Leaving the 8-5 to chase the Moto dream (non racer)

JWACK wrote:

Do not sell your paid off house!!!!

No matter what happens at least you would have a roof over your head. Just my 2 cents.

CR250Rider wrote:

To get to heaven, you have to die first

stangkag wrote:

Hi everyone my name is Kyle and I have a genuine love for the sport of Motocross/Supercross much like most of you here. For some reason...

Hi everyone my name is Kyle and I have a genuine love for the sport of Motocross/Supercross much like most of you here. For some reason I never enjoyed playing ball and stick sports like baseball, soccer, basketball, or football. The only thing that kept me coming back for more, time and time again was my joy of riding a dirtbike no matter how many tanks of fuel I ran through those bikes I always wanted more. Growing up I had always dreamed of being the next McGrath or Carmichael and it just never came to fruition. After graduating high school I moved away from my small home town routes and started the typical rat race at a 8-5 job working 40 hours a week or more. All though I've always had good paying jobs "Oil field, Truck driver, Managing stores" etc, I've never felt truly happy at any of my jobs. Growing up I had heard the old saying that "If you find a career that makes you feel happy and eager to get to every morning then you've found the right calling for you, because after all if you are happy to go to your job every morning...Is it really a job at all?"

Back in 2012 I was skimming through the moto related section of this forum and noticed Kilbarger Racing was hiring a driver for the east coast lites rounds. (Levi Kilbarger #412) and (Nico Izzi #42) were supposed to be on the team but Nico bailed on the ride and was later replaced by (Shawn Rife #714). I jumped all over the chance and ended up landing the job, this was a week before Arlington SX and I was still living on the farm in Kansas. Within a couple of days I was on a plane going from Denver to Columbus where I met the team mechanic Jon and Levis dad Tony. They took me to the race shop in Logan, OH and introduced me to the rig (man was I ever in moto heaven) there were race bikes and practice bikes everywhere, I had never seen so many exhaust systems, spare plastics, fuel tanks, frames, tires, and full suspension kits outside of a dealership before in my life. They had a dedicated race shop just to work in and he had an awesome outdoor track https://youtu.be/CbHAJdnManM and a supercross track to boot. Thinking the day couldn't possibly get any better I was informed that Levi trained with none other than my favorite 250 rider at the time Justin Barcia and that I would be headed to his compound the following morning to load the bikes up and gear up for the season to start in just 6 short days!!!

My mind was completely blown at this point, I was just a 26 year old farmer from a small town in Kansas and I had been driving trucks over the road for the past 5 years but now I was headed to a MX compound on the GA FL line to meet up with Levi, Justin, and Jon to start my career in the MX industry! For the next 5 1/2 weeks I traveled to Arlington, Atlanta, St. Louis, Daytona, and Indianapolis my life was a blur of pure bliss. I didn't work a single day in my mind, it was all a dream job! I'd wake up early on training days mon - fri and walk the 2 outdoor tracks https://youtu.be/7MYJss-lynE to soak in what it was I was doing for a living and truly cherish the experience I had been given. I was able to help clean bikes, dissassemble and learn to work on bikes, keep track of lap times and progress in relation to new parts being tried on the bikes. Dropping the gate for practice starts, etc I was really living my version of heaven on earth. Fridays mornings I would leave Justins and head to that weekends race venue, races on Saturdays and head back to the compound on sundays and repeat week after week! It was after St. Louis I think when Shawn left the team and it was only Levi in the rig but we were still going to finish out the year and my employment was safe at least until outdoors started. Then after the round in Indianapolis Levi and Justin were practicing down in FL preparing for Toronto the following week and I was headed to the race shop in OH for some maintenance on the rig and I got the call that Levi had broken his wrist during a practice crash. Just like that... and then there was none. I was dreading moving back to the farm but it was what it was and I greatly appreciated the memories and experiences I had gained during those short 6 weeks with the team.

Now 5+ years later I'm managing a mechanic shop in southern Oklahoma working 50-55 hours a week and living pay check to pay check and quite honestly miserable again. Its a decent paying job and I like my coworkers but I cant possibly see myself doing this for another 30 years, its just not my passion. I hate the rat race as they call it, working 40 hours a week or more at a job for 40 years or more for the hope that you'll retire at 40% of what you were earning while employed full time. All I look forward to now is my Saturdays so that I can watch the outdoors on my NBC Gold app. I quit riding 2 years ago after I had a bad head on collision with another motorist resulting in a fatality and due to the wreck I mentally and physically felt my days of riding were over but now days its literally all I can think about. Coming so close to death and walking away only injured was a big wake up call for me but Ill be honest the first couple years I lived in severe survivors guilt and felt horrible about the other driver losing his life and I made it through it. Why did he cross the center median and come in to my lane? As bad as I tried I couldn't shake that question...WHY Why do these things happen. Kind of like Jessy Nelson's story or Mika Musquin's but I finally realized there is no answer to WHY, its just life and it happens to us all. Some have it much worse than others but we all struggle with something at some point.

All these previous paragraphs are just me mumbling on trying to paint you all a picture of my passion for MX and a brief description of where I've been, where I am now, and where I want to go in the future. I was found at 0% fault for the accident I was in and walked away with a small settlement. With that settlement I bought and paid cash for my home and I'm very fortunate not to have a mortgage at 31 years old. I have a good paying job with great co workers even though its long hours, and I'm great at my job but it isn't a fraction as satisfying as walking through those tunnels and into a new stadium each weekend during SX season and walking the track with the best racers of our time. That right there is my dream, and I lived it for 6 short wonderful weeks but that has come and gone. I'm hoping that I can find a way back into the moto industry, I feel like I have an entrepreneurial spirit and I like the idea of being my own boss. My ambition tends to scare some employers because with me the sky is always the limit and I believe that that attitude translates into great business if guided correctly. I am putting my house on the market tomorrow so that I can free up my capital and chase my dream. I plan to buy a diesel pickup and a 5th wheel and hit the road to follow the races and have some left over $$$ for a start up company. I currently make side money on my ecommerce store and intend to continue building that up but I also want to start up a moto company of some kind but this idea will take much more thought as this industry has shown me many times, alot of moto related companies have come and gone rather quickly. Its a difficult industry to thrive in from what I've seen.

Some of my favorite business quotes are: "If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours." and "Look after the customers and the business will take care of itself." I believe in these 2 quotes very much and think thats what big businesses fail to do. They are generally more worried about the bottom $$$ than the customer. So I hope to start my moto business venture by asking you the moto fans... What motocross related tool, part, bike accessory, graphics design, clothing brand, bike lift, media videos etc. doesn't exist yet or maybe there's already something that exists but could be made better.

What are some things you get frustrated with during a typical ride day, what are things that could be made to make your ride better or easier, the loading up process , the unloading process, gear ideas, etc. Please if you have any ideas spill it , share it I want to hear it. I hope to come up with something on my own or by talking to one of you about an idea and with any luck I can make a great product and bring it to market. If you would rather email me directly and keep your ideas confidential please email me at kyle_glassman@hotmail.com with the subject: MOTO IDEAS.

I've also thought about buying a high quality camera something that shoots in 4K and doing some video edits of the amateurs, or local pros that could have been! Even possibly try to startup a new moto website with rider and team bios, interviews, photo shoots, stats, maybe a ranking system (yes im a stats and tech nerd).

Well I've rambled on way to long by now, but if you've made it this far into the topic then you get the gist and hopefully you'll feel motivated to share that great moto idea that just hasn't been introduced to the market yet!

Happy riding friends!

Kyle
kyle_glassman@hotmail.com

JWACK wrote:

Do not sell your paid off house!!!!

No matter what happens at least you would have a roof over your head. Just my 2 cents.

Falcon wrote:

This is the first thing I thought. If I were you, I'd set up an LLC, and then take out a business loan for whatever business...

This is the first thing I thought.

If I were you, I'd set up an LLC, and then take out a business loan for whatever business you plan to run. If it all goes south, you'll still have your home and they cannot come after the "employee" of the business for the money lost. On the other had, if your business is a smashing success, you can pay of the business loan and then you'll own your home and a successful venture.

Good luck in whatever you do!

bama205 wrote:

not totally true, they can definitely come after the members of an LLC.

Seek professional advice.
Keep the house and don't borrow any more money.