Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Champ.
Hi Erin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a beach bum, surfer, photographer, and general lover of the outdoors, ocean, and travel, I can say that San Diego has shaped me throughout my life. After studying graphic design at Cal Poly, I knew I wanted my career to be in the surf industry in Southern California, and started that off with a job out of college at the World Surf League. With the unfortunate timing and situation of Covid, I was laid off but chose to see it as an opportunity to pursue the growth of two small businesses and personal growth.
My friend and business partner Josh Hallmark and I started Surf Happy at the tail end of 2019 in hopes of spreading positivity in and out of the water. Tired of the negativity and competitive nature we saw in the water, we decided to create a brand with a very simple message, one that could translate throughout relationships with friends, family, and the community. We sell surf apparel from shirts and hats to prints and balance boards and have a blast doing it. Our community and support has been incredible to see; people love the message and want to be a part of it.
A few months ago, I recently started my own freelance graphic design business, Erin Champ Creative LLC, and have been working with different connections on a variety of projects big and small. Working for myself is both challenging and extremely rewarding, trusting that I will produce good work but also give myself freedom to travel and enjoy the things I love.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Owning and running small businesses will always come with its challenges, but so far has been even more rewarding. Surf Happy is still quite small, and one of our largest struggles would probably be finding ways to extend and grow our community and audience in a pandemic. At the core, all of our friends and connections have been overly supportive and incredible to sell to and work with, but branching out past that is the tricky part. With the pandemic happening right as we started, it was difficult to step into the in-person interaction we hoped for, with retail spaces or community gatherings, art shows, music, etc. I think the major challenge will be finding a safe and effective way to get people together and share our love for the sport. Given everything, it has been very smooth and mostly very fun and exciting to create a brand that gets positive feedback.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love a lot of things, and I love to do a lot of things. When it comes to art and my creative side, I enjoy and practice graphic design, photography, painting, illustrating, linocut stamp carving, video editing, hand lettering, and I’m sure many little hobbies I can’t think of. Professionally I do graphic design, however a lot of that includes a lot of the above, a combination and intertwining of multiple medias.
Most of my favorite work has been hand drawn–to me, doing something by hand and showing organic motion is a beautiful way to capture someone’s ability and internal style.
Any big plans?
I look forward to expanding Surf Happy and securing Erin Champ Creative side by side. We hope to create a larger community for our brand to sit in, stepping a bit more into the person to person interactions, retail spaces, outdoor venues, art shows, beach clean ups, and collaborations.
Contact Info:
- Email: surfhappycompany@gmail.com & erinchamp1@gmail.com
- Website: surf-happy.com & erinchamp.com
- Instagram: @surfhappy.co & @champhappi
Image Credits:
Kara Douds, Taylor Curtiss, Ariane Starceski, Monica Dorsey
