Hi, my name is Bryce and I'm an Alcoholic.
My sobriety date was 11/19/08. Notice I said "was". That's because after 7 years of sobriety and recovery that saw many of my biggest dreams come true, including graphic design jobs at both the Nike World Headquarters and Adidas North America Headquarters, I decided I could drink like a normal person, and that I didn't have a problem with alcohol. Any guesses how that turned out?
Yeah, not so good. One and a half years of hell, destruction, and pain for all those around me. Not my best days.
My new sobriety date is 6/16/17. I just celebrated 4 years.
I learned a lot of things during my relapse, not the least of which was that in I could not drink like a normal person. My disease took me to death's door, and I nearly walked through it. I was trying to drink myself to death. But the universe had a different plan for me.
I got back into the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, going to meetings, working with a sponsor, and sponsoring other guys. I clawed my way back to life through some of the most crippling depression and anxiety I have ever experienced. It was awful. But slowly I got better, and things began to change.
Now almost 4 years later I'm here telling you what it was like, what happened, and what it's like today. My vision for what's become Brothers of Surf began about 10 years ago, and through the years has taken several forms on it's way to what it is now. Ultimately though, it's a way for me to combine my life priorities. Creating unique apparel, my love and passion for surfing, and my desire to help others and make the world a better place. Sharing the healing power of surfing, and offering free lessons to those in recovery and providing a much safer and healthier lifestyle than the ones that have taken them down. Surfing played a pivotal role in saving my life, and I know it can do the same for others. I've made it my mission to share it with anyone who has a desire to learn.
COVID-19 sucked, we all know that.
However, at the beginning of the lock down I made a very important decision. I was going to take advantage of the time and finally finish and launch Brothers of Surf. A year later here it is, and I hope that if nothing else, my little surf apparel brand and charity shows you that anything is possible. Even coming back from the dead.
I hope that you get something from my story, And if you need to talk to someone, please reach out, to a friend, to your parents, to anyone. There is absolutely no shame in asking for help when you need it. In fact it's a strong characteristic in many successful people's toolkit. Ask for help when you need it.
You can see our site at: www.brothersofsurf.com
Why am I here now on gofundme?
I'm still figuring out how to do this whole thing on a daily basis. I used up pretty much every penny I had to get the website built and up and running, as well as the clothing designed and made for the first capsule collection. I am currently doing pop-up shops and other events to get our name and mission out there, as well as trying to raise funds to start making our second offering of apparel, which will be more female focused and bring to life the Sisters of Surf part of our mission, which I am really looking forward to. In the meantime, we are looking for funds to help us obtain our 501c3 status as an official non-profit, as well as purchase and manufacture more clothing and accessories. Our long term goal is to be self sustaining and constantly in both the creation and growth mode, as well as the give back and help mode. We one day hope to have a space here in Encinitas that can serve as a sober clubhouse/business front/safe space for those in recovery where we can hold AA mtgs, give men and women in early recovery a safe place to hang out and meet up, as well as sell our goods and provide gear and wetsuits for our lessons that can be loaned out. We are very, very excited about this, so if you or someone you know are in the real estate game, or the angel investor game, we'd love to talk to you.
If you made it this far, thank you, I appreciate your time and kindness.
Bryce