What started as printing t-shirts in a college dorm room has transformed into several pop-ups along the East Coast.
Outheback is a surf apparel brand that places an emphasis on uniting people with a love for surfing, founded by Boca Raton native Dalen Michaels. From a young age, Michaels searched for a community to be a part of and found acceptance through surfing.
“When I was in high school, I was actually a track athlete and I played lacrosse, but I never found my crew. I turned to surfing and it brought together such a beautiful community of people,” said Michaels. “I knew in that instance, I was probably 15 or 16 at the time, that I wanted to do something in surfing.”
As he began to create clothing for friends and family in college, Michaels quickly found that he could use his brand to extend this acceptance and community to others.
“I went to school at USC [University of Southern California] and I started a few businesses, but the one that really stuck with me was creating clothing for my friends. The one central goal was the community around the surf industry,” said Michaels. “That’s really the inspiration, because I got accepted into this community and I wanted to provide that for other people as well.”
While building community through adventures on the water is a main goal of Outheback, offering sustainable merchandise to make this possible is of the utmost importance to the brand.
“[Sustainability is] very much a part of our mission. With all of our shipping we are plastic free and we really care about our sourcing. All of our stuff is screen printed and ordered in Florida so we’re locally made in that sense. I think that’s definitely the way we are positively impacting the community,” said Michaels.
Through the OTB Surf Club, the brand has been able to work in collaboration with Island Water Sports to grow the surfing community and bring awareness to the need for sustainability. The OTB Surf Club is a free experience that allows both beginner and experienced surfers to spend time on the water and meet new people within the Boca Raton community. Along with building relationships, the brand’s merchandise is also available for purchase at these events.
“OTB Surf Club is a gathering of people, and anyone, completely for free, can come and try surfing and hang out with us. People who have never touched a surfboard have walked away fully feeling and thinking they can surf,” said Michaels.
While Outheback has continued to grow within South Florida, Michaels sought to expand past the boundaries of the state with an East Coast Van Tour.
“I had just quit my job, I really needed to start making money, and then the idea came to me, ‘why don’t I put a surf shop on wheels and go meet these people who are part of our community?’” said Michaels.
While selling merchandise and hosting Surf Club pop-up events in new cities during his East Coast Van Tour, Michaels was able to meet and introduce his brand to new people and other small surfing-based businesses. The tour took place from June 20-27, and he continues to plan spontaneous visits to new cities and hopes to eventually host international events. When asked what excites him most about the tour and expanding past Florida, Michaels continued to urge the importance of community.
“It’s 100% meeting people. Seeing how excited they are, and being able to spread the mission of Outheback, which is to get people outdoors,” said Michaels.
Although the tour has concluded, Outheback is planning more events in collaboration with Island Water Sports both locally and in other Florida cities. Keep an eye on @outheback on Instagram or outheback.com to follow along on this local business’s journey.
