What’s Up, Nico Prien?
After combining the pro-windsurf-life with becoming windsurfing’s most famous youtube vlogger, Nico Prien joined the Dream Team not only as a rider but also as a Brand Manager; we wanted to find out how all this is going for him so far.
You started your job as Starboard Windsurfing’s new Assistant Brand Manager approximately one year ago. But that ‘assistant-title’ quickly got deleted, and it looks like you smoothly adapted into your new double role. How is the experience for you so far?
It’s been so many things. Eye-opening, humbling, exciting and busy just to name a few. I met many new people and made new friends all around the world. Enjoying what I do and working with fun people is one of my highest priorities. That’s probably why I don’t really mind spending most of my time doing something that requires work.
What’s different than you expected?
A look behind the curtains of a windsurfing brand, including every detail of the business was eye-opening. The economy of a windsurfing brand surely is a bit different than I and probably most people expect. I have been a rider for many years and always relied on the marketing budget of brands. Knowing how it all comes, integrating with sales or logistics just is a bit different than what I thought. It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly it is. Also, the amount of resources and thinking that goes into new board shapes and constructions is definitely beyond what I expected.
What do you like most about your job?
Being involved in every part of bringing a new product to life is exciting. There are so many possibilities for something to go wrong, which can be avoided by thinking ahead. It’s a good challenge.
You manage to keep producing content for your YouTube Channel and compete on the PWA besides your full-time job at Starboard; how do you manage to combine all of these tasks?
Time management is equally important and difficult. I have a lot of freedom to travel around, but I also don’t do much other than move things ahead. I don’t like it when projects stay still. I also believe I’m working on the enjoyable stuff. And windsurfing is an excellent sport to balance it all out. 😉
What are you most excited about for 2022?
2022 is going to be the first year where specific boards come onto the market, which I have been involved in, in every step: From planning to designing, to constructing, to testing, to artwork, to technology, to marketing and eventually to selling. Exciting. Apart from Starboard also many things happening, watch this space.
Finally, after one year of testing, tuning and developing, tell us, which one is your favourite board in the Starboard range?
My favourite board is the iSonic, do I really need to explain why? It’s the fastest board in the range so obviously, it’s a lot of fun to ride! Another point is that it’s great to develop, as when we are making improvements to the iSonics the results show up quite clearly, if it’s faster it simply is faster. For other models in the nuances it sometimes comes down to personal preference.
Here is a selection of our favourite vlogs of Nico Prien at work in both his roles:
Make sure you subscribe to Nico’s Youtube Channel to stay up to date with all his latest projects here.
