Nick Cocores is a Cal­i­for­nia surfer and owner of Thalia Surf Shop in Laguna Beach. His unique vision has brought many tal­ented artists and shapers to the fore­front and has posi­tioned his shop as a design leader. Nick shares with us his jour­ney.

What was it like grow­ing up in Cal­i­for­nia?
It has been the best thing ever. I have had lots oppor­tu­ni­ties and many friends. California has lots to offer; many con­nec­tions and good surf­ing keeps me going everyday.

When did you get your first surf­board?
1986—I was about eight years old. My first wave ever was in Hawaii at Canoes in Waikiki. I have a pic­ture, that was taken by Bobby, on the first wave I stood up on. I can’t remem­ber his last name, but Bobby was the first guy I saw doing stand up surf­ing with a cam­era that was not water-resistant.

What was the feel­ing you had when you first stood on a surf­board?
I was so amazed. It was such a big deal that all I wanted to do was do it again and again. Ever since then, I have been hooked.

Who did you look up to and admire when you were a young man?
My dad got me surf­ing and took me on trips to Hawaii. He was the one I wanted to be like. After surf­ing for a while and look­ing at Surfer mags, I wanted to surf like Joel Tudor and Rob Machado.

Of all the inter­est­ing places you have trav­eled to, what place in par­tic­u­lar stands out? And why?
For surf­ing, the Mentawai Islands are the best. It was such an amaz­ing trip. The waves were per­fect and really fun. We had a good crew of peo­ple that made it the best surf trip I have ever been on. The waves pushed my surf­ing abil­ity and opened my eyes to how good the surf can be in other places/countries.

Where were you edu­cated?
I went to school in Mis­sion Viejo and Fall­brook. After that, I went to Mira Costa and took busi­ness classes.

Explain how the idea for Thalia Surf came about.
Well, it was kind a deal that has slowly evolved over time. In 2001, I took over an old Hawai­iana shop that my fam­ily had opened. It was next to Toes on the Nose surf shop (which my par­ents owned at the time). They helped me get the spot and all I did was stock it up with surf stuff. My orig­i­nal plan was to just do what every­one else was doing and get all the major names. Lit­tle did I know surf­ing pol­i­tics were in Laguna and we could not open any­one because of other com­pe­ti­tion. So this is how it all began.

I knew I could do some­thing really cool with out any of the main­stream brands. I really wasn’t even into them any­ways. So I made a few phone calls, made some tee shirts and ordered a few boards. The rest is his­tory, and today it’s cool to look back and see how far we have come. None if it would have been pos­si­ble with­out my fam­ily and friends.

How do you go about choos­ing the artists and design­ers you fea­ture in the store?
We choose peo­ple that are like-minded and get what we are all about. Its not really any­thing you can explain; we just know when we meet or see some­thing we like. It all started from a few friends—Andy Davis, Thomas Camp­bell, Joel Tudor, Mal­colm Camp­bell, John Frasier and lots more. From these peo­ple, the whole shop has trans­formed into what it is today and has opened eyes for lots of peo­ple. We were not the first to invent any­thing. We were just the first to show­case and dis­play this whole scene of surfing—surfers and artists doing what they love.

What is it that makes you such a nice per­son? What code do you live by?
I guess just being me and not try­ing to be cool. I treat every­one how I would want to be treated. I don’t care if you suck at surf­ing or if you have other inter­ests. I am into lots of things myself and I just want to be treated good.

Who/what inspires you?
My fam­ily inspires me to do the best job I can do. All my cus­tomers make me love what I do every day. I also have a great team I work with: Corey, Josh, Paul, Shesh and Dave. With­out them, we would not be here. My ven­dors inspire me as well. Every time we see new prod­uct, I am stoked to sell more rad stuff.

What is the great­est thing you have learned in your life?
So far it’s busi­ness. I have learned how to make liv­ing off of doing what I love.

Do you have any regrets or wish you had done some­thing dif­fer­ently?
Yes and no.

What are you most proud of?
Keep­ing busi­ness going through these past few years has been the biggest chal­lenge. We have made some big changes and they have all started to pay off.

What mean­ing does surf­ing hold for you and how has it changed your life?
Surf­ing is just surf­ing. It’s rid­ing waves and shar­ing them with your friends. To me, it’s not about com­pe­ti­tion. It has changed my life in a few ways. I will never leave the coast and, sec­ond, I will always share the aloha spirit.

What brings you the most hap­pi­ness in the world?
My fam­ily, surf­ing, rid­ing dirt bikes, trav­el­ing, and being suc­cess­ful at work.

Who are some of the indi­vid­u­als you feel are shap­ing the path for surf­ing today?
Lots of kids are really stoked on surf­ing and are very open to rid­ing all types of equip­ment. I feel Thomas Camp­bell, Joel Tudor and Andy Davis, the Mal­loys, Alex Knost and so many oth­ers have changed surf­ing to what it is today. New peo­ple are tak­ing it to another level. I am stoked to see Rob­bie Kegel, Chris Del Moro, Tyler War­ren, Josh Hall and so many oth­ers take surf­ing into what is going to be next.

What is in your cur­rent quiver? What is your favorite board?
My quiver is this: 9’6” Randy Rar­ick Cali Model; 7’2” Thalia Model shaped by Sean Tully; 6’0” clas­sic fish by Rain­bow; 6’1” Bonzer egg; and 6’0” 80’s thruster from Pavel. Oh yeah, a 6’10” mini gun from Linden.

What’s your favorite meal?
Mex­i­can food.

What are you cur­rently lis­ten­ing to on your iPod?
I do not have an iPod. I am lis­ten­ing to The Matt­son 2, The Growlers, The Seeds, Earth­less, Tommy Guer­rero, the 1990’s, The Dead Weather—the list goes on forever.

What causes/projects/organizations do you sup­port?
We sup­port all of our friends and fam­ily, which, in return, sup­ports us. Our ven­dors are mostly inde­pen­dent artists and com­pa­nies, so we invest lots of time and money into them. In return, they get to make more rad stuff, go on surf trips, make more rad boards and the cycle con­tin­ues year after year.

What’s next for Nick at Thalia?
I think, next, we are focused on the Web and will try to grow that to be its own prof­itable busi­ness. We would like to keep on mov­ing for­ward. We have lots of com­pe­ti­tion these days, so we are never sit­ting still—always push­ing to do the next project and find the next movement.

Find out more about Thalia Surf Shop here.