole nother world down here.
Speaker 3:The surf moves at a different pace, um, than what I was used to. And then that kind of sort of just the draw, I think, of watching um, watching the waves, watching people surf. And then my fourth grade teacher, uh, mr Bento was his name, he was a surfer at Sunset and he worked at Sunset Beach elementary school and as part of a little um excursion, he took us across the street to watch the pipeline masters. And I want to say that might have been 1982 or 83, it was when michael ho won and he was wearing a cast, and I remember standing down on the beach and we were looking in the pipeline and watching him get barreled, you know, standing in the barrel with a cast on and, uh, that was just.
Speaker 2:It blew my mind ironically that's, that's the, the, the masters. That changed my life too. I watched that whole thing on Wide World of Sports and I was not only baffled by the fact that Michael Holt won, but that he won with a broken arm. And then I was just like, wow, how core is that? Paddled out a pipe with a freshly broken wrist and just packed barrel after barrel and it was just like you know, it kind of gave me that you can put. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And you're just wired differently. I think here's the difference. It's like. You know exact similar story. You know, like Milo stories. I'm an athlete, you're in the water, you grew up in Santa Cruz, you got a skateboard, but for me, the first time we went to Hawaii and you saw the power of those waves, I was like no, thank you, I was very happy on my longboard.
Speaker 1:And again, I do all those things, but for me, I think it's just the way we're wired. I think you're the same way like standing over a bowl I'm going to drop in and fuck myself up. Sorry, this will be explicit now, but I think we're wired differently. I'm talking to everybody, no shade, it's just. You see it and there's something inside of you like I saw that over there and I felt it. It's more so when you're on the North Shore. The first time I was there, I think I was eight years old, something like that, and it's not so much what you're seeing, it's what you're hearing and feeling. Yeah, and energy. It's intense.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're either drawn to want to take on that challenge or you know, or you have you know what your limits are, which is completely defined, and, and you know for me, I think, having grown up there, it wasn't something that I was immediately thought that I could go out in the biggest wave waves possible. It was getting beat down in the shore break and feeling like, okay, well, I can handle this, you know. And then, so why don't I paddle out to sunset, you know, and sit on the shoulder. And then you know, you're sitting on the shoulder and after a while you're like, well, I got to go catch one. And then you slowly kind of make your way over and you ride a couple. You realize, oh, I didn't die. So I want to do that, try to get a little deeper and get a bigger one.
Speaker 2:And so it was just a kind of a slow natural progression. So in this younger time period, who? Well, the North Shore is famous for being a pretty gnarly place. You know what I mean. And so I want to hear a little about your crew, yeah, and like who you hung out with and like what the different personalities were and like you know who was the guys that you were looking up to at those times. You know what I mean. Cause, cause, the North shores, it's a famous place. You know what I mean yeah.
Speaker 2:It's. It's got a lot of um.
Speaker 3:Well, I would say back then it was definitely the wild West. It was, you know, it was pretty raw. I mean, everybody was, you know, poor. Um, there wasn't much opportunity out there. It was just a. You know, a lot of hippie surfers and and local families and, um, yeah, I mean, you know, having the triple crown of surfing right there in your backyard like and being able to watch all of the best surfers from all over the world, um, you know, including a lot of the guys, the underground guys from the North shore, um, that definitely was very instrumental in in, um, you know, my um path as a surfer. You know, just being able to be exposed to that level of of a high level of surfing and and wanting to emulate that. Um, you know, my, my crew was pretty much all the kids that I grew up with. Um, you know, sean Briley, orion Taylor, all these kids that grew up at sunset point area, um, jack Johnson, tamayo Perry, um, the Lerner brother, I mean just a huge crew of kids that just grew up on the North Shore. Not all of them, you know, surfed competitively. You know a lot of them charged big waves, but you know they were just kind of underground kids and they never really competed.
Speaker 3:How I ended up sort of getting on a path of of a competitive surfing and getting sponsored was was actually Karen Gallagher, from here, from Santa Cruz. She owned sunset beach surf shop, this tiny little surf shop next to the Cammie's market, and she was just like pretty much like a second mom to all the kids on the North shore that didn't really have much parental supervision, and I was one of them, so she sponsored everybody, you know, she would take care of all the kids, um, and do whatever she could as far as trying to help out with entry fees in the contest, helping, you know, coordinate, getting shapers to donate shape blanks, and then she would get, you know, charlie Walker to glass the board. And she was just amazing, she was like this mother hen for all the kids that you know on the North shore and, um, and so she was huge because I think without her, like, I wouldn't have had the first three or four surfboards that I ever, you know, was wherever shaped for me personally. Um, and then you know, she was always like, you know, talking to different. She knew everybody in the industry because they all came through her shop. You know, she was always, like you know, talking to different. She knew everybody in the industry because they all came through her shop, you know, whether it was photographers that were getting their film process sent in and processed, or they were coming in to get wax, or you know she was pretty much the only little surf shop on, you know, this side of of Haleiwa or of Waimea um bridge, and so, yeah, she was hugely instrumental. Um, also, mike Latronic was also very supportive. He got me my first sponsorship, uh, with Billabong and um, you know that I think when you know I had that little bit of support behind me, I realized, well, if I really kind of focus on trying to push myself, maybe I can do something with this.
Speaker 3:And so I started, you know, entering more contests and I just loved the thrill of trying to push myself. I didn't really enjoy the time constraints of contests and sitting around all day waiting to surf for 20 minutes, but I liked that aspect of just. It was more so. Time constraints of contests and sitting around all day waiting to surf for 20 minutes, but I like that aspect of just, yeah, it was more so. I never really viewed that I was competing against someone else. It was always more.
Speaker 3:So, like how can I push my surfing to the highest you know possible level that I'm capable of? And and I always like that thrill, I guess it's. It goes hand in hand when you're trying to, you know you're you're sort of building up your confidence level and bigger waves, you know. It's that same feeling of like, oh wow, I'm going to push myself a little bit further and see if you know, can I do this and can I do it at a higher level and then get, get into the high weeds a little bit there, like, is there, um, in that level of surfing, the board matters, um, your ability matters.
Speaker 1:but there's also, I have to imagine there's like that Steph Curry effect, which is the discipline and the muscle memory and things like that, where I know he stepped as, whatever he takes, uh, 53s until you know whatever he does is there, is that the because athletically? Is there something that translates to what you do that way as far as a discipline?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I really actually didn't start analyzing technique till I was much older and competing full time, I think when I was younger. Going back to what Nellie was saying, for me surfing was an escape. You know, I didn't really have a stable family life and so that opportunity, every time I was in the water, all those problems went away. And that's the beauty of surfing is that you're just. You're so in the moment. You know, like each wave you're just, it's all about. Your focus has to just be so narrow, you know, because a lot of times it is can or can be life or death, and just the euphoria that you feel, you know, riding a wave at pipeline or I mean anywhere it can be, even just long boarding a small wave, I mean just that, that feeling where nothing else, you know, there's no other thoughts that come into your mind, it's just you, the wave and that moment that you have. That's interesting.
Speaker 2:And once you got a taste your first sponsorship with Bill Long once you got a taste, it was kind of the sky's the limit. You know what I mean. Mean because it's like all of a sudden it's these doors are opening up. Let's make them open up wider, you know, I mean, and one thing I know about poncho is like I knew who he was when he was a grom already, but then all of a sudden something clicked and he started like throwing these hacks where there was so much water moving that the tide was dropping in the ocean.
Speaker 2:You know I mean, and he was famous for that and it was like you know, there was only a couple power surfers in the whole world at that time that were like displacing that amount of water, and Poncho was one of them and it was talked about, it was published heavily in magazines and it was definitely something that a person like me wanted to shoot. Yeah, and and it was definitely something that a person like me wanted to shoot, yeah, I mean because when you're doing a turn and you're shooting a photo and you're displacing a lot of water, there's no way that you're not going to get the sickest shot ever. And you know, when me and poncho shot.
Speaker 2:I remember the first time I shot with him, actually, and he did this, gouge it off the wall, and I was like, oh my god, like the spray went like 18 feet yeah the back and, like you know, I mean, and it's just so, it's exciting as a photographer, it's exciting to watch and it's and, uh, I'm sure it's exciting for a photo editor to look at photos of that totally it's just uh and I'm thinking like bill bong, sponsorship was about what age ish um I think I, I think I got sponsored at like 13.
Speaker 1:And that's perfect for the thought I had, which is like, at that point, you know, whatever the home life is, whatever it is, but it's kind of trippy because, whether it be a suit, whether it be whatever it is that somebody investing in your potential, financially investing in you, yeah, and I'm sure, as a 13-year old, it's more just stoked. You're not, you know, being existential about it, thinking about that, but the reality is, is whatever your charging mentality was before Billabong, now it's turned up right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, you know. I think you know, just realizing or getting the opportunity to watch all of my surfing heroes do what they were doing in the triple crown and um, you know that, and seeing the lifestyle that they were able to live, traveling to Bell's beach and to Jeffrey's Bay, and all of that, that just seemed like so unattainable to me. But then when I would watch my hometown heroes surf against them you know guys like Johnny Boy Gomes and all these other guys that I admired their surfing, yeah, and you know they weren't full time world tour guys. They, you know, they just liked the challenge of competing on the North Shore, right, that was my initial drive.
Speaker 3:I never really thought, oh, I want to be on the world tour. Shore, right, that was my initial drive. I never really thought, oh, I want to be on the world tour. I was. I always thought you know what, what an amazing opportunity would be to compete here in my backyard at sunset and pipe and jaleva and only have three other guys in the water, like that. You know that just the opportunity for that alone was like a motivating factor for me. Like, I get to be out at sunset, have the whole lineup myself, get to position myself right where I want to be, and each heat that I make is another chance for me to surf and get to do it again.
Speaker 1:That's just a rad story. And actually Bill Bung, following the narrative here, that was your second sponsor. The girl who yeah Sunset beach surf shop.
Speaker 3:That's your first. Karen Geller was my very first sponsor. Auntie.
Speaker 2:Karen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:They ran the store at cammy's and it was like it was a surf shop, right. But right next door was cammy's market and that's where all the photographers got all their film processed. They had to bring their film and they'd send it to honolulu to be processed and then all the photographers would meet back. You know, I mean I've heard the craziest stories from she's still around.
Speaker 3:She is, she's still on the North Shore and so she feels the love. Yeah, I mean she was, just like I said, like a second mom or a North Shore mom for a lot of us kids.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic because it just makes me think sometimes it doesn't kind of come full circle where you're just putting that love out, you're putting that support out. Sometimes you either don't last long enough or doesn't come around. A dude you met on the way out, reggie it, you know, just subtract, put surfing and boards and skateboards and just think of like athletes. That's what he's doing in santa cruz and there's no love for it in the moment. Because in the moment you know you're either giving a board to a 13, 12 year old kid, you're stoked but it's not, it doesn't quite circle all the way around yet. So that's good to hear she's here and she's feeling it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I saw her on the North shore this year. You did. It's cool, that's amazing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and she never did it, you know, to. She was very grounding in the sense that she would repeatedly tell all of us, like you know, the the chances of you making it as a professional surfer is very, very minimal. So, you know, make sure that you're always focused on what you're going to do in life and then surfing is kind of like your. You know your passion and you know, try to choose something that where you can make a living but you're happy. She's a Ted talk. Yeah, she was. She's a Ted talk before there was Ted talks.
Speaker 3:So she was really grounding in that sense and she would definitely, like, you know, if, if one of the Groms were, you know, spouting off, she would definitely put us in our place, you know, in a very, you know, respectful, kind of humbling manner. She was very good like that and she, you know, when it went well beyond just the kids, like she would help people in the community that were having a hard time and, you know, almost to a fault, like you know, she helped so many people out. Everybody, you know really owed her money from some of the top level professional surfers of the 80s and 90s that came into the shop and always they had a you know a credit limit and they would like abuse it.
Speaker 3:And it was like you know they're not paying their bill. Here's Karen, who's you know they're not paying their bill. Here's karen, who's you know, helping everybody. Come on, I one of my good friends that I grew up with, moran taylor. He kept a list of everybody that owed money. That's amazing. He loved karen so much. He and I are the same age. That's great. He would hound people down to pay their bill. He'd be like you oh, here's your, here's your balance. You need to pay this money.
Speaker 1:He was her ap department and this was at like 15. That's great, but the the thing that always lingers in my head when I hear something like that it's kind of like the story at vibes um, the magazine and the media company that we're running is, I think there's a difference between cheering for somebody and wanting for somebody. Then what she did she? She invested, she invested, invested in dreams, she invested in, and I think there's a huge lesson there. Like you know, part of what we do is, instead of just hoping it works out for nonprofits, we just give them space and financially invest in them.
Speaker 1:It's a long game, but I think that story about Auntie Karen and all of this me realize I think people need to do a little more investing. I'm not talking cash all the time, no Cause, like you know, there's, there's intellectual properties that have value, but I think they need to invest, like you know, in investing the kids, invest in the kids and the community, more um more so than just hoping it all works out. A lot of times that that's a, that's a killer.
Speaker 2:So I, so I, I want to, I want to, um, get to the next phase of. I remember you won the. The sunset beach contest was at the xl pro or which one was. It was, and correct me if I'm wrong was that the points you needed to get on to tour?
Speaker 3:uh, no, actually um holly eva was the event that I won, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, that did you win the triple crown that year.
Speaker 3:No, I did not. Um, I can't remember where I finished, but, um, I I think I had I had just had Kira that year and a rip curl decided, you know, hey, we're not going to continue to to promote the search, we're not going to make films anymore. So, you know, this is kind of end of that, um, that marketing campaign. And I was like, hey, that's cool, I'm. You know, I'm 30 years old. It's been a great run. I've been able to see all of these different places around the world and surf these incredible waves. It's been a great run.
Speaker 3:And what's the next, you know, next phase of life? And um, I remember thinking that going into the winter season and I had like a year left on my contract and and I was like, okay, well, I get to compete in the triple crown this year. So I'm going to really just, you know, focus on trying to do the best that I can. And I won the X XL pro that year and then I made it. I can't remember I placed, you know, pretty well in in the events. I might've made the final at sunset.
Speaker 2:So where were you in points at that point, like when you came into Hollywood you needed a final, or did you? Yeah?
Speaker 3:I think I was. I think I was like in, in like somewhere around in the forties and the in the rankings and I kind of knew what you needed, yeah.
Speaker 3:Basically, when I went into the year, I was like, hey, you know what, this is the end of my professional surfing career. I'm going to bring my wife and my daughter with me, we're going to travel around and I'm going to compete in enough events to give myself an outside shot going into the triple crown. Cause I knew that, I, I knew that I, you know, I felt comfortable in the triple crown, I felt comfortable at pipe sunset, um, holly, eva. And so I knew, okay, if I can just give myself an outside chance, you get that home court advantage and I'll get the home court advantage at the end of the year in the most highest rated events of the entire year. And so I, you know, was able to get the, accumulate the points. I think I started the year, uh, winning pipe no-transcript to spend a couple of years traveling with, you know, with the family, and and I was just a new chapter of, you know, full-time competition.
Speaker 2:Well, that was insane. What a huge celebration. I remember that. And then, shortly after that, I saw you in TD Yep and we bro down. Yeah, I think you were staying with Manoa Yep and um, and you know that was a long time ago already. Yeah, crazy, it was cool you were hanging out with edgy and a couple other. You know legends in my world and um, you know that was kind of part of the beginning of our friendship.
Speaker 2:You know I mean, and then it was just cool, I see you around the world you know, I mean, and I'm not sure if I saw you in jay bay or not, but I may have and and then, next thing, you know, we're growing down in the north shore and and, uh, it's awesome yeah, surfing is such a amazing tribe or community when you, you know he's like nelly and I meeting on the north shore and then like looking down the beach and going no way, there's nelly right there, you know is the pace?
Speaker 1:is the pace of this is just from a layman standpoint again, like from you talk about these faraway places, chasing competitions, chasing swells? Is it always on to the next thing? Is it kind of transitional, or is there a time there where you guys are in these amazing places, sun setting? Do you talk about big things? Do you guys are? You guys are too young at that point to know, like, the value of the place you're at and the culture and all that stuff. Did those conversations happen? Are you just like, I guess what's, what's the definition of broing out?
Speaker 2:20 years ago, Like, oh well, it's always different. You know what I mean. It depends on who you're with, too, and how you know. There's some people that are really serious and they're not like out there having a great time you know what I mean and they're like if they lose, they're on the first plane out of there and then you get the. Those are the people that are fun to travel with. Totally and they're not just there to win the comp, it's. They're there for the whole culture.
Speaker 1:Immerse themselves a little bit.
Speaker 2:Immerse themselves and, you know, meet new people, and you end up making these connections, like him and Manoa. You know what I mean. They're like family. Yeah, he's got family in Tahiti and he's got these crazy stories of staying in these. What was it? What was that place? The Bonjouis Bonjouis.
Speaker 3:Well, now it's an inside joke that you have to tell yeah, so it's you know, early on, before there was, you know, any real accommodations at the end of the road. When I first started going out there to surf, chopo was, you know it was, either I would stay with Manoa and his family, which was about an hour drive, and I was, you know, we always would drive to the end of the road and surf, and then it was like, oh, this drive is kind of taxing, you know, an hour each way, and why don't we stay out there, let's stay at the end of the road? And and then we met this family that had this property that was just like the garden of Eden, small little bungalows spaced out on there, you know. They had this huge property that ran from the ocean all the way up to the tip of the mountain, top of the mountain, and then they had a pier out the end of, you know, with a. They had like a big canoe, and so a bunch of us started staying out there to be right there, be on it, you know, every day.
Speaker 3:And um, yeah, just all those types of experiences that for me was, you know, really the, the, the pinnacle of my career in the, in that sense of like, just those life experiences that's, that's what really drew me into to wanting to be a professional server was just the ability to travel all over the world.
Speaker 3:And and then, you know, as I was doing it, the realization of wow, this is you know, these places are amazing and I'm learning different things about different cultures and different, meeting different people. And you know just that, you know, just kind of almost made me push myself more because I wanted to experience more. And I know, and as a surfer, you know it's a limited window, you know, you're, you're, you know you're only going to be able to surf at such at a high level for, you know, a short amount of time. And so, you know, I think that was always driving me, was like, okay, if I keep pushing myself to the highest level that I'm capable of, then I can continue to do what I love to do, which is travel and experience all this new stuff and new waves and new friendships and things like that.
Speaker 2:It never ends right. You know you're out there traveling to Santa Cruz to visit people and seeing old friends from Oahu.
Speaker 1:So the Billabong sponsorship to retirement retirement, at what age-ish? From Oahu and and uh so from, uh, um. So the billabong sponsorship to retirement retirement, at what age ish, um, I retired from the tour at 30, uh 35, I think it was 35. So the biggest thing for me from a, from a landscape standpoint, is like how do you replace that dopamine? Like a huge dopamine drop or no? You?
Speaker 3:know, I don't think so. No, I think, for me, um, personally, like during the course of the last few years of my competitive career, you know I started a family and that helps. So, yeah, that definitely helped. You know, for me that that sort of I think it didn't take my love for surfing away, but it took my competitive drive away. I immediately went. You know what? I'm going to have a limited amount of time with my children to watch them grow, and if I'm chasing this surfing, competitive surfing career, I'm going to miss out on moments that I'll never get back. So I don't want to, I don't want to be away from them, and when I could no longer bring them with me, then it was like, okay, I'm, I'm done.
Speaker 2:I think the interesting thing to me is that there's a lot of different aspects to surfing and different careers that you can have, and so I know Poncho had a couple of companies that he started so he was working on those. He had a new house at Pupique so he was working on that and he was also still surfing for sponsors and, like I know for a fact that he did, a couple of chewing gum commercials Was it Hubba Bubba.
Speaker 3:No, it was a Hollywood chewing gum.
Speaker 2:Sprite commercial you know we were talking about and that one was big and it did a lot for him, and then you know his investments and stuff like that. But I want to hear a little bit about your companies. You know Island Days, yeah.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, so we I've been working with island days since about 2014. Um island days is a private label apparel company that was started right on by a good friend of mine. A baloosh um started it, uh, in indonesia in 1998. We became friends, I think at 17 or 18, and so I actually got to see him start the company and, as he would come from Bali back to the States to go and show the product line that he was developing, he would stay at my house so I got to see, from basically day one, his first production, second production, third production and he just kept evolving and, you know, the product just kept getting better and better and better and eventually, you know, I was at the end of my surfing career and sponsorship with Ripcrow and, uh, we were always, you know, talking and vibing about you know surf product and the industry and you know thing where things were headed and what we liked about you know certain board shorts and what we didn't like, and and so he was like, hey, man, if you know company's growing and if you'd like to come on board, you know I'd love for you to help me with everything from design to, you know, production to sales and you can manage Hawaii and have control over your territory Amazing and we can work together, yeah, and so that was a great opportunity.
Speaker 3:Like Nellie was saying, it was something that I could throw myself into. You know, after competing for so many years and doing that, this was a whole new direction and I had always been fascinated by product development, even when I was, you know, a sponsored athlete. I used to work with the design teams and give feedback and write reports and you know I was kind of. I had Karen Gallagher in the back of my head from start to finish.
Speaker 3:It was always this is going to end at some point, keep your eyes open. Where's the next, what's your next path to being able to support yourself in the lifestyle that you want to live? Yeah, so she was always in the back of my head there and then. So, yeah, it was a great opportunity to work with one of my best friends and and to be part of a company that was growing and I and I could see the demand out there as the corporate surf companies kept getting bigger and bigger.
Speaker 3:You know, it helped a lot of these small mom and pop shops get bigger and bigger and there was a need for them to have their own product and, um, you know, but in or for a lot of them, you, it's tough to do a big production and have someone design a whole line for you, and so that's kind of what, what he had, he had the vision and the foresight to to see that, hey, if we design a complete line of high quality products and we can offer them to these shops and, do you know, custom logo embellishments and hang tags and, you know, support their business that way, then they can continue to, you know, put their products out there and and draw more people to their, their stores. It's a it's a great marketing opportunity for these, these uh shops, to have their own branded product.
Speaker 2:Awesome. So you went and met with Kelly and on the beach yesterday Did you guys talk.
Speaker 3:I did. Yeah, he's a legend, yep. He actually carries his own branded Island days product and he's got one of the coolest shops I think I've ever seen. It's just so well-merchandised.
Speaker 2:Where's this at? And?
Speaker 3:Carmel Okay.
Speaker 2:I'm Monterey. Yeah, just beautiful.
Speaker 3:Beautiful. He's got like incredible collection of surfboards from you know the fifts or even before that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all the way through looking through this and it's for people listening. It's d-a-z-e. Island days. Um is is the is the website, but the 98, this brand style is way ahead of its time. Now I with brands that I won't say right now. There's a lot of brands that you know. Basically this stretch, comfort kind of wear that's been a big thing last COVID, the last six, eight years. This is way ahead of the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know we really try to focus on, you know where, what the current trends are as far as fat, more more so not not on the design side, so much as the technical fabric side. So we're always trying to think about what do we like to wear that supports our lifestyle. We like to surf, we like to be active outside, we like to play golf, and you need good quality fabrics that have sun protection stuff, know antimicrobial, that's stretchy, and so that's kind of always been the basis of the line. And then it's kind of started to grow from there. Going, well, we've got great stuff for, you know, being in the water, being on the beach.
Speaker 3:But what if you're up in Santa Cruz and it's cold? Where's our fleece lined? You know flannel, right. So that was like, okay, well, we got to start you know, evolving that part of the line and then that, then you dig into that and then it starts to evolve where you're like okay, we've got zip fleece, we got pullover fleece, we got, you know, all kinds of different jackets now and you know it's evolved quite a bit in the last what has it been 10 years that I've been there. So you know, now there's a pretty large sales team. We've got three sales representatives in the state of California, there's two in the Pacific Northwest and then, you know, represented up and down the East coast and Nelly repped that.
Speaker 1:That was so cool you need my address.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got your address. On lock golf shirts, I got it.
Speaker 3:I got your address on on lock.
Speaker 1:Hey, one last. Uh circle back a little bit to the on the, the conversation before um family kids Like um. I know I've got three, not kids anymore, they're grown ass adults. But the, the, the. If there's a little zero to 10 dial, as far as my personal risk and safety you kind of straight up nine or 10, most of my life other than the big wig serving. But it's um the the minute that that kid comes out that that dial does go down, you still have a different sense of yourself, did you feel that? As far as the, that's very different what you did for a living.
Speaker 3:Yes, I had a very, um, very distinct experience with that Um. It was right after my youngest, Keha, was born, and she was born with a heart condition, you know. And having gone through, you know, just being in the NICU and all you know, just, uh, all of that whole experience, um, and I was still surfing, I was still competing a little bit at that point. I was off the tour full time, um, but I was. I had received an invite to the eddie I cow, which was, you know, I was so honored to be, to be invited, and I trained really hard, you know, all summer to prepare for that winter, um, and then my daughter was born and then I ended up surfing in the eddie and it was, it was really big, it was like, I think, I paddled out straight into a closeout set and I remember thinking to myself I, you know, got through that closeout set, you know, word on the head. I was like you know what. I think I'm going to scale back a bit.
Speaker 3:You know, I've got kids. I've got a. I've got responsibilities. You know I got a daughter that's going to need additional care and you know it's time to which eddie a little more sensible um that here was, that was 2009. So yeah, was that the one, bruce? Or 2010? That was 2010 so greg long, I think it was greg long yeah, okay, yeah, it was bombing. Long yeah, okay yeah, it was bombing. Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was tripping Like that place. Just, I want nothing to do with that place. When it's like that, you know, yeah, get sucked over into the rocks on the south side of the bay, it's just like forget about it.
Speaker 1:No, thank you. It does beg the question, though from again outside, looking in.
Speaker 3:What was in hindsight now was what was the scariest moment of your career? Um, probably surfing. Um, some outer reefs, uh, used to tow surf a lot with miles, but Daca, um, you know, we, we really got into it, into towing. It was, you know, just a whole different experience of trying to surf, why me, uh, you know know, with a thick pack of guys and riding two or three guys on a wave, all of a sudden we were, you know, skipping around on the outer reefs and riding these incredible waves by ourselves and got ourselves into a couple crazy trouble positions of like, you know that we, it's just the two of us. There's no other skis around. You know, not really. Yeah, thinking things through too well, that was before the inflatable vests.
Speaker 3:We had vests, but they were not, not the tech now no, not, not as technical as they are now and, you know, also just learning, um, how to drive the ski and, and, you know, at that point I think we were like towing each other in and then we'd be on the way of watching you know one another and then realizing over time it's a lot safer if we're riding behind on the back of the wave so we can come in and pick that up After getting, like, you know, having to wear like big closeout sets on the head because the guy had to go all the way back around to pick you up.
Speaker 3:It was, you know. So there was a lot of, there was a big learning curve there and, you know, I think a couple of those experiences were pretty crazy, where you know, lost the ski, had to swim in from you know, an outer reef and pick up all the pieces on the beach and, you know, put it back together and so, yeah, that that I think those experiences, um, you know, for me, um, just just the sort of the euphoric feeling or the adrenaline rush of being out there and and knowing that you're kind of like it's you and your, your toe partner, you know, relying on each other to make sure you can get in, and you know, and and um, sometimes you just kind of get in the zone where the adrenaline's flowing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, forget about the danger.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you kind of are like oh, I want that one, take me to that peak right there, and you know.
Speaker 1:And then you just keep pushing yourself and and um, Is it more riding a wave or is it like understanding a wave? Is that a fair?
Speaker 3:question like it's definitely about yeah, I think you, when you're, a lot of times, when you're towing for me anyway, like riding out and seeing just this big mountain and going, wow, like visualizing where I need to turn my ski to put the guy in the best possible position to ride that wave, or or if you're on the you know end of the rope and you're, you're going, oh, if I can just torque and get enough speed here I can do a big carve off of that, yeah, mountain and then you know, go right or left, or you know, it's just it starts to get a little cartoonish where you just, you know, you feel like I can, I'm strapped in and I've got all this speed, I can, right, really do anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And then you get beat down and you realize that's not really the case. It's humbling at that point. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:Nelly, I saw I see notes pushed to the side. Can we do you want to get to the? Nelly and I wanted to do the eight minute podcast we did for a while. It was kind of amazing the concept of it. Nellie, tell them it's your show, tell them what the kind of the the concept of the eight minutes is. It's not on a hard eight minutes, but how'd we get there?
Speaker 2:We came up with eight minutes. So we were, you know, talking about the how to manifest good things in life and how to make stuff happen. You know what I mean? And, um, me and brian we were laughing because he asked me if I could do something. And it was like I'm like, yeah, take me eight minutes to do that. And he's like you know a lot of people they just procrastinate, you know, and then they promise they're going to get it done and they just wait and procrastinate and then they never get it done.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah and then, like two days later, he, we, we had a warehouse we were sharing and he walked in and it had just been transformed into a mailroom. He's like yo, what happened? I'm like eight minutes.
Speaker 3:It's just eight minutes, and so the thing.
Speaker 1:And so here's the question, and again, it's it's not a, it's not a left field, it's more take it wherever you want to be, father, pro surf or whatever it is. But the thing we kind of landed on on on on the eight minute was like, is there something you did in your career you do now could be in your career, that that's sort of that you you do on a daily or weekly basis to be great at what you do? Like, is there something you can look back on, that sort of fundamental thing that you try to do to be great?
Speaker 3:I think maybe the thing that I personally enjoy doing is trying to learn new things and really challenge myself and push myself to learn more, be a student of whatever it is that I'm doing, and that's always been kind of my drive, whether you know, when I was a little kid it was soccer and baseball, and then surfing, and then it became golf, and then it became golf and you know, just always trying to see how I could evolve and look at things from different perspectives, on how I can improve and and a student of his own craft and see him like taking you know that to another level, getting cool angles, and so I've always kind of been inspired by other people and how they approach things that they're good at and draw inspiration off that and try to apply it to the different things that I'm.
Speaker 2:I'm interested in, I want to jump in, and and I don't. I don't sling around.
Speaker 1:Ambassador of aloha, lightly ever why are you looking like you want to punch me when you say that. So I introduced poncho?
Speaker 2:as an ambassador of aloha you know, wow, I don't say that about that many people thanks, nelly and um you asked what. What was your exact question of what you, what you do, to what like? Is there anything?
Speaker 1:like a daily, weekly. I asked the question to be great at something or to be basically? To be great, that's a weird word, like I guess we to be. I don't want to be proficient, that's a lame. You know like to be great to be. I don't want to be proficient.
Speaker 2:That's a lame. You know, like to be great, Like so. So Poncho's humble. So my take on that is he's a good father, yeah, I mean, and he's good to his friends and he takes care of everyone around him. And when you do all those things, you know you're doing the right thing, and so it makes all the rest of the things in life easy Totally. That would be my take. What?
Speaker 1:I got out of it, since we're having this vulnerable session now together and we know each other so well as I got those certain words out of it and the one thing I got was that little Zen calendar thing which is be a student and think about it, even if your intention is to be a master, because I think that's the heart of the question.
Speaker 1:You told me three times and you said it's okay to be a student. In fact, that's the thing Even if you walk into a room fashion, surfing, whatever it is you might want to take a beat and kind of just understand the landscape and be a student of what you intend to master, no one's going to stop you from being the master. No one's going to stop you from being the master. But I really like that student part of it, you know, because I think that that is. It's basically kind of giving you know space to someone to listen to, kind of open yourself to something new, which I think is also kind of gets that word, you know feel free to innovate you know for yourself.
Speaker 2:So I dig it. I love that because when you're a student, you've obviously dropped your ego because you're the guy who has a lot to learn. And if you're willing to admit that you have a lot to learn, your ego is gone. So it means that you're not the expert there and it's the people who are trying to be an expert at something that they're not an expert. They get that and their ego get in the way.
Speaker 1:So do we agree Cause I'm competitive that my interpretation of his greatness with mine was better than yours? Do I get one and you get none? I think we're good boys.
Speaker 2:We're good, that was awesome. Thank you so much, brian and Poncho. You know we want to give a shout out to our families for sure, since we're all so close.
Speaker 1:so, yeah, kanekoa, okay, how kira and how nani and christian kiala, we love you absolutely, and then we do do the very, the last part, which I think, since we're this, I know people, a lot of people are going to listen because we're going to promote it, um, outside of, you know, island island days is there any other? Is there any other place they should go? Are you promoting anything else or this is the jimmy kimmel part?
Speaker 3:no, no, that's it, that's very good dude.
Speaker 1:This was really nice meeting you for real this was.
Speaker 3:This was great. Thank you for having me on nelly.
Speaker 1:Till next time, brother, I love it. All right, boys, we're out. That was great.
