Today we’d like to introduce you to Carl Kish.
Carl, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in the Bay Area and would drive to San Diego with my Dad almost every summer in our ‘71 VW Bus and would stay with my Aunt for usually a month every time. I was living the grom life just skating at the Robb Field skatepark in OB everyday, going to the beach, and enjoying all that America’s finest city had to offer with my old man. That’s when I fell in love with SD and decided at the age of 11 that I wanted to go to college here.
Before I left high school, I knew I wanted to find some type of career in surfing or snowboarding. When I got into SDSU, I started as a Hospitality Major thinking I could work at some resort near surf or snow, but I wasn’t sure how I would contribute to the sustainability of these destinations and cultures that fueled my passion. Near the end of my freshman year, I heard of the new Sustainable Recreation and Tourism Management emphasis being taught by an Australian Professor who has the first Ph.D. in Sustainable Surf Tourism. I met Dr. Jess Ponting, changed my major that day, and never looked back.
Dr. Ponting helped me create my own study abroad program in New Zealand where I learned about sustainable adventure tourism, and when I came back as a senior, I did my 500-hour internship with Dr. Ponting at the newly created Center for Surf Research. From there, I had the extremely fortunate opportunity of visiting a few surf resorts around the world that I had only dreamed of visiting from watching surf movies (e.g., Tavarua Island Resort). After spending several months working with resort GMs, community leaders, and environmental nonprofits in these destinations, Jess and I started to create a comprehensive analysis of sustainability challenges and best practices for surf tourism businesses.
After graduating, I knew I wanted to take what we learned in surf and bring it to the mountains. Jess and I started working hard on the building blocks of the first sustainability certification for surf and snow destinations and events. In December 2013, we launched STOKE, and we’re celebrating our five-year anniversary with 24 members across 11 countries!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As any entrepreneur will tell you, creating a new business certainly is never a smooth road—especially if you’re the first to market (i.e., “blue ocean” opportunity). Finding our initial group of “Pioneers” to join STOKE was a huge obstacle to overcome in the first couple of years, but we’ve proven the benefits of sustainability for these businesses now, and we’re building awareness among outdoor enthusiasts to increase demand for responsible travel.
Most recently, we made it into the top 20 but fell short of winning a large competitive grant that would have fast-tracked our growth strategy for meeting our social and environmental impact goals. This niche grant is hard to come by in our space, so that was tough, but we learned a lot about our business model through that process and what we need to scale. Now we’re building a new web app to overcome these barriers and grow to 200 members by the end of 2020.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the STOKE story. Tell us more about the business.
STOKE is the Sustainable Tourism & Outdoors Kit for Evaluation—the world’s first sustainability certification body with standards built specifically for surf and ski tourism operators, destinations, and affiliated events.
Our specialized sustainability standards and tools help our Members implement best practices related to waste management, emissions reductions, fair labor, cultural heritage preservation, community development, and biodiversity conservation. We make compliance cool and impactful for these adventure travel and outdoor brands.
For surfers, skiers, snowboarders, and all lovers of the ocean and outdoors, choosing a STOKE Certified destination or event is an easy choice for supporting socially and environmentally responsible businesses.
I’m most proud of our Members who continue to represent the STOKE community with integrity and passion for providing sustainable stoke for generations to come. When enjoying the outdoors, people shouldn’t have to choose between stoke or sustainability—we’re committed to making them one and the same.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
My luckiest moment has to be the first day of moving into the dorms at SDSU when I met my future wife. She has been so supportive of me and my dreams from day one, even though it often takes me away from her for a week or two at a time.
I was also highly fortunate to meet Jess the same year he started teaching at SDSU, and the same year the Sustainable Tourism degree started. My professor became my business partner and a true friend.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.stokecertified.com/
- Email: info@stokecertified.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stokecertified/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STOKECertified
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/STOKECertified
Image Credit:
Nikki Brooks, Ben Thompson, Peter Lobozzo
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