Innovating on Water: Tyler Interviews Blue Planet’s Robert Stehlik on the Blue Planet Show #38

In a special episode of the Blue Planet Show, guest host Tyler Landon interviews Rob Stehlik, the founder of Blue Planet.

The discussion focuses on Rob’s extensive experience in the watersports industry, his journey from windsurfing to paddleboarding to foiling, and the release of his new book, 'Stand Up Paddleboarding for Dummies.'

Rob reflects on his 30-year journey, starting with his passion for windsurfing in Germany and moving to Maui. He shares insights into his role as an early adopter and promoter of standup paddleboarding and discusses the challenges he faced in writing his first book.

The conversation delves into the operational and logistical challenges of running Blue Planet, including early struggles with suppliers, the expansion of product lines, and the importance of branding and consistent quality.

Rob also talks about his YouTube channel, which has become a vital marketing tool for the brand. Highlights from his global travels, engagements in competitive standup paddling, and his thoughts on balancing business with personal passions add depth to the narrative.

Additionally, Rob discusses the diversification of Blue Planet into rental services and commercial real estate, showcasing the brand's growth and adaptation over the years.

Tyler, who has a history of working with Rob, adds personal anecdotes about their business relationship and the impact Rob’s mentorship has had on his own career.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey guys, welcome to the blue planet show.
This is Tyler co hosting.
We've got a special episode for you today.
We've got the man himself, the founder, the owner of blue planet on the blue planet show. 5 00:00:12,179.999 --> 00:00:13,460 Really excited to have you, Rob.
Welcome to the show or welcome back.
As we should say today we're going to ask him a few questions about his ownership, his entrepreneurship and his new book, stand a paddleboard for dummies.

(00:23):
So stay tuned.
We got a lot of great information coming for you.
My name is Tyler.
This is Rob.
Rob, 30 plus years, my man, in the paddleboard industry.
And you just finished your first book, the standup paddleboard for dummies.
How does it feel? Yeah, it feels great.
.001First of all, I just want to say thanks for, Tyler had this idea to put me on the interview seat.

(00:44):
Usually I'm the one interviewing people in the industry. 17 00:00:47,670.001 --> 00:00:53,640.001 So thanks for That idea, but yeah it's been pretty crazy year for me, pretty busy. 18 00:00:53,640.001 --> 00:00:59,300.001 Yeah, I was asked to write a book about standard paddleboarding by Wiley publishing company. 19 00:00:59,340.001 --> 00:01:01,0.002 They do the four dummies series. 20 00:01:01,10.001 --> 00:01:16,945.0025 So they, they asked me, sent me an email, do if I'd be open to writing a book about standard paddling and it's it's always been One of my things early on in the stand up paddle world, when I first got started I had a couple mentors that said, brand yourself as the stand up paddle expert. 21 00:01:16,965.0025 --> 00:01:21,865.0025 You're into it, you're an athlete you're selling it, you're, probably more than most people about it. 22 00:01:21,925.0035 --> 00:01:26,245.0035 That's kinda, was my goal, to brand myself as the expert. 23 00:01:26,245.0035 --> 00:01:35,935.0035 I started blogging, and then I realized my friend Evan Long, who had that a podcast or he YouTube channel, standuppaddlesurf. 24 00:01:35,945.0035 --> 00:01:39,695.0035 net, he came into the shop and was like, Oh, you know that post you made, that's cool stuff. 25 00:01:39,695.0035 --> 00:01:44,755.0035 Can we make a video about it? So he recorded a video on his brand new iPhone. 26 00:01:44,755.0035 --> 00:01:45,495.0035 It was like the first thing. 27 00:01:45,635.0035 --> 00:01:48,965.0035 IPhone one, back then he's Oh, that's a cool looking phone. 28 00:01:48,965.0035 --> 00:01:50,15.0035 You can film with that. 29 00:01:50,15.0035 --> 00:02:01,354.904 I was like, anyway, so he just recorded this quick video, posted it on YouTube and my, my written blog post got like a few hundred views and that video got like thousands of views. 30 00:02:01,354.904 --> 00:02:02,574.903 And I was like, Oh, this is it. 31 00:02:02,574.903 --> 00:02:03,654.9035 I just got to make videos. 32 00:02:03,654.9035 --> 00:02:07,144.9035 It's way easier to, I found, like just talking about something and showing it. 33 00:02:07,629.9035 --> 00:02:12,209.9035 rather than writing about it and trying to show what you're doing in pictures. 34 00:02:12,209.9035 --> 00:02:15,999.9035 And yeah, then that started the Blue Planet YouTube channel. 35 00:02:16,659.9035 --> 00:02:25,419.9025 And then yeah, and then that kind of led to having the video that I think we shot it together to stand up how to stand a paddleboard in five minutes. 36 00:02:25,420.0025 --> 00:02:25,899.8025 Yeah. 37 00:02:26,289.9025 --> 00:02:28,239.8025 And now that's had about 2. 38 00:02:28,239.9025 --> 00:02:29,339.9025 5 million. 39 00:02:29,379.9025 --> 00:02:30,949.9025 Yeah, two and a half million views. 40 00:02:31,499.9025 --> 00:02:35,459.9025 So that's probably the most popular video on YouTube for stand up paddling. 41 00:02:35,529.9025 --> 00:02:36,779.9035 People get getting into it. 42 00:02:36,789.9035 --> 00:02:38,799.8035 And I think that's why they contacted me. 43 00:02:38,799.8035 --> 00:02:41,9.8045 It's Oh, this guy must know what he's talking about. 44 00:02:41,509.8045 --> 00:02:42,879.7045 So now it's right in my, up my alley. 45 00:02:42,879.7045 --> 00:02:47,119.7045 So when they sent me an email, I was like, yeah, that sounds like something I should do, to brand myself as the expert. 46 00:02:47,129.7045 --> 00:02:53,309.7045 I said yes, and then I realized what I was getting into and, like writing is really hard for me. 47 00:02:53,309.7045 --> 00:02:54,459.7045 It was so challenging. 48 00:02:54,459.7045 --> 00:03:08,294.705 Retrospect, it's don't whine about it but just like sitting yourself down and when you have a business to run and doing other fun stuff in the afternoon, trying to go wing foiling or stand up paddling and then having to, dedicate time to it. 49 00:03:08,974.805 --> 00:03:12,204.805 And I also found that I can't just like work on it for an hour. 50 00:03:12,324.805 --> 00:03:14,564.805 It takes me almost an hour to really get into it. 51 00:03:14,574.805 --> 00:03:23,804.805 So then I just started doing like one day a week where I just would focus on writing for five, six hours and try to make, write a chapter every. 52 00:03:24,59.805 --> 00:03:27,289.805 Every week and finally got the manuscript finished. 53 00:03:27,289.805 --> 00:03:33,479.805 Now it's like in the editing process and then it's going to be ready in stores probably early next year. 54 00:03:33,489.805 --> 00:03:35,299.804 So pretty excited about that. 55 00:03:35,309.805 --> 00:03:37,139.8045 It's I'm super stoked to have it finished. 56 00:03:37,139.8045 --> 00:03:37,419.8045 Yeah. 57 00:03:37,839.8045 --> 00:03:41,389.8035 I have the unique opportunity to read the book before it was released. 58 00:03:41,399.8035 --> 00:03:45,69.8035 You're the technical editor, right? So you get to check and make sure my facts are straight. 59 00:03:45,69.8035 --> 00:03:45,679.8035 And that's right. 60 00:03:46,9.8035 --> 00:03:47,149.8035 Which was super fun. 61 00:03:47,249.8035 --> 00:03:49,349.8035 Lots of great information, great storytelling. 62 00:03:49,669.8035 --> 00:03:51,519.8025 So from a reader's perspective. 63 00:03:52,189.8035 --> 00:04:08,599.8035 Very entertaining had enjoyed reading and you know as those may probably strenuous sitting down writing all I think it's 25 chapters Over the scope of pretty much everything in the paddleboard industry I think your readers are going to be pretty excited once it gets out on the market. 64 00:04:08,889.8035 --> 00:04:22,684.8035 When is it going to be released? I'm not sure the exact date, but I believe When you can already pre order it on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles and so on different websites have it available You It's called stand up paddle boarding for dummies. 65 00:04:22,684.8035 --> 00:04:24,934.8035 If you just search it, it'll give you different options. 66 00:04:25,64.8035 --> 00:04:27,264.8035 It's supposed to be about 250 pages. 67 00:04:27,524.8035 --> 00:04:27,914.8035 Nice. 68 00:04:28,4.8035 --> 00:04:31,614.8035 And it's going to have lots of illustrations too and images. 69 00:04:32,224.8035 --> 00:04:33,244.8035 But yeah, it's yeah. 70 00:04:33,544.8025 --> 00:04:35,904.8025 Another huge feat for you this year. 71 00:04:35,914.8025 --> 00:04:37,494.8035 It's been a big year for you, Rob. 72 00:04:37,794.8035 --> 00:04:38,794.8035 The M2O. 73 00:04:39,174.8035 --> 00:04:43,344.8035 You've entered the M2O, I think you said 13 times. 74 00:04:43,494.8035 --> 00:04:46,714.8035 And this was the first year that you did it in two different divisions. 75 00:04:47,504.8035 --> 00:04:54,764.8035 Not only that, you also won your most competitive division over the years, the stock division paddleboard open stock. 76 00:04:55,124.8035 --> 00:05:06,154.7035 How does it feel to take first place and to also do it in foiling? Yeah, that was amazing that, it was the first year that they separated the foil race and the standard paddleboard race. 77 00:05:07,364.7035 --> 00:05:17,254.7025 And I Actually, it was like, oh, this, I think it's a great idea, and then maybe a lot of people are going to do both races, the foiling, and, because a lot of the good stand up paddlers got into foiling. 78 00:05:17,639.7035 --> 00:05:27,849.7035 And then now that's all they do, but I thought maybe some of them would do the standup paddle race as well, cause it's only a week apart and stuff like that, but it turns out that I was actually the only one. 79 00:05:27,849.7035 --> 00:05:30,559.7035 I think we did both races in solo divisions. 80 00:05:30,629.7035 --> 00:05:40,449.702 There's another competitor that did it and as a team race and the prone paddleboard and standup foiling, but yeah, there's only really two of us who did both weekends in a row. 81 00:05:40,949.702 --> 00:05:42,599.702 But yeah, it was super cool. 82 00:05:42,599.702 --> 00:05:43,279.702 I did well. 83 00:05:43,349.702 --> 00:05:46,349.702 I was in the top 10, I think, in the wing flow race. 84 00:05:46,734.702 --> 00:05:48,354.702 So I was pretty stoked about that result. 85 00:05:48,414.702 --> 00:05:52,674.702 And then yeah, and then I wasn't expecting really anything. 86 00:05:52,674.702 --> 00:05:57,454.702 I was training with my friend, Roland Graham a lot and, other paddlers as well. 87 00:05:57,454.702 --> 00:06:04,794.702 But Roland consistently was always faster than me in training, and I hadn't really been, since I haven't done it since 2019, really. 88 00:06:04,794.702 --> 00:06:15,374.701 I haven't been training actively for downwind racing, I was riding a bicycle, I got back into it, so it was more of a matter of getting back in shape for it and I was always chasing after Roland. 89 00:06:15,374.701 --> 00:06:26,684.7005 So my goal was just, I just want to be able to be as fast as Roland or get in ahead of Roland if I can, and then we had really, I think the only day I was actually a little bit faster than him was when we did our longest training run. 90 00:06:27,444.7015 --> 00:06:37,984.6005 And he was just had a little bit of an off day and I was just like, Oh, maybe I can do this, maybe I can go be faster than Roland, and that was the only time I was came in ahead of him, which was like a few weeks before the race. 91 00:06:38,514.6015 --> 00:06:49,254.6025 And then the day of, I was just like, okay, just I had an interview too with Dave Kalama and asked him can you give me some pointers? So he gave me some pointers and I, that was in my head during the race to breathing. 92 00:06:49,644.6025 --> 00:06:56,204.602 Stay even keel, don't get too excited, don't get frustrated, just and then I just told myself, okay, don't get too excited right now. 93 00:06:56,204.602 --> 00:06:57,914.6015 I know it's conserve your energy. 94 00:06:58,214.6025 --> 00:07:02,94.6025 This one guy And from Brazil, he passed me, but he was on an unlimited board. 95 00:07:02,434.6025 --> 00:07:08,684.6025 And for a long time we were like neck and I was trying to keep up with him, he had a longer unlimited board, so his board speed was a little bit better. 96 00:07:08,734.6025 --> 00:07:11,224.6035 And it was just like wearing me down to try to keep up with him. 97 00:07:11,224.6035 --> 00:07:12,484.603 So I just okay, I just let him go. 98 00:07:12,484.603 --> 00:07:13,254.6025 Don't worry about it. 99 00:07:13,354.6025 --> 00:07:20,444.6035 I'm doing my own thing, and then, yeah, I didn't really know I was I knew that I was in the front, but. 100 00:07:20,514.7035 --> 00:07:25,364.6035 I ended up finishing third overall and there's only two other unlimited boards in front of me. 101 00:07:25,364.6035 --> 00:07:28,244.6035 And so that was super exciting. 102 00:07:28,244.6035 --> 00:07:29,334.6035 That would never happen. 103 00:07:29,854.6025 --> 00:07:31,614.6025 I know, like you said, 13 races. 104 00:07:32,184.6035 --> 00:07:48,444.6035 I came in a few, I've won my age group before I've gotten like second place in my age group a bunch of times, but to win it overall, I've never even come close to that, so that was, yeah, it's exciting, but it's also the reason is because it's just not as competitive anymore, there's not as many top. 105 00:07:48,809.6035 --> 00:07:50,409.6035 Pros paddling it, true. 106 00:07:50,419.6035 --> 00:08:00,539.6025 If you like Kyle, any or Conor Baxter, there's like a lot of really good pilots that could have easily beat me in that race, but they just weren't entered in that division. 107 00:08:00,539.6025 --> 00:08:04,959.6035 So yeah, it's like they say 80 percent of success is showing up. 108 00:08:05,249.6035 --> 00:08:07,489.6035 That's right, still a great feat. 109 00:08:07,529.6035 --> 00:08:08,369.6035 Congratulations. 110 00:08:08,509.6035 --> 00:08:08,849.6035 Thank you. 111 00:08:08,889.6035 --> 00:08:12,559.6035 When you compare that to the foil race, which was, a week prior. 112 00:08:12,569.6035 --> 00:08:12,959.6035 Yes. 113 00:08:13,89.6035 --> 00:08:19,139.6035 Or was it the other way around? Yeah, it was one week before that must've been very competitive record times. 114 00:08:19,699.6025 --> 00:08:32,274.6035 How did that feel being in like a pioneering sport from Maui to Oahu? Yeah, I mean that, that race was super fun and exciting and the cool thing about the foiling race too is that it was like a whole really two weeks of racing. 115 00:08:32,274.6035 --> 00:08:36,454.603 There was a paddling more race like the prior weekend on Maui. 116 00:08:36,824.603 --> 00:08:38,264.603 So two went there. 117 00:08:38,884.603 --> 00:08:41,954.603 No, that was on, that's on Maui, it's a Maliko run. 118 00:08:41,964.603 --> 00:08:42,394.603 Oh, okay. 119 00:08:42,414.603 --> 00:08:44,524.603 The, and they had a triple crown, they called it. 120 00:08:44,554.603 --> 00:08:48,284.602 So that was the first race of the triple crown was the Paddle of Mua race. 121 00:08:48,674.602 --> 00:08:52,654.603 And then the following weekend was the Maui to Molokai on a Friday. 122 00:08:53,164.602 --> 00:08:59,684.603 They had the race from Maui to Molokai and it was a huge stand up foil division and also a really big wing foil division. 123 00:09:00,554.603 --> 00:09:04,344.603 And I think I finished like top five, I think fourth place overall. 124 00:09:04,344.603 --> 00:09:07,64.603 So that was a surprise cause there's some super fast guys. 125 00:09:07,64.603 --> 00:09:11,984.603 And a couple of them just came off at the very end and I was able to pass them. 126 00:09:12,834.602 --> 00:09:13,164.602 Yeah. 127 00:09:13,164.602 --> 00:09:14,489.7025 So that was really cool. 128 00:09:14,569.7025 --> 00:09:19,229.6025 And then the following day they had the Molokai Holokai race, which is along the coast on Molokai. 129 00:09:19,269.6025 --> 00:09:22,419.6025 One of the best downwind runs in the world, I would say. 130 00:09:22,419.6025 --> 00:09:25,819.6025 And that was just a super fun race on the Saturday. 131 00:09:26,129.6025 --> 00:09:29,119.6015 And then the Sunday they had the Molokai Toahu race. 132 00:09:29,119.6025 --> 00:09:32,619.6005 So three days of racing, hanging out with my friends. 133 00:09:32,669.6005 --> 00:09:36,19.6015 Eli has his condo over there at Kalua Koi. 134 00:09:36,29.6015 --> 00:09:39,999.6015 And yeah, so that was just a super fun weekend, good camaraderie and. 135 00:09:40,534.6015 --> 00:09:47,304.6015 And and then the race on Sunday was, yeah, very competitive big field, good wind at the beginning and the wind got really light. 136 00:09:47,314.6015 --> 00:09:55,354.6015 So it was pretty challenging race, the finish time of the wing full race was a little bit over two hours, I think. 137 00:09:55,574.6015 --> 00:09:56,894.6015 Yeah, a little bit over two hours. 138 00:09:57,204.6015 --> 00:10:00,34.6015 And the stand up paddle race was almost six hours. 139 00:10:00,194.6015 --> 00:10:00,564.6015 Wow. 140 00:10:00,664.6015 --> 00:10:05,254.6005 So we're talking about almost three times as long to do the same distance. 141 00:10:05,254.6015 --> 00:10:10,154.6015 So like we're doing the stand up paddleboard, I'm doing about a third of the speed as on a wing foot. 142 00:10:10,264.6005 --> 00:10:14,114.6005 And so obviously it's much more physically demanding. 143 00:10:14,424.6015 --> 00:10:20,34.6015 And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do it again, because I realized that It's what gets me really gets me in shape. 144 00:10:20,44.6015 --> 00:10:27,474.601 The year last year, I didn't train for Santa paddling and I was in pretty good shape from wing foiling, but it's just a different thing. 145 00:10:27,474.601 --> 00:10:41,484.603 If you have to do something for six hours at a much higher heart rate and intensity, and So just that training for the stand up paddling I think was really good for me physically and mentally endurance and perseverance and all that kind of stuff. 146 00:10:41,484.603 --> 00:10:42,534.6025 So I love it. 147 00:10:42,624.6025 --> 00:10:44,854.6035 My wife was like, you should retire what, you want it. 148 00:10:44,874.6035 --> 00:10:46,214.6035 So I just retire from it. 149 00:10:46,214.7035 --> 00:10:47,754.6025 I was like, Oh, I don't know. 150 00:10:47,754.6035 --> 00:10:49,384.6035 I think it was because I keep doing it. 151 00:10:49,434.7035 --> 00:10:50,214.7035 It's good for me. 152 00:10:50,214.7035 --> 00:10:50,894.7035 I think so. 153 00:10:51,554.7035 --> 00:10:57,554.7035 I'd like to take you back before Blue Planet, before the brand to your original water sport. 154 00:10:57,554.8035 --> 00:10:57,574.6035 Yeah. 155 00:10:57,874.7035 --> 00:11:05,294.7035 Which was windsurfing and your days on Maui and living in a van, touring Maui and enjoying the sport of windsurfing. 156 00:11:05,754.7035 --> 00:11:10,924.7045 What was that like, as the sport was really in its peak? Oh, that's a long story. 157 00:11:10,924.7045 --> 00:11:11,894.7045 I don't even know where to start. 158 00:11:11,894.7045 --> 00:11:16,704.7045 But my dream in school was to to go to Maui or, to windsurf in Hawaii, really. 159 00:11:16,754.7045 --> 00:11:20,504.6045 And I learned how to windsurf when I was like 15 years old or something like that. 160 00:11:20,504.7045 --> 00:11:21,854.7045 And we, living in Germany. 161 00:11:22,139.7045 --> 00:11:22,679.7045 Berlin. 162 00:11:22,779.7045 --> 00:11:30,29.7035 And I was trying to get to the lakes or to the ocean in Denmark and different places Italy, Spain, windsurfing. 163 00:11:30,439.7045 --> 00:11:38,679.7045 And then, just getting the magazines and seeing people, windsurfing in Hawaii and shorts all year round and big waves and, turquoise water. 164 00:11:38,679.7045 --> 00:12:18,334.704 And that was my dream, saved up some money, work construction for a while, and then, Ended up in Maui, and, I wasn't 21 yet, so I couldn't rent a car, and I had to rent a moped to get around and yeah, and I just wanted to stretch my money as, as far as it would go and I had some money saved up, but Most of it was in the cashier's check and I went to bank of Hawaii and they wouldn't cash it, you know They're like, oh we have to put a 30 day hold on it, you know so and but like the first thing I bought was like a used car for 400 bucks or something old VW nice And that was most of the cash I had on me So then I had to get an address like so the guy that told me the car said oh, yeah You can use my address for your bank account. 165 00:12:18,334.704 --> 00:12:21,254.704 So Then I had to wait 30 days for the money. 166 00:12:21,254.704 --> 00:12:27,844.703 So then I had to get a job and you know I was living it on the beach, living out of my car for quite a while. 167 00:12:27,944.703 --> 00:12:29,324.703 That was, but that was great. 168 00:12:29,324.703 --> 00:12:36,934.703 I got to meet a lot of people just, got my windsurfing stuff and just try to just windsurf as much as I could and enjoy life. 169 00:12:37,44.702 --> 00:12:40,924.702 And then started working as a dishwasher at Dylan's restaurant in Paia. 170 00:12:41,494.702 --> 00:12:42,94.702 Hard to imagine. 171 00:12:42,104.702 --> 00:12:47,304.702 I had to get up super early in the morning, wash dishes, but then I was like done after breakfast service. 172 00:12:47,334.702 --> 00:12:49,704.802 And then I could, And the rest of the day is having fun. 173 00:12:49,704.802 --> 00:12:51,664.802 So those are actually good days. 174 00:12:51,714.802 --> 00:13:02,434.7025 It sounds I did realize that I didn't want to live with no money in the back and having to struggle every day, but but other than that, I would say, I was just living the dream, yeah. 175 00:13:02,994.7025 --> 00:13:06,424.7035 So windsurfing, passion, Hawaii. 176 00:13:06,989.7035 --> 00:13:11,139.7035 And then college, right? So you make the move over to a Wahoo. 177 00:13:11,459.7035 --> 00:13:16,779.7025 When did you get accepted to Manoa and the business program? That's a long story too. 178 00:13:16,809.7025 --> 00:13:22,489.703 Cause then after one year on Maui, living in Maui, just having fun, I was a kind of, okay, now it's time to get serious. 179 00:13:22,489.703 --> 00:13:26,179.7035 So I'm going to go back to Germany and start studying, going to university. 180 00:13:26,229.7035 --> 00:13:28,879.7035 That's what my parents were expecting from me too. 181 00:13:28,879.7035 --> 00:13:29,169.7035 And. 182 00:13:30,679.7035 --> 00:13:32,609.7035 And then I also had I love snowboarding too. 183 00:13:32,609.7035 --> 00:13:33,559.7035 And I had this opportunity. 184 00:13:33,559.7035 --> 00:13:37,34.7035 I met a guy on Maui that had like a Started a snowboard company. 185 00:13:37,34.7035 --> 00:13:39,864.7035 And as soon as I got back to Germany, he was like, called me. 186 00:13:39,864.7035 --> 00:13:42,534.7035 He's Hey, come to Switzerland at a place for you. 187 00:13:42,564.7035 --> 00:13:57,464.7045 We'll pay you to just snowboard all the time and do demos and whatever, so it's and like looking back at it, it's ah, I should have just said that instead of I basically wasted a semester in Berlin because I hated it after, I just started college in Berlin university and I hated it and I was like, I just want to go back to Mali. 188 00:13:57,464.7045 --> 00:14:00,324.6035 So that's what I did after. 189 00:14:00,869.6045 --> 00:14:07,469.6045 Being in Berlin for half a year, then I ended up Doing work in construction again to save up some money. 190 00:14:07,469.6045 --> 00:14:12,529.6045 I have my my cousin's husband's company was building a house in Hood River, Oregon. 191 00:14:12,529.6045 --> 00:14:16,139.6045 So I spent the summer there building a house and windsurfing every day in Hood River. 192 00:14:16,749.6045 --> 00:14:23,289.6045 And then and then went back to Maui and started at Maui community college studying just liberal arts and business. 193 00:14:23,339.6045 --> 00:14:31,639.604 And then after two years there, then I transferred to Manoa and did the, business for international business program at Manoa. 194 00:14:31,639.704 --> 00:14:31,654.505 All right. 195 00:14:32,874.505 --> 00:14:34,714.505 And that's where, I started Blue Planet. 196 00:14:34,734.505 --> 00:14:43,324.5045 Basically, it was a marketing class and that I had to write a marketing plan, and then I had to write a business plan, and I just did that as, Blue Planet. 197 00:14:43,324.5045 --> 00:14:48,289.506 And one of it was like a group project too, so I had other, Students helping me write this business plan. 198 00:14:48,289.506 --> 00:14:50,799.506 And, I was like, Oh yeah, it's going to be like Quicksilver. 199 00:14:50,809.506 --> 00:14:56,309.506 We're going to grow it to like a hundred million dollars in 10 years or something like that, and it's still great on paper. 200 00:14:56,309.506 --> 00:15:05,619.5075 But so I was like, ah, what do I have to lose? I didn't really have that much, but so I'm just going to, I'm just going to go for it and try it, and then when I graduated, I actually applied for some jobs and. 201 00:15:06,609.5085 --> 00:15:11,929.5085 I was like Bank of Hawaii offered me like a position to train, be a management trainee kind of thing. 202 00:15:12,279.5085 --> 00:15:19,389.608 But it was like a nine to five job working in an office in a bank, I was like, I want to have time to windsurf and make my own schedule and stuff like that. 203 00:15:19,389.608 --> 00:15:25,149.6075 So I thought, like the idea was, I want to be able to, make my own schedule and have fun when the wind is good and whatever. 204 00:15:25,469.6075 --> 00:15:34,49.6075 And I thought having your own business, I have the freedom and time to do that, but then it turned out to be like, I ended up working a lot harder than I thought I would. 205 00:15:34,49.6075 --> 00:15:46,479.609 And, but a lot of times I just have to remind myself the reason I started this business so I can enjoy these sports that, so it's a good reminder to yeah, keep in mind to enjoy and have fun too. 206 00:15:46,529.609 --> 00:15:46,779.609 Yeah. 207 00:15:46,779.609 --> 00:15:47,149.609 You bet. 208 00:15:47,239.609 --> 00:15:47,609.609 Yeah. 209 00:15:47,879.609 --> 00:15:59,444.609 So in the process of making the brand, You met a good friend who helped you create the infamous Blue Planet logo, which has really helped carry the brand super far. 210 00:15:59,614.609 --> 00:16:10,734.608 Can you tell me a little bit about Febreze and how you met and what it was that you guys were talking about when you made that logo? Yeah, it's actually the Brian Kim is the creator of the Cro Mag fish logo. 211 00:16:10,744.608 --> 00:16:11,144.608 Excuse me. 212 00:16:11,174.608 --> 00:16:14,214.608 That, that but Febreze was a really good friend. 213 00:16:14,534.608 --> 00:16:21,584.608 Still is a really good friend and he basically, I met him in Maui when I started at Maui Community College at the dorms. 214 00:16:22,244.608 --> 00:16:27,744.6075 Just moved into the dorms and Fabrice showed up and he was like a couple years younger than me. 215 00:16:27,744.6075 --> 00:16:30,664.608 I think he was only like 17 or 18 when he came to Maui. 216 00:16:31,439.608 --> 00:16:32,829.608 And, yeah, the same dream. 217 00:16:32,829.608 --> 00:16:37,329.608 He loved to windsurf and just wanted to windsurf and be a pro windsurfer. 218 00:16:37,959.608 --> 00:16:44,19.607 And yeah, he was really talented, but had like really crappy old gear and stuff like that. 219 00:16:44,19.607 --> 00:16:45,279.606 And didn't know anything. 220 00:16:45,279.607 --> 00:16:49,119.607 And it's like I took him under my wings a little bit and showed him the ropes a little bit. 221 00:16:49,139.607 --> 00:16:51,89.607 And then we just became really good friends. 222 00:16:51,639.607 --> 00:17:01,649.6065 Then he also did the liberal arts degree in, on Maui and then moved to Oahu to do, go to Manoa and do a, I think, a tourism degree. 223 00:17:02,179.6055 --> 00:17:06,89.6065 And then, as a student I started the Blue Planet business already. 224 00:17:06,699.6055 --> 00:17:34,929.5075 And I got, So I had some contacts, I made some contacts in Japan through student friends, and they started ordering t shirts, and then I had all these overruns, I always had to order like six dozen or twelve dozen t shirts or whatever, and then always had too many t shirts, and then, so the boxes were piling up, and I had a little one bedroom apartment in Waikiki, and that whole wall was like full of boxes, and as I got it, I started selling more of these, I tried to get wholesale customers, and. 225 00:17:35,349.5085 --> 00:17:38,429.5085 Had a few people that were buying it from us, but just not enough. 226 00:17:38,769.5085 --> 00:17:43,539.5085 So I started I got a booth at the swap meet or I didn't actually didn't have a booth. 227 00:17:43,539.5085 --> 00:17:56,99.5085 So to get a good location in the D row, which is the outside row at the swap meet, I had to go like at four in the morning, wait in line, like sleep in the van, wait in line to get the good spot and then set up at eight. 228 00:17:56,909.5085 --> 00:18:00,519.5085 And at first I was just doing it by myself, but then, it started going pretty well. 229 00:18:01,204.5085 --> 00:18:02,554.5085 And and I just needed help. 230 00:18:02,554.5085 --> 00:18:04,884.5085 So I asked for a brief, and it's Oh yeah, I'll come out with you. 231 00:18:04,884.5085 --> 00:18:09,874.5085 So he started, basically he was my first employee, other than Amy, my wife at the time. 232 00:18:10,524.5085 --> 00:18:15,594.5095 And yeah, and then he was just super helpful and always super encouraging. 233 00:18:16,194.5095 --> 00:18:16,734.5095 And. 234 00:18:17,639.5095 --> 00:18:25,259.5095 Yeah, so he really helped build the brand and the whole idea behind Blue Planet. 235 00:18:25,629.5095 --> 00:18:32,459.5095 And then Brian Kim was also a friend from and my ex wife's good friend from Iolani. 236 00:18:32,774.5095 --> 00:18:37,234.5095 Brian Kim he started doodling a bunch of designs and stuff like that. 237 00:18:37,514.5095 --> 00:18:40,494.5105 And he had this thing like a triangle shape. 238 00:18:40,804.5105 --> 00:18:46,114.511 Maybe we can post it in the video too, but it's it was this crazy design with bones and stuff like that. 239 00:18:46,114.511 --> 00:18:55,4.512 But then He had this fish and it had the T Rex head, like I guess he had that, he got the idea from Jurassic Park, the Jurassic Park logo. 240 00:18:55,4.512 --> 00:18:56,924.512 And then he had put a fishbone body on it. 241 00:18:57,44.512 --> 00:18:57,404.512 Cool. 242 00:18:57,434.512 --> 00:19:03,14.5115 And I was like this design, I don't get it, but I like this fish, can we just put the fish on a t shirt? Yeah, sure. 243 00:19:03,14.5125 --> 00:19:08,544.5125 So I sketched it out and then were the Hawaiian islands already in there? No, that, so that came later. 244 00:19:08,544.5125 --> 00:19:08,734.5125 Yeah. 245 00:19:08,734.5125 --> 00:19:12,54.5125 So And I actually have a little video about that whole process too. 246 00:19:12,234.5125 --> 00:19:18,134.5135 But yeah, so then that became our bestselling t shirt design at the swap meet, and then everyone's Oh, you guys have that cool fish logo. 247 00:19:18,264.5135 --> 00:19:23,824.513 And it was like at the time we were using like this globe, a planet with a gear on it, deep planet surf gear. 248 00:19:24,444.514 --> 00:19:26,214.514 And but people remember the fish. 249 00:19:26,214.514 --> 00:19:28,374.514 So I was like, okay, let's make the fish, our main logo. 250 00:19:28,474.514 --> 00:19:28,844.514 Nice. 251 00:19:29,204.514 --> 00:19:42,354.514 And then bunch of years later, my stepson, Joe Gilletti, who is a, he's a graphic artist and he was like, Oh, why don't you make these bones into the Hawaiian islands? He sketched it out and was like, Oh, this is cool. 252 00:19:42,354.514 --> 00:19:42,504.514 Yeah. 253 00:19:42,534.514 --> 00:19:44,294.513 We got to incorporate that into the logo. 254 00:19:44,294.513 --> 00:19:49,444.514 So we basically changed the logo to have the Hawaiian islands in the boat, in the fishbone cool though. 255 00:19:49,444.514 --> 00:19:51,204.514 And then we did the Rasta colors. 256 00:19:51,204.514 --> 00:19:59,144.514 Cause that was trendy at the time, Still just add some makes it stand out more, if it's just one color You don't really notice the islands but by making them a different color. 257 00:19:59,144.514 --> 00:20:15,734.514 It's stands out more So the passion was windsurfing and the t shirts started with the fish logo at what point? Did you say, okay, paddle boarding is where I want to take this and invest into my business and grow with paddle boarding. 258 00:20:15,734.514 --> 00:20:25,634.514 What was happening there? It came a little bit later, so yeah, so at first it was mostly clothing, right? The swap meet and we made shorts that were made in Hawaii. 259 00:20:26,154.514 --> 00:20:26,974.314 And and my. 260 00:20:27,74.414 --> 00:20:37,754.413 Febreze, my good friend Febreze, we always like, after the swap meet, we'd go to Sandy Beach and go body surfing or just go surfing or wind surfing, whatever was good, the, I started selling more and more boards. 261 00:20:37,754.414 --> 00:20:39,744.414 I, we had a shop in Kapalulu Avenue. 262 00:20:40,104.414 --> 00:20:42,124.414 We called it the surf store sand on the floor. 263 00:20:42,124.414 --> 00:20:44,174.414 We had like sand on the floor. 264 00:20:44,174.414 --> 00:20:45,634.413 So it's a unique surf shop. 265 00:20:45,634.413 --> 00:20:47,174.413 And we were selling a lot of used boards. 266 00:20:47,654.413 --> 00:20:49,519.313 And then as I got, make more money on boards. 267 00:20:49,629.413 --> 00:20:52,379.413 New boards, so I got this contact. 268 00:20:52,379.413 --> 00:21:31,599.4105 At first we were selling some surf tech boards that like the kind of the epoxy boards were first coming out and then windsurfing epoxy was used for a long time, and it's just much stronger, they, basically in windsurfing, they made the switch from polyester to epoxy back in the eighties, and just because it's stronger, lighter, more durable, longer lasting and all that kind of stuff, surfing, it was just starting to like surf tech introduce some sandwich epoxy boards, but, I tried to get them and it's Oh, we can offer you like, these two shapers that nobody else is selling, because, but they're like the least popular models I had kind of thing, and they're very expensive boards and the margins weren't that great. 269 00:21:31,649.4105 --> 00:21:34,709.4105 Then I found this company called Acme Supply. 270 00:21:35,249.4105 --> 00:21:43,329.4105 That was making boards and in the Czech Republic, they were making good quality boards and they were also making windsurfing boards and they just started making surfboards. 271 00:21:43,389.4105 --> 00:22:19,609.413 And they were making some boards for I think Steve Walden was already making boards with them, and then they rebranded as board works, they got a new owner and then Then it started really taking off and they got a lot of good shapers And then we were the exclusive distributor for in Hawaii for board works And we were selling like containers and containers of that their stuff and while the magic models and then iPod got on board and It was growing really fast like that's when we had some record sales, too But the margins were small like I was, turning over all these boards, but We're not really making enough margin to cover all our costs. 272 00:22:19,609.413 --> 00:22:24,759.4125 So even though we're, our sales are growing, I was like where's this going? I'm not making any money. 273 00:22:24,809.4125 --> 00:22:25,729.4115 I'm not making money. 274 00:22:26,9.4115 --> 00:22:30,829.4125 And then then C4 Waterman came out with some of the very first stand up paddle boards. 275 00:22:30,829.5125 --> 00:22:44,469.4125 Dave Parmenter was shaping them and Todd Bradley and Brian Kail on, and they were Starting with stand up paddling started this brand C4 Waterman to promote this board and make their own products and BoardWorx was their manufacturer. 276 00:22:44,469.4125 --> 00:22:50,379.4115 So when they've, were first available, I ordered a container of stand up paddle boards and we were the first ones. 277 00:22:50,799.4115 --> 00:22:53,359.4115 In Hawaii to have production boards, standard paddle boards. 278 00:22:53,359.4115 --> 00:22:53,749.4115 That's incredible. 279 00:22:54,49.4115 --> 00:23:01,99.411 Around the same time, there was some other brands who like paddle surf Hawaii and a couple of others that were just starting to have their own products. 280 00:23:01,99.411 --> 00:23:05,469.4115 Before that, it was all standard paddling was just custom, you had to order a custom board or order. 281 00:23:05,834.4115 --> 00:23:22,414.411 One of the surf techs that was like a really big long board, like a 12 foot long board that was like 28 inches wide, like 12 inches long, like our 12 footer, but so it's tippy, even though it's super long and big, but not great for stand up paddling, but it works, people can stand on it and that's what they were getting. 282 00:23:23,24.411 --> 00:23:36,814.41 Then that was the first time stand up paddle boards were available and then so as soon as our first container arrived because I hadn't really tried it before that I didn't have a board I could use and so on, I as soon as we had the container, I was like, okay, I'm selling this stuff. 283 00:23:36,874.411 --> 00:23:39,864.4095 So I better figure out how it works, so I can talk about it. 284 00:23:40,574.4105 --> 00:23:42,14.4105 And then, I fell in love with it. 285 00:23:42,44.4105 --> 00:23:42,364.4105 Yeah. 286 00:23:42,824.4105 --> 00:23:44,54.4105 First is surfing. 287 00:23:44,739.4105 --> 00:23:48,179.4105 That was, like a lot of people, I just went straight into the surf and tried to surf it. 288 00:23:48,179.4105 --> 00:23:55,349.4105 And I realized, Oh, this is not as easy as it looks, like just balancing on it and catching a wave and, you're paddling on one side and turning out of the wave. 289 00:23:55,349.4105 --> 00:24:03,509.4105 And it's Oh, I remember my first beat down and then it was like, okay, I'm just going to put the paddle underneath me and paddle into the wave and stand up and pretend like I'm standing up. 290 00:24:03,899.4105 --> 00:24:04,189.4105 Yeah. 291 00:24:04,399.4105 --> 00:24:09,419.4105 But anyways but then I realized after a while, like on a day when it was crowded, small surf. 292 00:24:09,964.4105 --> 00:24:16,54.3105 It's I'm just going to paddle over there, I'm going to paddle from, Inahaina to Portlock, so I started this like paddling. 293 00:24:16,454.3105 --> 00:24:24,714.2135 I was like, oh, this is fun, just like paddling, catching a few waves along the way and just touring, and so I realized you don't really have to necessarily catch waves to have fun on the Santa Pabo. 294 00:24:24,714.2135 --> 00:25:16,44.513 It's like going on a hike or something like that, like touring around and, so yeah, and then that kind of standup paddling became like my main thing, like probably even more than windsurfing, mostly on the days when the wind was light, then I would go standup paddling, but then I got into downwinding, I got some, got into downwind racing and then, that was super hard at first too, but I got some really good tips from some of the top riders, going out with really good paddlers like Aaron Napoleon and, Dave Parmenter and, but, Jeff Chang, my, my good friend, and he Jeff Chang did the Molokai race, and then I was like, ah, I want to do it next year too, so can I train with you, so I just started training with those guys, and yeah, and so that was when was that like around 2009, I think, was my first Molokai race, and then really enjoyed the Downwind racing and started doing, going all over the world to join in races. 295 00:25:16,244.513 --> 00:25:16,904.513 So board works. 296 00:25:16,904.513 --> 00:25:17,144.513 Yeah. 297 00:25:17,144.513 --> 00:25:25,124.513 So that, the whole thing basically said, if you can't pay me within so many days, then you're not a distributor anymore and we're going to do it ourselves. 298 00:25:25,124.513 --> 00:25:32,84.512 We're just going to distribute directly to people in Hawaii, and I had all these accounts set up and contacts with all the retailers and everything like that. 299 00:25:32,104.512 --> 00:25:42,94.512 He thought he could just take it over and do it himself and not have to, And take me out of the loop, and so that was Oh my God, like, how am I, what am I going to do now? So I don't have boards anymore. 300 00:25:42,804.512 --> 00:25:44,954.513 And I was like a critical point of the company. 301 00:25:44,954.513 --> 00:25:48,304.513 I actually considered just shutting down I was just going to get out of business. 302 00:25:48,304.613 --> 00:25:51,934.513 And and, I had all employees to pay. 303 00:25:52,434.513 --> 00:25:53,264.513 Just the clothing. 304 00:25:53,264.513 --> 00:25:56,294.513 At that point, the clothing was not my main focus anymore. 305 00:25:56,294.513 --> 00:25:57,864.513 I was focused more on the hard goods. 306 00:25:58,374.513 --> 00:26:00,714.512 And then not having a supplier. 307 00:26:00,814.512 --> 00:26:06,814.511 It was always like an exclusive agreement, and it was like, as long as I was an exclusive distributor, I couldn't do anything. 308 00:26:07,314.511 --> 00:26:12,434.511 Distribute for other brands too, so I didn't really have a lot of other options for things to sell. 309 00:26:12,434.511 --> 00:26:16,214.511 I got some good advice from mentors and friends in business. 310 00:26:16,214.511 --> 00:26:38,424.5065 They're like, you have a great logo, more about the sport than most people, what customers want, you have the direct line to the consumers and why don't you just make your own boards, and so I learned how to use the aqua shaper software at the time to help coaching how to use the software and my first shapes were okay, crude, but I got some samples made and they worked pretty well, and then. 311 00:26:38,809.5065 --> 00:26:44,749.5065 Had a lot of product, went through a lot of prototyping and making a lot of different models and slowly refined the designs and the shapes. 312 00:26:44,749.6065 --> 00:26:55,149.406 And and the manufacturing construction ended up going to China a lot to the factory museum at the time, trying to perfect the process of making the boards. 313 00:26:55,149.406 --> 00:26:55,179.4055 And. 314 00:26:56,254.4065 --> 00:27:01,54.4065 And then yeah, and then we started selling them pretty well, and then Blue Planet boards became pretty popular. 315 00:27:01,54.4065 --> 00:27:08,684.4065 And because we were doing the direct from the factory to the consumer, we cut out having to pay, another company and so on. 316 00:27:08,684.4075 --> 00:27:11,524.408 And I was doing the designs myself, so I didn't have to pay a shaper. 317 00:27:11,574.408 --> 00:27:12,894.408 So our margins went up. 318 00:27:13,199.408 --> 00:27:17,469.408 We were able to make a little bit more money and actually have a little bit of profit leftover afterwards. 319 00:27:17,469.408 --> 00:27:18,259.408 And that's awesome. 320 00:27:18,359.408 --> 00:27:30,49.407 And and I had a really good financial advisor, Mike Holster that helped me, with the financials and trying to figure out, how can we make this business actually work where it makes money, yeah, so that was the whole process. 321 00:27:30,49.407 --> 00:27:32,19.407 And that was, yeah, it had been. 322 00:27:32,684.407 --> 00:27:36,594.407 Doing that for yeah, no, it's almost 15, 20 years doing our own boards. 323 00:27:36,594.407 --> 00:27:42,244.407 And that's that kind of, I think it's saved the business that I was able to pull that one off. 324 00:27:42,314.407 --> 00:27:42,854.407 Incredible. 325 00:27:42,934.407 --> 00:27:43,154.407 Yeah. 326 00:27:43,484.407 --> 00:27:49,884.407 Two questions nowadays in 2024, 2023, the brand is really known for the tough tech model. 327 00:27:50,54.406 --> 00:27:51,994.407 We see the tough tech model around a lot. 328 00:27:52,44.407 --> 00:28:04,489.407 It's really top seller, but when you first made the brand and things started going well, Was there a specific board that kind of changed everything? We had a lot of models. 329 00:28:04,489.407 --> 00:28:06,619.407 And Kevin Fung was a manager at the time. 330 00:28:06,619.407 --> 00:28:11,929.407 He started just as a salesperson in the shop and he was had just a lot of ambition. 331 00:28:12,369.407 --> 00:28:28,854.409 And so I, I offered him like some equity in the business to be, my right hand man and he took it on himself to do a lot of improvements to the line and create like a new line up every year, every season and create the new products and have a catalog and all that kind of stuff. 332 00:28:28,854.41 --> 00:28:41,164.509 So I became a more, a lot more professional thanks to Kevin and, and he would come to the factory with me and then actually go to the factory by himself a bunch of times just to make sure the process, all the processes were running smoothly. 333 00:28:41,674.509 --> 00:28:47,364.509 And there's a few models that are, were the, our best sellers that we, and we still have the nine four fun stick. 334 00:28:47,684.508 --> 00:28:49,654.509 It's nine four by 33. 335 00:28:49,654.509 --> 00:28:52,474.51 It's thinner than most boards still stable. 336 00:28:52,474.51 --> 00:28:53,764.51 It serves really well. 337 00:28:53,844.51 --> 00:28:57,484.51 And that's been one of our best sellers and people always love that board. 338 00:28:57,954.51 --> 00:28:58,334.51 But. 339 00:28:58,774.51 --> 00:29:01,594.51 There's nothing really that not one model that really stands out. 340 00:29:01,594.61 --> 00:29:22,592.0595 Our 14 foot bump rider has never been a huge seller, but it's, I think one of the best boards for downwind racing and for the rough water racing, that's what it's still the that's what I won the mullet kite race on, so the 14 foot bump rider has been the kind of in development, but it's a lot different than a lot of the 14 footers that you can buy on the markets or, Planning hall. 341 00:29:22,852.0595 --> 00:29:43,747.0595 It's not like a super fast displacement board that you use in flat water, but it's designed for Hawaii, But, and then also like this, the bigger one, the bigger boards so a lot of boat riders in Hawaii, That, they're like older surfers that can no longer stand up, they can't get from a prone position to standing position quick enough to prone surf anymore. 342 00:29:43,917.0595 --> 00:29:49,107.0595 They get into standard paddling and then they love it, but they, they need something pretty stable. 343 00:29:49,327.0585 --> 00:29:52,766.9595 That's still surfs well, like a little bit more volume and a little bit bigger size. 344 00:29:53,306.9605 --> 00:30:00,696.9605 And that's where we specialize in a lot of, we have a lot of, Models, the turbo the tend to easy, the multitasker, the boss. 345 00:30:01,226.9605 --> 00:30:08,686.959 So we had a whole range of sizes that, that surfed well, but still easy to use and good performance kind of thing. 346 00:30:08,706.959 --> 00:30:10,136.96 So that's what we specialize in. 347 00:30:10,596.96 --> 00:30:12,956.96 And also we did the standup clinic. 348 00:30:12,956.96 --> 00:30:17,986.96 So we let people try out our models and we got a lot of people into the sport. 349 00:30:17,996.96 --> 00:30:25,196.9595 Like I think we probably got more people into standup paddling than anybody in Hawaii, so that was yeah, unfortunately that ended during the pandemic. 350 00:30:25,196.9595 --> 00:30:28,56.9595 So that's like a whole different new chapter of the business. 351 00:30:28,56.9595 --> 00:30:32,516.9585 You've had a lot of growth and expansion and fun in the paddleboard industry. 352 00:30:33,596.9585 --> 00:30:36,566.9595 When reading your book, I saw that you got to travel the world a lot. 353 00:30:36,866.9595 --> 00:30:39,756.9595 Go to some really special places to enjoy water sports. 354 00:30:40,226.9595 --> 00:30:47,706.9595 Which one of those really stands out that you would like to share? Oh, I would say probably the boat trip to Mento wise stands out. 355 00:30:47,796.9595 --> 00:30:49,306.9585 Just cause not just the. 356 00:30:49,736.9595 --> 00:30:50,436.9595 Experience. 357 00:30:50,436.9595 --> 00:30:59,356.9595 The experience was awesome, but it's always also a huge logistical challenge, because we decided to do like our new line of boards and take everything to the mental wise. 358 00:30:59,896.9595 --> 00:31:03,276.959 And that was the time when we first started having foil boards as well. 359 00:31:03,276.959 --> 00:31:16,176.9595 So we had like foil boards, standup surfing boards, we had a team riders and then shipping everything to the mental wise was super expensive and complicated and then flying there with three different legs of flights and then getting on the boat and. 360 00:31:16,861.9595 --> 00:31:19,471.9595 And that was just a huge logistical challenge. 361 00:31:19,491.9595 --> 00:31:20,16.8595 And then. 362 00:31:20,356.9595 --> 00:31:25,216.9595 The surf was okay, but not great, and after that I was like, Oh, let's just do it in Hawaii from now on. 363 00:31:25,216.9595 --> 00:31:31,796.9595 Cause we can find good ways and just wait for the good conditions and not have to deal with all this crazy stuff and spend a ton of money. 364 00:31:31,846.9595 --> 00:31:39,496.8595 But it was cool, because yeah, you're on a boat surfing all day, get fed, and then at night you go to bed and the. 365 00:31:39,656.9595 --> 00:32:00,626.858 And then the captain motors at night and you get to the new spot in the morning, you hear the anchor chain rattling down right before sun sunrise, and then you get up, have, go surfing before breakfast and get first light or whatever, get the first waves of the day and some beautiful location with palm trees and in the middle of just very remote places. 366 00:32:00,726.858 --> 00:32:01,516.858 That was super cool. 367 00:32:01,516.858 --> 00:32:03,76.858 And that was a very memorable trip. 368 00:32:03,316.857 --> 00:32:03,956.858 Sounds like a dream. 369 00:32:04,286.858 --> 00:32:05,576.858 I've watched the video from that. 370 00:32:06,846.858 --> 00:32:13,916.858 Speaking of videos, you have a really awesome YouTube channel that you've been working very hard at for a long time. 371 00:32:13,916.858 --> 00:32:16,646.858 You're just about to reach 50, 000 followers. 372 00:32:17,351.858 --> 00:32:22,181.858 How does it feel? How much has that changed Blue Planet? Yeah. 373 00:32:22,181.858 --> 00:32:42,641.86 You, so Tyler, I should say too, like when we had our shop on ward Avenue I don't even know if we had an ad ask like looking for people to work, but Tyler showed up with a tie and I've never seen a surf shop employee come with a tie, with a tie as a, that was funny but he was just you were just super motivated. 374 00:32:42,641.86 --> 00:32:49,311.86 And And I think I told you like, Oh, we don't have a job right now or something like that, maybe check, check back. 375 00:32:49,311.86 --> 00:32:51,691.8595 Yeah, I think whoever we hired didn't really work out. 376 00:32:51,691.8595 --> 00:32:55,561.8595 But Tyler kept coming back and saying, Oh, you got a job now, get a job now or whatever. 377 00:32:55,561.8595 --> 00:33:00,21.8595 And then yeah, so eventually hired you and then yeah. 378 00:33:00,61.8595 --> 00:33:05,221.8595 And then, later on jump in the head with a whole North Shore store, but then, yeah, but anyway Yeah. 379 00:33:05,251.8595 --> 00:33:10,841.8595 So we're on YouTube and how much has YouTube changed Blue Planet? Yeah. 380 00:33:10,961.8595 --> 00:33:11,271.8595 Yeah. 381 00:33:11,271.8595 --> 00:33:17,191.8595 So you've been in the shop always and you know that when people come into the shop, a lot of times they mention YouTube channel. 382 00:33:17,301.8595 --> 00:33:23,371.8595 They're like, Oh, I came here because I saw the YouTube videos or whatever, or I saw it on YouTube or whatever. 383 00:33:23,371.8595 --> 00:33:24,841.8595 So it became. 384 00:33:25,181.8595 --> 00:33:43,716.8595 Something I like to do and a lot of stuff was just instructional and like getting people into the sport and sharing my knowledge, but it also became a marketing tool, and I actually got like when I first started getting some traction, I got a call from Or I got like an email from YouTube and saying, Hey, we have these consultants. 385 00:33:43,716.8595 --> 00:33:55,216.8565 They can, do you want to schedule a call with one of the people? And so I did, and I talked to this lady from YouTube and, she was like basically giving me pointers, how to use the algorithm to grow the channel. 386 00:33:55,246.8565 --> 00:34:11,446.8565 So I, I took notes and it was like, I actually Did a talk about that too, but so in the early days, she gave me some really good pointers, the title, the description, and then using the analytics and certain things and responding to all the comments and all that kind of stuff. 387 00:34:11,446.8575 --> 00:34:12,766.8575 So I implemented all these things. 388 00:34:12,766.8575 --> 00:34:13,916.8565 And also one of the things was. 389 00:34:14,411.8575 --> 00:34:24,271.858 Have a regular schedule, like always posts consistently cause then that helps with the algorithm and people come back and you grow and following, so I did, so I decided, okay, I can't do it every day. 390 00:34:24,271.858 --> 00:34:29,671.857 I can't do it twice a week, but I can commit to doing it once a week, so I said every week I'm going to post. 391 00:34:29,671.857 --> 00:34:34,261.857 And then I looked at the at the analytics and like on the weekends where we're going to get the most views. 392 00:34:34,271.857 --> 00:34:37,641.857 So I said, okay, every Saturday morning at 7am, we're going to post a new video. 393 00:34:38,521.857 --> 00:34:39,371.857 So that was like. 394 00:34:40,246.857 --> 00:34:42,346.857 I don't know, 12, 13 years ago or something like that. 395 00:34:42,426.857 --> 00:34:46,676.857 And we've consistently posted every Saturday morning at seven, nice. 396 00:34:46,706.857 --> 00:34:49,966.857 I think we might've missed it once or twice, but very consistent. 397 00:34:50,6.857 --> 00:34:56,76.856 So that having that consistency helped with growing the channel and then yeah, just looking at what people like. 398 00:34:56,776.856 --> 00:35:00,46.856 And what people are watching and then making more of it, yeah. 399 00:35:00,126.856 --> 00:35:04,946.856 A lot of people have learned a ton of stuff from your YouTube channel. 400 00:35:05,396.856 --> 00:35:08,276.856 You're 30 plus years into the business. 401 00:35:09,236.856 --> 00:35:12,176.856 There's so many different water sports that you've pursued. 402 00:35:13,26.856 --> 00:35:15,986.857 What's getting you up in the morning today? You just finished your book. 403 00:35:16,316.857 --> 00:35:19,506.857 Foiling is expanding and also slowing down. 404 00:35:20,521.857 --> 00:35:22,631.857 What's getting you up in the morning? Coffee. 405 00:35:22,931.857 --> 00:35:23,81.857 Coffee. 406 00:35:23,631.857 --> 00:35:32,591.856 Yeah, for me, yeah, just being able to do what I love, like having this business that allows, and having customers that allow me to do what I love is pretty special. 407 00:35:32,611.855 --> 00:35:34,531.855 And I still love foiling. 408 00:35:34,531.855 --> 00:35:36,661.855 I go wing foiling all the time, when it's windy. 409 00:35:36,821.855 --> 00:35:38,251.855 I'm excited about going winging. 410 00:35:38,731.855 --> 00:35:40,111.855 And then stand up paddling. 411 00:35:40,221.855 --> 00:35:42,371.855 Like when it's calm and smooth. 412 00:35:42,651.855 --> 00:35:44,271.855 I love to stand up paddle surf. 413 00:35:44,771.855 --> 00:35:45,831.854 I also like hiking. 414 00:35:45,841.855 --> 00:35:53,251.855 Like sometimes just, I try to go on a hike where there's no one else around and just being, being in nature by myself with my thoughts. 415 00:35:53,371.855 --> 00:35:54,151.855 I love that too. 416 00:35:54,151.855 --> 00:35:55,611.8545 And then, I have my morning routine. 417 00:35:55,611.8545 --> 00:35:56,781.855 I start the morning pretty slowly. 418 00:35:56,781.855 --> 00:36:05,721.855 I take a couple hours really to do my, some breathing, one off breathing and exercises, stretching and all that kind of stuff and journaling. 419 00:36:05,941.855 --> 00:36:06,951.855 You mentioned that in your book. 420 00:36:07,91.855 --> 00:36:07,461.855 Yeah. 421 00:36:07,991.855 --> 00:36:12,531.855 And so I have my kind of like little morning routine and that, that definitely. 422 00:36:13,406.855 --> 00:36:19,316.855 Gets me in the right mindset, do a couple of things that are hard, like the breathing exercises and then doing 60 pushups. 423 00:36:19,426.855 --> 00:36:29,866.854 It's not easy to, but if I can get myself to do that first thing in the morning, then everything else is pretty easy after that, it's like the, everything doesn't seem as difficult and hard and it's the same thing with the book too. 424 00:36:29,866.854 --> 00:36:31,736.854 I really had to force myself to do this. 425 00:36:31,976.854 --> 00:36:36,736.854 This book, but it made it makes everything else I have to do seem like almost trivial. 426 00:36:36,736.854 --> 00:36:44,106.854 And I was like, yeah, this is easy in comparison to getting, sitting down and writing a book, there's multiple expansions to blue planet. 427 00:36:44,106.854 --> 00:36:46,796.854 Now it's no longer just a retail business. 428 00:36:47,301.854 --> 00:36:57,441.853 But it's also, we have, you've got a new rental business to blue planet adventure, and you're also starting to dabble in a little bit of real estate not commercial real estate is what I'm trying to say. 429 00:36:57,441.854 --> 00:36:58,721.854 You're dabbling a little bit in that. 430 00:36:59,71.854 --> 00:37:08,411.854 So how much focus do you have for each category? The retail versus the rentals and the rentals versus the commercial real estate. 431 00:37:08,671.854 --> 00:37:12,761.854 Where's kind of your mindset starting to go? That's a good question. 432 00:37:13,311.854 --> 00:37:17,391.853 I've been in this organization called EO, Entrepreneurs Organization. 433 00:37:17,781.854 --> 00:37:25,651.855 That's taught me like more about how to be a business owner rather than just being a bit, being an employee in your own business kind of thing. 434 00:37:26,61.855 --> 00:37:30,501.855 So I always try to think more of as an owner, as an investor in the company. 435 00:37:30,501.855 --> 00:37:41,431.855 So trying to have a business that kind of runs on autopilot and having good people that can run it for me, delegate, and then working on the business, not in the business. 436 00:37:41,941.855 --> 00:37:48,311.855 And then that allows me to do, take on new things and Yeah, but it's always a challenge to make time for different things. 437 00:37:48,311.855 --> 00:37:53,131.8555 And sometimes I lose focus on one thing and, but but real estate has been good for me. 438 00:37:53,131.8555 --> 00:38:02,431.8555 Like I've, started just with my own house and lived in for a while and then kept it as a rental and then sold it like 10 years later and then invested with partners and other projects. 439 00:38:02,431.8555 --> 00:38:09,881.8565 And and that's, I think I've made as much money in real estate as with Blue Planet over the years, but it's been so it's been. 440 00:38:10,806.8565 --> 00:38:25,266.7575 That's something I'm probably going to keep doing even if I retire because it's like a very I can probably do it in a few hours a month the work, required versus, for blue planet, I'm working every day, but let's talk a little bit about the North shore, like that new rental location. 441 00:38:25,266.7575 --> 00:38:31,716.7585 So that's that starts actually back in those days when I was selling at the swap meet, had clothing at the swap meet. 442 00:38:31,846.7585 --> 00:38:36,636.7575 One of my neighbor stalls that was always next to us was they were selling sarongs from Bali. 443 00:38:36,666.7585 --> 00:38:44,626.7585 Bill Martin from Island X and just importing stuff from Bali and Tropical Rush was a shop on the North Shore. 444 00:38:44,626.7585 --> 00:38:52,116.7585 Glenn and Cecilia from Tropical Rush, they came to a swap meet and bought like tons of sarongs to put in their shop in Haleva. 445 00:38:52,306.7595 --> 00:38:52,586.7595 Yeah. 446 00:38:52,716.7585 --> 00:39:00,1.7585 And then they saw our stuff and was like, Oh, can we, can I buy some of your shorts? I was like, And yeah, I'll give you a wholesale price or whatever. 447 00:39:00,1.7585 --> 00:39:07,356.857 And then they would just come to the swap meet and take a half of our stuff that we had on the rack, it's here, we want half all these, and, make a big pile. 448 00:39:07,356.858 --> 00:39:10,586.858 And I was like it's, doing pretty well, the first time they tried a few and then they sold. 449 00:39:10,586.858 --> 00:39:19,246.8585 And so they started buying like piles of stuff, and then I would just take my swap meet van after the swap meet, we drive up to Alibaba and it was just like rifle through all the boxes. 450 00:39:19,246.8585 --> 00:39:19,446.8585 Yeah. 451 00:39:19,826.8585 --> 00:39:21,26.8585 And buy stuff from us. 452 00:39:21,26.9585 --> 00:39:23,746.9585 And yeah, that was like in the nineties, 1990s. 453 00:39:23,766.9585 --> 00:39:25,366.9585 And they were doing pretty well. 454 00:39:25,396.9585 --> 00:39:27,706.9585 They didn't have the access to the river yet. 455 00:39:27,736.9585 --> 00:39:32,456.957 They were just we're Volcans now, but even back then I was like, Oh, this is such a nice spot. 456 00:39:32,456.957 --> 00:39:36,376.958 And then when he got the river access, I was like, Oh man, this is perfect. 457 00:39:36,426.958 --> 00:39:39,566.958 And and I always told him like, Hey, if you ever want to retire, let me know. 458 00:39:39,566.958 --> 00:39:39,596.958 Cause. 459 00:39:40,166.958 --> 00:39:45,586.958 I, we had a shop in town, but I was like, eh, maybe we should open a second location in the North shore or something like that. 460 00:39:46,106.958 --> 00:39:54,26.9575 And I was like, yeah, he, but he remembered that, he remembered I said that and he would remind me to, he's you remember you said that you want to buy the shop if I want to retire? Yeah, I remember. 461 00:39:54,596.9575 --> 00:40:04,486.9575 And then, they kept buying stuff from us, first the clothing, then the stand up paddle boards and then during the pandemic they had they had personal issues, financial issues, but he contacted me. 462 00:40:04,486.9575 --> 00:40:07,553.0775 It's Hey, I want to sell the business, and it was a total mess. 463 00:40:07,563.0775 --> 00:40:14,378.12775 They didn't have a computer system like throughout all the computers, cause you thought they were, somebody's stealing from him or something like that. 464 00:40:14,378.12775 --> 00:40:18,813.0785 And I was and the shop was closed, all the employees had taken off. 465 00:40:18,813.0785 --> 00:40:25,693.0785 And so I was basically taking over failed business, but I loved the location and he had just signed a new 10 year lease. 466 00:40:25,883.0785 --> 00:40:38,43.0795 So I was basically buying the lease and then I was in and I wasn't sure I can't like at the time to the, blue planet was doing really well during the pandemic and I was super busy and I was like, I don't really have time to do this. 467 00:40:38,43.0795 --> 00:40:39,213.0795 I was like, I can't. 468 00:40:39,793.0795 --> 00:40:41,233.0795 Overextend myself, like this. 469 00:40:41,233.0795 --> 00:40:41,293.0795 Yeah. 470 00:40:41,923.0795 --> 00:40:44,593.0795 So even though I loved the location I wanted, I really wanted to do it. 471 00:40:44,593.0795 --> 00:40:45,998.0795 I didn't know how I could pull it off. 472 00:40:45,998.0795 --> 00:40:51,878.0795 And then, but then you heard about it and at the time you had moved on and doing your own sub dog business, right? Yeah. 473 00:40:51,928.0795 --> 00:40:55,738.0795 But I think as soon as you heard it from one of my staff members, you texted me. 474 00:40:55,738.0795 --> 00:40:58,118.0795 It's Rob I wanna run this shop for you. 475 00:40:58,168.0795 --> 00:40:59,788.0795 I'm interested in tropical rush. 476 00:40:59,788.0795 --> 00:41:00,118.0795 Yeah. 477 00:41:00,178.0795 --> 00:41:00,628.0795 Period. 478 00:41:00,748.0795 --> 00:41:00,958.0795 Yeah. 479 00:41:01,908.0795 --> 00:41:08,348.0795 And then I was like, Oh, maybe it could work if I have, if Tyler can run it, then maybe I can pull it off, so yeah. 480 00:41:08,388.0795 --> 00:41:14,258.0775 So then we, it was like a pretty tough negotiation thing and they wanted to close in 30 days. 481 00:41:14,268.0785 --> 00:41:18,378.0785 So I had to get all the paperwork figured out and it was a little bit crazy. 482 00:41:19,108.0785 --> 00:41:28,278.079 And then, yeah, and then right now, the, everything looks, nice, but when we took it over, it was like, it the deck was falling apart on the river. 483 00:41:28,698.079 --> 00:41:34,648.0775 It was like, it was just a, everything was a mess, so we had to basically renovate everything, fix everything up. 484 00:41:35,788.0785 --> 00:41:39,498.0785 But, it ended up being a really good project. 485 00:41:39,498.0785 --> 00:41:43,208.0785 And then we ended up like separating the ice cream store. 486 00:41:43,208.0785 --> 00:41:44,738.0785 Now we have sweet as ice cream. 487 00:41:44,738.0785 --> 00:41:46,608.0775 Then we got Makua banana bread. 488 00:41:46,988.0785 --> 00:41:50,798.0775 We leased the main shop to Volcom, we tried to run the shop ourselves for a long time. 489 00:41:50,798.0775 --> 00:41:53,358.0785 And then Volcom, I approached Volcom. 490 00:41:53,368.0785 --> 00:41:54,838.0785 They were interested in buying us out. 491 00:41:54,848.0785 --> 00:42:01,318.0775 We worked out a deal with Volcom that works for them, like paying us a percentage of revenues and start giving us cash up front. 492 00:42:01,478.0775 --> 00:42:01,778.0775 Yeah. 493 00:42:01,968.0785 --> 00:42:07,448.1785 And then my stepson, Andrew, has a Haliva tattoo studio up there. 494 00:42:07,478.1785 --> 00:42:07,748.1785 Yeah. 495 00:42:08,18.1785 --> 00:42:10,928.1785 And then we have our own boardroom where we sell our boards. 496 00:42:10,928.1785 --> 00:42:13,978.1785 And then the river operation, which Blue Planet Adventure. 497 00:42:14,618.1785 --> 00:42:33,558.1785 We started a separate business kind of for part of it is for liability reasons, insurance and so on, so we have a separate business that is stand up paddle and kayak rentals and that's really the main reason I love that location so much because it has the boards on the water You can put people on the calm River if even perfect for beginners anybody can paddle there. 498 00:42:33,558.1785 --> 00:42:48,118.1785 It's beautiful You know in the Rainbow Bridge turtles in the water Paddle up the river it's like perfect for someone that just wants to paddle for an hour and have in easy conditions, have a little adventure there up on the North shore. 499 00:42:48,118.1785 --> 00:42:53,248.178 And whether you're a beginner or just want to take friends or you're, anybody can enjoy it. 500 00:42:53,248.178 --> 00:42:58,58.1775 You don't have to be a great paddler, but any, an expert paddler will enjoy it too. 501 00:42:58,58.1775 --> 00:42:59,493.0775 It's it's just a beautiful spot. 502 00:42:59,503.0775 --> 00:43:00,893.0775 And and so that. 503 00:43:01,188.0775 --> 00:43:03,278.0775 That business has been working really well. 504 00:43:03,278.0775 --> 00:43:04,88.0775 It's consistent. 505 00:43:04,98.0775 --> 00:43:06,798.0775 We have this rental income. 506 00:43:06,838.0775 --> 00:43:09,768.0775 We don't, you don't have to, there's no cost of goods sold. 507 00:43:09,788.0775 --> 00:43:12,858.0775 You just get their rental fee and then they bring it back and you can rent it out again. 508 00:43:12,908.0775 --> 00:43:14,828.0775 So it's a good business model. 509 00:43:15,68.0785 --> 00:43:15,418.0785 Nice. 510 00:43:15,548.0785 --> 00:43:17,838.0785 And then, we sub leasing a lot of the spaces. 511 00:43:17,838.0795 --> 00:43:20,78.0795 So yeah, that, that whole. 512 00:43:20,268.0795 --> 00:43:21,148.0795 They worked out great. 513 00:43:21,148.0795 --> 00:43:25,968.0795 And then you helped Volcom start their new, okay, like their shop as a manager. 514 00:43:25,968.0795 --> 00:43:29,398.0785 And now you're back in charge of Blue Conduit again. 515 00:43:29,398.1785 --> 00:43:30,657.9795 Yeah. 516 00:43:30,658.0795 --> 00:43:30,758.0795 Yeah. 517 00:43:30,758.0795 --> 00:43:32,878.0795 You've done a great job with that property. 518 00:43:33,428.0785 --> 00:43:37,478.0775 At that time when you first took over, I had worked for you for about three years. 519 00:43:37,828.0785 --> 00:43:40,848.0785 I had seen what you did with this shop. 520 00:43:41,268.0785 --> 00:43:45,228.0785 Cause I remember seeing it before You renovated the interior. 521 00:43:45,228.0785 --> 00:43:49,608.0785 You did some negotiation with the landlord about some rent trade off of the rent. 522 00:43:49,608.0785 --> 00:43:53,638.0785 If you do some improvements, that to me was very impressive. 523 00:43:53,638.0785 --> 00:43:58,178.0785 So I thought, Hey, he could definitely do it with this location. 524 00:43:58,218.0785 --> 00:44:00,208.078 If he's, if this is something he wants to do. 525 00:44:00,208.078 --> 00:44:11,468.0785 So just wanted to thank you for jumping on this show, for continuing to tackle all of these awesome construction projects, making all these boards, posting all these videos, hiring all these amazing staff. 526 00:44:11,678.0785 --> 00:44:21,68.1785 Bringing in a really cool videographer and, just being inspiring to us all, you're part of the reason why I've started some other stuff, and it's just inspiring to watch you. 527 00:44:21,68.1785 --> 00:44:29,828.1785 I remember when we were first, there was, what was it? The hub, is there a hub right here in Honolulu where they have all the business meetings and the hub? I think it's called the hub. 528 00:44:30,368.1785 --> 00:44:35,448.1785 Anyway, I saw you do you stood up at a business meeting at the hub. 529 00:44:35,893.1785 --> 00:44:37,633.1785 And you were just talking about blue planet. 530 00:44:37,673.1785 --> 00:44:39,303.1785 I had just started working for you. 531 00:44:39,553.1785 --> 00:44:45,153.1785 I remember I'm sitting with a few other staff and I'm just like full on smiles and clapping like this dude's incredible. 532 00:44:45,203.1785 --> 00:44:50,53.1785 So we just wanted to thank you jumping on your own show, the blue planet show. 533 00:44:50,323.1785 --> 00:44:54,303.1785 It's been an honor having Robert Stelic, the owner of blue planet on the blue planet show. 534 00:44:54,313.1785 --> 00:44:55,633.1785 Thank you so much for watching. 535 00:44:55,923.1785 --> 00:44:56,533.1785 I'm Tyler. 536 00:44:56,533.1785 --> 00:44:57,273.1785 This is cam. 537 00:44:57,493.1785 --> 00:44:59,323.1785 We'll see you guys out on the water. 538 00:44:59,873.1785 --> 00:45:00,353.1785 All right. 539 00:45:00,353.1785 --> 00:45:00,643.1785 Yeah. 540 00:45:00,653.1785 --> 00:45:01,303.1785 Thanks for watching.