Santa Cruz can feel like a cheat code when you’re surrounded by waves, boards, and creative people, and that’s the energy we bring to this reboot from Sunny California Podcast Studios. We start with a real catch-up: Nelly talks through the emotional punch of selling a long-time Santa Cruz home, packing up life, and committing to the North Shore of Oahu while still flying back to shoot, work, and stay connected to the lane and the crew.

Then we sit down with our guest, David McIntosh, the founder of Sunny California. David takes us back to gritty Baltimore and the unlikely path that led him into surf culture and entrepreneurship. He shares how booking shows for his own band at 16 turned into a full-on concert promoter mindset, and why “creating the platform” is often the fastest way to find your people. If you’re into creative careers, brand building, or community-driven business, this part hits hard.

From there we zoom out into surfing as an industry: why sponsorship money dried up for regional pros, why the ocean isn’t an arena, and why surfing is harder to turn into mainstream “ticketed sport” economics than basketball or soccer. We also get specific about Santa Cruz’s waves of talent, the gaps between generations, and the resurgence of up-and-comers. We close with what Sunny California is becoming now: a surf and moto shop, coffee bar, in-house apparel making, events, a coworking surf club with showers and board storage, and a place built for real connection in a too-online world.

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