Introducing: Inspired Surfers – in partnership with Jimmy’s

A portion of history has ‘a surfer’ labelled as a person with very little aspiration. Someone who is blinkered to the ocean and beach culture with an outlook that does not go beyond the horizon. 

In our mind surfers are the opposite. We are at the forefront of disruption and in fact, have been here since the sport was invented. There can be no arguing that originally as a subculture ‘a surfer’ was perceived as a bit of a tear away who challenged society, likely with overzealous environmental views and someone who overindulged in smoking marijuana.

Fast forward to now and were we not just ahead of our time? The environment and sustainability is at the core of most global companies ‘brand ethos’ – regardless of whether they are doing good – with conversation and action based on safeguarding our planet burning strong. And is it not amusing that cannabis, with all its benefits, has now become a multi multi Billion dollar industry. 

In short, we know that us surfers are not just layabouts and this 10 part series aims to uncover the stories of characters who have taken their passion for surf into their day to day lives and done big and amazing things. (The schedule will be weekly while in lockdown and once we have been released back into the wild we will shift to monthly)

We are running this campaign in Partnership with Jimmy’s. Why? because this brand and their team are held together by their love for surf and the outdoors (based on the beaches of Dorset) and beyond getting in the water they are growing a company that is having a positive impact on its community.

Jimmy’s are famed for their Iced Coffee but more than that, they are quietly a company with a strong ethos rooted firmly in doing good. 

Keep Your Chin Up (#KYCU) is the company strapline and it has been used to inspire the next generation of creative people via the KYCU academy, which aims to show groms that the world is full of opportunities if you are willing to go for it. Beyond inspiring kids it is a message of positivity that almost everyone can relate to both mentally and physically – especially when caught inside on a day when you didn’t foresee the cleanup sets”… Keep Your Chin up!

The founder, Jim, is an incredibly positive character and if you have been lucky enough to meet him, hear him speak or even see him on a billboard (in nothing other than pants) you will no doubt remember him.

Jim is our podcast host for this series and is the one who will get down and dirty with all our guests, finding out how surfing drives and inspires them and drilling down into their take on the surf/ life balance.

To give you a bit more of an insight we caught up with Jim to find out a bit more about his relationship with surf and keeping your chin up:

How has surfing / the outdoors played a role in both your life and Jimmy’s?

Well, for starters we could have moved to London to make ‘doing business’ a bit easier, but we simply couldn’t leave the beach. Even if there’s no surf, just seeing or even knowing you’re by the beach, gives you a kind of comfort that you can’t get from anywhere else. Surfing in particular is one of those sports where you can actually spend a great deal of time just sat waiting in the sea. It’s rare, and gives you plenty of fresh thinking time. Sometimes the best ideas or solutions have come from a surf.  

Tell me more about KYCU. Where did it come from? What does it mean?

Keep Your Chin Up has been our strap line from day one. It’s all about positivity and using positivity to get places. Without a shadow of a doubt, without boundless enthusiasm and positivity in Jimmy’s, I’m not sure we’d be where we are. There are a million hurdles in business and if you’re a pessimist, they will eventually drag you down into a single ticket to quicksand. It’s used for us as a crew, our comms strategy and our email signature. It will never end as positivity is infinite. 

 Can surfing help keep your chin up? 

Surfing can level you. Surfing sometimes makes you go mad. You might drive 3 hours for the wind to switch and get a rubbish set up. But, at least you were going to surf, or you got in. These moments help to keep your chin up. Surfing in its purest sense, you, the board, the surf pops you right back in the thick of nature and that experience alone will enable you to practice the art of keep your chin up. Just acknowledging what an amazing experience it is and how lucky we are to experience it. 

Best surf trip? when / where / who / why?

Too many to be honest but I think the unplanned, surprise local ones are probably the best. Just close buddies, all able to jump in for an arvo session for a rare big easterly or something. Knowing you can skip home stoked is probably the best. You just feel smug and that rarely happens. Tick. 

Other than that, Tasmania provided some crazy fun ones but involved a great deal of concentration so as not to basically die. Super fun. Yes! 

#KYCU

To find out more about Jimmy’s and how to Keep Your Chin Up head over to their website here