Meet David Pritzker | Founder at Raw Surf

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Pritzker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I chose this question because the answer has evolved over the course of my journey along with myself. And perhaps in explaining so could help others to grow as well.

Initially I was inspired by a woman whom I fell in love with that later broke my heart. I could have said she is my muse and that is what keeps me going. But I learned throughout this adventure that it is not for another that I do what I enjoy, it is for my own love of self. I would work to prove my worthiness, I guess how I was programmed as a child. But when others outside myself kept letting me down I realized that it’s about them, and how they think or feel about me. Its about being true to my talents and believing in myself against all odds.

I have always been self driven to be successful and have had my run in business for several years in e-commerce selling things I wasn’t truly passionate about, but was never gratified, and inexperienced in business before starting Raw Surf. I felt like I was wasting my life. Owning a business is not for the faint of heart, especially if you’re underfunded. But I wouldn’t change a thing.

I am a creator because that is what we humans are. Even if some of us just don’t know it y et. I pursue my career now because I believe in myself. Because I love what I do and I do not relent. We have so many waking hours alive, so why not make the most of it and make the world a better place for others?

What should our readers know about your business?
Raw Surf is a group of surfers, photographers, and guides worldwide with a passion for people and the world. When I started the company I envisioned a better world through surfing and humanity. That is how we came up with the name Raw, as Raw is the opposite of War.

Unique to the surfing industry and world with our fresh take on utilizing technology to help bring people together. We are not just surf photographers, we host surf trips and document our journey’s with our guests so that they go home making new friends, with amazing memories captured to share and cherish for a lifetime!

Getting where I am today was no easy feat. I still deal with challenges, ever single day. I got here by staying persistent and consistent.. By not giving up and showing up. By not letting the little voices in my head discourage me, nor let others bring me down. Or if they did bring me down, then I’d bring myself back up again. That old saying “fake it until you make it” actually goes a long way.

The key is take a break, but don’t quit. If what you want to sell or do is something you truly believe in, and can provide value in peoples lives than there is nothing stopping you but yourself and your own mindset. Sure I have been one to blame others for misfortunes in my life, and some of the things that have happened may have not been my fault. But that doesn’t stop me from being resilient.

I have learned so so many lessons along the way. A few important ones that would benefit you readers would be first to believe in yourself. Do not listen to your friends or family members who tell you your idea or business is stupid when they haven’t innovated themselves. And secondly, and most importantly, failure is not what it appears.

Failure is figuring out one way not to do something. It gives you direction to find success.

I just want the world to know there are companies out there that care about a sustainable future for our world. We are one of them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Welcome to Florida folks. We take our guests on trips around the world, to place like Costa Rica and Hawaii. But we also host adventures to here in Florida on occasion. Mostly for newer surfers, as our waves are typically small. On our first night in you land in Miami, so we take you to south beach hoping to score waves like how we got it a few years back on an early February day with no luck. The waves were flat. So we went to lunch at a nice local cafe with outdoor seating before making our way up coast to West Palm Beach where we scored 3-4ft clean surf.

See sometimes during the winter we get what we call “Nor-easter” swells that send waves down the coast from huge winter storms that push off the Northeast US near New England usually. Those waves will reach to South Florida and can give great surfing conditions and big waves to the region stoking out the local surfers who wait all year to get quality waves.

This day we scored in Palm Beach and went for dinner at Surf Taco in Juno on our way north as we had waves to catch in Cocoa Beach the next day. The swell was fading for south Florida but in Central Florida we still had some 2-3ft waves left and didn’t want to miss on them.

The following morning came and we spent sunrise time surfing the pier with some longboards before heading to breakfast at a local café called Juice and Java. After breakfast we made our way north to New Smyrna beach, sharkbite capital of the world, and went surfing again. The waves were really fun but after running into Kelly Slater out there we decided it would be more fun to sit on the beach and watch him and some other pro surfers. They were absolutely shredding too!

For lunch we grabbed some burgers and sandwiches at Breakers on the beach before heading back for an afternoon surf. We wanted to get one more surf session in before dark because we had a long drive to the gulf coast where we had our hotel in Sarasota for the night. Luckily for our guests this trip we had waves on the gulf. So we made sure they had their experience in waves on the westside. There’s nothing like surfing at sunrise and sunset on the same adventure!

Dinner was amazing on Siesta Key, even though that area can be quite expensive for many. Island house tap and grill is a go to. So that’s where we went to eat before taking you back to the airport to take your flight home.

Our next trip was to Costa Rica… you’ll have to check out our adventures there online!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First off I want to shout out to all our fans! Hands down without them well we would have nobody to enjoy our work! Secondly I want to shout out to Gnarly Charley Hajeck of Gnarly Charley Surf Series, he has always been a great support with the surfer kids and all his contests! And lastly, give a shout out to Anthony Profeta meditation teacher. Anthony has been a great support during very trying times. His crystal bowl meditations have been a great tool in keeping a balanced mind to staying focused and low stressed as possible.

Website: www.raw.surf

Instagram: www.instagram.com/raw.surf/

Twitter: @rawsurfingadv

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rawsurfingadventures/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RawSurf_

Image Credits
I am the photographer except for the ones of myself. It was taken by a friend Daniel Scott on South Beach using my cell phone. I have permission. The other was taken of me on a wave by my guide Allan Mora Morales, a Costa Rican, using my camera on our last trip to Costa Rica in May. I have permission there as well.