Toby Martin spent 15 years as a professional surfer, including seven seasons on the Championship Tour. Despite not possessing "the greatest talent" Toby took to the travelling lifestyle with gusto winning the then-ASP's Cultural Ambassador award in 2009.

Of course, all good things must come to an end…even the lifestyle of a professional surfer. Recently, blindboy spoke to Toby Martin about how he handled the transition from jetsetting surfer into the workaday world.

So tell me about the transition from pro surfer to real estate agent.
The transition is always the toughest assignment. You put so much into going down one route. You dream of it as a kid, then you hope that you can make a living out of it, then it eventuates and you’re kicking a few goals. You’re living at home, which is all nice, then the next step of being a sports person, fending for yourself, buying a place on the back of the sport, which is an achievement, then being able to provide for your family, then towards the back end of your career,  “What’s next?”.

For me, I looked after all my own management and sponsorships, so that was a good lead into the business world and I was fortunate that I could continue to be involved in the sport, so it wasn’t such a cut and dried, you’re out and gone. I did commentary and events on Fuel TV and some TV shows, all surf orientated, so I was fortunate that I could survive.

I still had those endorsements to go out and surf for a living for a little while and I was managing the surf team there at Etnies, so it was probably the easiest way that you could move on from the sport. And now, a total change, you can do what I was doing but it’s just being drip fed, it’s not providing much of an income, you’re not going forward, it’s just living essentials. So it got to that point in my life where I was, “OK now I need to focus on doing something which is going to get a good net result in terms of income."

How much of that was consciously planned?
I was always conscious of the fact that I wasn’t the greatest talent, so from day one I had to work extra hard to achieve what I did. I wasn’t a guy that could go out and squander his talent. I knew that if I went out with the guys on the piss and got drunk, I didn’t have that level of talent to shine through if I wasn’t performing [at my best]. So there was always that work ethic there and planning an exit strategy from surfing.

But it is hard, it takes a while to find that next thing that you are as passionate about. We’re very fortunate, those of us who have been able to do, whether it was surfing or something else in our lives, something that you really like getting out of bed for in the morning and get paid for it. To try and find that replacement is hard and I scoured a whole range of different career paths and found real estate.

Was there any support in the transition from sponsors or the ASP?
Renato Hickel at the ASP was an advocate and good reference for me in getting my commentary position, but there is no formal program. Rugby league have got some great initiatives. I have some great rugby league mates and they had initiatives throughout their work lives. They were integrated into upskilling, career paths and opportunities. Surfing isn’t that strong, our recognised path is to go into the industry and use your contacts into the retail world: Billabong, Rip Curl whoever, sales support staff, team manager, that seemed to be the evolution but it certainly wasn’t backed by our governing body which at the time was the ASP.

The one constant in Toby Martin's life has been his intimate relationship with Dee Why Point (Butts)

What about the sponsors, did they continue with you after you stopped competing?
One did. It was a sponsorship/work balance they were pretty happy for me to stay on. The surfing payments dried up but the management payments continued. I worked after my career for Etnies for two years, but again it was more a drip-fed kind of lifestyle where you’re not really progressing or providing for your family, you’re just doing enough to get by, and the enticement of the lifestyle. Well, once you’ve had that lifestyle for 17 years you want to start doing something with some challenges that you’re passionate about and also that can provide and set up the rest of your life.

So there was never a sudden shock where you woke up one day and went,“Oh I can’t go surfing, I have to go to work”?
I guess when you have been a professional surfer you’ve had to work for it. There were days, as funny as it seems, when the photographer wanted you to pull into closeouts when there were Kirra-like waves around the corner. The sponsors have got you on the shoot and they need that shot of the boardshorts. They need a rapid fire half hour of pulling into closeouts, so it is ingrained into you, that work ethic, strange as it seems from the outside, there are not always those choices there. That’s even more so now when you see how athletic the guys have become. Mick Fanning and all the way back to Tom Carroll in the day, that’s across the board, that’s 100% of the guys now, so that bodes well for them coming out of the sport. I saw Luke Stedman recently doing fitness and surf coaching so there are always those sorts of opportunities as well.

So who else do you think has followed a similar path to your own?
Well before me, obviously Mark Warren. He had a great career at the forefront of surfing, he went down the real estate path and was extremely successful. Kingsley Looker also. But for me it wasn’t so much about looking at those guys, it was trying to find something that I was passionate about, that I had a belief in. A job is one thing to make ends meet but you have to have an over-riding passion. Once you’ve come out of something like surfing that is so spiritual in a sense with a connection to the community, you have to find that next thing. Real estate is bricks and mortar but it is probably the most personal and emotional selling that you can be part of. It’s different to a car, that’s a lifestyle choice but real estate is intimate, you’re walking inside someone’s home. It’s ultra-personal and I like that connection and it’s what I needed after having such a close connection and affinity for the ocean and the people involved in it.

You mentioned earlier about the support rugby league players receive to help them at the end of their playing career.  One of the things the surf industry has been accused of is not doing that, of taking young people, using them for a few years and saying good bye with no support. Do you see it that way?
Absolutely. The rag trade is a cut-throat industry and if you think otherwise you have been misled. The phrase that I hate most in surfing circles is "You're part of the family". Well, I guess that in any family there are arguments and break ups, but it's a business at the end of the day. They are sourcing an image that works for them be it Dane Reynolds or Kelly Slater or John Florence or whoever else. It's an image they use to promote people buying their clothes. That's great, it's great to have those sort of relationships but in the back of your mind it's always a business and be mindful of that. Yes, you like all the free boxes of clothes and the payments but there is a business angle to it and you find that out fairly quickly when you're a child prodigy but the results aren't going your way, or someone new comes along and you get cut. That's when you start to work out, "Hang on a second I have to work harder and do this for myself, not for the company". That's a big thing. A lot of people think "I'm surfing for the company". You're not, you're surfing for yourself, and getting sponsorships and endorsements comes from hard work.