The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and “swell” in Ocean Beach, and Surfer Baby owner and avid surfer Alan Chalom is riding that wave all the way to the bank.
For more than six years, Chalom has been creating and marketing surfboard accessories. What started as one product “” a surfboard-shaped towel dubbed Board Towelz “” has grown into an online store with hundreds of items.
From the surfboard to the drawing board, Chalom is never too far from his inspiration. At his Ocean Beach office, one of many boards hangs just above his desk “” within reach, Chalom said, just in case he decides to catch some waves.
“I don’t work well when there’s a swell,” Chalom said with a smile, noting that the statement is more a motto than an everyday reality for himself and his two-person staff.
In fact, it takes a lot of daily, routine office work to keep the burgeoning business going. The real key to his success, he said, wasn’t just having the ideas. It was a “steady Eddie” work ethic that has really brought him to where he his today.
“You always hear about people who have a good idea and don’t do anything with it,” Chalom said. “It’s about finding that one good idea and doing something with it.”
After moving from Los Angeles to San Diego in 2000, Chalom’s wife, Tracy, motivated him to start production on Board Towelz.
Z Sports bought the concept shortly thereafter, allowing Chalom to begin on another project: children’s clothing and accessories. The line, called Surfer Baby, features surfboard-shaped bibs, miniature beanies and backpacks, all of which were inspired by his 3-year-old daughter, Kalia.
Surfer Baby was recently featured on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” which profiles deserving families and rebuilds their homes over a period of seven days, according to the show’s Web site.
The episode, which aired December 2006, featured a Redondo Beach family struck by tragedy when mother and police officer Kristina Ripatti was shot in the line of duty. Consequently, the formerly active and athletic Ripatti was paralyzed from the chest down, and her story was covered extensively by media such as the Los Angeles Times.
The Ripattis already owned Surfer Baby accessories, so the show’s producers contacted Chalom to inquire about donating additional Surfer Baby items, Chalom said. Not only did he offer Surfer Baby clothes, bibs and other accessories, he and his staff even got in on the manual labor.
Since the brief exposure, the Surfer Baby line has been growing steadily, Chalom said. His Web sites www.surferbaby.com and ww.bettersurfthansorry.com currently draw approximately 300 hits a day, both of which are dedicated to the memory of childhood friend and fellow surfer Donny Appel, with whom Chalom shared the idea of creating a surf-themed business.
Appel unexpectedly died of an aneurysm in 2000 while visiting Chalom, but Chalom has kept alive their “hell-bent” mentality in the day-to-day task of turning his passion for surfing into a living.
“The one good thing is that I work hard, have fun and appreciate the balance of life, too,” Chalom said.
On the opposite side of the small office “” home to a business begun out of a passion for surfing, friends and family “” stands a congratulatory award recognizing the 1,000th hit to one of his Web sites. It was given to him by his wife in celebration of the benchmark, he said.
Surfer Baby goods can be found locally at Rock Paper Scissors, 4976 Newport Ave. To find a complete list of merchandise, surf-oriented links and daily surf reports, visit www.bettersurfthansorry.com.