Surf Stories

Nate Zoller, a professional surfer, photographer, and writer based in Southern California, has spent over a decade with Roark as a Brand Ambassador and storyteller. He produces branded content and narrative campaigns from surf and adventure trips around the globe — from Iceland and Japan to the Falkland Islands and Mexico — while contributing to acclaimed Roark films like "The Forgotten Archipelago" and "Dear Mexico." On this episode, hosts John Brooks and Kevin Miller sit down with Zoller to talk about his Laguna Beach roots and what it takes to turn a life of travel into compelling marketing.

Aaron "Gorkin" Cormican, New Smyrna Beach's own aerial pioneer and two-time Quiksilver King of the Peak champion, joins John Brooks and Kevin Miller for this homegrown NSB chat. Known equally for his high-flying competitive career and for shaping boards under his own Gorkin Surfboards label, Cormican has spent decades as one of the Inlet's most recognizable and respected talents. In this conversation, he digs into how he found surfing and competition, kill or be killed attitude, his journey from competitor to shaper, and the local characters and culture that influenced his journey - a true homegrown story, straight from the source.  Now, Aaron lives and makes surfboards in Nicaragua.

Jeff Easson is a retired U.S. Navy Command Master Chief with 30 years of service — an achievement earned by less than 1% of enlisted sailors. Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, he moved to Ormond Beach, Florida at age 11, where he traded hockey for surfing and competed in the ESA and SSA through high school. After a run-in with the law led him to enlist, he built a career in Navy finance and HR, rising to senior enlisted leadership. He's now retired back home in Daytona. Enjoy this chat with John Brooks and Kevin Miller.

Eric Geiselman @ericgeiselman , the third Geiselman to join us after Father Greg and Brother Evan, brings a New Smyrna Beach pedigree built on a run of competitive surfing and a 2007 Surfer Poll Award for Most Radical Maneuver. Known as "Lark," he's built a reputation as one of freesurfing's most versatile talents—airs, barrels, and progressive rail work across every wave type. A musician and multi-sport athlete off the water, Eric has more recently become a standout foiler, further expanding the family's surf legacy. Enjoy this chat with John and Kevin.

Morgan Maassen grew up in Santa Barbara chasing waves at Rincon, but it was an injury that got him behind a camera instead of on a board — and the rest is history. He's since become one of surf's most recognizable visual storytellers, known for that dreamy, slow-shutter style that's landed his work in National Geographic, The New York Times, and Surfer Magazine, plus campaigns for Apple, Red Bull, and Patagonia. Morgan is a veteran of Florida Surf Film Festival, having conducted a photography workshop in 2015 and has won multiple awards for his short films around the world.  Enjoy.