While interviewing Ron , I asked him the following questions to get a feel for this entrepreneur and
successful creator of the "Wax Buddy" It's not every day you see a product out there that can do the job of removing wax safely from your boards.While on my quest for sponsers, I recieved a email from Ron Dimauro who is the owner of Endless Wave, he has the answer in his newly developed "Wax Buddy" product. I interviewed Ron to find out how this works and where the idea came from. Endless wave also has a awsome Surf Table in their line of products aswell, it does have the "Wow" factor! The materials they use are all Recycled .(Go To Shopping and follow link). Endless Wave now proudly sponsers Hawaii Surf Break.com, Mahalo Ron and Team!
Q~ Who brain stormed it (Creator)
A~The original concept was developed by three east coast surfers - Ron DiMauro, Greg Pearson and Lauire Keene about three years ago..
Ron is a residential Architect living on the East Coast ( United States ). He loves surfing so much but always hated using wax combs to clean his boards because they always dug into his hands and by the time he was finished scraping the wax off his board, he would always have hand cramps. It was then that he said to himself, “there must be a better way”
I went to the local Home Depot (hardware store) and looked for some ideas. I found the standard plastic putty knife and tried that. The difference was that the putty knife had a handle so I could get the leverage I needed to get off the wax. It worked okay but had some problems with it. It dulled quickly and was not stiff enough to scrape off the really caked on wax so I designed a new one for myself.
I added ribs on the back to stiffen it and make it stronger, I made it out of recycled plastic (because I wanted to protect the earth in which I am allowed to play in), worked with the consistently of the plastic to get a harder edge that would not dull as fast. We called it the WAX BUDDY because this little BUDDY really helps surfers clean their boards.
We had a mold made and had a couple thousand pieces built. We sent them to approx. 700 surf shops in the States with a personal phone call and a kind letter explaining our intentions. We asked them to use the WAX BUDDY and tell us what they honestly felt about it. We had some great responses. They all liked the idea but had some comments on ways to make it better.
We explained our quest to make a better wax comb and everyone was excited. They all agreed it was needed and they told us ways to make the WAX BUDDY better. They told us to make it smaller, shorter, thicker and to add a comb, then we would have something. We listened and did everything they requested and started from scratch and designed a new mold. We also added a third element (the rail scraper) so now the WAX BUDDY is a serious three in one surf tool that every surfer needs.
The price stayed the same ($2.50 retail) and sent the new and improved WAX BUDDY back to those 700 shops. Every shop was so excited and surprised that we listened to them, that they bought a case right on the phone. They were excited to know that they had a part in designing this new tool and that made us feel good too. The WAX BUDDY II could not have been possible if it was not for the surf shops and their honest opinions. The WAX BUDDY is truly a surf industry inspired surf tool.
Q ~ When you started it(created) Idea Created: March 2007, patent 2008,
A~ WAX BUDDY I: (production) 2008,
WAX BUDDY II (production) March 2009
Has it been successful for Endless wave? Oh Yes, we are so excited about the success to date. In only 11 months of launching the Wax Buddy II model, we have been blessed to say that there are approx. 30,000 WAX BUDDYs in surfers hands around the world. We are in 600 surf shops, have several surf pros using them, and have many shapers and distributors carrying them. A partial list inludes. Becker, Channel Islands, Patagonia, Hobie, Icons of Surf, Mitchs (captain Fin) Mollusk, O’Neill, Rainbow Distributors, Ron Jons, Surf N Sea, The Goods, J.P. from Moonlight Glassing, Kassia Meador, Rochelle Ballard, John Peck and CJ Nelson to name a few.
The WAX BUDDYs has also moved over seas and can now be found in Australia , South Africa , New Zealand , Spain , Portugal , France and Japan . We are still looking for any international distributors that want to carry the WAX BUDDY because our dream is to get a WAX BUDDY to every surfer in the world. How cool would that be – to know that it is helping every surfer clean their board – no more hurt hands for anyone. WEEEEE. (I know goofy but it is a genuine concern)
Q~ How much is a comb?
A ~ A standard Wax comb costs approx. $1.75 - $3.00 (retail) depending on the size and brand of the piece. We priced the WAX BUDDY at $ 2.50 (retail) to be in the middle.
Our goal was to create a great product that worked, was eco - friendly and was inexpensive so every surfer could afford one. Our Endless Wave mission – to take existing products that are already on the market and do not work well and redesign them, to work better while being sensitive to the environment. If you know anyone who has any other ideas, please send them to us and we will give them credit for the idea.
Q~Are there other products in the future of endless wave?
A~Yes we have some cool products that are on the horizon but unfortunately, I cannot tell you yet because we are in the process or trying to get a patent on them but I can tell you that it continues on the wax removal theme and I know that the surf industry will love this next product just as much as the WAX BUDDY.
Q~Talk table - Why the surfboard table?
A~I recycled? I love surfing and I love what surfing represents. (being one with nature, peacefulness, relaxed, accepting of others etc.) I wanted a table that would make people smile when they entered our office. Being a designer, this was really fun for me. It was also a pretty cool story as well. I moved my Architectural office from Newport to Jamestown RI (where I live) to be closer to my family. I have a young daughter and I wanted her to come to the office after school to visit me. I needed a beach/sea inspired coffee table because Jamestown is a seaside town and we wanted it to fit the interior. I woke up one night and thought “wouldn’t it be cool if I could build a surfboard floating on a wave” and sketched an idea on a tissue and fell back asleep. The next morning, I told the guys of my crazy idea and instead of putting me away, they were all excited. We built a wave base in my basement and I went to a local surf shop and bought a 5’ - 6” fish mini surfboard. We painted the wave base a seafoam light blue/green color to pay homage to the ocean and glued (expoxy system) the surfboard to the top of it. Our first table was born.
Our clients came over to an open house (for our new office) and wanted a table for their own beach house. A national magazine (Coastal Living) then found out about the tables and published a piece on them calling it the coolest table to hit the market in a long time. Orders started coming in and our surf business was born. We named our company Endless Wave for endless waves, endless possibilities, and endless products. That was four years ago and now it is taking over my Architectural business.
The wave base is made up of recycled wood fibers and urethane. Each one is custom made by hand and the surfboard top is a real (surfable) surfboard. The surfboard top is custom made to our specific dimensions from a shop in California . (It was designed to fit in front of a love seat so it is only 5’ - 2” long. It has no rocker, it has flat rails (so drinks will not slide off) and it has a almost flat top. (for drinks and food platters) There is a leash plug and fins. We have two models, the Malibu (which is a white “fish” style three fin surfboard and the second one is called the Waikiki (which is a mini wooden long board, single fin design). Some young groms have actually surfed these boards so we know that they do ride as well.
The table has been on NBC news, the Today Show and has received some great press. Even the actor, Matthew McConaughey, has a table in his own home. He saw it and fell in love with it and had to have one. At the present time, the price is high due to the time it takes to make each table but we are working at trying to reduce the cost so every surfer can afford them. Some pro surfers have requested that we sell them the wave base only so they could put their own boards on them (the one that they won their last event with) We thought that was a cool idea and are in the process of developing that idea and working with the surfers.
Q`Partners, coworkers..?
A~ Yes there are two other people who made Endless Wave a success story and without them, this would not have happened. I care a lot for them. They both surf and helped me design the WAX BUDDY II. Greg Pearson is the guy in charge of Endless Wave on a daily basis. He is running the company for me. Laurie Keene is our marketing and financial person. We are all involved in the graphic design, new products and the branding image of Endless Wave. Most of our work is on a grass roots level with either talking to every surf shop or visiting them personally. My daughter (she is 13 yrs old) and I took a surfing trip for 4 weeks (about 9 months ago) to launch the WAX BUDDY II product to the west coast and drove from Rhode Island to Los Angeles California (surfboards on top of the car) and then surfed from Malibu to San Diego and handed out WAX BUDDYs to every surfer we met and every surf shop we visited. It was such a blast and I would not trade that time for anything in the world.
We just hired two other men (also surfers) to help man the phones – Jonny Clancy and Mike Minto. They are really kind people and have a great outlook on life. They have helped us spread the WAX BUDDY love to many United States surf shops. Hawaii is next. Our timing is perfect together my friend. We wanted to be established and to make sure the product worked before we attempted the best place in the world for surfing – HAWAII . Your home is where it all started and our respect for that is high. Now we are ready to introduce the WAX BUDDY to Hawaii . This week, we will start making calls to every shop so if you know any surf shops you really like, please let me know and I will get some free samples to them.
Q~Where is endless wave baseed?, I.E Adress so on..
A~Endless Wave is based in Jamestown Rhode Island . The North East coast of the United States . (4 hours drive north of New York City .) Jamestown is a small coastal island
(1 mile wide by 9 miles long) and is very beautiful. It is an island between Newport and the mainland and is accessed by two bridges. It was originally farmland for the native american people and is very pastoral looking. It is a safe, friendly place and is a great place to raise children.
Our website is: www.endlesswave.net
Our blog is: www.waxbuddy.blogspot.com
ENDLESS WAVE INC.
11 Howland Avenue
Jamestown, Rhode Island 02835
Ph: 401 423 9893
e - mails: greg@endlesswave.net or ron@endlesswave.net or laurie@endlesswave.net
The Wax Buddy Crew
