East Coast Hero Rob Kelly Inks Deal With New Jersey-Based Jetty

Billabong, Quik, Volcom, Roxy, Element, RVCA and DC, once the kingmakers of the action sports world, are all now owned by Authentic Brands Group, the largest sports and entertainment licensing company on the planet. The conglomerate also owns Forever 21, Juicy Couture, Eddie Bauer, Reebok, and many others. Having already acquired Volcom in 2019, the rest came as part of a famed $1.25 billion deal in 2023.

“This isn’t me flipping the finger to Billabong or the big brands,” Kelly told SURFER, “I am forever grateful for what they gave me all those years. I’ve been able to travel, buy a home, start a family... Mike Wallace and Evan Slater were mentors who taught me so much. But to be honest, most of the people who I worked with aren’t there anymore. Jetty has become the most established surf apparel brand from the East Coast. I’ve watched them grow and I get to play a role at a brand that’s still rooted in surf culture.”

Jetty does not own a sea plane. While it has not reached the same peak as those heritage brands, it is a Certified B Corporation, it continues to print its own eco-minded apparel, and it runs a nonprofit called the Jetty Rock Foundation that does tremendous good for the community. Most impressively, the C-suite and operating partners all still surf and live the lifestyle they represent. In fact, at the start of 2024 they made a commitment to refocus the brand on its saltier roots and tell the East Coast narrative, which has always been a bit grittier. Jetty has a team of ambassadors who have careers far outside the surf industry—lifeguard chiefs, small business owners, teachers, firemen, college students, commercial anglers, and real estate agents—and you still find the gear all over Puerto Rico, California, the Southeast, Great Lakes, and everywhere in between.

“Our strategy has always been steady growth over chasing a trend. There simply isn’t a better match for Jetty than Rob. Just like our brand, he represents every aspect of this rich coastal history and four distinct seasons,” said John Clifford, Jetty Chief Creative Officer and Partner. “He’s won at the most DIY homegrown contests to marquis events around the world. Rob makes the biggest barrels. But he also personifies the other part of the East Coast that’s relatable to so many: surfing under the fireworks in his hometown on July 4th, taking his kids for pizza, and just hanging out on the boardwalk.”

Being headquartered just seven exits up the Garden State Parkway, Jetty was well-aware of Kelly’s accomplishments—the stellar junior career, the East Coast pro wins, the national exposure, the mentoring of upcoming kids, the time he puts into NJ Board Riders Club, and back-to-back wins at the coveted Garden State Grudge Match. But more so, they took note whenever the surf world’s attention turned toward the Northeast for those chunky, frigid, blustery storm swells, Rob is the hero who gets the heaviest, darkest pit.

“We tell a pretty well-rounded story from Northeast surfing to fishing, to clean water, community, and travel. But the four wild seasons and the fleeting conditions are the core of our brand. No one on the East Coast was ever handed anything. You have to earn every wave. You time your entire schedule from work to family around when the surf might come together. Rob is a hero to people here. We understand how hard he works to keep it going and what he gives back,” said Jeremy DeFilippis, Jetty Co-Founder, CEO and Partner.

Kelly dominated as a kid, taking home the ESA Easterns Junior Men’s and Open titles, acing the East Coast Surfing Championships Junior Pro, and leading the Ocean City High School team to a national championship. He claimed victory at the 2017 Monster Belmar Pro, 2017 Sweetwater Pro, and 2018 Water Brothers Pro. In 2021, he won the Northeast Wave
of the Winter.

Kelly recently started riding Firewire as well, an elite team headed by Slater internationally, Machado in California, and Kelly on the East Coast. He also works for Perfect Swell, providing input on their wave pool facilities in Waco, Brazil, Japan, and the indoor wave in North Jersey. He and his wife Shannon have two young boys, Kash and Koda.

But he also has an uncanny ability to get waves wherever he travels with a demeanor that truly lifts up everyone else in the water. To put it best, Kelly is always welcomed back wherever he goes, not an easy task for a traveling surfer who needs to get the clip to put food on the table.

Jetty grew from relative obscurity when Superstorm Sandy ripped into their coast in 2012, as they not only fundraised, but helped mobilize a historic recovery. Community involvement became a pillar of the brand. Each season, the apparel gets more technical, specific to the conditions of the coast from puffer jackets to performance boardies. Think Patagonia with great pizza on every block. They are now in a class with Salty Crew, Roark, Katin, and Dark Seas.

In addition to the Jetty Rock Foundation, they have a signature beer, a flagship store in Manahawkin, the Jetty INK Division, and recently collaborated with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Kelly joins Puerto Rico commercial fisherman/surfer Darren Muschett, Nicaraguan surf guide Sean Pearson, New Jersey legend Randy Townsend, and other rippers spanning multiple generations.

DeFilippis reports that they’ve more than doubled revenue since 2020. Before this point, a surfer like Kelly was unattainable.

“Jetty just makes sense. One thing that I was always proud of was not having to relocate to have a pro career. I never had to move to San Diego. The stuff that I see Jetty doing—these really cool summer events, rallying for someone in their community who needs it—I mean, there are year-round Jersey surfers in their print shop screening every one of their tees. Where else does that happen? My family can be part of that and help them grow in the same organic fashion they have been. I can help pave the road for the younger generation and fly that East Coast flag,” Kelly concluded.