Meet Hunter Jones | Professional Surfer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hunter Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hunter, why did you pursue a creative career?
From a young age I was always extremely creative. Making movies, drawing, painting, writing, storytelling and expressing myself through surfing and skateboarding. It was just natural to me. I always stayed true to my passions and now as a professional surfer and filmmaker, I get to exercise my creativity on a daily basis. Surfing is truly a form a self expression and creativity. Every wave is different and I have the ability create and draw any line I want on a wave. To me surfing is an art and a dance with Mother Nature. And with filmmaking I get to visually tell stories and make people feel something through the videos i create. It’s the best.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Growing up I always had the dream of becoming a professional surfer. Surfing and being in the ocean was all I wanted to do I it was my goal to find a way how to make a living off of surfing.

I didn’t come from a surfing background, it was just something I was passionate about. So I had to figure out how to make my dreams a reality. I didn’t grow up with major sponsors backing me or my parents pushing me to become the next surfing world champ. So I had to find my own path within the surf industry.

Social media and filmmaking really allowed me to build a platform for myself and I used this as a way to market myself and things I’m passionate about.

I worked as lifeguard for many years, a video editor in the surf industry, and even took time away from pursuing my dreams of going pro to work for the World Surf League full time as the social media coordinator. It was actually one of my dream jobs working for the WSL and I have some incredible memories from my time there. But in my early 20’s I decided it was time to truly give my surfing dreams a shot so I quit my full time job to pursue surfing.

I started my own creative agency and was working as a freelance video editor and filmmaker all while working on perfecting my craft as a surfer and networking with the connections I had made in the industry over the years.

It was definitely a risk leaving a job I truly loved, but it was a way for me to challenge myself and see what I could make of the opportunities I had in front of me.

Fast forward a few years I signed my first deal as a pro surfer and it really made everything worth it. Now I am fortunate to have a few sponsors supporting me and I am truly blessed and proud to be where I am at in my career as an athlete.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m from the South Bay of Los Angeles, and I truly love it here. The weather here is nearly perfect year-round, we get pretty fun waves, there’s great food and fun night life if that’s something you’re into. You’re basically surrounded by creative people & people trying to make something of themselves. It’s a great place to call home

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Growing up my father and mother were extremely supportive of any of my aspirations which was huge for me. My father would always tell me, “You can do anything you put your mind to” and that statement was imprinted in my mind and helped me truly believe I could achieve my dreams and goals. My father and mother really taught me to dream big.

Website: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z3c1wtItzoHimXjJRFczFzOyywAxYRnC/view?usp=drivesdk

Instagram: @hunterjoness

Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCThOOGsF-riZv9Xt3_ckRaw

Other: Tiktok: @hunterjones_