Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Marcher.
Hi Christian, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been surfing my whole life. I started when I was 5 years old. Growing up in Florida my family life was based around the ocean and the water in general. It had me hooked right away. Eventually surfing is all I ever really wanted to do. I always wanted to be a professional surfer when I was young. I dabbled in it for a time but after a few years I realized it wasn’t quite my path. I decided to move to Hawaii and start teaching surfing. I worked for one of the best and most prestigious schools on the north shore of Oahu(sunset Suratt surf academy). It was pretty intense in terms of what was expected of the instructors. Nothing less than excellence. There’s not a lot of room for error on the north shore especially when your in charge of other peoples safety. Over the years I learned how to be a great instructor/coach and worked my way up through the ranks. The bonds I have with the people I worked with out there will last my whole life. My time in Hawaii was extremely important for for my personal surfing ability as well as how I wanted to build my own business. Eventually I met my wife and knew it was time to move on. We decided to give Encinitas a try. It was a good decision. I started my school in north county San Diego in 2014. The main idea of the school is to fully teach people to surf. It’s not the kind of thing where you take 1 lesson and all of a sudden your good at surfing. Like most things it takes years of dedication to actually get good. I’ve been surfing 35 years and I’m still learning. We are great at taking you out for the first time and getting you long rides standing up. The real fun starts when students come back. We give everyone a solid foundation to build off of even if your from Nebraska and will likely never surf again. The idea is every time you come back we build on that foundation and give you new tools to work with. You go practice for some time then come back and we build some more. We help you pick boards as you progress. We incorporate video analysis for the finer details. I have some students who have been with me off and on for 15 years. It’s really fun to get so involved with someone’s surfing for such a long time. We have also been doing surf retreats partnering with Bing surfboards. The most recent one was down to Mexico. It’s an incredible amount of fun. It’s been a great relationship with Bing where I’ve personally been riding their boards and many of my students do as well. There’s another side to the school that is maybe the most meaningful though. For the last few years we’ve been doing a surf therapy program with a couple different groups. Mainly evolve treatment centers and institutes of health. Evolve is focused on teenagers in crisis living in a residential treatment facility. They have 4 houses in San Diego county. Institutes of health is a PTSD/brain injury clinic working with adults(mostly first responders). At this point we are running groups 5 days a week. It’s extremely rewarding work. Over the years teaching Ive noticed the affects surfing has on people. How it helps them step away from all the noise for a bit. When I met my wife(who is a child and adolescent psychiatrist) it was just natural to move in the direction of surf therapy. It all happened very organically and has become one of my favorite aspects of the school. We have grown quite a bit over the years but the school is still very small, which is how I want it. We have a very tight crew of instructors who genuinely love what they do. It’s kind of a big family.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting started was hard. I’m not from California so I didn’t have the connections one would have from starting a business in their home town. In the surf world this is kind of crucial. I had to build my reputation slowly and respectfully. Acquiring permits is also no easy task. I now hold a permit to operate in the city of Del Mar as well as the city of Encinitas. I’m pretty sure I’m the only school around here who can say that. Also just owning a business in California is hard. At the end of the day I’m just a surfer who had to learn how to be a business man. It wasn’t easy lol. The one thing I’ve done above all else is kept the integrity of the school to the highest regard. I feel like the reputation I’ve built has carried me through.
As you know, we’re big fans of Progressive surf academy. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I went into pretty good detail of everything in one of the previous sections here it is again
The main idea of the school is to fully teach people to surf. It’s not the kind of thing where you take 1 lesson and all of a sudden your good at surfing. Like most things it takes years of dedication to actually get good. I’ve been surfing 35 years and I’m still learning. We are great at taking you out for the first time and getting you long rides standing up. The real fun starts when students come back. We give everyone a solid foundation to build off of even if your from Nebraska and will likely never surf again. The idea is every time you come back we build on that foundation and give you new tools to work with. You go practice for some time then come back and we build some more. We help you pick boards as you progress. We incorporate video analysis for the finer details. I have some students who have been with me off and on for 15 years. It’s really fun to get so involved with someone’s surfing for such a long time. We have also been doing surf retreats partnering with Bing surfboards. The most recent one was down to Mexico. It’s an incredible amount of fun. It’s been a great relationship with Bing where I’ve personally been riding their boards and many of my students do as well. There’s another side to the school that is maybe the most meaningful though. For the last few years we’ve been doing a surf therapy program with a couple different groups. Mainly evolve treatment centers and institutes of health. Evolve is focused on teenagers in crisis living in a residential treatment facility. They have 4 houses in San Diego county. Institutes of health is a PTSD/brain injury clinic working with adults(mostly first responders). At this point we are running groups 5 days a week. It’s extremely rewarding work. Over the years teaching Ive noticed the affects surfing has on people. How it helps them step away from all the noise for a bit. When I met my wife(who is a child and adolescent psychiatrist) it was just natural to move in the direction of surf therapy. It all happened very organically and has become one of my favorite aspects of the school. We have grown quite a bit over the years but the school is still very small, which is how I want it. We have a very tight crew of instructors who genuinely love what they do. It’s kind of a big family.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My wife probably deserves most credit just for helping me with everything along the way. There are many things that wouldn’t have happened without her help and support. Brian Suratt who I worked for in Hawaii taught me the ways and definely turned me into the teacher I am. He trained me and demanded perfection, while treating me like one of his kids. Also the other instructors I worked with. We all pushed each other to be better and became family. Jon Edelbrock with the city of Del Mar awarded me my first permit which allowed me to really become legitimate. Of course my clients deserve credit. Many of them do lessons every week and have been for years. I should also probably give my sister credit. She passed away when I was 18 and she was always my biggest supporter with surfing. She always told me to forget everything else and do what I love. I’ve been doing it ever since.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://progressivesurfacademy.com
- Instagram: progressive_surf_academy
- Facebook: Progressive surf academy
- Yelp: Progressive surf academy
