Kai's Questions

The discovery questionnaire we sent before writing a word

Why this matters: Every brand we work with starts with a 30-question deep dive. The questions are designed to extract the brand's voice, history, intent, and weird specific details — the stuff that makes content sound like a person wrote it. The answers below are Kai's, transcribed from a 90-minute call. We don't paraphrase — we keep his actual phrasing because that's the voice we'll be writing in for the next 12 months.

1. About You

The founder, the story, the why

Q1.1 — Tell me about yourself. Who are you, where did you grow up, how did you get into surfing?

I'm Kai Holokai. Born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu. Surfed since I was four — my dad put me on the front of his board before I could walk. Moved to California in my mid-twenties, partly chasing year-round surf, partly because I wanted to see if I could survive somewhere that wasn't a tourist economy. Lived in Manzanita Point for a few years, then Pelican Bluff, ended up in Puka Cove because the rent was cheaper and the break was actually better. I never planned to make wax. I planned to teach surf lessons, which I did for about eight years.

Q1.2 — Why did you start making your own wax?

First California summer was a wake-up call. I'd buy what the surf shop had, leave it on the dashboard, and come back to a melted pool. Did that maybe four times before I started experimenting in my garage. I'd been around enough surfboard repair to know wax chemistry isn't rocket science — paraffin, beeswax, additives. I started mixing in soy because a buddy at the farmers market sold soy candles and I'd been thinking about the petroleum thing. After about six months I had something I actually preferred to anything I could buy. Friends started asking for bars. That's how it started.

Q1.3 — Where does Willie fit in?

Willie was an accident. I was at a fundraiser at a Long Beach shelter and they had this chihuahua nobody had picked up in five months. I wasn't looking for a dog. I took him home that day. Three weeks later I had him on my longboard at Pelican Bluff because I was going surfing anyway and he didn't seem to want to be left at home. He stood up. I'm not making this up — he just stood there on the deck while I paddled. Ninety seconds and he hopped off. That's when I started taking pictures. The pictures got more attention than the wax did.

Q1.4 — What's your background — education, jobs, surfing?

No college. I learned wax chemistry from YouTube and from one batch I ruined in 2022 by getting the temperature wrong. Worked surf lessons, worked at a board shop in Manzanita Point, drove for Lyft for about a year when wax wasn't paying enough. Surfing-wise: longboarding mostly. I'm not a contest surfer. I've maybe done five amateur heats in my life. I'm a daily-soul-surfer guy — that's the audience I write for, because that's me.

Q1.5 — What's your day-to-day look like now?

5:30 AM — check the cams, decide if I'm surfing first or pouring wax first. Surf 6-8. Pour bars and answer customer emails 9-1. Walk Willie, eat, work the wholesale calls in the afternoon. Most days end with packing orders for the next day's USPS run. I'm the marketing department, the customer service department, and the wax-pouring department. There's no "team."

2. About the Brand

Positioning, story, what makes Willie's specifically Willie's

Q2.1 — In one sentence, what is Willie's Surfboard Wax?

Small-batch surf wax made by a guy named Kai in his garage in Puka Cove, with quality control by a chihuahua named Willie.

Q2.2 — Who's the brand for?

Surfers who care a little bit about the brands they buy from. Especially the ones who feel weird about how impersonal Sex Wax and Sticky Bumps are. We're not for everyone. We're for the surfer who'd rather buy from a person than a corporation, who likes a small story, who wants the wax that doesn't melt in their car. That last part isn't optional — it's the actual product story.

Q2.3 — What's the brand promise?

If you buy a bar of Willie's, you get: (a) wax that grips, (b) a brand that talks like a human, (c) a wrapper that composts, and (d) a chihuahua who will probably end up in your Instagram feed for as long as you follow us. That's it. We don't promise to change your life or "transform your stoke."

Q2.4 — What's your origin story in 60 seconds?

Hawaiian kid moved to California. Couldn't find wax that worked in summer. Made his own. Adopted a chihuahua. Chihuahua turned out to ride a longboard. Started bottling the wax and putting the dog on every wrapper. People bought it. Here we are.

Q2.5 — What's the one thing you don't want people to think about Willie's?

That we're a marketing company that bought a chihuahua to be a mascot. Willie is real. The garage is real. I'm real. If we lose that, we lose everything. So no agency-written posts, no celebrity endorsements, no anything that smells like it came out of a corporate brand book.

3. About the Product

The line, the why, the price

Q3.1 — What's in the line?

Six SKUs total. Four water-temperature top coats: Cold (under 60°F), Cool (58-68°F), Warm (64-74°F), Tropical (75°F+). One Base Coat that goes under all of them. And then Willie's Pick — a rotating limited edition that I switch out every quarter. Right now it's a longboarder formulation; next quarter it'll probably be a cold-water one because winter's coming.

Q3.2 — What's the formula?

Soy-based primary with beeswax substitutes. No petroleum surfactants. The base coat is harder — close to a tropical formulation — because that's its job. Each top coat varies the soft-to-hard ratio for the temperature range. It's not magic, it's just chemistry — but the soy + beeswax substitute mix is what makes it not melt in a hot car the way petroleum bars do.

Q3.3 — How is it priced?

$4 per bar. Same as Sex Wax, same as Sticky Bumps. We don't undercut. The eco premium is absorbed in margin, not passed on. Willie's Pick is $6 because it's limited and comes with a sticker. Wholesale is 30% off retail with a 25-bar minimum.

Q3.4 — How is it packaged?

Plant-based wrapper paper, no plastic, no foil. Each wrapper has the temperature range printed on it and Willie's silhouette stamped in the corner. The wrapper composts in about 90 days — we tested this in my own backyard pile. The whole package is the size and weight of any other surf wax bar — we didn't reinvent the form factor, we just changed what's inside it.

Q3.5 — What problems does the product solve that the giants don't?

Three things. One: doesn't melt at California summer dashboard temps. Two: no plastic wrapper, so you don't end up with a pile of wrappers in your car. Three: the eco angle without the preachy crunchy energy — you can buy it without feeling like you joined a movement.

4. About the Customer

Who buys, how they think, what they want

Q4.1 — Who are your customers, in your own words?

Mostly local Puka Cove surfers right now. Beginners through advanced. I see a lot of weekend regulars at Puka Pier and Pelican Bluff. Some surf-school instructors picking up bulk packs. Online buyers from up and down the coast — including some folks I've never met in person but who bought because of Willie. That last group is the one we're trying to grow.

Q4.2 — What do they care about?

Honestly? Two things, in this order. One: a brand they don't feel marketed to by. Two: wax that works. The surf-shop kids care more about (2). The Instagram followers care more about (1). Both groups overlap on the eco angle — not a deal-breaker, but a tie-breaker.

Q4.3 — What's the one objection that comes up most often?

"I've used Sex Wax for ten years and it's never let me down, why should I switch?" That's a great question and we don't try to talk people out of it. We just put Willie in front of them. If the chihuahua gets them to try one bar, the wax does the rest.

Q4.4 — What's the most surprising thing you've learned about your customers?

A meaningful chunk of orders go to people who don't surf. They're buying it as a gift for someone in their life who does. That changed how we write — the product page can't only speak to surfers. It has to be readable by a wife buying a Father's Day gift. That's why every bar gets a 1-paragraph "what is this" plain-English explanation.

Q4.5 — What's a customer story you tell when you want to sell people on the brand?

A guy from Manzanita Point bought one bar in March 2025. Two weeks later he came back for ten because he'd given the first one to a buddy who liked it more than the bar he was using. That buddy showed up in my parking lot one Saturday with three of HIS buddies. That's the entire growth motion: bar, buddy, bar, bar, bar.

5. About the Competition

Who's in the aisle, why we'd pick over them

Q5.1 — Who do you see as your competition?

Sex Wax and Sticky Bumps own the aisle. Bubble Gum is loved by beginners. Matunas owns the eco angle. Famous and Mrs. Palmers are in the mix. Fu Wax is the pro performance pick. We don't try to beat any of them on their home turf. We just try to be the brand that some specific shopper picks instead.

Q5.2 — What's a competitor doing that you respect?

Matunas. They committed to the eco position years before everyone else and they walk it. The crunchy preachy energy is a turnoff to me, but the work is real and I respect it. We sit next to them with humor and the chihuahua angle.

Q5.3 — What's a competitor doing that you think is a mistake?

Sex Wax has zero personality on social. Their entire Instagram is product shots and contest photos. They've got 50 years of brand equity and they're sitting on it. That's the gap we walk through every single day — we just have to be a person on the platforms. They won't.

Q5.4 — If a customer is choosing between us and Sex Wax, what tips them?

Willie. The wrapper. The price being identical. We don't ask people to switch — we just ask them to try one bar. After that the product talks for itself.

6. About Voice & Tone

How we sound, what we sound like, what we never sound like

Q6.1 — If Willie's were a person, what would they sound like?

Like the friend at the lineup who's been surfing longer than you, knows more than you, but never makes you feel dumb. Dry sense of humor. Specific in detail. Short on words. Doesn't try to impress.

Q6.2 — What words or phrases should we never use?

"Self-care journey." "Transform your stoke." "Unleash your inner surfer." "Limited time only." "Don't miss out." "Click now." Anything that sounds like a board meeting wrote it. Also "we are committed to" because there's no "we" — there's me.

Q6.3 — How does Willie's voice sound different from yours?

Willie speaks in short ALL-CAPS bursts. He has takes about specific things: snacks, the wetsuit, the vacuum cleaner, the lineup at Pelican Bluff, brands of dog food. He never says anything reasonable. That's the joke — he's always slightly outraged and frequently right.

Q6.4 — Give me an example of a Willie's-voice paragraph.

"Tuesday morning at Pelican Bluff. Water 64°F, fog hadn't burned off, three pelicans on the rail watching me like I owed them money. Willie was on the deck, predictably refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Got two waves, called it. Some sessions don't need to be long — just need to be honest." That's it. Short, specific, no setup, no closing pitch.

7. About Operations

How the wax gets made and how orders get fulfilled

Q7.1 — Where is the wax made?

My garage at 420 Pacific Coast Hwy in Puka Cove. Single 50-gallon double-boiler setup, a pour table, a cooling rack, and Willie's bed in the corner. I pour two batches a week, about 400 bars per batch.

Q7.2 — How do orders ship?

USPS Priority Mail from the Puka Cove post office. I do the run myself every weekday around 1 PM. Ships in 1-2 business days. Packed in a plain craft-paper box with a Willie sticker and a hand-written thank-you note. Yes, I do hand-write them. Some days that's 30 notes. It's the only way the personal-brand thing scales.

Q7.3 — Capacity — what happens if you 10x?

If we 10x, we hire one person to help with packing and we move pour day from twice-a-week to four times. The bottleneck isn't pouring — it's packing and shipping. We have a plan for it. Whether we want to is a separate question. The whole point is to stay small enough to be honest about it.

8. About Marketing Now

What's working, what's not, what we're trying

Q8.1 — Where are you reaching customers right now?

Mostly Instagram, and word-of-mouth at the lineup. A bit of Facebook (older crowd, especially the surf-school owners). The Shopify storefront, which gets traffic mostly from Instagram bio links. Zero paid ads to date.

Q8.2 — What's working that surprises you?

Willie pictures with no copy. I'll post a photo of him asleep on the cooling rack with literally just "him" as a caption and it'll outperform a 200-word product launch every time. People don't want my pitches, they want my dog.

Q8.3 — What have you tried that didn't work?

Boosted posts on Facebook. Got reach but the reach was wrong — people who'd never buy. Also tried sending bars to one celebrity surfer and his manager replied asking for a $12K endorsement deal. Hard pass. We don't do that.

9. About Goals & KPIs

Where we're trying to take this

Q9.1 — What does success look like in 12 months?

5,000 Instagram followers, mostly organic. $25K-$40K in D2C revenue. Three wholesale partners on net-30 terms. One blog post ranking top-10 for "plant-based surf wax." Willie has his own following. I'm still small enough to hand-write thank-yous. That's the whole picture.

Q9.2 — What would make you call this whole thing a failure?

Two things. One: if I had to compromise the brand's voice to grow — agency-flavored posts, paid celebrity endorsements, that kind of thing. Two: if Willie stopped being part of it. He's not negotiable. If we lose either of those we've lost the thing.

Q9.3 — What's the long-game vision — year 3, year 5?

Year 3: 12-15 wholesale partners, 200+ orders per month D2C, a real second team member, maybe an annual event in Puka Cove. Year 5: Willie's is one of the names that comes up when surfers list "indie wax brands worth buying." Maybe a mention in The Inertia. Maybe a small team. Definitely the same chihuahua. Definitely still hand-written notes if I can manage it.

WILLIE'S CONTENT WORKBOOK