Glenn Bourquin
I first met Glenn at a chance encounter in the water on the North End. I had gotten up early to get in the water and photograph the sunrise. I remember it was a pretty hot morning with a lot of gnats at the beach. We all know how fun the gnats are. They get everywhere, eyes, ears, mouth, nose. First, I ran into Adam King and Kayla Durden who were getting ready to do a photo shoot in the water. Adam and Kayla are well known in the North Florida surf scene as an excellent photographer and top tier surfer, respectively. I did a little “shoot the shooter” of Adam and Kayla from the shore before I loaded up my water housing and headed out for a swim. When I got out to the break I noticed another surfer off to the side on a longboard catching some sweet rides. I swam over and asked if I could take some shots of him and he said “Sure!” That was Glenn, and on a chance meeting I got some of my favorite surf shots ever. Since that meeting, I’ve gotten to know Glenn a little better and had the opportunity to surf with him more. Always a kind spirit and positive attitude, I believe he is thankful for every day on the water.
Glenn is a Florida native, born and raised in the secluded woods outside of Belleview, Florida. He learned how to surf in high school, and made regular trips to Ponce Inlet with his buddies. He says he was a “typical weekend redneck kook from the woods”. Life changed quickly in high school after his older brother passed away. “He was the biggest, toughest kid in high school.” When the person that can take on anything in life is suddenly gone, it makes you rethink what life is about, and after high school, Glenn set out to see what was beyond the woods of Belleview.
He enrolled in college at UNF, moved to Jacksonville, and lived the Jax Beach life for 11 years. He studied marketing and international business, taking advantage of his field of study by enrolling in internships abroad which included France twice, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Malaysia. Glenn was the first UNF student to do an internship in Southeast Asia. He finished up at UNF in the Global MBA Program whose motto is “Think Global, Act Local”. And thats just what he did.
After a stint in South Carolina, where he met his wife Jessie, they moved to Fernandina and Glenn put his ideas to work on the local level. His idea sprung to life while listening to a Joel Salatin podcast about the future of farmer’s markets being online. Glenn created an online marketplace for fresh local produce that he delivered to your home. That idea became Jacksonville Fresh and then Amelia Fresh. Home delivery of the “Fresh Box” was humming along with about 35 regular weekly customers when the Covid lockdown hit. Shortly after, subscriptions went up to 90, then two weeks later, 150, and then 170! Business was in full swing, but when the lockdown was over, people wanted to get back outside, and part of that was feeding their need to shop. He kept the business running for as long as he could, but the writing was on the wall and he soon closed shop and went on to his next creation.
Throughout his working life, which includes many years in front of a computer building websites, Glenn’s relaxation hobby has been gardening. Digging in the soil is therapy. Glenn started a landscape business doing installs which has grown into a full service landscape design company called First Coast Landscape Design. Glenn and his team design, build, and install everything from vegetable gardens, flower and garden beds, to water features, large vegetation, patios, decks, and pergolas. They really do it all, and they do it all in an ecologically friendly way. Glenn believes that the key to keeping this planet going is in the topsoil. Destroy it, take too much of it away, and we kill the planet. Topsoil is where all the good microbial life happens, and Glenn knows that’s the key to a healthy garden. He’s created a special concoction he calls the “Biology Bomb”. It’s a mix of “over 60 major and minor chelated nutrients as well as amino acids and probiotics.” He believes in using topsoil straight from major suppliers instead of box store bagged soil which kills the microbes. Even topsoil at local nurseries isn’t fresh enough for Glenn. “Microbial diversity is the key to growth.” Check out the website at firstcoastlandscapedesign.com
One last thing I want to mention before I go, and it makes me smile when I think about it. Glenn donates his time and care to the Special Olympics Surf Camp. Last year he went down to Cocoa Beach for the Special Olympics State Games and he says it was the coolest thing he’s ever witnessed. Thank you Glenn for being there for those kids and spreading the joy of surfing.