whenever in a bad mood just hit up the sl forum, if you cant get some good laughs in here then u are stuck. and yes again thanks kane for throwin it out there!

 

if any of you guys got fake ***** you'd never leave them alone long enough to get anything else done.

 

he's in nevada, they just go straight to the ranch two at a time

 

i got fake *****, they are just on my wife and i leave them alone, kinda

 

so kane thats not pics of your house?......j/p i was kidding wit the pics cause i know ppl think either u make nuffin or you life in million dollar houses

 

nope, still alive and kickin.'

 

Quick post: I can say I made a living at it, but not much beyond that. The income/cost ratio damn near equals out until you get closer to the top of the game.

Long post:
LIFE STORY TO FOLLOW, TURN BACK NOW IF UNINTERESTED!
When things first took off for me, I was 10 years into the car biz & at this point operating a small high-end & exotic car lot. I ran it open to close 6-7 days a week myself, plus an auto auction side gig, so it quickly became a problem that at least every other weekend I had an opportunity for a stunt show or comp somewhere in the state or country, and it always made me feel sick to have to turn it down . I was make decent money at the car lot & auto auctions, but it wasn't my dream and the money didn't make it so. Riding was my passion and what made me feel like my years were spent really LIVING, to the fullest. Like I said, I felt sick when I had to turn down even some lo or no paying gig, some that would even cost me more to attend than I would make, but even at a financial loss the feeling of turning down the opp made me feel awful compared to the money I would miss out on from the car lot. Money has never saved me from being miserable for not doing something that brought me joy & fulfillment. So I knew what I had to do to be happy.
I quit the car biz, and took up riding full time.

By full time, I do NOT mean riding full time. Because to get there, you FIRST have to take up the off-bike aspects of riding, and do THAT full-time! Things like promoting, networking, approaching, exposure & media, etc etc etc. You gotta work HARD to get out there, get booked, get backed, and get big. Kane has told you guys this before many times and I say it again cuz it's the damn truth--- you don't have to necessarily be the BEST skilled rider out there to be pro, but what you do gotta do is work your effin **** off to build an image, sell it to the people that matter, back it up by doing the job you promise, and do it well. There you go. Nobody is going to do it for you, unless you feel like shelling out for a PR agent; your name & skill are only going to speak for themself so much. You can't sit back and wait for the offers to come rolling in, you have to go to THEM. If you do your job well later the tides will turn in that area.
So I worked hard at establishing relationships with potential sponsors, promoted booking availability, and networked with positive people. Plus, times were good. As some of you out there in the show circuit know, things were pretty good a few years ago, lots of gigs & shows for the taking ....IF you were ambitious and went to them of course.

Tip: Event organizers have enough to do, and talent bookers often are not experts of the scene. They don't know who is anybody aside from Eval Knieval. Don't make their job harder or wait for them to come to you, go to them and tell them who you are! You gotta realize, it is NOT very realistic to think that event talent bookers are on Stuntlife/ride.ccom, have a subscription to Stuntride & SSB, or are in the stands at all the events. If so, we would be seeing them post up here casting calls for shows & events, wouldn't we? What a dream that would be, but you see how rarely it happens.

To get back to the point, end result after all the work was I picked up enough sponsors, networked with enough important people, made enough friends to share eachother's gigs, and sent out enough packets to have enough shows, comps, & events to keep us on the road & on the bike and me out of a normal day job for a whole year. It was a dream come true, I was riding & travelling all over the country! But the reality is that I was just making enough to pay my basic bills & expenses, so there was fame but no profitable fortune. But whatever, i was happy with that!

Unfortunately in my case, I doubted it, I was sure it was too good to be true, and was sure the bubble could burst at any minute. I had no health insurance, no savings left, so I was getting by but on thin ice. The consequences of 1 bad wreck or a month of no gigs & I would have been in the red. I felt I was sooooo close to breaking into making this lifestyle truly a sustainable life, but I played it safe instead, betting on my nearly lifelong plague of Murphy's law. I decided to take a job at a bike shop, working in the service department, figuring the experience, resources, parts & service discounts, health insurance & extra cash would surely only benefit my endeavors!
*buzzer* WRONG.
I was trapped back in the grind of not being permitted to take time off for gigs, having to wait a year to get a week off. I couldn't travel or do weekend events anymore, and in the end only got to compete in 1 major event that year. Sponsors faded away, gig bookings ran out, opportunities dwindled. No I couldn't even expect to quit my job and get back into it, I wouldn't survive while I worked it back up. It all swirled down the drain and left me, high, dry & working class again.
Aaaaaand that brings us up to date. Here I am now.
It sucks. I mean, it REALLY,
F*CKING.
BLOWS.


Moral of the story?

GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

On that note, let me drop off something that some of yo umay appreciate as much as I do. It's a cool bit by Bukowski, and it has become a bit of my mantra.... He basically says GO BIG OR GO HOME in a much more poetic way.

 

I decided to post it up in it's own thread for everyone to enjoy. Apologies for the twin post.

 

It takes about 18 months to build a sustainable BASE for a profit motivated enterprise. Double that if it's a niche industry, or you are starting at a disadvantage. I'm not talking about yourself as an athlete, that's another full time job developing chops, I mean you as a brand. if you want to make money, don't expect it to come off of podiums or sponsors. go get that money.

It's the same for me, and my little business interests.

I could tell you stories of driving 20 hours on a very small budget, sleeping in my car etc, but I'm sure you all have similar stories. If you can be humble enough to learn, and proud enough to try your ***** off, nothing will be able to stop you.

Those first three years trying to make money and get organized are the time you will most want to quit.

If you're not working 16 hour days you're just thinking about getting started.
Just don't give up, and be honest about your talent and skill levels, you'll get where you take yourself.

 

Hell yeah I remember some of those trips heading down my way! How ya been chickadoodle?

 

******* amazing. I love it when a plan comes together. How are you?

 

thanks for that Valeska! good ****!! sucks you had to give up your dream though.

 

i think you should be added to Kane's list of pro stunters making a decent living.

i could be wrong, but don't u also have a background in IT?

 

+1 couldnt have put it any better ..i know exactly what your talkin about

 

Glad you liked! And I haven't given up, just had to deal with being sidelined for a bit. I'm already making preps to get back in the game.

 

Wayyyyyyyy better than days before thats fo sho! Time & focus fixes everything...