Off The Clock: Surf Culture

Surfing challenges Wahoo's Fish Taco's Wing Lam to just enjoy the ride.

By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 9/1/2006

Surfing is a way of life for Wing Lam. The co-founder and vice president of marketing for Wahoo’s Fish Taco developed a love for the sport at age 14 after his family immigrated in 1975 to Newport Beach, Calif., from Brazil. Then, inspired by their surfing vacations in Mexico, Lam and his brothers, Ed and Mingo Lee, opened Wahoo’s in 1988. Now the trio is busy growing their 43-unit chain, but it doesn’t keep Lam from catching some waves.

Surf’s Up

Lam surfs at least four or five times a week in the summer and two or three times weekly in the winter in Newport Beach, Calif., before heading to work at Wahoo’s headquarters in Santa Ana, Calif. The 45-year-old executive is usually in the water by 6 a.m. in the summer and 7 a.m. in the winter, riding waves that are about 2 feet to 5 feet high. “That’s a really fun wave,” says Lam, who considers himself to be an above-average surfer. “It’s got some power to it, but it’s manageable.”

Surfing also gives him a chance to start the day relaxed and calm. “It’s very Zen-like to sit there,” he adds. “You’re in the water, and you see dolphins coming by. It’s just very peaceful. It’s close to meditation because there’s no motors; it’s all self-propelled.”

Hawaiian Getaway

Although Lam enjoys surfing in Newport Beach, his favorite waves are in Hawaii. He travels to Kauai and Oahu two or three times a year, where the waves reach anywhere from 6 feet to 10 feet high. Unlike the waves at Newport Beach, which produce a ride of only two to three seconds, he can ride the waves in Hawaii for at least 20 seconds.

Lam also likes surfing in Hawaii because the North Shore of Oahu challenges him. A destination for professional surfers, the North Shore has very powerful and unpredictable waves. “They call it a ‘sneaky set,’” he says. “Waves aren’t an exact science there. Sometimes the swell comes in and it’s 6 [feet]. The next one may be 8. Then it may be 6 again. Sometimes it goes to 12. And then all of a sudden it’s ‘uh oh.’”

Lam plans to go surfing more often in Hawaii since Wahoo’s opened its first franchised unit in Honolulu in January. “Now I have an even better reason to go island hopping,” he laughs. “It’s just part of the job. I’m trying to go again in the next couple of weeks to just check on the store.”

Along for the Ride

Lam is also looking forward to more surfing vacations with his brothers and friends. They plan on surfing in Fiji next year. And his brothers just bought a house in Nicaragua so they can surf there and nearby Costa Rica.

While surfing has allowed Lam to bond with friends and ride with professional surfers, and even inspired him to develop a chain, he has also learned to just enjoy the sport. “I’m past the time of my life that I’m a competitor,” he says. “So it’s just learning to enjoy the moment of surfing. Don’t take it too seriously. Just to relax and enjoy and be glad that you’re able to do something that not many people get to do.”