Generally, when I read about some kid whose ambition is to become an "influencer", my eyes roll way, way, way back into the back of my skull and the words my mind immediately finds include "vapid," "ridiculous," and "what a waste."
That was until I read about Finn Hawley.
Finn is a local kid, from the tony town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, on Boston's North Shore. And his big thing is fishing for striped bass. As he prepped to go fishin' the other day, The Boston Globe was right there with him:
“The fall run is heating up and there’s some big fish out there,” he says with a racing excitement.
As he gets ready to pile into his pickup truck and head out toward the surf, he grabs perhaps his most important piece of gear — a waterproof backpack full of camera equipment.
That’s because Hawley is attempting something that has really never been done before. He’s hoping to carve out a career as an “influencer” in the world of striper fishing. (Source: Boston Globe)
Striper influencer, you say?
While I enjoy an occasional piece of striper, I didn't realize it was such a big deal around here. Mostly when I hear folks talking about going fishing, they're after blues. Which is too bad: I much prefer striped bass, but that's because my first exposure to blue fish - beyond reading about it in Dr. Seuss - was at the Union Oyster House. Back then, the blue fish was not the freshest item on the menu. And blue fish that's not one fish, two fish, fresh fish, blue fish is pretty strong tasting. Now, although I don't seek it out, I'm fine with blue fish that's provably day boat. And I like blue fish pate, too. Yum!
But I guess striper is the kingfish of saltwater fishing in the Northeast. And saltwater fishing is quite a big deal. It just doesn't have a go-to personality associated with it. There are a couple of striped bass "olds" out there, but no one young and conversant with social media.
And now appearing on the scene: the perfectly named Finn Hawley.
He's still just a high school senior, but Finn does have an online following that he's been building up. (Finn is a surfcaster, fishing from the shore rather than from a boat. This is apparently a distinction that means something, and those who fish debate back and forth which one is more difficult, etc.)
Finn's original career dream was to become an entomologist. Unfortunately, he had a couple of disabilities that would get in the way of pursuing a career that was going to require a lot of traditional book learning. He's both dyslexic and dyscalculic - that's the number version of dyslexic - so college would present a high degree of difficulty.
Anyway, once the reality of his situation dawned on Finn, he "began to wonder if it might be possible to turn his burgeoning social media popularity into a career." (Even before he started high school, he was Instagramming his catches.)
Over time, he picked up a following. His brother Gus is a filmmaker in the making, and he started creating videos for Finn that were podcast on YouTube. His YouTube offerings include tutorials and a capture of the day he caught a 50 pound bass, which is a big deal. And probably made for some good eating.
When covid struck, Finn and Gus decided to create a 10-episode show chronicling Finn's fishing activities over the course of a spring-through-fall season. The videos were surprisingly sophisticated for a couple of kids - props to Gus (now off to college to study engineering) for his mad skills - and look "more like something you’d see on Netflix than something made by two teenagers."
Now Finn didn't exactly go mad viral. I mean, striped bass fishing doesn't quite draw the same sized crowd as whatever it is that Kylie Jenner fronts for. Still, it was something.
Soon, Hawley had sponsorship deals with Poombah, Lamiglas Rods, and the apparel company Stormr. In August of 2020, he achieved a childhood dream; his photo was on the cover of On the Water magazine, holding a 47-inch striper. That same summer, he launched a kids surf fishing camp that became so popular so quickly, entirely via word of mouth, that this summer he cut the number of sessions in half so he could begin working as a guide for adults — a key to making this whole professional surfcaster thing work — and so he would have some time to fish himself.
So good for Finn Hawley. And good luck to him.
Admittedly, he's got a lot of support behind him. He won't be homeless if he graduates from high school and isn't making enough money to earn a living. As far as I can tell, he grew up in an $8m waterfront home. His father was a successful businessman, and his late grandfather was the CEO of Gillette. So he's not going to have to scratch out a living to keep following his dream for a while.
Still, I find Finn's story completely compelling.
He's found a niche and he's going to make the most out of it. He's found a way to overcoming the learning disabilities that he was born with. And he's found a way to do something interesting with his life, something that exploits his gifts and his capacity for hard work.
Go fish, Finn Hawley. Go fish!
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