Ever wondered what it’s like to be an agent for a pro surfer? Ever wonder who’s behind the scenes getting the surfer noticed, such as scoring Gabe Kling the coin toss at a Jaguars football game? Enter Greg Renfroe, a pro surfing agent. Two years ago he formed Pro Surfing Management, which currently represents Taylor Knox, Gabe Kling and Asher Nolan, among a host of other notable surfing talents. DailyStoke.com recently caught up with the St. Augustine, Florida-based surfer and agent to talk about his critical role in the surfing industry. Business guru for his surfing clients, Greg brings an entrepreneurial zeal in representing his surfers.
As a kid, Greg Renfroe started surfing in Florida. He soon moved to California to try his hand as a pro surfer. He gave it a good run, but decided to focus on college – but didn’t stray too far from surfing. “My dad was a pro baseball player so sports were always a big part of my life. I’d always wanted to be an agent since getting out of college,” he says. He stayed in touch with his first client, Taylor Knox, whom he met in California in his ride to become a pro surfer. “Taylor and I are friends,” says Renfroe. “After I got out of college, I called him up and helped him on parts of managing his affairs. After that, I started representing [fellow Floridian] Gabe Kling.” Renfroe knows Kling from St. Augustine. He counts Kling as his first full time client, but Renfroe’s roster has been increasing rapidly. (Renfroe appears to have a good eye for talent. Gabe Kling, of course, is sitting pretty in the third spot on the WQS.)
What does an agent for a pro surfer do? “Everything,” says Renfroe. “A lot of it depends on what they need from me. I do everything from managing the start of their relationship with sponsors including contracts to cutting out their photos from surfing magazines where they’ve been shown, and mailing them in so that they can be paid by their sponsors.” Renfroe explains that the pros just do not have time to go through all of the magazines when they get back from their seemlingly endless travel on the WQS. Part of his job is staying on top of surf photographers, getting inside knowledge on who is sponsoring a trip for surfers, or working with Team Managers.
How are surfers hearing about Greg and his work? He says that much of it comes through word of mouth, with his pro surfer clients being very happy with his representation of their interests. His two-year old company competes with some of the big boys in sports management, including IMG and Octagon.
In terms of advice for groms that have dreams of making it on the Dream Tour, Renfroe has some good advice when it comes to sponsors who might come knocking. “Get it in writing!” he says very seriously. “For a 14 or 15 year old, getting a box of free clothes from a sponsor sounds great, and it sounds like you’re sponsored, but you really need to have your sponsorship in writing if you’re serious.” As for advice to parents hoping for sponsorship, Renfroe explains that parents, although well intentioned, may not be the best at managing their kid’s career. “An agent can be more objective than a family member,” says Renfroe. Indeed, as seen in the surfing documentary, Chasing the Dream (recently profiled on DailyStoke.com) parents are only helpful to a point.
The 38-year old entrepreneur still loves to surf, and tries to get out with his clients frequently. And with his client list, it’s bound to be a blast. His favorite surf spot is a secret, of course, but he hints that Cabo San Lucas can fire from time to time.
We’ll be keeping an eye on Pro Surfing Management and his growing list clients.
Related posts:
I’m a Senior Media Buyer at St. John & Partners in Jacksonville, FL and I met Greg over a year ago as I was working on some ideas with Smoothie King to get Gabe on board for an ad campaign. It didn’t work out at the time…but I was really impressed with Greg’s professionalism and enthusiasm. As a long time surfer myself and a resident of beautiful St. Augustine, FL…it is a pleasure to know that Greg is around representing positive role models for surfers in the form of Gabe Kling (and others). I believe he can help increase respectability in the eye of the consumer for any brand’s prodcuts and services in the surfing and advertising industry.
Joe Stelma
Senior Media Buyer
St. John & Partners Advertising and Public Relations
Jacksonville, FL
joestelma@sjp.com
We’re stoked to lock up an interview with Gabe Kling next week.
Greg Renfroe was one of the best Surfers to ever come out of N.W. Fla. . He started surfing in his teens which is really hard and kind of late…if he had started at a early age and had the backing he would have been one of the best surfers in the world thats how much drive he had to excel…Yancy III