o one better
debunks
the surfer
stereotype
than Hayden Cox. A master
surfboard shaper and
designer, the 35-year-old’s
taken his wares from a dusty
corner of a beachside
Sydney suburb to the
world – along the way
collaborating with fashion
designer Alexander Wang,
acclaimed artist Jason
Woodside and dominant
German motoring marque
Audi, among others.
Yeah, not too much
shaka-waving lining
Cox’s path to stardom.
Cox is about the daily
pursuit of perfection –
to improve his craft with
unique, forward thinking.
Where traditional
surfboard shapers have
used the same materials
formore than 50 years –
polyurethane, fibreglass
cloth, epoxy resin and a
plywood stringer – Cox has
been experimenting with
alternative technologies
since launching his
Haydenshapes brand of
design back in 1997.
The real noise came with
a board called the ‘Hypto
Krypto’ and his patented
FutureFlex technology. The design was futuristic – utilising materials
that belonged in the wings of aircrafts and shapes based on theories of
parabolic curves. Yet the board was small, stable, aesthetically sleek and,
best yet, it worked damn well.
Like picking up a golfing iron that instantly solves a fairway slice,
Cox’s design tapped an experiential sense for surfers – they made
anyone who stood up feel better. And so, word of mouth became
his golden ticket – a wave he’s since ridden to global acclaim.
Here, Cox explores the key pillars that have led to this point.TAKE CONTROL “When I opened a factory at 22, I had never built a
surf board from start to finish. But I knew I couldn’t work for someone
else, I needed to have control. Having that perspective was more
important than not knowing the process. Once you make that call, get
ready to tackle a steep learning curve.”STRIVE FOR PERFECTION “Put out a standard of work which is high.
The moment you feel, ‘Yes, that’s the best I’m going to do’, that’s
when you stop innovating, and you’ll become complacent. For me, the
obsession is in not being able to perfect it.”N
FIGHTING
FAILURE
“I was sitting
upstairs in
my first
warehouse, four
years after launching
the technology,
$300k-$400k in debt.
Nothing was coming
together, I couldn’t deliver
on the numbers, but I knew
I had a great product.”FINDING SUCCESS
“That was a tough moment
to go: OK, I need to step
back. I knew I had a good
product, I knew we had a
good team, but I didn’t
have the distribution to
scale. So I made a decision
to partner with Global Surf
Industries. They weren’t in
the ‘cool club’ of board
distribution, but they were
great at selling, and I could
complement their product
catalogue. I penned a deal
which gave my business its
edge. I was 30, started a
new chapter, paid off that
debt and didn’t declare
bankruptcy. The best goals
are ones which set you up
for personal development.”PASSION V MONEY
“A lot of people will sit down
and say, ‘I want to start a business...’ and then they’ll ask, ‘Which
products will make me the most money?’ And that’s the foundation of
why they start a business. I didn’t start Haydenshapes because I wanted
a company. I wanted to build surf boards. The company came because
I developed an enjoyment for business. Understand your ‘why’.
When shit gets tough, the people who understand that are able
to fight. The ones who didn’t will give up.”ALWAYS INNOVATE “The inspiration starts in all different ways- it’s not a formulaic approach and it’s not easy. A lot of times it’s
other industries leading the way with materials. You need to look
outside your sector, rearrange, re-perceive, and learn as much as
you can to bring it back into your world.”
THE FUTURE “I was chatting to [2x world champion] Tom Carroll
at Palm Beach – and he’d just been in the ocean on a surf mat
with his girlfriend. There was also a mother and daughter riding
performance boards, a guy on a stand-up paddleboard, a longboarder
and one on a foil surf board. That’s a true reflection of the sport
of surfing right now.”MEN OF THE YEAR 2017 GQ.COM.AU 187