After talking with Mike Brown, a founding partner of Boston commercial brokerage FHO Partners, one might think the phrase “work hard, play hard,” was invented in his honor.

An avid stand-up paddle surfer and fitness enthusiast, he co-founded the Cape Cod Bay Challenge in 2008, in which participants paddle 30 miles from Plymouth to Provincetown to raise money for Christopher’s Haven, a nonprofit providing housing for families with children undergoing cancer treatment at Mass. General Hospital. Through the challenge, and a charity race along the Charles River, Brown also helped create, he helped raise $80,000 last year for Christopher’s Haven. He recently received the Kennis Nix Inspiration Award from the nonprofit, an award created in 2009 to honor Kennis Nix and her family, the first guests to reside at Christopher’s Haven.

Mike Brown

Title: Partner, FHO Partners; Boston
Age: 57
Experience: 31 years

Why did you create the charity race?

An important thing to remember is that the Cape Cod Bay Challenge is not a race, it’s a challenge, and the whole mission of the [challenge] is for us to inspire each other, and to work from the inspiration we get from these little kids. For some of them, unfortunately this is their last hope. The Cape Cod Bay Challenge is all about family and inspiration. When you paddle 30 miles across open ocean with people, it really does create a strong bond. It is a challenge and you never know what you’re going to run into in terms of the seas or wildlife out there. Last year we had a 15-foot shark swim right beneath us.

What got you into charity work?

I try every five years to sort of create an event to raise money for charity, and when I turned 50 I rode a unicycle 50 miles across Cape Ann, from singing Beach in Manchester to Plum Island in Newburyport and back, for the Massachusetts Special Olympics. The Cape Cod Bay Challenge was on my 55th birthday. I met [co-founder] Bob Babcock in 2008 and became friends real quickly because we both loved the sport, and co-founded the CCBC with him in 2008. In the first year we actually raised money for the Ocean Conservancy, and in 2009 we decided we wanted to raise money for Children’s Haven. In many cases, the family wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in Boston for six to eight weeks of treatment, which could cost anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000. Christopher’s Haven is a fraction of that cost. Bob actually had a brain tumor, and got into stand-up paddle surfing because as a result of his brain tumor he was having balance issues and he thought stand-up paddle surfing would help him overcome it, and it has. Bob heard about Children’s Haven while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Does the fundraising you do relate to your professional career?

At FHO Partners … ever since we started, we like our people to be involved in community involvement, but not for a business standpoint, for a giving back standpoint. Ever since we started, we’ve been pretty fortunate. I feel so fortunate for how the world has treated us and our firm that I feel you have to give back.

How do you balance your charitable work with your real estate career?

I think there’s a natural balance. I seriously believe that one of the important things in life is balance. You work hard at your job, you have your family, and you have something like standup paddle boarding and the charity. Over time they all work well together. I think they enrich your life. We have a saying for the [challenge] – helping yourself through helping others. I think the two go together really well. When you can combine fitness with doing good for others, it’s kind of like the perfect match, and helping to inspire others through the inspiration you get from others is really kind of neat.

Can you describe to those of us who haven’t had the experience what it’s like to do stand-up paddle surfing?

In the surf, it’s unbelievably fun, and the challenge is that you’re constantly standing up on the board, so you’re constantly maintaining your balance. On flat water, it’s a wonderful aerobic workout. You’re using your core and your upper body … and you’re surrounded by beautiful surroundings. It’s awesome. To learn how to do it on flat calm water is not difficult.

Mike Brown’s Top Five Places To Paddle Surf:

Whangamata, New Zealand

San Diego, California

Cape Ann, Massachusetts

Higgins Beach, Maine

Cape Cod Bay