Sarah Bosch concludes her reviews this week, with a look at Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman.
I’ve been a businessman for almost fifty years. It’s as difficult for me to say those words as it is for someone to admit being an alcoholic or a lawyer. I’ve never respected the profession. It’s business that has to take the majority of the blame for being the enemy of natures, for destroying native cultures, for taking from the poor and giving to the rich, and for poisoning the earth with the effluent from its factories.
Yet business can produce food, cure disease, control population, employ people, and generally enrich our lives. And it can do these good things and make a profit without losing its soul. That’s what this book is about.
Think you can’t follow your dreams and be financially successful? Whether you are interested in outdoor sports, entrepreneurial adventures, or environmental issues, Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman is a fascinating look inside one of the most interesting companies of our time, and lets us see the inner workings of not only Patagonia, but of it’s dedicated founder. The tenacity that it took to not only follow a dream, but make that dream a success, is evident and inspiring.
From a shy, small boy who loved to surf and climb, to a blacksmith creating his own gear, and finally as the creator of world famous sporting equipment and clothing, Chouinard is indeed an original. For me, the best part of this book was seeing the alternate ways to pursue business, and succeed. The anecdotes, pictures, and factual accounts of Patagonia’s rise to the top were exciting and entertaining, and were a departure from traditional business “how-to” books. From the very first pitons and carabeaners, to its current products, Patagonia laid the tracks for innovative equipment and clothing and has continued to impress its faithful followers for generations.
Chouinard shares with the reader accounts of growing up in southern California, his love of climbing, fishing and surfing, and his entrepreneurial efforts which were less carved out of a want to be successful, and more to support his own lifestyle of adventure sports. Selling equipment out of the back of his car, eating cat food, and refusing to sacrifice passion for traditional living, Chouinard squashes all conventional means of business protocol.
This is not just another story about a successful businessman, but is a story of a man who brought environmental care and adventure into the heart of business. Chouinard managed to constantly challenge himself in business and in life, and created a business that stands on top of a mountain of inspiration and success. Patagonia, like this book, is in a class by itself. I can think of no one that would not benefit from reading this book.
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