Beginning Of The Road

In a few days, we’ll pack up the truck and head north to bring Kristian up to prep school at Phillips Academy Andover — just north of Boston. We’ll spend the weekend at our family beach house in Rockport, and on Tuesday he’ll get checked into school, meet his roommate, and we’ll say our goodbyes.
He starts classes two days later, and by then Naia and I will just be getting back to Key West to a slightly quieter little apartment above the shop.
The studio and shop downstairs will also feel a bit emptier. After all, Kristian is the original COAST kid and this past summer he worked almost full time for me. Over the past ten years, Kristian has field tested every shirt we’ve printed, he’s sweat through every hat we’ve put out, he’s helped run the Coast Camps, he’s offered input on designs, he’s learned to navigate the backstage area at concerts and festivals, he’s reluctantly been the subject of volumes of promotional pics and posts for the shop, and he’s grown up watching the highs and lows of his dad’s dreams down here at the end of the road.
But now it’s time for him to begin to realize his first big dream — one that started years ago when I brought him to the campus to show him my old stomping grounds, then came to fruition last spring when he was accepted and earned a full scholarship to attend.
So as a way to send him off on the right foot and give him a little money for his brand new bank account, I agreed that he could get a summer bonus of 20% of all sales (in-store and online) today through Tuesday when we hit the road.
We have a few new designs including one inspired by Kristian’s journey called “Beginning Of The Road”, so if you see something you like and want to help out a good kid, I know he’d appreciate the support!
Oh, and for anyone who wants to say farewell in person, we are having an open house/studio tonight when the shop closes at 5pm. Please feel free to stop by and send him your best wishes.
Many thanks from both of us — and Naia, too!