The people behind the brand
Before LinkedIn, there was no way to tell where someone worked. It was pretty rare to see brands post about their employees unless you found yourself in an awkward corner of your local grocery store where a few framed "employee of the month" photos hung crooked on the wall. At ISLE Surf & SUP, we want to celebrate the individuals who work at our company. ISLE Surf & SUP is a 15-year-old eCommerce paddle board company from sunny San Diego. We are a small team of 20 individuals who all share the same passion for the outdoors, especially the ocean. We sell the lifestyle we live when we’re not in the office. Our goal when we come to work every day is to keep you inspired to get outside and enjoy the bodies of water that cover our beautiful planet.The ISLE Founders
ISLE was founded by two best friends, Doug Pate and Marc Miller, who share a lifelong passion for the ocean and the sports that surround it. In their first four years of business, they sold surfboards online. At the time, there was no direct-to-consumer surfboard company, and by default, they became the industry's pioneers. In 2008, they shifted their focus from surfboards to stand up paddle boards as a way to help more people get on the water across the country. Today, both Doug and Marc are still fixtures in the business and never miss a day of work.
Customer Support
We strive to offer the best experience for our customers. We couldn’t accomplish this without our in-house customer service team. Over the years, we have invested in patient, communicative, and knowledgeable individuals who love paddle boarding just as much as our customers do.
Keven Tugend was born and raised in San Diego, and she's been paddling for longer than she can remember. Jay is constantly out paddling, but he's still a surfer and motorcycle rider at heart -- we love it when Jay brings his sweet dog Noodles to work!
Jay’s employee spotlight
Keven’s employee spotlight
Products
ISLE's paddle boards are designed by paddlers for paddlers. Our products team sources the best materials, utilizing state-of-the-art construction techniques and processes to create our paddle boards.
The head honcho in products, Mike Pilgrim, has been with ISLE for many years where he has continued to refine and tailor the entire process. Our art director and graphic designer Dave Vasquez has been with ISLE for six years creating unique designs and evolving our paddle board lineup to prevail as a leading innovator in the paddle board industry.
Dave’s employee spotlight
Marketing
The marketing team is the largest team at ISLE. These individuals are responsible for all social media, blogs, emails, advertisements, and creative content on our website.
The Director of the team is Austin Cox who has been with the company for almost five years. Roxy Ng first started at ISLE three years ago in the Amazon channel before moving over to marketing to lead the paid social advertisements as well as our influencer program. If you follow us on any social media platforms then you know what Julie Riggert does. Julie oversees every platform of social media as well as all collaborations and events we put on at ISLE. And if you've enjoyed any of our recent videos, you've seen the work of Nick Palatella -- our in-house videographer who produces and shoots ISLE's product and lifestyle videos. The newest member of the team is our Content Manager, Jeff Hale. When he's not surfing or paddling, Jeff is setting the written tone for the company and managing ISLE's overall content strategy.
Sale & Operations
Undoubtedly, the most vital piece to keeping the wheels on the bus rolling is our sales and operations department. This team makes sure we're hitting our forecasts and moving toward the same company goal at the end of the day. Our COO, Steve Mariucci, leads the team and brings a wealth of experience from his past positions. Looking to learn some Excel tricks? He’s your man! Robbie Shawn is responsible for managing our amazon channel as well as leading operations within our customer support team. Herwinth is our warehouse manager and oversees ISLE's inventory and returns.
Financing
The numbers don’t lie. We have the most meticulous crew overseeing ISLE’s finances. Our accountant Cody Kia moved from Hawaii to make sure our books are tight, our budgets are in place, and our taxes are paid in full.ISLE Retail Showroom
Even though most of our business is online, we thought it would be nice to give San Diego locals the option to walk into a shop to touch and feel our boards. The ISLE Retail Store was born in 2012, currently located only one block away from our headquarters in National City, CA. Our ISLE Retail Store Manager, Jake Kreiss, has been with us for almost five years and continues crush it as the Supervisor of Stoke at the store. In addition to Jake, we have Jake Willis, a Coronado surfer who’s always positive and has a ton of experience surfing and paddling. Between the two of these guys, you’re guaranteed to get 5-star service that’ll make you want to come back just hear their stories.
