Kitesoul Magazine #24 International Edition

116
EXPERIENCE
Here is KiteBuddy! I show you how a kite shop can be successful
second shop, a bigger one and started hiring people
to work with me.
It is always amazing to see how kitesurf can change
your life. The interesting thing about your business
is that you don't just consider yourself a shop seller,
but you want to add something more. Can you explain
how you decided to start making videos?
I just felt that I had to offer something useful to my
customers, good equipment of course but also my
personal experience with this sport, for example
important topics for safety in the water explaining
how to self rescue in case of emergency. My main
motivation was to let the German kitesurf community
grow and get a higher level of riding with my
videos. For me it was important also my approach
to that as a no pro rider, but just as a normal passionate
rider. The reason why people is so connected
to my videos is that I'm not a professional kiter
and they feel my same way. Maybe I'm just the only
person on YouTube that shows the real thing, the
good and the bad about learning and they see the
all process of getting to a higher level.
Why did you choose that name, KiteBuddy for your
video channel?
That's a funny story. We saw the movie Ted directed
by Seth MacFarlane, an American buddy comedy
that talks about this small bear which is always
smoking weed and being upset by the bad weather.
I had the shop at that time but with no name
and I decided to call it KiteBuddy and registered a
web domain but with the wrong name kitebuddie.
I had to change it then. It's a very lucky and good
name, because people start to recognize me as the
KiteBuddy of the videos.
What kind of videos do you shoot and put on your
video channel? They’re not just tutorials...
I share everything I do connected with kitesurf. So,
tutorials of course, do-it-yourself videos, but also
kite spots reviews, vlogs about my holidays, product
focus reviews, unboxing products, etc. Many
people come to my shop and ask me to shoot videos
about the products with my personal point of
view about it, that is always complete, critic and
neutral. It could be studio videos or on the beach.
I also share my working days, what happens to me,
the ups and downs.
Do you have any good feedbacks from the kite brands
of the industry about your activity?
It didn't happen straight away, it was a long road
for me, but now some brands start to consider me
and appreciate my job and support me. Core Kites
for example is going to launch the new Nexus kite