The Boss in Board Shorts

© rumbum.com, Andrea Barrack

Alan Strauss Board Up Miami

In black, white, and fuchsia board shorts, a BoardUp Miami t-shirt, shades and flip-flops, Alan Strauss could have been any of the pro wakeboarders at last weekend’s action sports and music festival on Key Biscayne, FL. Except for the walkie-talkie slung on his back pocket. 

Strauss, BoardUp’s Managing Director and co-creator, mostly handles the sports marketing and public relations elements of the festival. Tackling roles like making the pitch and sealing the deal with sponsors and participants, this approachable yet strikingly professional PR pro with a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration has compared himself to Jerry Maguire. If Jerry Maguire wore board shorts.

An all-around water sport enthusiast, the entrepreneurial Strauss and his like-minded brother (Jonathan, three years his junior) fashioned BoardUp from a pipe dream of working for themselves while continuing their lives on and in the water. The Strauss’ platform was to “create a venue and a vehicle where the future stars have a chance to compete against the pros.” 

Board Up Miami is in its fourth and biggest year by far thanks to cooperation by sponsors (Red Bull and Epic Tow Boats, to name two), teamwork from local and international participants (well over a dozen pros attended), and extensive media coverage (hello Miami Herald front page!), and Strauss anticipates expanding larger still. “We kind of think of ourselves as a little circus, with all the good things that come with the circus," he gleams. "We bring our tents. We pop them up and eventually we want to travel from city to city.” 

Strauss says he loves working with his younger brother, whom he calls one of his closest friends.  Though at one time, during a high school water polo match in which they were on rival teams Strauss couldn't even bring himself to take the ball from his little brother ("I could have taken the ball from him," he quips, "but I didn't want to."), they now bring a healthy sibling rivalry to the BoardUp office - challenging each other to see who can squeeze more out of each day while working for the cause. 

“It’s my passion,” says Strauss, a swimmer, lifeguard, kite surfer, wakeboarder, and water polo player, coach, and former member of the Colombian national team. “And if it’s your passion, then you’re going to do it and do it well.”