In this episode we talk about surfing, defying expectations, creating the work you need to see in the world and your life literally being the story. Our guest is Monica Medellin, a director and producer born and based in Los Angeles, California. Monica is also the founder and CEO of The Gnar Gnar Honeys. She creates beautiful work and shares rich stories that celebrate and promote diversity and representation in front of and behind the lens.
For more information about Faith, Addie and The Trail Ahead go to https://www.thislanddoc.com/thetrailahead.
Discussed in this episode:
The Gnar Gnar Honeys
Textured Waves film by The Gnar Gnar Honeys
Monica Medellin’s Website
Faith E. Briggs: Welcome to The Trail Ahead, conversations at the intersection of race, environment, history, and culture. We're your hosts, Faith and Addie.
Addie Thompson: We bring on folks from all walks of life to have real, authentic, messy dialogue that can lead to tangible change.
Monica Medellin: As a woman of color in the film industry and in the action sports world and in professional surfing, I never felt like my story was being told, and when it was, it felt like it was being told for me.
Addie Thompson: Our guest this week is Monica Medellin. You might recognize her name from our episode credit as our film editor. She is a filmmaker, surfer and co-founder of the Gnar Gnar Honeys, a woman-run creative collective of storytellers in the board sports industry and beyond.
Faith E. Briggs: I first connected with Monica after seeing one of her short films on Instagram. I was so excited to find out about the Gnar Gnar Honeys, and we started DMing until we were like, "Let's get on the phone." Since then, we've basically been fan-girling on each other and looking for ways to work together. We talk with Monica about her pathway to surfing, the stokes she gets from being out on the waves, and the incredible community of women she's built around her.
Monica Medellin: My name is Monica Medellin. I'm proudly born and raised on the west side of Los Angeles to a single, working, immigrant mom from Mexico. I'm a surfer, a skateboarder, action sports fanatic, filmmaker, and founder and CEO of the Gnar Gnar Honeys.
Monica Medellin: I feel like I've been an athlete my whole life. And surfing was not the obvious choice for me in a lot of ways. My mom was a public school teacher who worked hard everyday. I still actually remember when she was getting her teaching credential and I was just a little girl. I think she taught me about hustle before I even knew was hustle was. And growing up, even though we didn't have a lot, she always wanted me to have every opportunity for success, so she was constantly looking for scholarships to sports camps, after-school programs, extracurricular activities. And it started with team sports like volleyball and basketball, then after-school sports like gymnastics. And then, I finally discovered surfing and I fell in love immediately. And I've said this plenty times before, but I was doing headstands on my board by the time I was 12 because of that gymnastics background, and I guess I've really identified as a surfer girl ever since. And I will say my signature move is still a headstand. I definitely will being it out every so often on a small [longboard 00:03:08] day.
Addie Thompson: That's incredible.
Faith E. Briggs: I can't even headstand on the beach.
Addie Thompson: I know. [inaudible 00:03:15] on land. That's amazing.
Faith E. Briggs: In those early years when that headstand was first coming into being on that board, who were you seeing, who were you surfing with? What community were you forming?
Monica Medellin: First of all, I just wanted to state super early in the conversation that surfing is a sport of access, and I started noticing very clear divisions within it when I was super young. If you know away, you know we are a mix of everything and everybody, but I always wondered by I didn't know any other surfers who looked like me, but I don't think that that meant that there weren't a ton of us. This is based off of what I was seeing in mainstream media, what I was seeing at my local break, and ultimately, what the industry was and is currently.
Monica Medellin: When I was in surf camp as a kid, I was living in community corp housing as the border of Venice and Santa Monica with my mom; super close to the beach. But in my teens, we actually moved to Inglewood, and getting to the beach to surf was no longer a thing. I ended up getting hired as a surf instructor at that same surf camp during the summers while I lived in Inglewood. I didn't have a license or a car, so when I had to go to work I would either find someone to pick me up from my house or I would strap my hand-me-down board to my bike and ride from East and 405 down Manchester to Playa del Rey, then through Venice to Santa Monica. I don't even know how many miles that is, but I would often sleep over at my surf coworkers' houses so I didn't have to do that every single day.
Monica Medellin: And when I finally got to the beach, I was the only female instructor, and at one point, the only woman of color instructor. And I just always noticed how the younger girls looked at me and gravitated towards me, and I don't know, I think I probably would've done the same if I had someone to look up to who looked like me as an instructor when I was a little girl at surf camp. And their parents would call ahead every summer to make sure that I was there, and that fact alone kept me coming back every single year even though the journey wasn't ideal in a lot of ways.
Addie Thompson: You didn't see anyone that looked like you and yet you still kept going, you still kept pursuing the sport, you still kept coming back. Why and how did you keep your love of surfing alive and keep investing in the sport, keep pursuing the sport? And what were some of the barriers that you had to overcome to make that happen?
Monica Medellin: I don't think it actually takes much thought. I just loved surfing, period. I really, really loved it and I, like I said, had always been an athlete since I was a kid, and just that feeling of being on a wave is something to keep coming back to and keep working your whole life to achieve over and over and over again, right? Only a surfer knows the feeling. And you can explain it, you can show it on film, but unless you're getting out there and doing it, it's just unexplainable. I think that's what kept me coming back.
Monica Medellin: I also had a super supportive mom who encouraged me to go against the status quo and encouraged me to stick with my dreams and do what I love, and that's the reason why she sacrificed so much to come here to give me the opportunity and privilege to be able to make those types of decisions that she never was able to make. She always had to make the responsible decisions, she always had to make the decision to help the family or... She wanted to be a dancer her whole life and she ended up going a different route because she had to, and I think that she is really inspired by the fact that... not that she could live vicariously through me but she can see her daughter go for whatever she wants to go for without anything holding her back.
Faith E. Briggs: Yeah, I love that.
Addie Thompson: Oh my gosh.
Faith E. Briggs: That's super special. You've written about Nick Gabaldon and how his legacy shaped you as a surfer in LA. I'd love to hear you talk about when you learned about him, who he is a little bit and how it shaped you as a surfer.
Monica Medellin: I didn't hear about Nick until I was a teenager, I think. And for people who don't know, he is a black and Mexican surfer who was on the LA surf scene in the 1940s. And he was the first documented black surfer during the end of the Jim Crowe era in the '50s when many beaches were segregated. And he would paddle from Santa Monica Beach 12 miles north to the Malibu Pier so he could surf the best waves in the world. Everyone knows Malibu First Point has some of the greatest waves to offer.
Monica Medellin: And although Nick didn't look like the rest of the surfers during his time, I think he was really respected for his skill and determination. And he was kind of a legend, and he broke so many barriers to do what he loved most, which was surf. And that story really inspired me for a number of reasons, and I think that he just embodied what LA is.
Monica Medellin: He was so cool looking, too. I just can't get out of my head how cool I thought that he looked on a wave. And I don't know, learning about his story really resonated with me. He wasn't just a surfer, he was kind of a leader, trailblazing the path for us to feel a sense of confidence and belonging in the water.
Monica Medellin: And when I was working at World Surf League, I pitched a story to help raise awareness around Nick Gabaldon, and I thought it would be really awesome to do it on the day of his passing, which is officially recognized in Santa Monica on June 6th. And I thought that the more people that hear his story, the better. And I was actually able to get it passed on through the global leader of surfing, and it was the first story of its kind to be prioritized across departments company-wide and I thought that was a great accomplishment and I got so many messages and phone calls recognizing that, seeing this story on a platform like the WSL meant so much to them and I was connected to so many new surfers just through that story and through the work that I'm doing and I feel proud to be a part of a group of Black and Latin X surfers in the lineup and we are always pulling inspiration from those who came before us, and I think we're kind of the new wave and I hope that we can continue just expanding this narrative.
Addie Thompson: So let's talk about The Gnar Gnar Honeys. You're one of the founders and now the CEO, I just was wondering if you could tell us more about the group and the kinds of stories that you focus on?
Monica Medellin: The Gnar Gnar Honeys first started as a group of girlfriends who surf, skate and connected over our hobbies and I actually met most of our team playing outside surfing and skateboarding and I'll never forget that summer that we met. We hung out every single weekend and it feels like it was the last summer we actually had a summer because now all we do is work to build the business. So anyway, as we bonded over things that we love, we also realized that we work in similar fields and are creatives in those respective fields. We talked about the industry and how we never felt represented in front of the camera and especially behind the camera and we just naturally decided to start telling our own stories, vlog style almost and create content around our experiences.
Monica Medellin: So from there, we tapped into our skills and formed a production company and the rest is history.
Faith E. Briggs: When I first came upon your profile, somehow in the Gnar Gnar Honeys, it was around the short film Textured Waves that you did. Can you tell me more about that? Like, was it one of the things that people really responded to and what was the response?
Monica Medellin: For people who don't know Textured Waves, Textured Waves is a surf collective celebrating women of color through representation, community and sisterly camaraderie pulled straight from their website and in this short film that we did with Texture Waves, co-founders Danielle, Chelsea and Martina celebrate the importance of self acceptance as African-American water women. So I met the Textured Waves ladies, specifically, Danielle. I slid into Danielle's DMS and we ended up meeting, surfing through a mutual friend but the reason why I messaged her is because I didn't see many women of color surfing growing up at my local break in the mainstream, but I knew that it didn't mean that we weren't out here and seeing Danielle on Instagram opened up this whole new world.
Monica Medellin: A year or two ago, I mean, I would've never thought that that message would create the majority of my community and that my friends would be who they are.
Addie Thompson: Why to you, was it, or is it important to create a production company, a production team that has primarily women of color behind the scenes too?
Monica Medellin: I think at this point in time, we're seeing more diversity than ever on screen, right. I think people are generally beginning to understand inclusivity in front of the camera is important. It's great, right? We're good, right? Like I just feel like these are the conversations that I'm hearing and no, I think we need to push and take it one step further to ask who's behind the scenes, who's producing, who's directing, shooting, editing, who's your sound recordist. You know, who's telling our stories and I think that we need more women and women of color from our communities picking up a camera, producing on set and conceptualizing and executing ideas and giving creative feedback and that's why the Gnar Gnar Honeys exists the way that we do.
Addie Thompson: How big is the crew at this point?
Monica Medellin: We have a core team and that's a core team of creatives that are mixed up of co-founders and directors, producers, photographers, creative directors and depending on the project, our core team will handpick other creatives in our network who fit the bill and we have this collective that we've been building over the last few years to make sure that we find the best women for the job.
Faith E. Briggs: Let's switch it up a little bit. I mean, Instagram is such a weird place and you know, it's brought me to a lot of different people and some of the images I've seen of you on Instagram are some really beautiful photos where you're wearing a phenomenally Latina shirt, some incredible photos, celebrating DIA de Los Muertos while surfing.
Faith E. Briggs: Could you talk a little bit about your heritage and how it impacts your work and also maybe how you show it through some of these images and your stories?
Monica Medellin: First of all, I will say social media is not the answer. It doesn't have the answers. I love it and it's been a great tool to build these relationships with women around me and with people that I would have probably never met in real life, unless maybe we were surfing the same spot. I think on social media, it's been really fun to kind of rep where I come from and connect with people in that way. So I'm proudly Latina and I rep my Mexican heritage wherever I can.
Monica Medellin: I think that's because I come from a long line of strong, independent Latina women and I do what I do for my abuelita, my mom and my sister and I want other girls and women who are on those platforms to hopefully recognize that I am a multi-dimensional woman who is also a surfer and you can be both.
Faith E. Briggs: Hey, Addie, what do you look for in a running pack?
Addie Thompson: So I need something that's super lightweight because even when it's hot, I actually prefer running in T-shirts. So my running pack doesn't chafe my back on long days.
Faith E. Briggs: Have you tried the Patagonia Women's Capilene Cool Trail Shirt yet?
Addie Thompson: Oh, I haven't tried the Trail one yet. I love my other Capilene T-shirt though.
Faith E. Briggs: Agreed. I love all things Capilene. The new Cap Trail tee is super lightweight and made with moisture-wicking recycled fabric. It also has a scoop neck and a slightly longer back. So I don't feel boxy in it, which is often the case for me in most active workout shirts.
Addie Thompson: I'm finally getting back into longer runs, so this is perfect. I'm so excited to try it.
Faith E. Briggs: Patagonia, in business to save our home planet.
Addie Thompson: And our backs from chafing.
Faith E. Briggs: So true.
Addie Thompson: Okay, Faith, what is the Merrell Hydro Moc. I've started to see them popping up all over Instagram.
Faith E. Briggs: I could try to answer that question, but I think it makes more sense to ask one of the coolest people I know, a staple of a New York City Run community, Jeb [Helado 00:17:53]. So I got the scoop from him.
Jeb Helado: Hydro Moc, love them. In the summertime and in the woods a lot. Like I go camping, I can like hang out at the lake and they just seem like the perfect shoe because they're ventilated and they're waterproof. Like I just did a 50 K probably like the last 10 miles, I was like, "Oh, I just can't wait to get these shoes back on there," just to like let them breathe and recover.
Faith E. Briggs: You heard it from the source, an NYC sneakerhead, marathoner, ultra runner and one of the most stylish people I know. Thanks, Jeb. The Merrell Hydro Moc, walk don't run to get you a pair.
Monica Medellin: The Gnar Gnar Honeys, we landed our first major project titled, Kaikaina, which means little sister in the native Hawaiian language and I've directed a lot of films before, but I do consider this my debut because of the level of our production. The Gnar Gnar Honeys truly brought our game on this one. I mean, how we got here was actually crazy and I always have a story to back it. So I can get into that if you guys would want to-
Faith E. Briggs: Yeah.
Addie Thompson: Yeah.
Monica Medellin: Yeah, I just have a story, you know. I mean, it wasn't until college that I met another Latina surfer, Olivia Van Dam who I featured in my very first surf film called Water Warrior and meeting Olivia and seeing that there was another girl who looked like me and loved surfing was the first time I didn't feel so alone and when we would hang out, she shared the most beautiful and intricate stories about how indigenous people of color around the world have always enjoyed to play in the waves and how women would often lead the charge in those paddle outs and how in Hawaii, specifically surfing's place of origin, surfing wasn't just a sport, but a sacred cultural act and hearing those stories, I think really expanded my understanding of surfing. For the first time, I finally felt like I belonged in those waves, and after Water Warrior dropped, it premiered at Save the Waves Film Festival, International Ocean Film Festival, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, and finally the Patagonia Film Festival. People were connecting with the story, and I've always looked for opportunities to marry my passion for sports with filmmaking in a way that bridges cultures, communities, and perspectives. With Water Warrior, I felt like that was the first time I did just that.
Monica Medellin: So moving on to our most recent project, I feel like it's been in the works for years at this point, and my goal was always to go deeper with this storytelling and make sure that other women knew that they belonged in the waves, too. So I would say that's when [inaudible 00:20:59] was born. It's a documentary series about young up and coming Native Hawaiian surfers, who, in my opinion, represent the future of surfing.
Monica Medellin: I think the beauty about this project was for the first time, it was an opportunity for the Gnar Gnar Honeys to partner up with Native Hawaiian women and people, and we really mixed both of our productions. Hiring women and Indigenous women and Native Hawaiian women was one of our top priorities. We ended up finding the only known Native Hawaiian sound recordist, and having her perspective and her ears in the room really helped our storytelling in a lot of ways. She caught things during our interview that no other sound recordist would be able to catch. Our photographer was a Native Hawaiian woman. We loved her work, first and foremost, but also loved the way that she captured Hawaiian stories.
Monica Medellin: We also found a surf director of photography who is Native Hawaiian, and he was the only guy on our set, which was hilarious, because when we reached out to him, we were like, "Hey, we'd love for you to be on this project. Full disclosure, you're going to be told what to do by a bunch of women. So if you're not cool with that, then this isn't the project for you." He was such a great addition to the team, because as part Native Hawaiian and growing up on Oahu, he really had a knowledge and lay of the land that we didn't have.
Faith E. Briggs: You're a leader in a lot of different ways, and I wanted to know, does that leadership come naturally to you? Do you feel like you have to muster it up and move into this space because the space needs you? Are you moving into spaces where you don't see the leader that you need, and therefore you're becoming it? How does being a leader work for you?
Monica Medellin: I see our whole team, the Gnar Gnar Honeys team, as leaders. I see the women that we know as leaders. I think a lot of us are the first to do things, and I think that's exactly what we branched from. We didn't see something, and when we saw it, we didn't like it, because it didn't represent us. So we decided to make it on our own, and it's been scrappy. We haven't gotten the resources that we need all the time. We haven't done it right all the time. We're still learning so much. But ultimately, being in control of your own narrative is a really cool feeling and hopefully will shed the way for future generations to be able to keep telling their own stories, and we won't have to be around anymore at that point. It's just going to be so saturated with rich, amazing, honest stories that the industry has changed. That's the goal. It feels like this is my life's work, and I've never felt that way about anything that I've ever done before.
Addie Thompson: How does that process go for you in terms of finding those stories you want to tell?
Monica Medellin: I mean, I don't know if this even makes sense, but I feel like we are the stories. We've known a lot of these women that you're seeing on the Gnar Gnar Honeys page, right? We have met them doing things that we love to do, kind of like how our team came together in the first place. A lot of the people that we work with are just people that we already know, and if we don't know people, I think our approach is really different, because we are also women and women of color wanting to tell other women and women of color stories.
Monica Medellin: So it's pretty basic to me, where it almost sounds too simple. There's a lot of experience, and there's a lot of effort and work that goes into casting and building these networks. But most of it really does just come naturally through the people that we know. I love the fact that we have already known everybody that we work with in a lot of ways, but sometimes I feel like that it's missing that we also are professionals in the industry. I want us to obviously come off as like a group of fun-loving young women, and we are like a girl gang in a lot of ways, but we're also a group of young professional women who know what we're doing, so just to share that side note with you.
Addie Thompson: No, for sure, I mean, I hear that. It is a fine line. It's easy to be like, "Oh, yeah, it's just a bunch of our friends," but it's so clear through this conversation and in general that you are a group of extremely professional, experienced experts.
Faith E. Briggs: Us as women, we have to defend our professionalism alongside our fun lovingness in ways that men don't have to do, particularly white male moneyed men don't have to do. They get to be the ski bro and the professional, and no one questions that.
Addie Thompson: God. Guys just work with their buddies all the fucking time.
Faith E. Briggs: Right. It's like they aren't having to pull out their resumes and prove it.
Addie Thompson: Yeah. But Monica, I feel the same way. I mean, it's so interesting to watch this happen in the film industry sort of on the whole. But yeah. God, that is such an interesting phenomenon.
Monica Medellin: You saw it unfold in real time as I was trying to explain myself. I think it stems from a lot of things that have happened to me, I mean, everywhere from when I worked at the Los Angeles Times as a production assistant through becoming a business owner, and you can sit here all day and name all the things that have happened to you. But I think even in Hawaii, different groups of guys or surfers came up to us and were like, "What are you girls shooting?", like, "You girls? What? We have a huge rig on us right now. This camera is more expensive than ... It's a fancy camera. We're making a fancy film right now, and we're still belittled to that young girl comment." It was really hard, and it's challenging to hear those comments. But it's also really empowering, and it fuels us to just make dope stuff. I'm like, "I can't wait to live in a world where you can see an all-women film crew shooting something and not think that it's a girl gang group gathering," right?
Faith E. Briggs: Right, right. Well, I think just look over and be like, "Yo, I don't know what they're doing, but it's going to be dope. Just look at them," because that's a much more ... I think that's the reality, and I do think it's just the reminder of do dope shit and your work speaks for itself.
Monica Medellin: Totally. I mean, I even shared this exact story. Well, the girls were there, the girls that we were shooting in Hawaii, and they saw this happen multiple times or I would let them know that this was happening and they would actually relate it to their surfing, because they absolutely rip. These girls have been competing since the time they were 10 years old. They got onto a surfboard when they were two months old, and they're often one of the few girls out in the lineup at these really advanced spots on the North Shore.
Monica Medellin: When I told them the story about how I'm questioned in my profession, they were like, "Oh my God. We're questioned all the time in our surfing." I think that that was another connection point for us, where all of a sudden, our relationship goes deeper than just working together. So I think the more that we talk about it, the better, and deciding who to trust when you talk about it is really important, because sometimes people can take advantage of your vulnerability. But I definitely always skew on the side of being vulnerable in hopes of creating a deeper connection with people around me.
Faith E. Briggs: I saw some of the Black Lives Matter paddle-outs that were happening during the summer and fall of 2020, and I want to know if you could talk a little bit about that, I don't know if you were able to be a part of any of those? But a lot of people, I think don't even... I've never participated in a paddle out, but I've seen them and heard a little bit about it, but I'd love to hear more about how those came to be.
Monica Medellin: So back in June, there were a lot of surf paddle outs for the Black Lives Matter movement. I sometimes snarkly call it Black Lives Matter spirit week because it was only so far lived, but I mean, I've worked in social justice for a long time now starting in 2015 at the Los Angeles Times and moving forward from there. And one of our first documentaries that we did at the LA Times was around the founders, the women founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, so that's Patrice, Opal and Alicia. And it started with social media, That's what I learned from the documentary and from their interviews is the hashtag that started a movement is really what happened here. And it started as a love letter to Black people written by Alicia, and basically from there, it just blew up, they added a hashtag and there was the Black Lives Matter movement, right? And I think that they went largely unrecognized, so I've definitely been plugged into the work of these women for a long time and seeing it all unravel on a world stage this year was pretty surreal, especially to the surf community.
Monica Medellin: I mean, the fact that it reached that far to an industry that often has left out these voices was pretty phenomenal to me in a lot of ways. And there were a lot of paddle outs that were held around the world after the murder of George Floyd and countless others who have lost their lives to police brutality and systemic racism. So I went to one paddle out that was actually at Santa Monica Beach at The Inkwell, and there's a plaque commemorating Nick Gabaldon there, and I thought of him when I was protesting with hundreds of Angelenos and surfers in front of that plaque on the beach. And we took part in a Memorial paddle out in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and to honor the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others.
Monica Medellin: One of the paddle outs that I was invited to by Danielle of Textured Waves, was actually organized by Textured Waves and Changing Tides Foundation and Kindhumans Movement and Selema Masekela. So that was one of the first paddles out that was organized by someone that I knew and trusted, and it was down in Encinitas. And when that paddle out was organized, I must've heard about it about a week before, and different protests around Los Angeles were really ramping up to defund the police and to stand up for Black people and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Monica Medellin: So I was going to go down to Encinitas, to support Texture Waves and my friends down there and do a paddle out, that ended up being thousands of people, I believe. But there was a protest in Downtown LA outside of City Hall, I believe, and it was right before the decision that our mayor was going to make around defunding the police. So I thought that that was super important to me and to my city, so I ended up having to skip out on the unity paddle out in Encinitas, and I stayed in LA. And I actually sent a coworker from World Surf League to go cover the Encinitas paddle out. And I think it was important to go further than a surf paddle out in some ways, at least for me, and show up for your community in more ways than one.
Addie Thompson: We wanted to ask you this question, we think we kind of know the answer at this point after this amazing conversation with you, but what are you excited about right now? What is bringing you joy? What's getting you out of bed in the morning? We'd love to hear that from you.
Monica Medellin: I'm excited that work doesn't feel like work anymore. I work a lot, and it definitely does feel like work at times, because we're pulling 12 hour days, we're pulling all nighters to get these stories out into the world. But ultimately, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else with my life currently. And maybe in a few years that will shift and change, but I'm just trying to live in this moment right now where I feel this way, because a lot of people live their whole lives without feeling that. And everything does go back to where I come from, and when I told my mom that recently, she was just so proud and could have cried. I mean, she prays for me every night. She says novenas with my [foreign language 00:35:41] and always is watching out for me and my sister and the younger generations. And I think being able to share that with her, made it all worth it for her and it makes it all worth for me to make her proud.
Monica Medellin: And then I guess the only other thing, maybe this could be helpful, I feel like it falls into the category of, what advice would you give your younger self or someone else. But I think, yeah, if I had seen more diverse images of surfing when I was a kid, I don't think I would have struggled with feeling like I didn't belong in the sport as a Mexican-American woman. And to anyone who was told that something wasn't for you because you didn't fit the typical look, I hope that our work inspires you to play any way, And the stories that we're telling inspire you to do it anyway. And just know that you deserve to be there as much as anybody else does, and never be afraid to claim your space.
Faith E. Briggs: Monica, thank you so much for hanging out with us. It's always great to be able to connect, hear more about your creative journey and learn what you're excited to build. We are huge fans of the Gnar Gnar Honeys, and so lucky to be working with you on the short video profiles we're making to accompany each episode of this podcast.
Addie Thompson: To learn more about Monica, you can follow her @monicamedellin_ on Instagram. Also check out the Gnar Gnar Honeys @thegnargnarhoneys. You can visit our show notes at thislanddoc.com/thetrailahead to find additional links and watch video profiles of each guest edited by Monica herself. The Trail Ahead is created and hosted by us, Faith E. Briggs and Addie Thompson. It's produced by Lantigua Williams & Co, Jen Chien is our editor, Elizabeth Nakano is our producer. Sound design and theme music by Cedric Wilson.
Faith E. Briggs: Our podcast's art is by Shar Tuiasoa check her out on Instagram @punkyaloha. A special thanks to our amazing teams from Merrell, Adam Kepfer, Lauren King, Will Pray, and from Patagonia, Bianca Botta, Sasha Tenady, Claire Gallagher, and Whitney Clapper.
Addie Thompson: Big thanks also to Trail Butter and Outdoorsy. And thanks to our team on the visual side, Tyler Wilkinson-Ray, Fred Gorus and Monica Medellin. Thank you for listening and for spreading the word, follow the Trail Ahead on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. See you next episode.