Photo: Sam Howard, Digital: Derek McDonald-Lee//Luke House
Editor’s Note: This article was brought to you by our partners at C-Monsta.
Pulling on a clammy, cold wetsuit sucks. It’s a buzzkill. Every time – at least for C-Monsta Founder Mark Yeadon.
Fresh off a decade of living the international surf life, he decided to settle in his native Northern Scotland.
Sure, the waves weren’t as good as some of the places he’d been, but Scotland was home, and he was finally ready(ish) to start a family. A longtime surfer, Yeadon was like most of his peers: checking weather, obsessing over gear, and getting out whenever conditions permitted.
But the arrival of his first baby threw a wrench into his disciplined surf practice. Like most new parents, Mark was haggard, not sleeping much, and stretched thin. “And to top it all off,” he recalled, “when I did manage to sneak out for a set, my gear was often damp from prior use.”
And Mark wasn’t alone. It’s a universal problem: surfers around the globe constantly deal with soggy, damp, sad wetsuits that send stoke levels plummeting.
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A surfer hangs her kit to dry between sessions. Photo: Mike Guest
C-Monsta Makes Doing What You Love Easier
After the arrival of his baby, Mark’s house was upside down with toys, snuggies, and other baby gear. He was tight on time, short on sleep, and the last thing he wanted to do was put on a damp, cold wetsuit.
Frustrated, tired, and lost in the baby fog, Mark miraculously had an epiphany: he decided to create something that would help people in his situation — something that would make the process of going for a surf easy and hassle free. And a whole lot more comfortable.
As a major source of inspiration and therapy, Mark’s surfing is essential to his mental health. “I wanted to make it easier to get the benefits of the sea and open spaces without the hassle of kit care,” Yeadon remembered of C-Monsta’s early days. “By keeping your neoprene kit dry and consolidated, it makes it easier to get out and do what you love.”
The Evolution of a C-Monsta
Around this time, Yeadon was making scotch whisky boxes for Balvenie, so he had access to a workshop where he could tinker and experiment. To combat his soggy-suit woes, he eventually started making hangers for his boots and gloves out of plywood.
His designs continued to evolve and improve and he loved how the creations would keep his kit dry and ready for his next session. Stoked on the new invention, he gradually started gifting them to family and friends, who also grew to love his hanger creations.
Word got out, and demand grew. To perfect his design, Mark added a wetsuit slot so he could hang his entire kit from one placement. After extensive usage, he noticed the following:
• Wetsuit, booties, gloves – they were always dry and ready to go.
• He was no longer losing and/or forgetting his boots and gloves.
• His shower was no longer draped in a stinking pile of neoprene.
But most importantly:
• His wetsuit lifespan was doubled!
The C-Monsta hanger takes every one of your needs into account. Photo: C-Monsta
The C-Monsta Mission
As a passionate surfer with an interest in sustainability, the doubling of a wetsuit’s lifespan was a huge deal. Throughout his surfing career, Mark was alarmed at the amount of waste involved, especially when it came time to toss his suits into the rubbish bin.
He knew the ability to double a wetsuit’s lifespan would be a game changer for surfers everywhere.
“Most of the sustainability conversation is about making things from recycled or organic materials,” Yeadon continued. “But what if we just look after what we already have? Surely that is not just what contributes to sustainability — but it actually is sustainability.”
The revelation that looking after his gear was saving him time, money, and was beneficial to the planet convinced Mark that C-Monsta had the right stuff to become a business.
Under the mission of doubling the lifespan of all wetsuits, Yeadon founded the brand to help wayward wave riders care for their neoprene, all the while making it easier for them to do what they love.
A crew gets its hang on. Photo: Mike Guest
Mastering the Art of the Hang
C-Monsta’s design has become more refined over the years, but the sole premise of the hangar remains the same: Allow surfers an all-in-one tool for drying and caring for neoprene.
Once Yeadon settled on his master design, he went all in financially. Investing his life savings, Mark bought his first two moulds for C-Monsta’s Mark 1 hangers, and the rest is history.
Fundamentally, he strives to design simple, innovative, durable products that are made using recycled materials, when possible. “Not fill the world with shit,” he added. “That sums it up.”
But that ethos — not filling the world with waste — extends to C-Monsta’s brand, as well. As a reluctant business owner who’d rather be surfing than just about anything else, Yeadon is hyper aware of how C-Monsta markets to folks.
That’s why C-Monsta leans heavily into humor and irreverent graphics in its marketing, offering levity as a first touchpoint with new and existing customers.
“If I can give someone a smile or a bit of a laugh even if they don’t want my product, they will still have benefitted from it,” Yeadon continues. “Maybe it comes back to ‘not filling the world with shit.’”
The Lord of the Rinse — a classic C-Monsta meme. Graphic: Derek McDonald-Lee
A Family of C-Monstas
C-Monsta started with the formation of a family, and Yeadon continues to view it through that prism. From losing sleep at its inception, to now harboring dreams of surfing with his daughters, Yeadon is excited to share his passion (and maybe one day, the business) with his kids.
“The best way to connect with people is to do something you love together,” he explained. “I really want to be able to surf with my girls as they grow up so I can share my love of the ocean with them — then maybe they will take an interest in the business as well.”
But zooming out, Yeadon also feels deeply connected to his customers and people who love the product. Receiving positive reviews, comments and feedback from his community of customers validates his belief in the brand, and pushes him to forge ahead. “I see that people enjoy using the product and it facilitates them to do what they love,” he reflected. “It feels good to leave that in my wake.”
Learn more on C-Monsta’s website.
