Reading Response on LMPGS

The main point that author Yvon Chouinard illustrates in the early pages of his book Let My People Go Surfing is that building a business from the ground is hard, but not impossible. One of the many things that I found surprising about Chouinard’s way of writing is that he’s not afraid to admit that he was reckless, that mistakes were made, and that he was willing to acknowledge how hard it was to start off. Chouinard begins his book by drawing out his past, stating that his family had moved to Southern California when he was young and from the start he had learned to love the great outdoors. In his young adult years Chouinard confessed that he spent a majority of his time after high school climbing with a few of his friends and adventuring out wherever he could. When talking about the uprising of Patagonia, Chouinard admitted that the company had almost gone bankrupt due to almost any decision that was made such as designing better shirts for climbing. It was a constant battle for supplying enough product at the rate that it was being demanded. Out of all of those things however, Chouinard’s way of proving that he didn’t entirely know what he was doing is what stuck out to me the most. He explained that there was a point where he handed over the company to Kris McDivitt. Chouinard confessed that he “always avoided thinking of [himself] as a businessman. [He] was a climber, a surfer, a kayaker, a skier, and a blacksmith.”(44). Although he proved that we would much rather spend his time enjoying the environment there was a point where he realized that he was entirely a businessman, he had responsibilities, and “it was also clear that in order to survive at this game, we had to get serious.”(44).