“You only live once” say the co-creators of the YOLO Board, Jeff Archer and Tom Losee.

 Both led successful lives in different parts of the country before moving to the Emerald Coast and founding the Santa Rosa Beach company in 2006. Since then, YOLO has quickly gained a reputation along the Emerald Coast and beyond as the paddleboard of choice for the fastest-growing water sport – stand-up paddleboarding.

As a child in Baton Rouge, La., Archer’s creative spirit was blooming. He set up a lucrative vegetable stand with fresh vegetables from local farmers. His early success in business ignited his entrepreneurial spirit.

In his early 20s, Archer set out for California, where he became co-owner of the fitness clothing company Crazee Wear, capturing a niche market in the garment industry and turning the company into a multimillion-dollar corporation.

After a successful career as an entrepreneur in several other business ventures, including Yellowtail Trading Co. in Destin, Archer teamed up with Losee to create the business of their dreams, YOLO Board LLC.

Losee, a Long Island, N.Y., native, comes from a family with a strong creative background. His father had an illustrious career with a renowned magazine publishing company, and his grandfather was a pioneer in the early advertising days of New York City. The creative gene carried on through Losee, who earned a B.A. in art history at Duke University and then moved to the Big Apple to pursue a career in advertising.

Losee realized at an early age that he enjoyed being his own boss and opened his first business, Hub City Coffee Co., in 1994 in Hattiesburg, Miss. Next, he turned his love for the outdoors into a full-time job and opened Sun Landscape in 1998. That business ultimately brought Losee to the South Walton area when he decided to relocate the business in 2002. YOLO came next.

Tags: paddleboarding,stand-up paddleboarding
Categories: Sports
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