CRUX – a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point; something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty.
Synonyms – essence, heart, core.
CRUCIAL – Extremely significant or important.
CRUXIAL (krew-sh-all) – A significant turning point; a perplexing individual puzzling all who do not understand the nature or determination that drives boardsports enthusiasts to ever push themselves to the next level.

CRUXIAL started out as a simple idea in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on board a Navy ship. Jesse had been drawing all his life and had recently gotten into some amateur graphic designing and tended to relieve stress this way, especially since the only thing he really wanted to do was surf and being stuck on a 400 foot ship in the middle of the ocean, he couldn’t do that.

After messing around for a couple of hours, a friend walked in and saw the design Jesse was working on and really liked it. He told Jesse he should put it on a shirt and market it. After playing around with a few other designs and ideas, Jesse decided to go for it, but he knew he was going to need some help. He immediately e-mailed his friend, Isaac Posner, who was on the other side of the world and also in the Navy, and told him his idea to start a surf, skate, and snowboard company.

Isaac had just spent the past couple of years away from the beach, and was eager to return. He had always been a beach bum but had not experienced surfing until a couple of weeks before he was sent to the Middle East and couldn’t wait to get back and get another taste. While he was in Dubai he managed to find an indoor snowboarding park. He spent a majority of his free time there, but couldn’t wait to get back to California and a real mountain. He and Jesse were both getting out of the Navy at the same time and when Jesse contacted him about starting a board-sports clothing company he didn’t even think twice. He couldn’t think of anything better than working in an industry that he was already stoked about. Without hesitation and full of excitement, Isaac agreed, and thus a partnership was formed.

The idea needed a name and a symbol of recognition. Both Isaac and Jesse were getting out of the military soon and this idea would be a critical turning point in both their careers and lives, forever changing the paths they would take. With this in mind the name CRUXIAL was born, a combination of the term “crux”, meaning pivotal turning point, and “crucial”, meaning extremely significant or important. Jesse spent the next month and half while stuck at sea scribbling down different designs on paper, trying to find the perfect one to fit the idea. After a while of staring at all the drawings he had laid out in front of him, he found it. It was a combination of two symbols he had drawn. He put them together and the CRUXIAL logo was born.

Shortly after, the two departed from the military and began the adventure of building a foundation for this new idea. At the beginning both agreed that the only way it would work out was that it had to remain fun and exciting. There’s no point unless they were having fun with it. No more working for someone else’s ideals, no more orders being barked at them, no more answering to those who just don’t get it. This was a critical turning point in both their lives, a new direction of living beyond the borders and boundaries that society had created. They were going to break all the unspoken and unwritten rules and limitations that people create for themselves and spread this message to the world, the message: “The only thing that can stop you is yourself!”

The next two years were spent researching, developing, moving around to various locations (and couches!), and still hitting the water, powder, and cement as much as possible. In the process Jesse tore both his shoulders and Isaac blew out a knee. Neither one let these injuries slow them down, if anything, it only made them play harder. They also spent this time building their new idea, putting everything they had into it, the proverbial “blood, sweat, and tears”. At the beginning of 2009 both finally agreed that they had gained enough knowledge (and almost played enough) and decided that this year they were going to start production, no matter what! Through several processes of trial and error, along with many a sleepless night (and surf-less day), they put into full motion what they set out to do. CRUXIAL has become more than a significant turning point, it’s become a way of life.

…it’s how we live!