Matt McClain gets on board with the environment at Invert Action Sports
Upstate entrepreneur Matt McClain has dabbled in everything from retail and brand development to surfing and carpentry. But in the last two years, his foray into the paddleboard business with Invert Action Sports has been nothing short of “explosive,” he says.
How did you get into the outdoor adventure business?
My first business was selling plus-size dresses wholesale. For about a year, I would buy factory overruns, fill a U-Haul trailer and travel around from little town to little town selling them. I sold dresses to the wife of the director of human resources at Perception [Watermark] kayak company, and she said I was a great salesman and needed to interview. She saw I had a trailer full of dresses and I had a kayak on top of my car. I got a job and went up the ladder at Perception, working in brand development. I always wanted my own business and that led me to start Ground Industries in 2003, which sold mountain boards [off-road skateboards]. I launched Ride Garden in 2010 and Invert in 2011.
How did the Invert Action Sports store come about?
We opened the storefront [with partner Andre Emery] in 2011, and basically feature the things that we like. We are board sports-oriented: skateboarding, longboarding and now paddleboarding. We have skateboards, clothing, shoes, hats, glasses, bags, watches and more, but the real core is the paddleboard business.
How did the paddleboard business evolve?
People were asking for the products and I had my roots in the action sports industry. I had a friend who said he was setting up a paddleboard manufacturing facility and that since I had such experience in board sports, I should design paddleboards.
And our Ecolicious boards, made in California, are different in that they are ecologically responsible. In the surfboard industry the traditional approach is super-toxic to the environment. Our approach is to eliminate those negatives and replace those materials with post-consumed materials. We use all recycled foam – we’re the only manufacturer taking this approach on a large scale. The resins are also toxic, not only to the person making the board, but they also go right into the atmosphere. The Ecolicious boards are made with nontoxic, plant-based resins called Super Sap. We reduce the fiberglass content by using other materials like an organic vector net that offers structure similar to carbon fiber. Our fin boxes are also bioplastic. It’s been powerful for us to get into the industry and see how explosive it is and then recognize the impact that that explosion is potentially going to have on the environment.
What’s exciting in your industry right now?
The most exciting thing for me is producing products that people love. Nothing makes me happier than to see a picture of one of our customers out on our boards with a smile on their face. The joy that it brings is really what motivates me from a product standpoint.
What was a game-changing moment for you?
When Ground Industries ran into some problems. Having to stop for a moment and reassess what I was doing – having a little bit of downtime and realizing that opportunities are everywhere. It was when I really got into recycling and looking at what was going into the landfill, looking at what’s washing up on the beach … I don’t want to be a part of that, I want to be part of the solution.
What is a piece of advice that you keep coming back to?
If you’re not having fun in what you do, then you need to evaluate what you’re doing. Life’s too short to put yourself in the quagmire that is traditionally how people live – day in and day out – just doing the daily grind.
What’s next?
We’re going to the Surf Expo trade show in September and will be unveiling in a big way our Ecolicious construction techniques. We’re going to be glassing boards in our booth, which is the first time ever it’s been done at a trade show in an open-air environment. Other people will be glassing boards, but they are in a glass box with a big HVAC system and gas masks – we’re trying to draw a comparison. I’ve done this show 10 times, but this upcoming show is what I consider the pinnacle of our achievement as a company.
