Quiver Boardworks Making Waves

Founded in 2007, Quiver Boardworks has quickly become one of the fastest growing surfboard brands in San Diego County. The foundation of their company is built upon their tagline, “by surfers, for surfers.”

 

A chance meeting at a local surf spot in 2006 between two old friends sparked the beginnings of Quiver Boardworks. Cardiff’s Chhris Dougherty and La Costa’s Mark Wisdom sat on the beach talking about Wisdom’s recent board designs.   

 

Both Dougherty and Wisdom came to the conclusion that starting their own board company was a dream they both wanted to see come to fruition. However, at the time both men had other priorities. Wisdom, a father of two, had a six-figure job he would have to leave behind to develop a new company during turbulent financial times. And Dougherty, who had recently gotten married, was running his own marketing firm, Beyond Marketing, successfully. Yet despite their triumphs, they decided a dream realized was enough reason to make a career-changing move. They decided they wanted to “do what they love” and follow their dream.

 

Dougherty graduated from Torrey Pines High School in 1988. He then attended Mira Costa College where he helped the surf team win the college NSSA Championship. From there he went to Cal State University Long Beach and acquired his Bachelor of Science in business marketing in 1996. He combined his business knowledge with Wisdom’s shaping skills and brand-marketing background to start Quiver Boardworks, which has already been involved in many community events including the Switchfoot Bro-Am, Cardiff Elementary’s Ice Cream Social, Junior League of San Diego, and Windansea Surf Club’s A Day at the Beach, where the duo taught underprivileged kids how to surf.

 

Quiver Boardworks’ mission is to constantly progress to produce the highest quality surfboards built in the U.S. by surfers for surfers. The company’s unique ability to design, shape, glass, and sand all surfboards under one roof allows them to have the highest quality control possible. Grassroots distribution and marketing efforts enable them to stay directly in-touch with their customers and riders for vital feedback. Team riders include Nathan Browne, Eric McHenry, Cooper Jones, Zach McCormick, and Eli Besser, just to name a few.

 

My favorite Quiver story is of Dougherty meeting a father and son at the beach. After a quick talk with them, Dougherty struck them a deal — if the son made the right grades, Quiver would discount him a custom board. Sure enough, the kid earned his grades and Quiver shaped him a board. Reward for work; community coming together for the development of our future leaders — Quiver is all about that. “Our community is our core,” notes Wisdom. (760/433-4420, www.quiverboardworks.com)   ROBYN DENTON