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WHERE THE GREEN MEETS THE BLUE
An interview with Surfrider's new leader, Jim Moriarty
Surfing's biggest environmental organization, the Surfrider Foundation, has been looking for a new executive director for nine months. Last Thursday, they announced their new fearless leader: Solana Beach surfer, activist, entrepreneur Jim Moriarty. While Jim doesn't take office till June 1st, we figured it was time to check out surfing's new, most visible environmentalist.
Former Executive Director Chris Evans has only good things to say. "The Surfrider Board has never made a bad hire for ED," he says. "Moriarty has got an activist's heart, he's a super keen surfer and he has heavy management leadership skills -- which is exactly what Surfrider needs right now."
And while some folks may be concerned about Moriarty not coming from within the occasionally incestuous Orange County Surf Industrial Complex, Evans makes a good point: "ED's have always come from outside the box and brought something new to the table," Evans continues. "Pierce Flynn was in entertainment, I was a lawyer, and Moriarty brings a businessman's skills. He's perfect."
So…who is this guy? Jim was born in the Midwest and spent summers on Cape Cod and Rhode Island. He moved to the West Coast in his 20s, bought a beat up 9'0" Herbie Fletcher and paddled out on a small, low-tide day at Cardiff Reef. Needless to say, like the rest of us, he's hooked.
We caught up with Jim in traffic on the 405 South through LA, in between swells and high-powered meetings. --Marcus Sanders
So...did you apply for the job? How does one become new Executive Director of Surfrider?
I wasn't looking for a job, actually, nor did I apply -- it wasn't even on my horizon. I'm a head-down entrepreneur, involved in huge multi-national software companies like SAP, and I've started a bunch of companies from scratch. Plus, well, I've been surfing as much as I possibly can. Last year, I surfed Solana Beach every business day I was in town that there was any swell.
So I was deeply involved in technology, and got a call from a recruiter who said the skill set needed for Surfrider is management and someone who's able tap into the passion and stoke for the sport -- and also understands the data, too. I got interested. Not many businesspeople have the pleasure of working within the industry, so I was stoked to take the job.
I'm taking a cut in pay and leaving a very exciting opportunity for this job, actually. And I'm doing it because I care. One of the reasons I care is because I know some of what I've done in the past -- e-learning, e-commerce, everything else -- can help with the chapters, which is the real goal here. That's how we can make a difference.
Surfrider, even today, with massive growth, has 40,000 members. It's estimated that there are two million surfers. To use business terms, that's a 2% market share. A huge growth potential.
Chris Evans said Surfrider's biggest goal is reaching 100,000 members. How do you see that happening?
A huge opportunity is communication. Communicating the wins we've accomplished, and also communicating the losses, and having people understand what's being lost. The recent case in Dana Point (Strands) we just lost, for example. It's really important for us to talk about that. And for us to almost highlight and publicize the loss. Because who loses? It's not that Surfrider lost the case, it's that anyone who enjoys the coastal areas are suffering from a loss.
So the way to 100,000 members...is that you start to leverage means that, in my opinion, we can do better, such as blogs, using internet for scaling, web meetings -- there's all kinds of communication vehicles that gets the message out to a larger audience.
I think a lot of people care deeply about coastal issues, but they don't necessarily know how to plug in. We're in the business of putting a lot of outlets out there for people to plug into. The muscle in the organization is out on the edge.
How can the Board of Directors, the national office and the chapters achieve their goals?
They all play a crucial and very different
role. The board sets policy -- it's amazing board, with world-renowned oceanographers, chapter heads, industry leaders -- they set policy, and they're excellent at that. The national office is essential a skeleton that enables the edges to affect change wherever they are. To me, the communication between the chapters and the national office is absolutely critical. Pardon the tech jargon, but if that's a dial up connection now, it needs to be a T1. I could care less if the chapters actually use technology -- they could just pick up the phone and call. But it's all about a very strong two-way dialogue.
How will your management skills enable the chapters to do what they need to do?
Well, the first thing I'm going to do is listen. And talk to people face to face as much as possible. The chapters are different region to region, the issues are different. Pollution is the issue in SoCal, but that's not the issue in Florida. Surfrider is not a Southern California organization -- it's a global organization.
I need to talk to people who want to talk about issues -- development, beach access education of water cycle, whatever's critical to them -- and then bring that message back to San Clemente and figure out how we can offer greater efficiency and scale. One of the biggest challenges in going from 40,000 to 100,000 is scaling. You cannot scale just by adding more people.
If the tech industry has taught me anything, it's efficiency. It's about having people not reinvent the wheel. So if New Jersey chapter spends a bunch of time and research on the Asbury Park beach access issue, and wins -- and if there are other chapters who have anything close to that, we need to be in the business of connecting the dots and having the intelligence flowing very freely between chapters. I see National as a facilitator for seeing chapters thrive. I don't want chapters that are working; I want them thriving.
A Chief Executive is an enabler. I'm looking to surround myself with the smartest possible people in every area. I don't need to be the smartest person. I need to have access to people who are not only smart, but also passionate -- and also willing to roll their sleeves up and get dirty.
And, like it or not, you're about to become the face of Surfrider. Which is not an easy job -- everyone's a critic and everyone has their own agenda.
I think any semi-public job needs to have a certain tone and listen to people's complaints and issues in order to be relevant. But then they also need to take a step back and think before they talk. Being a leader is about having people follow you, not about telling people what to do -- that's a manager. Being a leader is about having people proactively, voluntarily, follow you. I've been able to do that successfully in other ventures and my sense is that I'll be able to do it successfully here as well.
What about working with the surf industry?
Yvon Chouinard from Patagonia is one of my heroes. He understands that business can't be done on a dead planet. You can't make a dollar and not pay attention to everything else that's around you. How does a profitable company do so in the best way possible for the environment? Again, working with the industry is a dialogue -- I'm not going to go in and talk and I'm going to go in and listen and I hope collectively, we can make a difference.
Like those cross marketing campaigns?
Exactly. We don't need to have a huge footprint in people's minds, but we do need a footprint there. And it needs to come at them from every direction. We need guerrilla marketing, stickers in surf shops telling people about dropping stuff down the drain, we need to have dialogue with industry leaders like Quiksilver and Billabong as well as embracing newer brands like Volcom and RVCA.
Where is the growth going to come from?
The epicenter of Surfrider's target market is surfers. I just talked to someone today, and one of the comments I got was, "so I can expect the beaches to be clean for my family from now on?" Of course they're being
sarcastic, but they're talking about families -- some of whom may not surf. The coastal community is a huge second tier.
What about the global possibilities? You have lots of international business experience.
I was surprised that Surfrider has had a moratorium on expansion in international regions. They want to start; we have applications from all over the globe, from dozens of countries. But Surfrider's done a very nice job of not running before they could walk. And I need to talk to people about how to do it, because I do have a goal of international expansion.
I want to expand internationally but not recklessly -- we need to do things thoughtfully. When someone gives us $25 or writes us into their will, they expect us to be managed. And that's what we're going to do -- not spend recklessly on any programs...we're going to look at and prioritize where we would expand geographically, where it makes most sense from an environmental and conservation standpoint. Also, if there are any foundations or partnerships that are already in place that may help us with our goals. Because I don't aspire to grow 2X for some ego drive -- I don't want to be big for the sake of being big. I want to be big because our message demands a global audience. We don't have a choice. We have to do this.
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EXTRA: (May, 2000) Brief history of the Surfrider Foundation
Sign up for the Surfline/Surfrider membership
Surfrider's website.
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Marcus Sanders
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