From walking away from the biggest contract in his career to launching FORMER - the clothing line that took four years to float, Craig Anderson is in Sam’s hot seat and isn’t afraid to lay his cards on the table.
An influential free-surfer with a style that’s said to mirror his personality (low-key maniac for anyone wondering), this episode is all about Craig Anderson and his path from brand ambassador to business owner.
“I had a lot of fun surfing for Quiksilver, but I never really expected any of it because I never really excelled in competitions.”
South African / Aussie raised Craig Anderson is arguably the most influential free surfer of our time. He spent about a decade, if not more, as one of Quiksilver’s sponsored athletes. His full-time job consisted of packing up a board bag and traveling the world with his friends from the industry chasing the best waves. There was a house, there was a nice car, and there were a hell of a lot of big-figure contracts being thrown his way, but after ten years Craig knew when to call it a day and go out on his own.
“I turned down a contract which was probably the most amount of money I could have ever made.”
Leaving an academy like Quiksilver was never going to be easy and Craig would be the first to tell you that he underestimated the weaning process. He and his co-founders, Dane Reynolds, Austyn Gillette and Dylan Rieder set up FORMER because they believed they could do better. Better content. Better ambassador support. Better merch. However, the path to greatness was anything but straight and narrow. Without the huge marketing budget of the household names, FORMER took a while to get out the starting blocks, but Craig and the guys kept chipping away and now, they’re in a pretty good place. They’re able to support talent the way they want to, and spend their days chasing waves in remote locations.
“Driving all night. Surfing all day. Driving all night. You know, snapping yourself. I kind of like being in that delirious state.”
Sounds good to us, Craig. Watch his episode of Pack Heavy, Chase Light now.
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