1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,360
All right, welcome to Water Talks.

2
00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:08,880
Got my buddy Ashton on here today.

3
00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:14,080
So Ashton, him and I live in the same town.

4
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,520
Ashton grew up here, his family's here.

5
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:24,280
And him and his wife and two kids live here in San Clemente.

6
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:30,640
Ashton is a surfboard shaper, really, really good surfer.

7
00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:32,320
He won't say that, but I'll say it.

8
00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:33,320
No.

9
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:34,320
I know you won't say that.

10
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:35,320
Because I know you will.

11
00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:40,320
But Ashton is a really, really good surfer.

12
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,840
And Ashton has also, is a lover of school.

13
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:53,400
He has completed his doctorate in physical therapy.

14
00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:59,560
So also helps people with that from time to time.

15
00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,560
And most importantly, just a wonderful, wonderful guy.

16
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,680
So thanks for being on here today, dude.

17
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,720
I'm glad you got a chance to talk about a bunch of different things.

18
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:14,040
So when you're at home these days, as we have all been, where do you like to go?

19
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:19,880
What do you like to eat?

20
00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,960
Probably so my favorite spot.

21
00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:28,160
I'm actually going to change this up because I actually thought about it more.

22
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,640
I like Kalamata Seafood in Capo.

23
00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,240
And that's my absolute favorite spot because I was just, right after this, I'm actually

24
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,320
going to go up there with my buddy and we're going to go grab some poke.

25
00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:42,840
But they have the best poke in town.

26
00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,840
And it's super simple, but fish is always fresh.

27
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:46,840
They don't charge a bunch.

28
00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,840
Yeah, the place is insane.

29
00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,680
Awesome, man.

30
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,960
So what are you doing these days and how did you get into it?

31
00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:04,120
So these days, what I mostly do is shape surfboards.

32
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:11,080
Still from time to time, I'll still help out my buddy who does physical therapy company

33
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,120
and just help them out every from time to time again.

34
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:18,800
But I mostly just use my kind of physical therapy in order to help my friends and family

35
00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,360
out kind of just for free.

36
00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,000
Because honestly, even though I don't really use my degree anymore, it's so nice that I

37
00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,840
just have that ability to be able to just help somebody who's in pain.

38
00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,840
And a lot of it ends up being my friends who are surfers, then they're not able to surf

39
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,560
because they have back pain or knee pain or shoulder pain.

40
00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,600
And then I'm able to get them back in the water.

41
00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:46,440
And a lot of my friends who I help, they end up, they also ride my surfboards.

42
00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,120
And so it ends up working out pretty good.

43
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,640
And yeah, so right now I mostly, I shape surfboards.

44
00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:58,080
I've been shaping surfboards for seven years, only really been doing it the last year as

45
00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,080
a business and to make money.

46
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,720
But yeah, just, I love shaping surfboards.

47
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,720
It allows me to hang out with my family a lot more.

48
00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,280
It gives me a more flexible schedule.

49
00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,920
I love surfing just and love just kind of getting to meet people on a day to day basis

50
00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:18,000
that I never really would meet.

51
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:23,840
And so it kind of fits in line with what I like most out of life and feel called to do.

52
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:28,280
And so that's kind of the path that I went down versus doing physical therapy, where

53
00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:34,360
you tend to be inside and in an office kind of same kind of thing, just nine to five.

54
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,680
And so that just what's never really attracted to me.

55
00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:43,360
And so even when I was a year in to physical therapy school, I was like, I don't really

56
00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,840
want to do physical therapy when I get out.

57
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,200
I just told myself I'd finish.

58
00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,000
So I still got my doctorate.

59
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,160
And yeah, I actually learned a lot of stuff in physical therapy school that I can apply

60
00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:55,160
to shaping.

61
00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:56,160
So that's been pretty awesome.

62
00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:57,160
Great.

63
00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:03,160
I can't get can't wait to get ride one of your asymmetrical twins.

64
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,160
Good man.

65
00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,960
Dude, tomorrow, tomorrow if you actually surf or if your knees feeling better.

66
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,720
Yeah, yeah, I have that one just waiting, waiting on my rap.

67
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,160
No, says says Ryan on it.

68
00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:17,160
Great.

69
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,960
Well, I look forward to it.

70
00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:26,560
So is there anything you know, you kind of just alluded to something about kind of discovering

71
00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:32,160
things you like, you kind of went down this path of school and kind of decided like, you

72
00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,480
know, I really want to finish act as it's important to finish things that we start.

73
00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,280
But then you felt like a pivot, you want to do something that you felt really passionate

74
00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:41,280
about.

75
00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:42,280
It's really fun.

76
00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:44,960
It really is so much thinking that goes into surfboard design.

77
00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:45,960
You're not a cat.

78
00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:46,960
You're not a cat.

79
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:47,960
You're not a computer.

80
00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:48,960
You're like a human.

81
00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:53,440
Yeah, who's shaping and it's art.

82
00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,440
And there's so much time that goes into that craft.

83
00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:03,200
And are there is there anything that you wish you had known when you when you started out

84
00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,600
shaping that you know now?

85
00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:15,200
I think the one thing that I definitely didn't I think in the beginning of shaping and it's

86
00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:21,440
like you do a lot of comparison or comparing yourself to other people or other shapes or

87
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,600
other surfboards and like that is good because obviously in the beginning your boards really

88
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,820
aren't that great.

89
00:05:27,820 --> 00:05:30,920
It takes a while just with anything just when you're learning something you're not really

90
00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:36,280
good at it at first and you got to put in time and that's how you develop a skill with

91
00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:37,280
that.

92
00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:44,200
But I think what I wish I would have done the beginning is just not really where worries

93
00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:52,200
too much about comparison and just kind of go down what I think what I think is most

94
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,880
fun or what I think is most enjoyable to make.

95
00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,880
And so it just took me kind of like I still did that in the beginning but then sometimes

96
00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:04,720
you kind of cater to this people seem to like this a little more and then you kind of go

97
00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:10,360
down that path rather than if you do what you love and do what you're most happy about

98
00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,000
or psyched on then I think that everything ends up working out a lot better and that's

99
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:20,400
kind of what I've definitely learned is obviously going down kind of you can use a lot of inspiration

100
00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:27,680
from a lot of people as I do but then just kind of honing in and kind of finding where

101
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:34,840
your place is just kind of in surfboard shaping and surfing and not really trying to copy

102
00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:39,480
somebody else and kind of to put your own spin on it and I think that's what can make

103
00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:47,040
you most successful and most best at and that's how you can get better at shaping is just

104
00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,800
finding your own path essentially.

105
00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,680
I know you and I have the both we both have the same spot in the lineup you and I both

106
00:06:54,680 --> 00:07:00,880
like to sit 10 feet 10 yards in from everybody and froth out and catch 30 waves.

107
00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:02,160
Yes exactly.

108
00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:09,280
Yeah that's and that definitely we definitely have the same program.

109
00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:16,960
Never quit paddling never stop paddling never sit on the same page it's super funny so you

110
00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:22,000
know a lot of a lot of life is just like what are you curious about what are you interested

111
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,960
in so what do you got going on these days what's some stuff here you got bopping around

112
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:33,120
in your mind what are you curious about these days.

113
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:41,360
I think what I'm most interested in these days is like yes like still developing my

114
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:46,840
business but thinking about more how I can use my business or gifts in order to help

115
00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:53,280
others rather than just benefit myself and not just benefit myself monetarily and so

116
00:07:53,280 --> 00:08:00,400
something that I really like is building like I've always loved skateboarding and so where

117
00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:05,760
now I've kind of used the business to because we built a skate park in Africa and Tanzania

118
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:11,440
my parents have a nonprofit over there and so I always wanted to build a skate park so

119
00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:18,480
build a skateboarding community just for the local people over there and so that community

120
00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:23,560
kind of still needs money as far as like new equipment.

121
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:29,200
I hired on a couple local Tanzanian skaters so just obviously making sure that they get

122
00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:37,280
paid and so I use a portion of just my business and any time like somebody orders a board

123
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:43,640
or I make a board I just do like 10% to support that and so that then I can find a just find

124
00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:51,320
a way in order to like grow that and so it's also been I've been most excited on anybody

125
00:08:51,320 --> 00:09:01,160
that I meet just making sure that I talk to them and I just kind of get to know each person

126
00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:07,640
I come into contact with in a personal way as far as like wish surfboard shaping because

127
00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:14,520
we have just in our daily life we have enormous amount of opportunities in order to impact

128
00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:21,400
people in a positive way so every person that I meet on a daily basis where I'm always meeting

129
00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:26,940
just new people every week and being able to maybe just make that person stay a little

130
00:09:26,940 --> 00:09:31,800
better or a little brighter and so I think that's why I've been most excited on lately

131
00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:38,320
and less about how successful my business is and that's kind of just a shift I've had

132
00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:43,400
in the past month that I think is a lot more fruitful for sure.

133
00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,800
Wow that's great man.

134
00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:53,360
It's good to see you using the things that you love to help serve different people in

135
00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:54,360
different ways.

136
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:55,360
Yeah.

137
00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:01,280
It's one of the reasons we struck up friendship you know we've been talking about maybe traveling

138
00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:10,640
somewhere together and yes joining forces so we're down the road on that I know.

139
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:11,640
Oh yes.

140
00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,840
I know it'll be in fact you told me the other day that you're gonna go to Indo with us in

141
00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,000
March even if you have to sleep on the sand.

142
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,920
Dude honestly if there's a spot I've already talked to my wife and she's like oh yeah you

143
00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:23,920
have to go.

144
00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:30,840
There's a spot I just checked with Bobby so what was funny about that is you had told

145
00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:39,320
me that and then we had our guys group in the back of Sir and your wife came by and

146
00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,560
I said hey your husband said that he's going to Indo with us even if he has to sleep on

147
00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,600
the sand and I was saying that to see if she and she said oh yeah he's already talked to

148
00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:48,600
me all about it.

149
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:55,280
I said oh well that's great I mean if you feel good about it it's probably gonna happen

150
00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:56,280
so that's so good.

151
00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:57,280
Yeah that's great.

152
00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:58,280
So good.

153
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,760
Yeah we're at that that one's shaping up really really nice and which kind of leads me to

154
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:08,480
my next question about kind of what's your understanding of like what's happening in

155
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:13,280
the world of water these days.

156
00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:14,760
Just anything I guess everything.

157
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,400
Yeah just what comes to mind when we talk about you know water in the world.

158
00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:20,680
What do you know about that.

159
00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:27,660
When I talk about water I think water is really cool because obviously water touches every

160
00:11:27,660 --> 00:11:28,660
single continent.

161
00:11:28,660 --> 00:11:35,760
It's impossible for it not to and so it's kind of something that joins everyone together

162
00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:41,520
in a sense because so it kind of brings me back to skateboarding as well.

163
00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:46,880
The reason I really like skateboarding is because it's not exclusive it's very inclusive

164
00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,440
and the skateboarding community and it brings a lot of people together no matter what sector

165
00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:57,640
they're from how much money what color their skin is what their age is.

166
00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:03,560
It's just a common ground that everybody can find and especially so water having to do

167
00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:09,760
with like the ocean and the majority of the world is water and so it's easy to find a

168
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:15,480
common ground with somebody especially if you're a surfer or even just a lover of the

169
00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:22,800
ocean and that everybody kind of gets to experience it for the most part even whether it is on

170
00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,520
a lake or inland.

171
00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:31,420
It seems that people in general are drawn to the water drawn to the experience of it

172
00:12:31,420 --> 00:12:39,560
or fantasize about it or they've never been to the ocean or surfed or fished or it's something

173
00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:45,400
that is often a dream of people's and so it's kind of cool that you can kind of always use

174
00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:52,160
that as just common ground and it's very inclusive and it's not something that one or two people

175
00:12:52,160 --> 00:13:00,240
don't get to enjoy it's for everybody so I think that's what's cool about water and it

176
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:07,000
it's ever-changing and it's adaptable and so and it's not rigid and I think it's important

177
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:14,680
to realize that we can't be rigid in our belief systems or to the point where we're not we're

178
00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:22,360
not willing to hear somebody else out and so I think it it teaches us a lot and yes

179
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:28,360
the reason why I absolutely love the water and whether it's a lake or an ocean or there's

180
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:33,280
just something like really calming and about it but I don't know if that answers the question

181
00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:45,400
no absolutely you know and I had an epiphany really in in in in 2012 I want to say it was

182
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:52,280
the first time I had this thought and that's that's eight years ago now but that was the

183
00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:58,760
first time I had the thought wow you know I've been I've been surfing since I was in junior

184
00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:06,520
high it occurred to me that this thing that I had been playing in you know the ocean that

185
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:12,040
that could actually be a source of life for people if we could figure out ways to to return

186
00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:18,840
them the ocean water in into drinking water so that that thought I actually remember exactly

187
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:24,800
where it was I was I was riding my bicycle and I was I was right in front of Swami's

188
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:30,800
in Encinitas I don't know it there's a little stretch of and I was looking at a Swami's

189
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:37,000
and I was thinking about my bicycle and I was thinking about water out in the ocean

190
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:43,240
and I just remember thinking to myself wow I really want to do that I want to work on

191
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:49,120
that that began this this journey that we're even talking about now and really why why

192
00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:55,480
we're going to going to Indonesia you know we your sister Corinne actually we've been

193
00:14:55,480 --> 00:15:03,440
to El Salvador together yeah I think she went on the the first trip or the second trip yeah

194
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,880
she went pretty early yeah she went she went early on might have been the first trip for

195
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:12,320
the second trip and it's awesome because she just got she's got married it's been a great

196
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:17,520
year for her 2020 has been a crazy year it's been a wonderful year for for her and and

197
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:24,760
her husband I said good for you guys somebody needed to have a good year I'm glad it was

198
00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:31,520
glad it was you and but what we learned after doing work down there for five years we've

199
00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:38,240
now put in put in a system there that that works for those for those 38 families and

200
00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:42,920
helps them source their their water from the ocean so really excited about being able to

201
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:51,840
help in Indonesia and what's interesting is we I have a friend you know Bobby yeah Bobby's

202
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:58,700
been there five times six times knows that knows the owner of Kandui Resort for those

203
00:15:58,700 --> 00:16:03,400
who know for those who are watching this who aren't in the surf world can do resorts arguably

204
00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:10,640
that kind of sort of ground zero for one of the best surf playgrounds on the planet I

205
00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:16,200
guess you could say it that way and the waves are incredible and the people and the whole

206
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:22,400
experience we're gonna partner with them to serve an island where the majority of their

207
00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:27,720
employees come from oh no yes that's really exciting and that's about it's about 20 minutes

208
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:33,600
away from Sibiru and so we're gonna be able to put that system in there and then help

209
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:40,480
them securitize their water rights essentially so that the system will function and we'll

210
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:45,280
have solar capabilities and they'll now be able to source all of their all of their water

211
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:51,000
from the ocean that's a beautiful thing because water security along with food security along

212
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,480
with housing security are really the staples for for what people need to be fruitful and

213
00:16:55,480 --> 00:17:01,720
be productive and that that's a that's cross-cultural that works works anywhere you put it and so

214
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:07,080
it's really really fun to have figured out a way to use what we love which is you know

215
00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:12,520
the ocean and surfing is a way to as a way to serve others so I'm really excited to be

216
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,560
able to get over there with you looks like this is lining up so awesome oh yeah yeah

217
00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:22,360
this is lining up real good dude thank you so much for just taking a chance to to talk

218
00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:27,400
to me today get to know some new people they're both kind of our networks and platforms and

219
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,680
stuff and then last thing today is is there anything that we need to hear from Ashton

220
00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:44,880
today dude what do you got closing words brother the floor is yours closing words surfing

221
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:51,640
is never not fun and for anybody that set and loses joy out of surfing small waves you're

222
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:58,040
forgetting what why you even started surfing so I think that's been pretty frequent lately

223
00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,040
I've been seeing a lot of people they get fun like oh it's small are so much people

224
00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:06,800
but I mean we're pretty lucky that we literally just get that I mean surf every day and we

225
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,480
just get to be in the ocean so I come from Florida and the waves are always small there

226
00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:16,560
and so I've never kind of lost that mentality and so surfing is a lot more fun when you

227
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:22,520
just kind of view it that way but yeah surf small waves it's better thank you brother

228
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:28,880
all right thanks Ashton have a beautiful day thank you brother all right later on yeah

229
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:55,260
bye