Surf Park Management was founded in 2017 and has since assembled a Senior Leadership Team of industry experts to support the key functional areas required to launch and operate any scale of operations associated with surf park operations.
Skip Taylor: Partner
After a lifetime of surf travel that led to visiting many of the existing surf park facilities through Europe and North America, Skip saw a consistent pattern of enthusiastic investors launching venues without the necessary operational expertise. The vision: To create exceptional guest experiences from unique programming developed around brand partnerships, content generation and a dynamic events calendar. Skip is a seasoned lifestyle marketing executive, offering 25+ years in resort consulting, strategic marketing, resort programming, project management and event/broadcast production. His background includes: Experiential Programming & Lifestyle Marketing Consultant, Replay Resorts; President, Interplay Marketing & Consulting; Executive Producer, Crankworx World Tour; Event Consultant, Whistler-Blackcomb (X-Games, World Ski & Snowboard Festival & the World Snowboard Championships); VP Event Properties at International Management Group (IMG), and; Founder of MASEV Communications.
Cate Thero: Partner
Cate specializes in marketing & sales and all elements of start-up and on-going operations management for SPM. Her background includes over 20 years of marketing and operating large-scale resorts in the role as corporate VP of Sales & Marketing for a multi-resort ski company, the General Manager of a ski and golf resort, and as the Managing Principal of Resort Consulting Associates. Cate has hands-on experience in retail, rental, F&B, POS and accounting systems, and creating board-level presentations and reporting. Cate earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, a BS in Finance from Georgetown University, and is a former Vice Chair of the ULI Recreation Development Council.
Malcolm Scott: Food + Beverage Operations
Malcolm has spent the past 30 years in the resort Food & Beverage business – operating at every organizational level across multiple resort types, including: ski, beach, and golf resorts; water parks, tourist destinations, and Expo 92 in Spain. From these experiences, Malcolm has mastered Food and Beverage operations including: fine dining, beach bars, après ski bars, casual dining, banquets, catering, food courts, commissary operations, golf carts, coffee shops, sandwich shops, and more. Malcolm also provides technical assistance on the layout, design, and equipment needs for F&B venues.
Paula Blanchet: Retail Operations
Paula has spent the last 18+ years in retail operations, with a focus on athletic, outdoor and surf apparel. Her start at Lululemon headquarters led to the opening of her own franchise in Portland, Oregon. Since then she has worked with several retail startups and and with key resorts including Turtle Bay in Hawaii with a large-scale retail transformation of surf, lifestyle, golf and spa retail.
Greg Knight: Water Sport Operations
Greg has over 25 years of entrepreneurial management of start-up and growth-oriented businesses with an emphasis on water sports, rental operations, and online reservation bookings. Managing teams of 5 to 50, Greg provides leadership, team building, and a highly productive environment resulting in high retention rate of the best people.