We were lucky to catch up with Maxine Chapman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Maxine, appreciate you joining us today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.
I’m a strong advocate for voting with your dollars. By spending money in the right places, you have a direct way of supporting causes you believe in and influencing change. At SurfDurt we’ve adopted this mindset by having a vote-with-your-dollars model. Our SurfDurt logo on our bamboo packaging comes in 4 different colors, each color representing a foundation that we donate to. The pink goes towards Players for the Planet, which uses people in recreational sports to have a positive impact on the environment. Our OG brown goes towards Coral Gardeners, who do coral restoration. Our Teal lid goes towards Water for People, providing clean drinking water for people around the world. Finally our Green lid goes towards Trees for the Future. If you see products and brands doing good for the environment and world we live in, support them! Same goes for the opposite, if brands aren’t doing their part to support the world we want to live in, don’t support them until they make changes!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I started this business because my family is from Hawaii, where we were especially privy to the devastating effects of synthetic sunscreen on our coral reefs. My father is a waterman and a chemist and we started making sunscreen together in our kitchen so that we wouldn’t be part of the problem when we were paddling out in the ocean together. Years later, I brought SurfDurt to market because I hated using anything else and so did my friends, and more importantly because I figured if you have the ability to do some good in the world, you probably ought to. Over the years I feel like my “why” has grown exponentially. I love learning and I am absolutely fascinated by the person I have to become in order for this business to excel past its “one-woman-show” plateau. I want desperately to become her: to learn how to delegate and to be a servant leader. I want to learn as much as I can about mindset, business, growth, interpersonal perseverance, and leadership so that I can meaningfully pay forward all the energy that’s been poured into me from my mentors, as I’ve grown into the belief that my business deserves to exist and that I deserve to lead it. I want to create meaningful jobs that people find truly fulfilling. I used to think that I wanted a product like this to exist in the world so I made it. Now I have a vision for a full company that I want to exist in the world and I’d love your help creating it. In a lot of ways, I haven’t had the chance to express my leadership style yet. I know it will be formed with empathy and that people will always come first. And I know I’ll always check in with my soul because as my ambition grows so will my impact; I’ll make sure it’s the kind of impact I can feel damn good about making.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
We started by making SurfDurt in giant kitchen bowls in my kitchen with my dad. We’ve come a long way since then! We did our own manufacturing for years in a warehouse, filling hundreds of SurfDurts a day. We’re currently moving into having someone manufacture for us, which is sort of like watching your baby grow up and take off! I’ve had lots of tips from amazing people in regards to finding the right manufacturer, but the most interesting one was to “look up”. The whole place could be absolutely spotless but dust and particles from the ceilings can travel down, who would’ve thought.
How did you build your audience on social media?
When it comes to social media, stay authentic to yourself. It’s easy to get lost in other peoples feeds and try and do what they’re doing, but you have to remember that you’re a different brand and you have to be different too! A great book for creatives is “Steal like an Artist” You can take concepts and inspiration and apply this to your own content, but being original and yourself is what really speaks to people. Also, treat it seriously and engage with people, post/share often but remember to have fun with it, don’t let the pressure deter you from posting!
Contact Info:
- Website: surfdurt.com
- Instagram: surfdurt
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxine-j-chapman-79399412a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQn-oaVxplaXAl7uT2ol4xQ