Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice - Parker Payne: In Pursuit of the Impossible - The Journey of the Best Wake Surfer in the World

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

Welcome to another exhilarating episode of The RadCast as we delve into the awe-inspiring journey of Parker Payne, undeniably one of the top five wake surfers globally.In this episode, we unravel the fascinating narrative of Parker's 10-year professional wake surfing odyssey, marked by resilience and unwavering determination. Parker shares the challenges and excitement of his journey, providing insights into the growth of wake surfing as a sport and its supportive community. The conversation spans the diverse world of wake surf boards, including Parker's own signature board, and explores the stages of trick progression for wake surfers. Join us on this thrilling ride as Parker recounts his decade-long pursuit of the elusive kickflip, the mental and physical challenges, and the profound impact of in-person coaching.Stay tuned as we unravel the intricacies of building the Parker Payne personal brand through social media, his preferences for wakesurfing in saltwater versus freshwater, and catch a teaser about an exciting new boat in the works and Parker's plans for 2024. Reflect with us on the unpredictable nature of the future, Parker's open-mindedness towards new opportunities, and the pivotal turning point in his remarkable career. This episode promises a riveting exploration of the indomitable spirit that propels Parker Payne into the forefront of the wake surfing world. Tune in and get ready to be inspired! Parker's background, parental influence, and how he turned pro at 14. (00:38) The challenges and excitement of turning professional at a young age, highlighting the growth of wake surfing as a sport and its supportive community and the impact of social media on his career. (03:56) The diverse styles of wakesurf boards, highlighting Parker's own signature board. Additionally, they explore the stages of trick progression for wake surfers. (08:39) Parker reflects on his 10-year journey to achieve a successful kickflip in wake surfing, detailing the mental and physical challenges faced during his 94th attempt, and the importance of in-person coaching. (12:21) Discussion about building the Parker Payne personal brand through social media. (19:02) Parker’s preference for wakesurfing and the differences between saltwater and freshwater wakesurfing. (22:46) Teaser about a new boat in the work and upcoming plans for 2024. (23:42) Parker’s podcast, “The Last Pull,” and the behind the scenes. (25:10) Parker’s approach to staying in share with cardio and proper diet and passion for travelling. (26:28) Reflection on the unpredictable nature of the future and being open to new opportunities and the turning point in Parker's career. (28:17) Positive influence of Parker’s family in his wake surfing journey. (30:38) Parker’s preference for Instagram and his early interest in various sports. (31:51) Age gap among wake surfers and Parker’s optimistic outlook. (32:48) If you want to learn more about Parker Payne, follow him on Instagram @parkerpaynesurf and his website  https://www.phase5boards.com/products/24-phantom. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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where it doesn't cost more to get more. You're listening to the Radcast, a top 25 worldwide business podcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast. We're bringing the pain today. Let me tell you, we talk about being radical.

It's radical if we cover it. We're talking to one of the top five in the world. Wake surfers, Parker Payne. What's up, brother? How's it going? Thank you so much for having me. Of course. Dude, you got the perfect name.

You know, like, for, it's just a cool name, the double P, the alliteration. And, you know, I don't know. That needs to be your, I'm going to let you have that as a freebie. The, uh, when they introduce you into your contest or different stuff, bring in the pain. Drop in the pain. I don't care how nice it is and how nice you are. But, uh, damn, man, top five wake surfer. You know, you've been doing it for.

for 10 years, right? Professional for 10 years. Yeah. There's definitely been years before that where I was not, you know, not currently a pro, but at 14, that's when I turned pro, and it's been a grind from here on out. Yeah. I mean, you know, I think people, it's a really growing sport. I mean, at the end of the day.

You know, we talked, you know, pre-episode, like, you know, I'm on my lake all the time, on my houseboat, chilling, cruising, and every other boat that goes by, I feel like everybody's trying it. Why has it gotten so popular? I think it's just a really family-friendly sport. It's low impact. You're not going very fast, but if you want to push the sport and progress,

there's definitely an opportunity to be able to do that. Everyone loves being on the water. Everyone loves going on the lake, so I think it's a perfect combination. Isn't it just more accessible? Because when you think about riding behind the boat, it's intimidating because of the speed and the rope factor, right?

being pulled and it's hard. But I feel like wake surfing at least at the basic level is a little bit more accessible. Like I think most some people, a lot of people that can't get up maybe skiing or wakeboarding. It's a little, it's a little less intimidating maybe once they see or they get up. Is that part of it? Absolutely. And I taught my grandfather how to wake surf. So if I taught my grandfather how to you, I think that anyone can really learn to get behind the boat and go.

I got to admit, though, I've fought the urge. I have not done it. So even though I've watched the videos, and I'm telling you, you guys are going to go watch Parker, you're going to be listening, and you're going to watch Parker on Instagram, and then you're going to be hooked, at least on the vortex of watching the tricks and how mad and how bad he is on the water. But I've fought the urge.

I have a feeling now. I'm, like, forced. You know, I have a top five in the world wake surfer. I'm going to have to get out there to do it. I think we're going to have to get out there and teach you how to. Oh, okay. I'm going to hold this to it. I'm going to make, Parker's going to come up.

We're going to get him to, we'll have like a phase two of the radcast. We're going to get him up out on the water on Lake Kiwi. Yep. Are you committing to this? Let's do it. I'm in. I get the professional lesson for Parker Payne. I think that'll be legit as it is and some good content for both of us.

Absolutely. If nothing else. Talk to me, even doing it 10 years. let's give everybody a little bit of life story you know what got you started into it the journey of being a pro and just like the overall growth of the sport of course

so to rewind all the way my parents were collegiate water skiers back in college we'd always had a boat growing up you know I tubed I wakeboarded I skied wake surfing you know in the earlier 2000s was starting to gain popularity and being a young kid wanting to try every single boards were on the water, I knew that wake surfing was something that interested me.

I found a natural talent, and I managed to find my way learning new tricks really fast and progressing. And in 2013, I started competing. I had an undefeated year as an amateur. Went to semi-pro the next year, and halfway through, they kicked me out, and I went immediately straight to pro. And from there, it's been 10 years of professional wake surfing, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. and gone to travel around, meet awesome people, and it's been cool to live my dream. Speaking of bringing the pain, they kick you out of the amateurs.

It's not I'm hearing like, dude, you're too good. We're going to, I'm politely, I can hear him talking to your parents. We're going to have to get you out of the league. He's making all these little kids feel bad. Was that how that discussion went? Mama pain at that time was, oh my gosh, she's only 14 years old at the time. So it was definitely scary for her. for me as well. Being thrown in that life at such a young age was not something I was even ready for,

but something that I had to do. You're still a young guy, I mean, at 24. But I sense the maturity about you. Have you always had that in you, or is it just come with time and being a pro for 10 years? Maybe a little bit of both. I've heard some people say I'm an old soul, but I think definitely having the experience of, you know, being around, especially being within the business world at such a young age, it's allowed me to have a different perspective on how that whole thing works. All of this success and all these things you've been doing has happened as social media has exploded. You know, like it's obviously been around for we're almost at 20 years now on some level. We'll throw out my space, but probably before your time.

But, you know, Facebook's been around. There's been many of these things. But I'd say the explosion of social media has happened through it. But how's that guided your career or just the awareness of the sport? It's definitely changed everything, not just within wake serving, but any other individual sport that you can do. Social media gives you the platform to tell your story. Having the ability to post my videos, show off sponsors, you know, and promote my own

personal brand has allowed me to really elevate in my career. And I think without it, I would not be where I am today and sitting in this chair to to be able to have this conversation. Is it, you know, social media is interesting. It paints a certain picture. It tells one side of the story. Have you seen the positive and the negative sides of it? I mean, have you experienced any of the hate, you know, or any of the, I mean, obviously

you're a badass. I mean, on the water. And so there's not much the hate on. I'm sure someone figures it out. But have you experienced both the positive and the negatives? Absolutely. There's always up and downs. they say a hitter is going to hate, but I think that they wish they were on the water, too.

So I think they all take that as a win. Yeah, what's the worst thing I can say to you? You're on the water, you know, making a living and doing what you love. And that's what's so amazing, you know, about what the Internet has opened up is the ability for people, no matter what it is, obviously you're making a living. But your ability to spread that word and spread it and, you know, to bring a business along with it, which we'll talk about shortly. But that's the thing that I think not everyone, believe it or not, has embraced,

is the ability that you can make a living through social media. Absolutely. It would blow your mind on how far you can really take it. Talk to me about the business of the sport. Like, you witnessed it in your 10 years being young at 14 through 24, but just the growth of the sport and how it just continues to expand and, you know, the number of sponsors and the number of things. Like, what's the most eye-opening thing for you about just how big the sport's getting? Social media has given it so much popularity and really allowed people to see an inside look of how the sport operates.

I think for myself, a key part that has really allowed me to succeed. and there's three elements is personal brand, your talent slash skill, and the partners that you work with. I think those three things are what really makes the total package to allow you to excel. Having social media to help push your personal brand and have the partners and sponsors go hand in hand with that is I think what really helps generate dollars

and generates the impressions online. Talk to me, you know, and we talked about this pre-episode, starting out in the sport, it was all about competing in the competitions. So maybe explain a little bit of that for everybody listening. Like, how does someone make a living? How did they do it? And maybe how you're doing it now as a wake surfer.

Yeah. Competitions will always be the root of wake surfing. That's where everyone gets together and has a good time. It's almost like a family reunion every time you get to go to these events. When it comes to turning that into a career, wake surfing in the competitive space is your starting point. Social media allows you to show.

showcase your abilities within competitions, and that's how brands start to find you. Once you have completed a, let's say, you know, certain amount of competition wins, that's when really you start to get a lot of interest. And then now you can not necessarily shift away from competitions, but more pick up the side of social media to allow you to grow your personal brand. Has, I mean, ultimately these brands just, want to sell more of their stuff to you know as as the sport grows their business grows so they bring on someone like you top five in the world because ultimately if i'm selling boards or boats or

ropes and everything involved with it the point is the more eyeballs that see you using that the more influence there is on people purchasing correct yes and what's uh what is the transition from okay I'm sponsoring and I'm sure you've you've gone through this thought process you've got your own board things like that but from helping a brand sell more things versus selling more of your own have you gone through that kind of process or thought absolutely there's definitely a certain angle that you have to take on it when it comes to promoting that product on social media obviously you can't have something stick out and look like it's a direct ad but I think having an endorsement and you know seeing people that if I

ride this board, if I wear this life jacket, maybe I can be as good as them, or maybe I can do that trick that I've been trying to get on that particular board. That's where it starts to look less like an ad and more just like me telling you, hey, this is something that you should try. And I think that's what gets a lot more sales rather than a brand directly trying to promote that straight to their end user. Yeah. But are you crossing that line of where, you know, we should have Parker Payne manufactured ropes versus X brand. ropes. There's, it goes half and half.

I think having the personal brand as long, with a well-known brand, I think they go hand in hand together. I've seen it go both ways and individuals go out and make their own brands, but sometimes having the backing of those bigger brands allows both people to succeed. Yeah, because I think of the skateboarding, you know,

I grew up on the skateboarding scene and, you know, it was all about, you had Lance Mountain and you had Powell Peralta who makes like all the skateboard stuff, but then they had the individual name boards under that, you know, which, that's kind of similar to yours. You've got the Phantom Phase 5, Wake Surfboards. So that's you, right? The Phase 5 Phantom, that is, that's the winner.

That's my board. What distinguishes one board from another, you know, like? Well, unlike skateboarding, you know, oftentimes you see skateboard decks are very similar in shape. Wake surf boards, just like ocean boards, can be all kinds of shapes, sizes, varieties. even styles. We have surf style boards and we have skim style boards. Skim style being your typical kind of beach skim board, very flat, very slick. Then you have your surf style board, which is the Phantom board that I produce,

which is modeled after a small ocean surfboard. Very aggressive, big fence. Having both of those styles kind of allows you to try both things, try different tricks, both of them allow you to excel your skills in wake surfing. But it's, and we talked about this, but wig surfing is kind of like this combination of skateboarding and traditional surfing, right? It is. And, you know, so talk about what's the evolution. So from beginner to pro, what are the distinguishes, like, if I'm just learning, is it all that's about staying up?

Like, I'm just trying to keep, like, the gravity up, upright. Like, what distinguishes the true amateur to where, what are the. stages of like growth on the board. Of course. Well usually your first victory is letting go with a rope and staying within the wave. I think if you can surf, you're already better than most. The next thing that you're going to try to strive for is a 360 and that is the classic wake surf trick. Everyone wants to be able to do the 360. Everyone goes out that summer and they're like, this is the summer that I'm going to get it. You can skip, you know, let's skip down a couple of tricks and get all the way to kickflips or, you know, 900 shove-its or things like that.

It can get very technical, very quick. But once you start to get those more high-end tricks, they kind of all come together and start to become something more achievable. And if you want to learn from me directly, join my newsletter. Ryanofford.com backslash newsletter. Sign up. I give daily advice on marketing, personal branding, podcasting, life. Give that a shout.

Join that. It's free. It's daily. Just like this show. Give away our best advice. What guides it for you, like, you know, the thinking through the next thing. And then let's talk a little bit about the trick that you're the only one in the world that has pulled off. But what guides kind of the creative flow of, you know, attaching tricks to tricks?

Of course. Looking online definitely gives me a lot of influence. When it comes to my process of trying to learn that trick or try to find something that I'm ready to do next, I'll go out and try it, but I shoot videos of it and I go home. and I study those videos. Being able to go back in slow motion and see each individual thing that you've done really allows you to go back the next day

and, you know, achieve what you're looking for. I don't have a coach, so I don't really have anyone to kind of help me with my basic strategy. It's all on me, so I would say self-taught in what I've achieved so far. And having those skills and the utilities to be able to help bring them to life is essential.

What's the trick that you can do that no one else can? The kickflip. Okay. The surf style kickflip. First to do it, only one to do it? At least... Does anyone claim it, but they don't have a video of it? There's some rumors here and there, but as of right now, I'm the first person to do a kickflip on a wake surf board behind the boat.

Yeah. What? Why is it so hard? I think it's the first... It's the first trick in wake surfing to where you're looking at the bottom of your board while you're in the air. Generally, we're doing a lot of spin tricks,

a lot of tricks where you kind of just spin the board underneath your feet. But this is the very first one where halfway through the air, I'm looking at the fins on the bottom of my board. And trying to get over that hurdle and learn that trick was one of the hardest things I did in my entire life. When was the first time you completed it?

The first time I completed it was earlier this summer. It took me 10 years of trial and air to be able to do this trick. and I finally landed it on the 94th attempt of that morning. We were watching that video earlier, and I saw you, you know, like the look on your face. And then hearing, though, the story of the 94th time, I'm just sitting here going the stamina, you know, to not only stick with it, but, you know, knowing you did it. And then, I don't know, I was surprised you had the energy to pull it off. It was definitely a big feat that morning.

It was probably about three and a half hours in the water. Holy shit. It was a total mental roller coaster of the up and downs of being, oh, I'm so close and now I'm so far away. But are you doing it regularly now? I've hit three in total so far. I haven't had much time to really go out and practice a lot to try to get it dialed. But just recently I found that one little key factor that I think is going to be my ticket to getting it consistent for next season. Is this like just a mental check or something?

or is it like a physical, like a physical motion? It's physical. Ah, so you could teach it and sell it for money. I can see this happening. How to do the kickflip. Kickflip course coming soon. Yeah. I mean, is that what it really comes down to?

Like, as far as the monetary side, like, my mind kind of gets wrapped around, obviously, you know, the influencer stuff and promoting products and stuff. But teaching and all that, have you gone down that route yet? like online teaching? Teaching is huge. I'm thankful I have a lot of clients that fly me all over the world to teach them how to wake surf. I have a client that's, you know, in their 70s right now, and they fly me out a couple times every summer.

I definitely do some online coaching as well. I have friends that have created online courses of how to do wake surf tricks and even like a, I have a friend that did like an a la carte program where you can pick each individual trick you want to learn how to do. So if you already know one, you don't have to pay for it. So there's definitely been a very large influx of online, you know, pay per knowledge type of, you know, programs out there. But for me, I love being in person to teach you how to do it. So when we have a chance to get on the water, I'd way rather be there on the back of the boat telling you how to do it, then text you a video of this is how I do it or, you know, type something out.

Yes, yes. I'm much more in person. I don't think I can learn without in person for sure. is uh but when you think about your own personal brand parker talking with parker pain one at the top we're just going to call them best in the world because he can do a trick no one else can or the best in world wake surfers um in studio i might add we had to do it in studio you know in person which i appreciate parker yeah um you know you think about your personal brand i mean are you thinking about it from that media standpoint like building that library like

doing things i mean like what's going through your mind is your planning out the the the the the the the the pain you know personal brand personal brand and social media are huge i'm always thinking of what's the next video what's the next crazy trick that i can do that 'll break the internet because as soon as i have a video that goes wild and i have my you know my board there my life jacket there those are all you know sales and it creates brand awareness there as well so the more views the more sales the more fun it all goes hand in hand so is that really just kind of it Like, is it just how you think of amplification through the range of the tricks themselves? I mean, obviously that's going to drive it.

But more people watch it, more people, the good things come. Exactly. So it's as simple as that for you now. Yep. Any other channels you're exploring? I mean, is YouTube a big channel for you? No, usually short-form content is where it's gone for us. I've tried YouTube in the past and not to say that I wouldn't try again.

but with the world that we're living in with TikTok and Instagram, reels, things like that, people love that quick, immediate, you know, oh my gosh video that I've got to share this to a friend or I got to show someone. That's where we start to see

the variety that we're looking for. And that's, I think, the goal overall. Do you think people appreciate the difficulty? Like, obviously, if anyone that's done it before goes, holy shit, I don't know how he just did that. Do people grasp the difficulty that maybe haven't tried it? I think they do. I did immediately. Like I've just seen enough people going by and like, they're not doing what

Parker's doing, you know, like, but I did wonder if that goes over people's heads on them. To use the kickflip as an example, I think that was probably the one where I didn't really get any videos of, oh, I can do that too, or I've done it before. That was the one where everyone was like, respect like that's not something that's supposed to happen on the water so um that was the first one what's the craziest uh like dm or response you've gotten like from people like i imagine you get it from all over there you know from girls to the guys you know like what is there you know anything that stands out um well i'll give a shout out to my friend joel um some may know him as uh dead mouse um he's big into a wake surfing the DJ yeah and uh he saw my kickflip and he's immediately like

we got to get together we got a wake surf I've had some wild stuff over time, but any celebrities or anyone else that's like, you know. Here and there, here and there, but I'll leave it just at Joel. I don't want to name drop too many other ones. Come on now. But that's the thing, though. We were talking about the number of celebrities, like the growth of the sport,

like Mark Wahlberg, Mitch and Tim, like a lot of people are getting into this. It's definitely become very popular. We're seeing many, you know, social media influencers, celebrities. Everyone seems to be to getting out there on the water. What's been like, you know, the craziest place you've ever wake surfed or best? I know you got, like you're tried and true places that you go with practice and all that, but maybe just experiential. When it comes to, like, the experience, I love Turks and Kikos for wake surfing.

That crazy blue water is something that you can't get anywhere else. enough? It's smooth enough, yeah. Yeah. So you're just, both of those. But how about saltwater versus regular water?

Is it that, I mean, once you're on the water, is it that much difference? If you can find smooth water, it doesn't make much of a difference. Salt water does change the buoyancy of the board. So if you know really what you're looking for,

you may find a small difference, but for most, you can go out and be in saltwater, fresh water, and still have a great time. What's your boat of choice? And currently right now, it really just depends on the day. I've got something in the works right now, and you'll definitely be hearing about that soon.

Oh, okay. We're not ready to release that on the radcast? Maybe on the next one, we can have something there. But yeah, I'm really excited for what's to come. There's a bunch of great boats out there that all make great waves. But I think here soon we're going to have something really special. Is there a specific boat brand that you do work with? Currently in the works right now.

Oh, there we go. So everything's behind the secrets. Yeah. What's on like the bucket list for you as far as like maybe where you surf, who you surf with? I mean, they're aspirations for those type things. Yeah. It's always fun to get a chance to surf with celebrities and get to do that experience. I also love traveling as much as I can to go on those surf type of adventures.

I love ocean surfing as well. Last week I was in El Salvador getting to serve with some friends, so it's fun to switch it up. but I think that I'm always looking forward to, I just love teaching people about the sport and introducing them to, you know, the family life of being on the lake and being with your friends is something that I really love showing people

and getting to, you know, get to experience with them. What's on the 2024 calendar for Parker Payne? 24 calendar is definitely stacking up a lot. Already at the start of February, we're going to be rocking and rolling, but I think I'm going to spend a lot of time in Turks and Kekos next year with a great friend of mine. And there's going to be a lot of opportunities that STEM overseas as well.

Dubai is huge for wake surfing as well. So I'd love to spend some time over there. Anywhere that I can go, I'll always say yes. Or even for a podcast like this, just to go and shake hands and meet new friends, I'm always willing to say, yeah. Yeah, it's smart to do that. Hey, you might start your own podcast. You know, we start a podcast network.

You might can come under there. Yeah, actually, me and a great friend of mine, we do it every now and then, but we do do a podcast called The Last Pull. And it's every now and then, but we interview other wake surfers of like behind the scenes of not just their wake serving, but also, you know, similar conversations we're having of how do they run their personal brand? What does their training schedule look like?

What does their personal life look like outside of that stuff? Yeah, I mean, let's go down on that path a little bit. Like, you know, the injuries, like people think of these sports. They may not think of it as like, I think as you as you see people, you know there's athleticism involved in it. But the training regimen and or maybe some of the injuries you've experienced. Yeah. With any sport, whenever you push it to its fullest potential, you will get hurt, not if you will.

It's just the reality of it. In my days, I've definitely seen a lot of injuries. Personally, I fractured my spine, taking many blows to the head from boards. I mean, broken bones in my feet. feet, you name it. I've probably had it happen. Being someone that has pushed it really far, it happens. We try to make our biggest, if we're trying a new trick that potentially has some risk, I always try to do it at the end of the year. So if I do hurt myself, I have the one time to be able to heal up. But thankfully, within wake surfing, it tends to be one of the safer sports. For anyone

that's just getting into it, you're not really having to worry about, you know, general injuries. If someone steps on a skateboard, everyone has a risk of falling down and hitting the concrete. Whereas on a wake surfer, thankfully, at 11 miles an hour, the water's not going to hurt you too bad. Yeah. I think I've fallen off a few boats, you know, going a little faster than that. And then like wakeboarding, I mean, you know, you're pulling behind, you're going faster just by the nature of it. The faceplants tend to hurt a little bit more. Oh, yeah.

I'm friends with a lot of those guys, and pretty much all of them are wearing double knee braces, and they're going to physical therapy three times a week. So, I mean, that's a whole other side of injuries and extreme sports. And what do you do to keep in shape? I mean, is it just, it's a car. I think we talk free up. Cardio is one of the biggest things. Yes, so I'm a runner.

You know, wake servers are generally tall and skinny, so I'm not trying to get as big as I can, trying to keep my body weight low, so I'm more efficient on the board. But a proper diet is really what helps. You are what you eat, so eating great food will make you feel amazing. Yeah. How do you, how do you, what's, it's interesting, you know, talking to a guy like you that's doing what they love, you know, is doing a sport that's fun. What's fun for you that's not on the water? Man, I mean, my passion is my, also my hobby at the, I'm sorry, my job is also my, you know, hobby at the same time.

Traveling is probably my biggest hobby outside of wake surfing. And obviously it does go hand in hand. but whenever I have an opportunity to go somewhere, even if I'm not going to bring my wake surfboards, I love just to go into that town and experience wherever I'm going for a couple of days. And that's what I absolutely love to do. Does it get old?

Has it gotten old yet? Like if somebody, you know, somebody like me going, you're going to teach you, let's go, let's get out there on the water. I mean, you know. It all has its ups and downs, but generally I love just about every minute of it. Yeah. Is, I mean, what do you see yourself doing,

like 20 years from now? How many is it like? I don't know because if you were to ask me what am I going to, if you were to ask me five years ago, where do you see yourself in five years? I would not have guests that I would have been sitting right here doing what I'm doing now. You know, our environment is changing so much and so many new things are coming up here and there that it's really even hard for me to say, what am I going to do in two years? What I'm going to do in five years? The best thing that I can say is I will try to capitalize on whatever comes at me. So if there is a new path or a new trick or a new sponsor that comes along that, you know,

will both lead us to success. That's the train that I'm willing to hop on and go with. You know, you obviously went pro in your 14. When did the light switch for you going, this is actually a business, this is a career? You know, like, I sense that now from you, but clearly. But is there a certain, did you recognize that early on that, like, I might do this forever?

That point came in 2018 when I signed with Phase 5 Wake Surfers. Together, we made the board the Phantom, which is the board I landed the kickflip on. Once we came on with that board and we started to see how the public reacted to it, that was the first time where I was like, wow, this is a lucrative industry to be in. It's also a very affluent industry. So there is definitely room for growth and for success within the sport. And as soon as I saw that we had products taking off and the other brands were starting to become interested, I knew that this was my time to double down and really,

go in on this be full time. So we're, uh, that puts you it roughly 19ish, 18, 19 around that time. I think that was 18 years old. Yeah. I mean, it's,

it's mind-bending to me, you know, thinking, you know, about your age and like, having a skill that's so rare at the level that you do. And the ability to turn that into potentially, you know,

lifelong career is just awesome, you know, like, and I mean, I hope you're embracing it. Absolutely. Absolutely. I love every minute of it. I'm very thankful to be doing what I love and get to do it every day. What do your parents feel about it? You know, like, how do they, how, what's their pattern and all this?

They love it too. My dad is a social, or I'm sorry, a serial entrepreneur. So he's kind of been my guiding, you know, mentor within my younger years. They love it. I mean, like I said, they were water scares in college. every time I ask them to say, hey, come on the boat with me. They're always trying to make it. I love having them on the water with me. Whenever I can bring them with me to something, I'll always try to.

They've definitely been a huge influence in my life, and the success that's come from it has definitely been stemming from them. You brothers or sisters? Just me. So my parents get to deal with just this, but it's been a great time. That was good, man.

Hey, they were blessed. They got a great son that's doing big things and, you know, like blowing up the world. And the internet, right? Yeah. Is TikTok or Instagram, where's your, what's the sweet spot? I like Instagram. I've got a lot of friends that are on TikTok, but Instagram for me is a way to have a little bit more of a concentrated audience.

That's always been my bread and butter is Instagram. Were you always an athletic kid? Like, I mean, like, for someone listening, just like, I like get my kid and something like that. Yeah. Just like, was it just, we were just always natural? I was. I loved basketball and soccer growing up. I was not a football kid being as tiny as I was at the time. But at the same time of doing basketball and football, I was also picking up skateboarding and snowboarding and just starting being into ocean surfing. And as soon as wake surfing came around, I knew that it was time to hang everything else up on the rack and go in on this because I knew that that's what I loved. Yeah, and what's interesting, you know, like thinking about the breadth and the scope of the industry, you know, back to the approachability of it. You know, sometimes these sports and like, you know, I think about the X games and winter games, it's a young man's sport or young woman sport, you know, a young person sport.

And but this, it just, like you said, 70 year old, like you could be 10 or you can be 70, right? Yep. That's an awesome. That's a wide open window. I'm still considered to be one of the young guys within the industry. So I'm thankful that there's still plenty of time left for me to continue to expand my career. And that, you know, oftentimes what happens with athletes is right when they start to get it figured out, they're kind of on the back and out of their career and they're getting a little old, whereas I'm very thankful now that I've still got plenty of time left. You know, knock on wood, I'm still in great health.

So I would love to have the years to come and continue. you to grow. How old are most of your peers? One of my top competitors right now is 34. So we have a 10-year gap. Dude, you got 10 years to kick his ass. Yeah. I love it, man.

I love her. I mean, you've got a, you have this really strong sense of like you got it together, but there's homeliness. You're going to go far, man. Well, thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate you coming. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

It's been an honor to be here. Yeah. And I'm going to take you up on that. The phase two on the water. Let's do it. I think that'd be a great video. We can absolutely make that happen. It'll either be the blooper of the year or the greatest thing ever.

I don't know. I'm fairly athletic. I think you can get me up. You're going to be kickflip number two. I don't know. 65270. I think the buoyancy. You got it.

Might be a little bit much. But where can everybody keep up with everything you're doing, brother? Absolutely. You can find me on social media at Parker Payne Surf. That's my main platform. You'll find everything else from there. I'm always posting crazy videos and trying to get the next one there. So if you see me there, give me a follow.

There you go. Parker Payne Surf. Appreciate you, man. You know to find us to radcast.com. Search for Parker Payne. You'll find all the highlight clips from today. Links to everything. Go get a new board, man.

You know, you need a new one. You need whatever it is. Let's sell some boards for Parker. Hey, I'm at Ryan Alford on all the social media platforms. That blue put checkmark before you could buy it. We'll see you next time. All right. Listen or watch full episodes.

Visit us on the web at the radcast.com or follow us on social media at our Instagram account, the dot rad. Dotcast or at Ryan Alford. Stay radical.