Meet Summer Menen | Owner, The Little Surfer Dude

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

Hi Summer, what is the most important factor behind your success?
My customers. I didn’t do a ton of paid marketing in the beginning years of my brand. I focused on great customer service and quality products. Word of mouth is huge. If your friend really loves something they are going to tell you about it, and that friend is going to tell their friend about it. Especially if they had a good experience interacting with the brand. I saw it recently at a grand opening of a local business and it was refreshing. I think sometimes companies forget how important it is to think about how the customer feels after the interaction. If it was a good one, there is a really good chance you have a customer for life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
For me, starting a business and being successful at it comes down to a few things. Knowing what your customers love about your brand/products, believing in yourself, and the motivation to keep going. Owning a business is a rollercoaster like all things. Something that I was very careful about from the beginning and I still am to this day is not putting all your eggs in one basket so to speak. That is probably the most crucial lesson I’ve learned. When something doesn’t quite go as you hoped or expected you can easily pivot if you have accounted for it. I hope that I can encourage others to look at retail a little differently. We don’t have lightning speed shipping, and we aren’t chasing every trend pushing products but hopefully every time you visit our Instagram or reach out you leave feeling a little happier. And when you open your hand wrapped order you know that there was another person on the other side of that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We are based in Jupiter so the ocean is always on our mind. We would probably start the day off with a trip to Carve Surf and Coffee in Tequesta for some coffee and breakfast and then I would take them to Blowing Rocks to check out the beach. On high tide it’s really cool to see the water crash against the rocks. Since we are in the area I would probably recommend a bike ride at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Their mountain bike trail is really fun. Then we would stroll over to Calaveras Cantina for lunch at Harbourside. At this point I would probably recommend we switch to boat because there is nothing like Jupiter on the water. I would take them snorkeling at Cato’s bridge or Coral Cove where they might see a few parrot fish. We would then end the day at Guanabana’s on the water. It’s a favorite. After dinner we could walk over to Blueline Surf and Paddle Co for a t-shirt and stop at Cones and Coffee for ice cream. If they happened to be in town on a Monday, I would take them to do yoga under the Banyan tree at the Jupiter Lighthouse. Other activities you can’t miss: Goat Yoga in Jupiter farms, dinner at Food Shack, Mood Tequesta, or Blackbird, watching the kite surfers near the Juno Pier for half a day, and paddleboarding.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband has always been the biggest supporter and source of encouragement for my brand. He actually bought me a Cricut for Christmas one year and encouraged me to use it for home projects. It sat untouched for almost a year until I started making onesies for my brand.

Website: www.thelittlesurferdude.com

Instagram: thelittlesurferdude

Image Credits
A.Cola Photography