What Does It Take To Build A 100-Year Brand?

Salt air and startup grit meet on the mouth of the Miami River, where a small outboard shop in 1926 became a century-long marine legacy. We sit down with fourth-generation leader Krissy Hewes Wiborg to trace the family’s journey from boat racing roots to game-changing flats boat innovation, revealing how a community of anglers and makers turned feedback into breakthroughs that shaped modern inshore fishing.

Krissy brings the stories alive: great-grandfather Lou’s racing team and the dinner-table idea that helped launch the Miami International Boat Show; her grandfather Bob’s post-Navy obsession with performance; and the day Lefty Kreh nudged a ski-boat hull toward the flats, sparking the Hewes Bonefisher—the first fiberglass production flats boat. You’ll hear how guides like Bill Curtis and Bob Stearns pushed for 10-inch gunwales and better sightlines, and how that relentless iteration led to the poling platform, giving anglers height, control, and stealth from the transom. These aren’t museum pieces; they’re living tools refined over decades on real water.

We also open the engine hatch on the business itself: selling manufacturing rights while scaling the dealership, growing from 15 employees to 40 across multiple locations, and steering through downturns with service, listening, and smart expansion. Marketing tides changed too, flowing from Yellow Pages and DOS-era catalogs to Throwback Tuesdays and Thursdays on social and a 30-minute archival film capturing voices of the old guard. With a centennial celebration aligned with the Boat Show’s 85th, Krissy reflects on legacy, modern brand building, and the next horizon for marine tech without losing touch with the flats at dawn.

If you love boating, fishing, marine history, or the craft of building products people swear by, you’ll find both nostalgia and practical wisdom here. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who loves the water, and leave a review with the moment that hooked you.

Wards Marine Electric
https://www.wardsmarine.com/

Wards Way YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@WardsWay75

Transcript

Setting The Miami Scene

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Miami. A global playground celebrated for its beautiful oceans and famous lifestyle. Behind all of the sunshine and success are people, products, and companies powering this magic city. This season, the Wards Way podcast brings you face to face with those who energize Miami's iconic way of life and bring us closer to the water.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Welcome to the Miami International

Meet The Guest And Milestone

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Boat Show. This is Wards Way 2026.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Welcome to the Wards Way podcast. I'm here today with my friend Chrissy Hughes Weiborg, who's Chief Marketing and Brand Development Officer, Business Development Officer. I do everything. So you do everything, Jack of all trades. So welcome, welcome, welcome to the Miami Show. So this is a big show for you guys. It is a very big show. Talk to me about what you have going on.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

So it is our hundredth anniversary hundred years family business.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

So my brother and I are four. So you're fourth generation. Okay, so how did you how did your business

Origins On The Miami River

SPEAKER_03 1:04

start? Let's tell everybody.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

So my great-grandfather, Lou Hughes, was from Joaquegan, Illinois. Okay. And he had a car dealership, but he was really big into boat racing. Okay. So he would, you know, always was always he had a whole team called Lou Hughes and the gang. So he did that. And that's fun. And he opened up an outboard shop in Joaquin. And then they decided to move down to Miami and do the summers in Miami. Or winters, I'm sorry, winters in Miami. And so they moved down and uh opened up a dealership here. Um and it was Hughes Outboard Shop. And then it was and then he started selling boats, and it was Hugh. They started on the mouth of the Miami River. Okay. So that's where we started at a little tiny uh building on the mouth of the Miami River. There was nothing up the river yet at that point in 1926. And uh I have pictures with like a wooden schooner in the foreground and a little building that said Hughes Outboard Shop. Goodness. And then uh a couple years later they moved up the river and a bigger building and they started selling boats like Chrisscraft, uh Challenger, Kit Boats. Oh wow, big Johnson dealer. Um and then eventually they picked up Mercury down the road.

Founding The Miami Boat Show

SPEAKER_03 2:04

And then, but yeah, so we were there and then And so now did okay, just to go because we are history, um your your company started before ours, but was the war impacted in any okay, so talk to me about how that impacted things.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Oh, uh there was a massive downturn and they had a it was a struggle. Sure. I mean they lost a lot of money, but they persevered and they carried on and we're still and now you're here at a hundred years. At a hundred years.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

Wow. And my understanding is you're also one of the founding exhibitors and helped found the Miami boat show itself. So we're sitting here with correct founders of the boat show.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

So talk to me about that. So uh Lou Hughes actually founded him and his friends actually started the Miami Boat Show.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

You know, can you imagine just being how did that start? Did they just like have dinner one night and say let's get everybody together?

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Yep, let's get everyone together and do a boat show. And it used to be the dinner key auditorium.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

You know, I do I do remember and I've seen some pictures of that.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

So I have a lot of those pictures.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

I can only imagine. So now fast forward, how are you? Okay, so now let's talk about your

Grandfather’s Racing To Innovation

SPEAKER_03 3:04

dad. Oh grandfather. Or your grandfather, okay, grandfather.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

So then Bob, uh so then uh he had two sons. Okay. My grandfather, Bob Hughes, went into the he was in the Navy, and then a mortar blast rendered him partially deaf. So he got out of the Navy. Okay. Um, and uh he went to work for his dad, and he loved tinkering on boats and racing and performance. And he was working at the dealership, and my mom was he was really big into water skiing because he sat on the board for the um what is it, the minus ski club.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Okay, so he was on the board for the minus ski club. And so they would, you know, they sang so he and my mom was a national championship water skier, so he decided to build a ski boat called the Wildcat. Okay. So he did that, and then Did he name it after her? No, it was just called the Hughes Wildcat. Okay. Yeah, no, no. Well, maybe could be. I don't know. That's how these stories go. Come on now. That sounds about right. You have to ask her. Okay. I actually never asked the history. That's a good question. All right. Um, I wish he was around to ask, but it's not. The stor I know the stories. I miss the stories. Yeah, I agree.

Lefty Kreh And The Bonefisher

SPEAKER_02 4:06

Yeah, so and then he went out flats fishing with Lefty Cray. Okay. And we have funny stories about that. Lefty said, Okay, so now you're gonna climb, and it was like a little John boat. And they were on the flats here in Miami. And he goes, Okay, now you're gonna climb out of the boat and you're gonna walk the flats to get up on the shallows of the flats. Okay. And my grandfather goes, What do you mean? We can't go over to the flats, and he goes, No, we're gonna walk the flats. And so my grandfather gets on the water and Lefty turns at him and goes, By the time you get there, all the bonefish are gonna be in Key West. And my grandfather comes back and he goes, Yep, all the bonefish were in Key West. Yeah. So he went back and he thought, huh, this hull of the wildcat would make a great uh flats boat. It traps shallow. So he set about and he built the Hughes Bonefisher in the 60s. Because the Wildcat was uh he started building wildcats in the 50s, late 50s. And so in the 60s, he built the first flats boat.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

What a great story. What a great story.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

And so is that is that a boat that's still Oh yeah, yeah, I was gonna say it's still one of your fiberglass production flats boat. Other people had made inshore skiffs, but they were like one-offs, handmade, but this is production, full production.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

That's incredible. That's that's a big feat. So that was your grandfather.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

That was my grandfather, Bobby. Okay. So it's called the Hughes Bonefisher. And then Lefty said, Well, we need 10-inch gunwheels. And my grandfather goes, Who has 10-inch gunwheels on a boat? And Lefty goes, Are you asking me or are you telling me? And my grandfather goes, I stopped asking after that. And he had people like Bill Curtis, Lefty Cray, Bob Stearns, they all had their input on the boats, and he took every bit of information that was smart and kept retooling and retooling and rebuilding and changing it. He went on for 25 years changing and retooling those boats.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Wow. Yeah. Well, but I think that that's probably what's what's fed into being able to be here a hundred years, you know, listening to others and taking input from others, you know, you don't have to do it all yourself.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

The uh the

Invention Of The Poling Platform

SPEAKER_02 6:00

polling platform. Okay. So they said, Oh, Bill Curtis says, I need to get up. You know, people were putting ladders on these boats to stand up to spot the fish. And they would pull from the bow. And then uh Bill Curtis says, I want to be able to stand on top of the motor. And my grandfather said, Okay, I'm gonna build something. So he went up. Actually, did you guys do right work back then or no? No, maybe just electronics. He went up somewhere in Fort Lauderdale. I thought it was you guys, but maybe not. We do electric? No, no, maybe not. That's okay. Could be though. What what would you what did you need? It was a polling platform. They invented a polling platform for him. Someone built your name did come into play, and I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

Well, it could be that, okay, like me. Okay, so we're multi-generational fans. Could be my grandfather or father decided to get involved in that and say we can help. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

That would absolutely be their style. You guys help with some part of the boat. At some point or another, you guys help with it. We were there. I don't remember because I remember hearing the name. But either way, I'm sorry about that. But no, that's okay. I think it's great. And there's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

It's wonderful. That's a hundred years. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

He invented, and then then uh then he built built the Redfisher and a couple other bigger models.

Succession And Business Growth

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Okay. And um, and then he decided I'm gonna retire, and he sold the deal. And my dad mom got married right out of college. And then my dad started working at the dealership, and they were selling, you know, our boats and then other brands as well. And then he's like, I want to retire. And my dad bought the business from my grandfather because it's his father, it's my mom's father. Bob Hughes is my mom's father, and then um my grandfather decided to sell the manufacturing rights, so he sold the Maverick.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

The Hughes manufacturing rights.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Wow. Wow, okay. So now what's your dad what did your dad do differently with the company?

SPEAKER_02 7:36

I took a business, it had 15 employees. Okay, and he grew it to over 40 employees with four locations. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Okay, where are your locations? Um in Miami and one in Pompeii. All in Miami, one in Pomp and Wow. Okay, so now you know what, you know where my question's going now. Where? What are you gonna do? Oh God, I don't know. Once you finally get a brain, I know to do all this, but you've got a lot of media stuff going on too, so talk to me. So that's kind of our our generation. We're trying to do that. So what do you have going on here? Yes, it's it's tough.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Think about it. Back when our grandparents and our families did this, there

Marketing From Yellow Pages To Social

SPEAKER_02 8:08

was no internet, there were no podcasts, there were no cell phones.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Okay, when I started with the company, this is my 30th um anniversary, and our number one advertising line item went to the yellow pages.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Oh my god, yes.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

The yellow pages and the person that would come out with the graph paper and Florida Sportsmen. And you had to be in all the books. And um, so now and now here we are doing podcasts, and you're doing some onboard. What what do you have going on at the show?

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Tell everybody everything. We have our we're doing our centennial party here at the show. That's incredible. We're collaborating with the boat show because the boathouse centennial party. Yes, the boat show turns 85 this year. Okay, and they wanted to honor us because of Lou Hughes, of course, and so uh we're having our hundredth party at the end of the first day of the boat show. So Wednesday night tonight, actually.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Congratulations. That's incredible. We won't give out the location.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

No, it's not live by the time we could give it out. You know what? No, by the time it comes out, it's gonna be might be botanical gardens, right across the street. That's gonna be incredible.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

And I'm sure people will see it online. And if you if you don't get it, get a chance, please go online and look for it and support and subscribe and what are your

Centennial Party And Archives

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Bob Hughes boats? Oh, Bob Hughes Boats, okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

We have so we have posts every every Tuesday and Thursday of this year, I have archive posts going out. So I had to jump, I I'm trying to go. So like a throwback Thursday kind of thing. I do love that. Throwback Tuesday and Thursday. Throwback Tuesday and Thursday.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

So we're gonna have Archograms, Instagram, and Thursday. Okay, and Facebook. Okay, excellent.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

And we did an uh we did uh actually a whole 30-minute video interviewing a lot of the old timers, interviewing people. It's the history of Bob Hughes Boats with interviews from a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

Oh my gosh. Well, people definitely need to follow that. And it has been such a pleasure. I'm so happy that I got a chance to meet with a hundred. We're just babies. We're babies compared. I know. And we're only third generation, so so yeah. So eventually I'll be the one that's in the story. Oh, well, my mom, you know, and yeah, with my mom. And hopefully they'll have some great. Maybe I'll get my own wildcat story. I need that words wildcat, you know, something. I need it, I need it.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

I think a lot of they heard it here. Yeah, okay, and then but I don't know what kind of technology is gonna be. That's kind of scary to think about that. I know it is well when they started,

Family Business Parallels

SPEAKER_02 10:25

there was no computers. I agree, I agree. My dad, I'm sure your dad, they digitized the dealership, like wet like websites.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

When when I first started, we were on um DOS. This is in the 90s. I mean, I we act like this is 1972. Um, but we were it we were on DOS, and then I remember when I first started my I was I was going to school for law school, and my dad said, There's enough lawyers in the world, why don't you help your mother do a catalog? And I said, Okay. And uh I went to um Barnes and Noble and and bought PageMaker, and it was 27 floppy discs that you had to wait for it to load and keep going. But you know, we now outsource our catalog, but I did it for many years. But uh our first production catalog, so you know, I think we're very similar. Family businesses, we all learn how to do it together. Yes, and um, but it's a gift, and it's a pleasure to get to sit with you and be able to talk with somebody else who who also has that multi-generation and with family, and

Tech Shifts And DIY Catalogs

SPEAKER_03 11:20

family businesses are tremendous and they are such a gift and a blessing, but they have their own challenges, and I'm proud of you for for persevering and doing your own. And my dad also told me I had the gift of gab. So gift of gab. So gift of gab paid off all those cheerleading things that you had to go cheerleading. Okay. Oh, there you go. It's meant to be. This is the secret to family businesses, cheerleading, yeah, dads that were that were tough on us. But thank you, Christy. Thank you for being here. Tough love, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

We have a lot of similarities.

SPEAKER_03 11:49

We do, and and and you know what? We'll have to do a follow-up because I definitely want to hear about how this hundredth anniversary has gone.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Thank you for being here at a part of being the Wards Way. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

All right.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

See, that was fun.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

We just had Thanks for joining us. Make sure you subscribe to the Wards Way podcast. We're just getting started.