WORKING

Edward McLean and Doug C. Smith

THEY ARE

bedding on success.

FOR THE GUYS

Newport Beach residents Doug C. Smith, 28, and Edward McLean, 27, are

just two surfers trying to make a living.

They never thought they would do it by selling bedding, though.

But six months ago, the former neighbors founded Dean Miller Hawaiian

Island Prints, a company that specializes in Hawaiian-style comforters

and pillowcases.

“The whole company started as us trying to make bedding for ourselves,”

Smith said. “You try to find bedding for guys and there’s nothing out

there. You have two choices: solids or geometrical patterns.”

Nearly three years ago, McLean, who is an avid surfer, wanted

Hawaiian-style bedding. He went to a fabric store, pinned some stuff

together and took it to a dry cleaners to get it sewed up.

Friends and visitors loved his creations. But McLean, who was working as

a corporate trainer for bartenders and traveling a lot, just didn’t have

the time to pursue the business.

That’s where Smith came in.

YIN AND YANG

Smith and McLean had been neighbors in Newport Beach five years ago. They

maintained their friendship, which was largely fueled by their mutual

interest in surfing and other water activities.

McLean describes himself as the “ideas” end of the partnership. Smith, on

the other hand, is the one that makes things happen.

“It’s a yin-yang kind of thing,” Smith said.

One class away from his MBA at Chapman University, Smith said he’s always

intended to go into business on his own. He describes it as an

“entrepreneurial spirit,” but others might call it a “problem with

authority,” Smith jokes.

They launched the company in January and began marketing their product

two months ago.

The bedding comes in 14 different brightly colored designs and varying

patterns of surfboards, Hawaiian and Polynesian motifs and other symbols

of surf culture.

Smith and McLean, of course, use their own product at home. Smith prefers

blue dancing hula girls to McLean’s more wholesome red surfboards. Both

of these patterns are limited edition, a unique characteristic of the

business.

In Newport Beach, their products are sold exclusively at Kayak’s in the

Westcliff Plaza. The bedding is also marketed over the Internet.

WHO IS DEAN MILLER?

McLean and Smith hit on the name Dean Miller while surfing in Kauai.

Locals there told them of the Hawaiian legend.

And although McLean and Smith repeat the legend often, they won’t attest

to its truth or validity, they said.

Miller, it was rumored, lived in the majestic beauty of Kauai’s rain

forest. He hunted wild boar, fished the awesome ocean, surfed the mighty

waves and bathed in the breathtaking waterfalls.

But the clincher for Smith and McLean is that Miller reportedly slept on

a bed of Hawaiian flowers. It was the perfect name for their product.

SURFER LIFESTYLE

It’s a great time to market the surfer lifestyle, Smith said, citing the

success of industry giants such as Quiksilver.

Smith himself tries to surf everyday and also enjoys body surfing,

fishing, snorkeling and kayaking.

Lately, Smith’s life has been consumed by the business. He works 18-hour

days and hasn’t had a day off in three months, he said.

Still Smith and McLean don’t exude corporate culture. Dressed in surf

T-shirts, shorts and sandals, they look more like poster boys for the

surf culture than the Small Business Administration.

Asked how it makes him feel to have people buy something they created, a

tanned and blond McLean, who has a habit of winking a lot, said “Stoked.”

Smith offers a different take on it.

“My parents are just pleased I have a job,” he said.

For more information on Dean Miller Bedding, visit their Web site at

deanmillerprints.com or call (949)497-8425.

-- Elise Gee

-- Photo by Eric Santucci