148: Philip Curry- A lifetime of challenging the status quo in adventure watersports designs

Philip curry has been challenging the status quo in watersports his entire career. Turning his love for paddling into not one but two watersports brands. Lotus Designs which he sold to Patagonia and Astral which has now expanded into footwear.

We talk about his experience building these  two unique brands and much, much more in this wide ranging conversation.

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Show Notes

First Exposure to the Outdoors

I grew up in the mountains outside of Chattanooga, so my backyard was the outdoor. There was a creek back there, a beautiful little mountain creek. Probably from the age of five I discovered that creek and it really opened the world of nature to me. So I'd say that was it. It's always kinda been since then a place to play, feel free and put my mind at ease.

Things we talked about

Astral Designs

Allanbys

Lotus Designs

Sutton Bacon

Steve Meineke

Bruce Furrer

Joe Pulliam

North Carolina Zen Center

Advice, tips

The critical thing about business is understanding your target customer and understanding who is going to buy your product or your service that you're offering. So that means I think being a member of some community of climbers or paddlers or backpackers or whatever it is, you really have to be a part of it. If you're not, it's really hard to fake it. It seems like the industry sees right through that pretty quickly. Right, right. That's number one, understand the community you're building products or services for.

Beyond that, I think it's just a hell of a lot of work. I don't want anybody to think that either the business or being in business is anything other than that hard work. It just as a mental exercise that's nonstop, there's just no way around it.

Other Outdoor Activities

Running, Mountain Biking, Kayaking, Snowboarding

Favorite Books

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Crazy Horse by The Edward Clown Family

Favorite

Darn Tough Socks

GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java drip

Connect with Philip

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