Archive for May, 2008

Surfing & Tennis

Published
by
Shirley
on May 29, 2008
in life, teaching and tennis
. 2 Comments

I’ve never been so excited about a sport before, although I must have felt the same way about tennis when I was 8 cause I’m still playing it today! Its been a little over a year since I started surfing and well I’m proud to say I’m an advanced beginner. I don’t know if advanced beginner is a surfing term, but for those of you who are tennis players you know exactly what an advanced beginner is.  I’ve played tennis close to 22 years and I kind of forgot the feeling of ripping a backhand down the line for the first time. I guess I forgot the newness of being a beginner and progressing to the next level. Surfing is reminding me, in a very humbling way in fact.  You see the errors I’m used to are balls in the net, balls flying out, mis-hits which is all very frustrating……but trying to get through a breaking wave, getting slammed by the lip, almost hitting the jetty…..sharks….. a whole new way of doing a sport—it’s awesome and humbling!I think surfing has helped me be a better teaching pro, especially when I teach beginners……I guess remembering when I wasn’t so good myself is giving me new insight…..   

The K-Claw Start -> Part I

Published
by
Shirley
on May 15, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

I was an unemployed college grad who just left London after a three month stint as an au pair.  My girlfriend, Jennie, met me in London and we planed a little Euro trek for a month. Amsterdam was our first stop.

Jennie and I went to the Flying Pig Hostel—the Downtown location, and all the dorm rooms were booked for the next two days!  They suggested their other location—-The Flying Pig Hostel in Noordwijk, situated 30 minutes out of Amsterdam, right on the shores of the North Sea.  So off we went to the beach hostel.  It was sooo awesome.  The rooms were clean and we met some really awesome funny people.  The place had such a laid back vibe….. staying by the water always has that calming effect on people!  After our two days at the beach we headed back to the downtown hostel for some night life…….

It was open musician night at another nearby hostel….and that was the night I met Rowan….in the Red Light District of Amsterdam! Yes folks you can’t possibly find your true sole mate in some sleezy bar, but in the Red Light, anything is possible J

Rowan and I ended up talking so much that he never got on stage to perform.  He had a little travel bass guitar.  He’s quite the musician, but that’s another blog entry. Rowan was traveling the other side of the world, running away from mad  Orangutans in Sumatra, teaching English to little Taiwanese children, you know the norm!

He ended up in the Netherlands to find work.  As an Australian he was allowed a work permit for a year.  During our conversation I learned Rowan was a ninja graphic designer who designed websites for Billabong Australia, winning best website in the world award…..twice no less!! Who doesn’t want to add that to their resume?  He designed the whole fashion edition for RALPH Magazine (same as MAXIM for us)  and did some pretty smart advertisements.  Anyway the list goes on and on!!

I had a great time with him, but Jennie and I were off to Italy the next morning. I told Rowan if he gets tired of the city, he should head over to the beach hostel.  It was such a great place to get away from the crowd and get some head space. Believe me–you would want some head space after spending a few nights in the Red Light J

So to make a long story short, I had to fly out of Amsterdam to get back to H-town.  Jennie and I decided to go back to the beach hostel and chill for three days before I had to go back to reality. Lucky Jennie still had a month of travelling on her own.

Guess who was at the hostel?  Yep, Rowan was there and we spent three awesome days together on the beach!! 

I know your wondering, what the heck does this have to do with K-Claw’s start…. well a lot of our brand is who we are, and you need to know our history to understand our brand’s start!!

Stay tuned for Part II J

So why “K-Claw,” you ask?

Published
by
Shirley
on May 14, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

I have always loved cats since I was a little girl. Rowan (my man) and I wanted something both feminine and tough.  The original name was Kittenclaw.  I still get a kick out of a scarce few who refer to our brand as Kittenclaw. We know those peeps go way back! 

We had Kittenclaw marinating in our brains for two years.  When we were ready to trademark, there was something in the universe too similar to our name . We were pretty much mentally devastated when our trademark lawyer advised us not to move forward—–as we would most likely be challenged in court (which spells out……WAY TOO MUCH $$$$ for a start up brand to defend!)

K-Claw seemed to roll off the tongue nicely! So we’re pretty stoked with the new name!!! :)