Al's Open Road
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Al Merrick Highlight (0:59)
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Interview (6:05)
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One Thing Leads To Another (0:58)
Interview Excerpt -
Goals Are Good (0:35)
Interview Excerpt -
Fear As A Driving Force (1:03)
Interview Excerpt -
Being The Best I Could Be (0:19)
Interview Excerpt
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INTERVIEWED BY:
Central Route
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INTERVIEW LOCATION:
Santa Barbara, CA
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AIRED ON:
Public Television: Season Two
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ON DVD:
AL MERRICK
Founder
Channel Island Surfboards
INTERESTS:
Action Sports Design Engineering
THEMES DISCUSSED:
Confidence Determination Education Failure Family Fear Fulfillment Goals Hard Work Money & Financial Security Passion Success Support & Encouragement Talent
TAGS:
aptitude, best you can be, college, direction, drive, empire, energy, future, happiness, hurry, motivation, odd jobs, parents, praying, rush, school, sculpting, self taught, surfing
BIOGRAPHY:
Channel Islands Surfboards Founder Al Merrick spent his younger years surfing the waters of Southern California. But after graduating high school, he realized that he didn't enjoy just going with the flow. Al soon decided that he'd much rather be working with his hands than hitting the books, so he dropped out of college and took on a few odd jobs, including growing flowers and building boats. Still, surfing was his main interest. Al decided to pick up a board planer and translate his skills from riding into design. Today, Channel Island Surfboards sells about 12,000 boards every year, and has become well known for shaping the boards of some of the best surfers in the world. Still, Al looks at his business the same way he did when he first started out: The money aspect and all the rest of it weren't the determining factors. "I set goals for myself to be the best that I could be at what I did."
