We put 100 percent into it. And by the time something leaves our shop, Ardas has touched every single fiber of it.
Ardas and Logan Phillips are partners in life and partners in business. Their small business, Kindred Board Co., makes hand-crafted surfboards, paddleboards, and hand planes, from their boutique shop located in Orlando, Fla. In addition to their hand-shaped boards, they offer stand-up paddleboard yoga classes and eco tours, through which they bring together like-minded people and give them a true local experience — getting them out into the wilderness and showing them something they may not otherwise see.
Ardas Phillips grew up in a family that was always making and crafting. “I learned very early on how to work with my hands and how to be constructive. If you need something done, you don’t have to find someone to do it all the time. You can teach yourself how to do whatever it is you need to get done.” He was taking the first board he ever made for its first surf, and was stopped almost immediately by someone who loved it. “So I knew I had to keep making more.”
While Ardas is crafting, Logan Phillips handles the tours and marketing side of the business, which is similar in its “do-it-yourself” approach. “We do all grassroots marketing,” she says. “So during the week, we’ve found it’s about who we can connect with.”
For Kindred Board Co., it’s important to support fellow small businesses and the local community, and in the future they hope to do more charitable work and ensure that customers can get the Kindred Board Co. experience for a lesser cost than larger companies.
“I feel like we’re fortunate to have built our business into what it is now,” says Logan. “I definitely want to give back and let people know that small businesses are the way to go.”
Photos by Kike Arnal
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After a long day of working in the garage, Ardas Phillips uses one of the street stand-up paddleboards he makes for exercising.
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Ardas Phillips prepares to place the Kindred Board Co. logo on one of his boards. Printed on rice paper, the company’s logo is one of the last steps in the making of a paddleboard.
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Ardas Phillips applies a layer of tinted resin on a new board. Having grown up in a family of makers, it was ingrained in his mind early on that if you want something done, you can figure out how to do it yourself.
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Yoga students relax after a class organized by Kindred Board Co. at Lake Ivanhoe in Orlando, Fla.
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Ardas Phillips leads a yoga class that takes place on stand-up paddleboards, organized by Kindred Board Co.
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Ardas Phillips, owner of Kindred Board Co., stand-up paddles at Lake Ivanhoe during a yoga class organized by his company.
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Yoga students paddle out at Lake Ivanhoe for a class organized by Kindred Board Co. With their classes and eco-tours, Kindred Board Co. seeks to bring together like-minded spirits.
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A view of the Kindred Board Co. workshop, in the garage of the Phillips’ home in Orlando, Fla.
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Ardas Phillips shows one of Kindred Board Co.’s latest models of skateboards for stand-up street paddling.
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Logan and Ardas Phillips, married couple and owners of Kindred Board Co. in Orlando, Fla.
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Ardas and Logan Phillips, owners of Kindred Board Co., apply a layer of tinted resin on a new board.
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Logan Phillips looks on as her husband and business partner, Ardas Phillips, prepares a board for the tinted resin process. Ardas handcrafts all of the boards that Kindred makes, while Logan handles the eco-tours and marketing side of the business.
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A yoga class at Lake Ivanhoe in Orlando, Fla., organized by Kindred Board Co. The entire yoga class takes place on the stand-up paddleboards.
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Logan Phillips of Kindred Board Co. watches her daughter Quinn during a lunch break.
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Ardas Phillips arrives at Lake Ivanhoe in Orlando for a yoga class. Kindred Board Co. actively promotes and participates in yoga classes that take place on paddleboards.
