A surfer moves to Nashville.
A breakup instead becomes a long-distance relationship.
A love letter to the Sea.
A fantastic solution.
A beach brand born from new appreciation.

That's the short version but of course every good story has a backstory.

My Dad grew up surfing on New York's Long Island in the 1960's. He met my Mom at a pizza shop in Williston Park in 1968. They got married on a road trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1973. My parents moved to Florida and my Dad worked as a park ranger at Sebastian Inlet. They moved to Emerald Isle, North Carolina in 1977 and I was born just over the bridge in Morehead City in January of 1980. My Mom & Dad owned Salt Creek Surf Shop in Emerald Isle in the early 80's. We moved to Florida in 1984 and my parents opened another surf shop—Natural Art—on Ocean Avenue in Melbourne Beach. My Dad went on to become a sales rep, primarily selling t-shirts. I grew up loving not only surfing but the surf industry as well. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Last December, after 39 years of living near an ocean, I moved from Melbourne Beach, Florida to Nashville, Tennessee. I needed a change. I moved in hopes of having more friends and maybe finding love. I told myself that after hardly surfing at all in recent years, I would be okay without it. I would do my best to let it go. But something happened in the distance. Maybe it was the time and space to think about my story. Maybe it was that I could no longer take the ocean for granted. I ended up falling back in love. On recent trips to Florida, I've been surfing almost every day, doing the drive from my parents house in Indialantic to Sebastian Inlet, where I grew up surfing. Letting it go made me realize it's a part of me.

I'm not sure what the future holds. I'm not sure how long I'll live in Nashville. But I know I needed to come here to become a surfer again. And I needed to come here in order for NEEDS AN OCEAN to be born.

This is for all who know longing and all who need wonder. This is for all who love the Sea, whether it's across the street or a thousand miles away. This is a beach brand born from new appreciation. Perhaps you can relate.

Welcome to NEEDS AN OCEAN.

With sincere thanks,

Jamie Tworkowski

Written June 17, 2020 in East Nashville, TN.