Record-Breaking Stand-Up Paddleboard: It's Officially Amazing!

The Mission…

Paddle Party 2012 was a Guinness World Record Breaking Event in an effort to raise massive awareness for Orange County’s emerging nonprofit, Hailey’s House. 

The Vision…

The vision of Paddle Party 2012 began long ago by Hailey’s House founders Tom and Kisha Maher.

“Five years ago we lived in Florida and picked up paddle boarding as a hobby. It was still so new, hardly anyone even knew what it was. During that time we were running a 5 day residential girls home and each weekend we would go paddle boarding to refuel our energy for the coming Monday. It was a great way for us to have fun, get a good workout, and feel completely at peace, all at the same time! One day, we met a guy out in the ocean who also was paddle boarding. He asked if we wanted to participate in a paddle boarding race for a charity. We decided to attend on a whim, and it was literally life changing. The event was for the Bravery Heart Charity and they did a beginners 3-mile fun race around the bay in Miami. We had such a great time and we really felt like we were not only having a good time, but we were doing a good thing too. We decided that if we ever had our own non-profit, we would put on fun events like this to raise awareness and funds.

Fast forward a couple of years and they ended up moving back to Orange County and starting the non-profit organization, Hailey’s House, which is dedicated to helping young women heading down the wrong path. Immediately they started thinking about doing some type of paddle boarding event to raise awareness, a sort of welcoming event to the community.  They looked into getting sponsored by a few paddle boarding companies but unfortunately it never really took off.

During that time they needed to earn an income while still in the beginning process of starting their non-profit organization. They decided to start a small paddle boarding company and call it Laguna Beach Paddle Boarding. The company took off practically overnight.

Very quickly, we realized that we no longer needed a company to sponsor us, we could actually just sponsor ourselves now," said Kisha Maher.

Soon after they decided to do this to their surprise, a complete stranger named Jade Tully from Cal Coast Fitness randomly contacted them and said... ‘I know you don’t know me but I see on your web-site you have a nonprofit organization as well as a paddle boarding company. Have you ever thought of doing a charity event involving paddle boarding?’ Mind boggled, they had to meet up!  They met just a few days later and were shocked to hear how her vision matched theirs, even down to the tiniest details! Immediately, a new friendship had formed and they decided to join forces and make it happen.

The Dream…

That same night after the meeting with Jade, Kisha had a vivid dream. She had a dream that they broke the Guinness Book of World Records for World’s Largest Paddle Boarding Lesson. “It felt so real and I knew there was something to it,” said Kisha.

She woke up her husband, Tom at 4:00am and told him so she wouldn’t forget the dream in the morning.

“I tried to fall back asleep but I couldn’t so I got out of bed, filled out the paperwork, and even paid the fee to open up and get a fast track response from Guinness.  Within 3 days they approved the request and told us the requirements would be 250 people to set the record.”

Being that this was their first event, they thought it would be difficult to get that many people to come but they were determined to make it happen. They solicited help from World Wide Surf and Paddle Boarding Event Producer, Barrett Tester to join their team and help pull an event of this size off.

The new Paddle Party 2012 team started getting the word out and creating a buzz about the Paddle Party Event and World Record Attempt. 

Difficult Beginnings…

Soon after they announced their plan, a local paddle board racing event that had been previously scheduled for months decided to add a new feature to their existing event…They decided that before the race, they were going to set the Guinness Record for ‘World’s Largest Paddle Boarding Lesson.’  Being that this event was already scheduled with 100’s of racers it was a quick and instant success for them. 

Now, instead of 250 paddlers, the new world record would require 424 paddle boarders! Tom, Kisha, Jade , and their new paddle boarding event director, Barrett Tester, had a decision to make.  Should they continue with their original vision and set a new Guinness Record or just lay low and forget about it? 

Being that their event would be almost all first timers, they didn’t have the luxury of people bringing their own boards to the event.  They knew this would be quite a task.

After much thought, they decided their vision and reason for attempting this in the first place was too important and they wouldn’t stop until it was accomplished.

Opposition Arises…

It became very apparent that the odds were against them right away for making this decision. Understandably, mainstream paddle board manufacturers, companies, and racers actively expressed their disapproval of them attempting the record just months after it had been set.   Several paddle boarding companies and people tried an array of things to stop them, from calling Paddle Party 2012’s potential sponsors requesting they not support the event, and the big one…Not allowing any of their boards to be used for the event. 

It was an uphill battle and at times they wondered how they were ever going to pull this off without the support of the Paddle Boarding Community.  

“It was hard when we aimed for collaboration and in return we got competition.  And not the good spirited kind,” said Tom Maher.

Continuing On…

The reason behind continuing regardless of this opposition is best stated in this quote from Kisha Maher that she said in a letter of her defense to a challenging email she received from a local racer. 

“I passionately teach the girls I mentor that when you have a vision…a dream, it is a gift given to you by God to be fulfilled.  Nobody will ever be able to fulfill it, take it away, or steal it…They can’t…It was not given to them, it was given to you.  The only thing you can control is what you do with that vision. This dream, this idea was given to me and I would not be being true to myself if I did not attempt to fulfill it. 

Of course I had hoped for the SUP Community to help us with this cause but at the end of the day, I can only trust that with or without their help, the vision I have been given will be fulfilled in the way it was meant to be all along.

Success and Fun…

And fulfilled it was!  With over 500 new paddle boarders at the event, Paddle Party 2012 had set the new record!

So how did they get boards then?  “It was the relationships we built that got the boards and the people there,” said Tom Maher.  “It wasn’t mainstream paddle boarding companies donating or looking for opportunities. 

It was literally just people we met along the way that had some boards, talents, and other services to offer and when we asked for their help, they said yes and brought them.” With DJ’s, hula dancers, volunteers, photographers, web-designers, t shirt makers, printing companies, small startup paddle board makers and companies,  and even film makers, all lending help, the event was practically all sponsored!

The day of the event over 700 people turned out.  “This is just amazing,” said Barrett Tester, a World Wide Stand Up Paddle Board Event Producer, “in all my years of planning paddle boarding and surf events, I have never seen a first year event with such a tiny budget have a turnout of this magnitude, just amazing.”

Vendors and exhibitors raved about the high energy and all of the fun people had. One vender described that “people were dancing on their paddle boards out in the bay” and said that “it was by far the best event he had exhibited at and is ready for the next one.”

Another major addition to Paddle Party’s success was a recent friendship between the couple and founder of FLOC, Future Leaders of Our Community, Shawn Wehan.  “FLOC is like a young, hip, United Way providing nonprofit organizations with resources and volunteers.  FLOC  took the lead of providing and directing the 50 + volunteers, used their resources through their web-design company, Parapxl, to rebrand/reimage Hailey’s House’s website, Shawn even came out and MC’d the event,” said Kisha.  

At the end of the event, Kisha talked to Shawn and said, “Wow! You have such a cool job working with nonprofits and events.”  He replied, “I do when the nonprofit organizations we work with have passion like you and Tom!”

ABOUT HAILEY’S HOUSE

Tom Maher, Hailey’s House’s president and founder took the stage prior to the Guinness setting event and introduced Hailey’s House to the crowd.  He summarized what Hailey’s House was and how Hailey’s House will serve the community in his opening speech:  

“Hailey’s House has a mission to bridge the gap for Orange County Families between therapy and boarding school by guiding teens onto the right path and empowering their parents to keep them there.

By three approaches we will assist families with at-risk daughters in middle school (ages 11 to 15)  who might be heading down the wrong path.  This is such a crucial age because the middle years are really when a young girl starts to define who she is and what path she will take in life.  She is the most moldable at this age and you can really make a huge impact.”

He went on to explain the three approaches Hailey’s House uses to help middle school aged girls.

For all young girls they offer Paddle Girl Parties. Paddle Girl Parties are small groups of girls taken out paddling, teaching them the skills needed on the board while relating them to life skills. For example, your board is your foundation, just as your values are in life. Without your board, you’re wet in the water and won’t be going too far.

“If you can teach middle school girls something fun like paddle boarding and parallel it to something vital like core values, finding their strengths, and building their confidence; they will not be molded into someone else’s image but rather learn to be the best version of themselves. You can really change a girl’s direction and get her headed down a path with a promising future,” says co-founder Kisha Maher.

For families who’ve noticed their daughters headed down the wrong path they offer Hailey’s House Calls. This approach is most likely used when perhaps the girl has been making bad decisions, and therapy has not worked or is not an option. The parents do not want to send their daughter away and are willing to work on changing their home environment. When they make a house call, Kisha mentors the young girl while Tom works with the parents.

“It really works,” says Tom Maher. “When girls are mentored and parents are empowered to be in charge of their home, it changes the whole family dynamic for the better.  Parents begin to enjoy spending time with their teen instead of battling them all time and the girls start to learn what makes them unique, really finding their place in life.”

Lastly is the plan for a future Residential Program.  When a child’s behaviors have become so out of control that she should be removed from her home, OC families are not only put in financial strain but are also at risk of losing their relationship with their daughter by sending her far away. Tom and Kisha’s long term goal is to open a home right here in Orange County as a local residential program. For families who have tried everything else without success, girls stay at Hailey’s House five days a week and return home on the weekends. Every weekend is like practice, working out the kinks, improving the home environment, and supporting the girl’s behavioral improvements. 

“The goal is to allow the child to have a new environment, a fresh start, but still keep the family close.  The other options are to send your child away to a teen program in the mountains of Utah or Montana.  When a parent does that, they risk not only losing the relationship they have with their child but they haven’t changed…They haven’t learned any new skills and when their child returns they come right back to the same environment and it’s only a matter of time before they go right back to their former ways. Hailey’s House’s Residential Program will provide a local, structured environment for middle school girls while strengthening the relationship between the parent and the child at an affordable price,” says Kisha Maher.

When asked what their highlights of the day were, the couple responded:

Kisha: “It would have to be when I was nearing the end of the 20 minute lesson on stage.  Guinness required that we did 20 minutes of instruction on the sand and 10 minutes in the water. Those 20 minutes got really long up there.  At one point I resorted to having people dance to the beat of the music while simulating paddle strokes.  I had to keep the energy up, I was yelling, ‘Just 5 more minutes guys, don’t stop, it’s all for Hailey’s House!’ It was so funny but I had to keep the energy up somehow!”

Tom: “I just think the fact that we did it.  We started this adventure with a dream and months later it actually happened.  The whole journey was just amazing and I can look back and see how all the dots connected.  It’s a cool thing to experience.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HAILEY’S HOUSE VISIT: WWW.HAILEYSHOUSE.ORG