Work's a Beach

Board Members

"Daily encounters with dolphins make work a dream," says Izzy Tihanyi, who has been known to come to HQ in a bathing suit and flip-flops. She and her fraternal twin, Coco, ditched desk jobs to found Surf Diva in their hometown of La Jolla, Calif., in May 1996.

Since then, thousands of women -- including actress Minnie Driver -- have learned to duck-dive and turtle-turn at one of the school's three locations (Scripps Beach, La Jolla Shores, and Mission Beach in San Diego). The company also has a sister surf school, Las Olas, in Puerto Vallarta, a brand of boards and apparel, and a Surf Diva store.

The Tihanyis take only three days off a year (not including inclement weather days and the annual company retreat to Baja), but indulging their passion for the sport hardly seems like work. "We're half a block away from the beach," says Izzy. "I check in on classes five times a day, and I do a radio surf report. A big problem is keeping the office chairs dry. We just put towels on them, but maybe we should buy vinyl chairs or something."

Marina Corps

Despite growing up on Islamorada in the Florida Keys, Michael Reckwerdt can never get enough of the sugarlike sand, sapphire Gulf waters, an average temperature of 76 degrees, and ... work. "My business is everybody else's vacation," he says, "and 10 hours of vacation a day is not a bad way to make a living."

Five years ago, Reckwerdt bought Robbie's Marina & Rent-A-Boat from his parents, though he had taken over operations years earlier. Today, the company owns a fleet of 20 boats for fishing and ecotours and maintains a tarpon feeding preserve where the gentle fish -- which can grow to six feet and 150 pounds -- have visitors eating out of their hands.

For Michael's wife, Annie, leaving a high-powered corporate job on the East Coast "made things I never dreamed of possible." The couple is able to enjoy open-air offices, beach barbecues every full moon with their 20 employees, and the chance to work with their four children in tow, developing a love for the water early, just like Dad.

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