URT has become a household name in Coronado. What started as a t-shirt pop up shop has grown and expanded over the years. At the heart though, Ian’s focus remains on Coronado community, philanthropy, and supporting the military.
Growing up in Coronado
Ian describes growing up in Coronado as, “a kids dream come true. I lived at the Shores for 13 years of my life. Pre 9/11, we could go onto the Navy base and watch the Navy SEALs train. We used to sit in their bunkers and just watch them. They’re training right in front of us! We’d pack a lunch and go there. As a six-year-old to sit down and watch it was pretty amazing.”
Being in the water shaped Ian. He shares a story of growing up, “getting olderr, swimming across the shores to the golf course and waiting for golfers to hit a ball in the water. Then we’d go out there, get the ball and sell back to the golfers. We’d see if we could get enough money to get KenTacoHut – those are the golden years.”
A Military Community
One of the things Ian is most proud of are his 13 years as a beach lifeguard. The experience not only shaping him as a person but also inspiring his brand. Ian laughs as he tells the story behind his brand name, URT. “It started off as a coincidence to be honest. The name of the company is the first three letters of my last name. It was my nickname going to beach lifeguards here in Coronado. I was out in the ocean surfing, and someone said ‘URT’ and I turned around to find a sea lion. I thought, ‘okay, there’s an idea.’”
First came the name, then came the company. Ian explains, “I was trying to figure out what to do with the logo and clothing was the cheapest entry cost. I just jumped into that world. I made a brand.” As far as the patriotic slant to the brand, Ian shares, “growing up in Coronado, you have a lot of friends going into the military, the Navy and becoming SEALs. They would ask me if they could rip the logo that I made on their gear and I said of course. From there on, we were making patches, and they were going overseas on deployments, making stencils and spray painting URT all over the Middle East.”
Philanthropy
URT is a tangible representation of where Ian’s heart lies. The shirts are more than a piece of clothing, they represent the people and ideas that have impacted him.
C4 Foundation
Ian shares, “the biggest cause we support is the C4 Foundation. The namesake of that is for Charlie Humphrey Keating IV. He was a really good buddy of mine. We were kind of brothers in debauchery in Coronado growing up. He was one of the supporters of this; he was the biggest URT fanatic that we had in our friend group.”
Ian is filled with pride as he recalls Charlie. “He’s the one that would put the logo on everything. He made a stencil and spray painted it everywhere. Charlie was very much into getting it out there. He also got a lot of shirts to give to the Afghan children.”
Coronado Community Pays Tribute to Fallen Navy SEAL Charles Keating (video)
“When he passed, we all relied on our strengths. For me, it was making t-shirts. I got a couple donations, and we were able to pass out 500 shirts at his memorial service in Coronado. From that the Chuck Heavy shirt kind of spring-boarded. But the whole foundation, it’s kind of their mission is to preserve the family. When you come back home it’s a family thing instead of just a soldiers’ thing. It’s near and dear to my heart.
Jolly Roger
Another shirt being used toward good is The Jolly Roger Fundraising Shirt. Three years ago, lifetime Coronado resident Roger was faced with a life changing ALS diagnosis that has since severely challenged his independence and freedom of mobility and communication. Amidst his battle, his wife Cheri has been by his side. Ian updates, “he’s doing good. We have the shirts and we’re helping him pay for his extensive medical bills. Roger has been a friend of the organization for a long time. He’s been a boat driver for our photo shoots and on our trips to Catalina. He’s a sea bass whisperer. The guy is an excellent waterman, and he embodied everything that had to do with URT being amphibious. It was a no brainer when they asked us to kind of step in and help.”
URT Events
In addition to the URT business, Ian prioritizes events that bring the community together. After a few years out of the ocean due to poor water quality, the URT Spook was back in the water this year. Ian shares, “The Spook is amazing. We got a spooky sandcastle made by some people in IB. It was a relaxed event where people just show up in their costumes and jump in the water. We try to get pictures of them using their Halloween costume to give them.”
Foggy Nights: 2024 URT SPOOK Recap – URT! URT!
14th Annual URT Santa Surf Off Toy Drive – December 24, 2024
Ian shares, “Our next event is going to be the Santa Surf Off and that’s really big for us. It’s grown to be almost out of hand. We started and people just show up. They get in the water and show how San Diego does Christmas. Then we started getting so many people there that we wanted to utilize the community and do something good and give back. Especially this time of year. So we created a toy drive to go along with it. Every year we collect all the toys and there’s only one place that that accepts Christmas toys on Christmas Eve and that’s the at Children’s Hospital. We drive the toys straight to the hospital after the event and then it’s been our tradition to celebrate with sushi.”
Reflecting on the Success of URT
In 2018, Ian interviewed with Coronado Times’ Jennifer Velez. In the article URT’s Unique Path to Success, it was shared:
Eventually, [Ian] has a dream of opening a brick and mortar location, potentially in Imperial Beach, which would be a creative-meet up location with coffee, beer, food and merchandise. “I think this would help increase the heartbeat of our brand,” he says.
Eight years later and Ian has accomplished that almost to a T. Now, he has his own shop in his hometown, with Heave Ho Coffee sharing space. Ian responds to that interview, “it feels surreal, wow. To have the store in the community that I grew up in, for the community that I relied a lot on, for sales and keeping my dream going. This is literally a dream come true, and it’s been 15 years of this. It still doesn’t feel real, honestly.”
Happy Holidays from URT!
URT is gearing up for the holiday season. “In addition to sales, we’re doing a new build-out of our store. It’s slated to be revamped in about two weeks. That’s been my main focus at this time. We got a lot of new stuff, new designs, new gear. There are new swim fins coming. We are getting the store to a standard of quality it deserves.”
Where You Can Find Ian
As your neighbor, you can find Ian all over the island. He shares that CBC is number one on his list. As for his coffee pick, it should come as no surprise that he raves about Heave Ho, calling them incredible. “The guys are like mad scientists with coffee.” For happy hour, catch Ian grabbing a burger at Little Frenchie.
The last place you can find him around town is McP’s. He jokes, “I gotta shout out McP’s, they’re my second office. Not my home away from home but my office away from the office.”
1019 C Ave • website • Facebook • @urturt
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