Born and raised in San Diego, Devon Howard came to surfing at age seven. He gravitated to longboarding—both the wave-riding approach and the culture. A graduate of the University of San Diego, he served as managing editor of Longboard magazine from 1999 to 2004. For the next decade or so, he worked as a freelance writer and photographer, and held marketing positions with Patagonia and Spy Optic.

But he never let his surfing slip. He competed in pro longboarding events in the 1990s, then did the short-lived ASP Longboard Tour through the early aughts. He appeared in several surf films—The Seedling, Sprout, One California Day, Single Fin Yellow, and Self Discovery for Social Survival. In 2014, at age 40, he won the Deus 9-Foot & Single contest in Bali.

Today, Howard works as the Global Marketing Director for Channel Islands. He's also known widely as a proponent of the egg, or midlength, design.

In this episode of Soundings, Howard talks with Jamie Brisick about what makes a great surfboard, working in surfing, the allure of eggs, riding for Donald Takayama, and traditional longboarding.

Presented by Rainbow® Sandals.

Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.

Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).

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