Meet Shane Rabant | Lost Coast Longboarding & The Lost Longboarder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shane Rabant and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shane, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?

I have been an artist my entire life. Being an artist is not a choice but rather an understanding and result of an internal ambition to create. I have an energy that feels scattered until it is controlled by creating visual artwork.

Throughout my student career as well as my professional career (before I started my own business) this desire to create was looked at as a problem or distraction from “real” work by my teachers and bosses. It was a challenge for me to put my creativity on the back burner in order to do what others wanted me to do and to succeed in a “real” 9-5 job.

My artwork has always been admired and respected by everyone whom I have shared it with. I figured if I can turn doing what I love into my career then I won’t ever need a “real” job again. Lost Coast Longboarding has allowed me to embrace my artistic abilities and has given me a way to make a living doing what I love to do. And our blog The Lost Longboarder has provided us with a means of documenting the freedom and adventures that have resulted from working for ourselves.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

Lost Coast Longboarding is a husband and wife team creating one of a kind longboards featuring renowned artwork. Our blog The Lost Longboarder is about the adventure and freedom that comes from living and working on the road. There are many longboard companies out there, but we are set apart from others for multiple different reasons.

One major difference between us and other longboard companies is the fact that the graphics on our longboards are not mass produced or printed. All of the artwork on our longboards is hand painted with acrylic paint and applied with paint brushes by me.

Another major element of our business that sets us apart from others is the fact that we have no house or specific place of business. We live our life and run our business while traveling full time. We have a truck and a 19 foot travel trailer that provides us with both a home and a work studio. We are very proud of the fact that we have achieved independence and freedom by creating a successful business.

Was this easy? No way, not even close. Everyday is an adventure and we have put ourselves in so many unique positions and situations that we could never have imagined. Being in these situations has pushed us to grow and has forced us to learn things that we would have never learned otherwise. There have been many challenges along the way that are different from anything any other companies would have to endure. Not only do we have to learn about successful business practices but we have also had to learn how to survive and navigate the world on our own.

Just a few of these challenges for example: receiving mail and shipments with no mailing address, learning the laws and business licenses in different states, learning the laws of public land in different states, very limited space and storage, not having electricity / running water, learning how to tow, …. the list is endless, but we have become so much stronger and smarter because of our journey.

Throughout time there have been many recognized painters/artists who at the beginning of their careers were not taken seriously, but eventually went on to start entire artistic movements. We have already seen evidence of our impact and our influence on the longboarding industry. And we would like the world to know that there is no substitute for an original Lost Coast Longboarding longboard, each board has a story and an experience behind them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

If our friends were to visit us and we wanted to show them the best time ever, the first thing we would do is leave the city. We have chosen to live our life the way we do because we wanted to leave the city, the busy, the crowds, the noise, the constant over stimulation of today’s society and all of the drama that goes with it.

Our friends love to visit us because we love to share our experiences and make our friends feel alive. We often get them to forget about the stress of today’s typical life of work, bills, and impressing people. The best way to do this is to literally climb to the top of a mountain and see the world from a new point of view. We positively push our friends to experience things that they could not do at home, and to accomplish things that they did not know they could do.

There is nothing more exhilarating than hiking to somewhere you have never been and jumping into a 50 foot waterfall. The frigid water makes you forget about everything in the entire world except where you are and what you are doing right at that moment.

If our friends like adventures on wheels, we would surely show them some good longboarding hills and some great skateparks too.

We like to keep our meals healthy and simple while eating at home. We have the biggest backyard in the world, and the view is constantly changing so it is easy to just relax and enjoy the new scenery while spending quality time with friends and loved ones.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In my eyes, a major factor in success is having faith in yourself. I don’t think I fully believed in myself until I felt my wife believe in me. I have the drive to succeed but along with drive, one also needs direction. My wife Katie has helped give me the direction I needed to be successful, not only with our business but also in life.

Website: TheLostLongboarder.com

Instagram: @lostcoastlongboarding

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LostCoastLongboarding/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBf94tzmt4TuPz_YJNkILqQ

Other: Blog: www.TheLostLongboarder.com Store: www.LostCoastLongboarding.com