Mr. Shakalohana

From his wave-like, jet black hair, all the way down to his Toms, SMC student Samuel Juhn emanates the relaxation, peace and love that his life revolves around.

In 2007, after being a part of the Los Angeles surfing lifestyle for quite a few years, Juhn, with the help of some of his surfer friends, adapted the term "shakalohana."

"Shakalohana" is a combination of three Hawaiian words: "Shaka" meaning relax or peace, "aloha" meaning love, and "ohana" meaning family.

To him and his friends, "shakalohana" encompassed everything that mattered in their lives.

Originally, it was just a greeting. Over time, it grew into much, much more.

In 2006, Juhn experienced a near-fatal surfing accident off the coast of Venice Beach. He accredits the existence of shakalohana and his transformation into Mr. Shakalohana, as people affectionately call him, to this accident.

"I used to be the typical cocky surfer," Juhn admits. "We're cocky because we feel this sense of being able to conquer big waves, like, ‘we can do this, but you can't!' but I changed. I was humbled. I became Mr. Shakalohana."

When reflecting on the reason why he started surfing in the first place, Juhn said, "I'm one of the only local Korean surfers. It's either you become ‘the gangster' or you become the ‘study-hard-and-go-to-school' type. Koreatown's like that."

But Juhn wasn't particularly enthralled by either of those prospects. He wanted to surf. Juhn attended SMC, but dropped out and surfed almost full time for two years.

With the exception of taking care of his sick grandmother, Juhn was completely consumed by surfing from the time he graduated high school, to when "shakalohana" became integrated into his daily life.

Juhn started working at Quiksilver, but it wasn't long before he saw many of his coworkers splitting off and forming their own companies, like Volcom and Ripcurl, and Juhn realized he could be doing the same thing.

The difference is the message. Juhn's company, Venicesurf Shakalohana, holds true to its values of peace, love and family. Strip Quiksilver down to what it used to be, get rid of the corporation, and you've got "shakalohana."

According to Juhn, Los Angeles surfers are all familiar with each other. Using these connections, and new connections he is forming in the fashion world, Juhn is really making progress. His website is under construction, but he shows excitement in the fact that he has almost 500 followers on Twitter, and a blossoming Facebook fan-page.

So who better than to start a surf gear company than a guy who's been surfing in Venice Beach for at least eight years? His company promises to be exactly what Juhn himself genuinely embodies, peace, love and family. So: "shakalohana," everyone.