Every kid whose made it through high school has no doubt been given the following advice at one point or another: “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. For most of you, that advice means one thing and one thing only: get a job in BMX. And why shouldn’t you? A lot of people will tell you BMX is a bigger than ever before, so there must be some line of work you can go into where you will be able to make good money but also stay attached to the sport you love, right? Maybe. I decided to list off some of the possible careers in BMX and give you my opinion on how each one looks as a viable career path. Print this out, give it to your guidance counselor, and tell him to buy a cat shirt.
Welder: When I was a kid, every dude who rode BMX wanted to be a welder. At that time, every decent BMX frame was made in America and the prospect of moving to sunny California and welding Warpig’s under the watchful eye of Mr. Moeller sounded like heaven on earth (if you were lucky you might even get punched in the face by Marvin!). But then something happened. Everyone started having their stuff made in Taiwan. So unless you are a real go-getter and want to shoot for one of the 3 jobs that exist welding frames in the USA (or you’re into the idea of relocating to Taiwan and working for 19 cents an hour), this probably isn’t a good idea.
Score: 0/10
Photographer: Unlike being a welder, which has really fallen out of fashion with the kids these days, there are still plenty of riders chasing this dream. But how many full time photographers exist in BMX these days? Jeff Z, Dolecki and Ricky Adam all come to mind, and there are another couple guys too, but it’s not a long list. And with the rumor mill constantly buzzing about which BMX magazine is going to go out of business first, photography might not be your best option. But there’s still work to be had in BMX photography if your skills are up to par, so don’t give up hope on this one completely.
Score: 4/10
Videographer: Almost every kid into BMX has picked up a video camera, filmed some shit and thought about how cool it would be to make a video. Some actually do it. And a select few actually make decent money from their videos, or get a job with a company like Props filming contests or roadtrips. Unfortunately, DVD sales have plummeted in the internet age and you can count on one hand the number of BMX videographers making anything close to a living wage.
Score: 3/10
Company Owner: How many BMX companies that have started in the last 10 years can you think of that weren’t launched by a big name pro rider, that are actually doing well? Not many. How many companies can you think of that were started by someone you’d never heard of, that made a couple T shirts and then fell off the face of the eartH? Right. So unless you’re already a well known pro rider (in which case, history tells us you will almost certainly be ensured some degree of success) this one just isn’t happening.
Score: 0/10
Pro Rider: Possibly the hardest, most demanding career path you could aspire to take, but also the most dirrectly connected to riding, being a pro rider is probably the most sought after career choice in BMX. But there are a couple problems if you decide you want to be a pro rider. First, you need to be good. But not just regular good, you need to be amazing. You can’t just study Chase’s most recent video part and learn every trick he can do, you’re going to have to invent tricks, go as big or bigger than Sean Burns or be an absolute style god to even make a company owner consider cutting you a monthly check.
But that’s STILL not enough. Being a pro rider isn’t all about being a good rider, there are plenty of other things to consider. Here’s an example… Nigel Sylvester and Eric Holley both started popping up in videos right around the same time and both ride similarly, but Nigel is probably the highest paid street rider today and Eric… isn’t even close. Why? Because Nigel is marketable as fuck. He’s well dressed, personable, friendly and stylish. He’s street, but not street enough to be dangerous, which is why companies like Gatorade and Nike look at him as the perfect team rider. And Eric Holley, despite being arguably just as good as Nigel, just doesn’t stand out in the same way. Image matters. Is Nigel an amazing rider? Of course, and he could never be in the position he’s in without being incredibly talented, but it’s the other things about him, that have nothing to do with his riding, that make him so successful.
But then say you turn pro. You made it. You finally hit the big time. How much do you stand to make as a dude first getting hooked up? You’ll be lucky to get 500 a month from your frame sponsor (many dudes get much less and very few get more). If you’re lucky enough to have a parts sponsor, that could be another 200. Say you somehow manage to get a shoe sponsor too, there’s another 200. And if somehow by the grace of god you manage to get a clothing sponsor as well, there’s another 200. So basically what I’m saying is that if you manage to be one of the absolute best riders in the world, you’ll be lucky to clear 1000 dollars a month. On the bright side, you’ll probably also qualify for welfare which is kind of neat.
Score: 1/10
Blogger: This is probably the newest BMX career path, and the one I know the most about. But how many dudes are making a good living from BMX blogging aside from yours truly? Harrison of Degrip makes some loot, but he’s also full time for Macneil. Brian Tunney is full time over at ESPN, so he counts, but he also TM’s Eclat. So really your odds of clearing the poverty line off of writing stuff online are probably worse than your odds of getting struck by lightning.
Score: 1/10
What do you think? Got any other career opportunities in BMX that I didn’t mention, or do you disagree with some of my analysis? Let me know in the comments.
