We're Adam & Gemma...
...and we collected the keys to Blue Surf School six weeks before the 2024 season started!
If there's one thing we've learnt from our short time as owners it's that it is REALLY hard to write about yourself. The general gist of it is we can't believe we have our own little surf and yoga business!
We plan on making Blue Surf School an extension of who we are and a reflection of what we value by:
- Being kind and authentic to everyone we meet
- Delivering a customer experience you deserve and will remember
- Creating a work place that our team enjoy being a part of
- Giving back to our local community and those who need support
- Protecting the environment - our home and workplace
A Little Bit About Us:
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Adam
"There are two things I love: 1) talking and getting to know people and 2) extreme sports that I can push myself in (do you think I'll get in trouble with Gem for not including her the top two? Ooops).
I didn't experience surfing until my early twenties on a windy and wet day in Cornwall - I still remember the wave that got me hooked! I loved being immersed in nature, that there was no ceiling on how good you could get, the stoke you can feel watching other surfers succeed, and finally, when the waves are pumping, I still need to conquer a small feeling of fear when I go out!
My work history is FAR less exciting then Gem's... nine years spent in business development and account management roles across London. No one's idea of a good time.
I want to help as many people as possible feel how I felt on that wet day in Cornwall ,while shaping their ideas on what surfing means to emphasise kindness, patience, encouragement, and resilience."
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Gemma
"I grew up spending my summers at Watergate Bay where we run our surf lessons from so it's an incredibly special place to me - I still can't believe we have a business there now!
I've always been up for an adventure... leaving home at 18 to travel the globe, I worked in luxury hospitality - winters in alpine chalets, moved to superyachts and sailed the seas, a live-in-nanny to global superstars, and finally left it all to become a full-time yoga teacher (and to spend more time with Adam but don't tell him that).
I was introduced to yoga by a colleague I was working with on a superyacht at the time. Like Adam, I came to yoga late in my early twenties, but loved the way it made me feel and the sense of community around it. It was the only thing that kept me going some days in grueling work conditions.
I'm here to bring yoga to Blue Surf School and show people that yoga doesn't have to be so serious - it can be fun, playful, and full of laughter".
Finding Our "Ikigai"
It was in the depths of COVID-19 when the idea first sparked about making a change to our lives. Like millions of other people the pandemic gave us time to reflect with all of life's distractions removed.
Adam in particular had always hated the dreaded "where do you see yourself in five years" question in his annual appraisals as he never really knew what to say!
The one thing we did know is we had to focus on finding our "ikigai", the balance of:
- Something we're good at.
- Something we can live off.
- Something we're passionate about.
- Something that makes the world a better place.
Blue Surf School is that ikigai.
It took four years of planning, sacrifice, waiting, disappointments, set-backs and more than a little luck to get to this point... and we're so glad to be here.