Who the hell is this guy and why doesn’t he want you to take his advice?

The short version:

My name is Trey and I consider myself an Industry Rat. I have worked in nearly every position in almost every segment of our beloved Bicycle Industry over the last 35 years and despite multiple attempts to leave, I finally succumbed to the journey I was meant for. I spent many years in retail before, during, and after the explosion of e-commerce. I worked in the supply side of our industry as a brand manager for a large manufacturer that sold to distributors, retailers, and even direct-to-consumer. I spent four years during the explosion of eCommerce with a major distributor as an outside sales rep, visiting & getting to know a wide range of bicycle retailers & suppliers along with their challenges (often with each other). I also worked a fair amount of time on the media side of our industry doing tech reviews, opinion pieces, and interviews in both print & digital formats. Outside of the Bicycle Industry, I have worked in power sports sales, and was the Marketing Director for a manufacturer in the commercial & residential audio/video industry. There I swam in digital marketing & analytics and developed various marketing campaigns & targeted advertising aimed at getting the right information to the right people, at the right time. I’ve attended countless trade shows all over the world in both the bicycle and other industries as an attendee, manufacturer, distributor, and media outlet. I’ve seen what it takes to create a fantastic atmosphere that creates value for all involved… a trend I hope to see continue in ours.

Each of my positions over the years combined to give me a wide range of perspectives and an understanding about the challenges each segment of our industry faces… often with each other. Those well-timed experiences gave me a fluent understanding of the kinds of conversations we need to have but I knew it wouldn’t work for the long term unless everyone worked together rather than point fingers. After several years of consideration & planning, I decided to create a platform that gives every individual in our industry a front-row seat and a place to speak so we can have some much-needed conversations on a massive scale.

I created Industry Grease to be The Bicycle Industry’s Community Hub so we can better serve our current, potential, and especially unknown customers. In the end, this effort isn’t to benefit us… Its primary purpose is to benefit the consumer! A more accurate way to put it is: I want to give more people the best and most inclusive experience possible of all that is this crazy bicycle culture and the best way to do that is by developing a healthier & more sustainable Bicycle Industry to better support them. The better we do for them, the better they’ll do for us. And why not enjoy the hell out of it while we do it? I don’t think anything is going to be sustainable unless our personal happiness is kept in check so while some only want to focus on the bottom line, most I know wouldn’t be doing this if they didn’t love it.

Why shouldn’t you listen to me?

No matter what part of the country, type of business, or even an individual’s role, Industry Grease is designed to give everyone an opportunity to learn from each other. My belief is that one person speaking on behalf of an entire industry is as arrogant as it is inaccurate. It is impossible for one person to give advice that aligns with such a broad range of individual circumstances. However, if there is a formal place and a catalyst to get some much-needed conversations started, the information shared & gained from a wide range of similar circumstances will nurture the changes both retailers & suppliers will equally value. I want to get as many people with different backgrounds together to generate a better variety of questions, ideas, and feedback we can use as individuals, businesses, as well as a community. Retailers in different parts of the country who have similar challenges can share ideas & learn from each other as well as form a bigger & more uniform voice suppliers value. Suppliers need a more unified & broader source of feedback so they can base decisions on what suits a wider range of retail channels. In the end, we are rewarded because the consumer wins.

The Long Version:

Who is this Industry Rat?

I take a lot of pride in my roots as the proverbial Shop Rat. A Shop Rat is someone who desires to be surrounded by everything that has to do with the theater of a bike shop… at any cost. Many of us, even those who weren’t a Shop Rat, developed the same kind of healthy addiction when we decided that the Bicycle Industry is home. The range between glory to misery doesn’t matter as much as it does to just be here. Many in our industry don’t even ride bicycles but love & appreciate the culture & energy that drives us all to be here. No matter where or for how long you’ve been around, if you’ve dedicated yourself to being a proud member of the Bicycle Industry, you too are an Industry Rat.

Retail – Shop Rat, Mechanic, & Sales – 1989-2000

I unofficially started in the bicycle industry over 30 years ago towards the end of high school as an unpaid shop rat… until I drove them mad enough to hire me. My career on the retail side of the industry scattered itself on the timeline before, during, & after the turbulent internet & eCommerce came about. Early on, I spent most years between two Schwinn dealers as both a mechanic & salesperson. This was during the time period when Schwinn was going through a lot of changes, filed for bankruptcy, and changed hands a couple of times. I experienced firsthand the early scrambles & hardships of bicycle retail & how the supply channels drastically changed things. Regardless, we have established an amazing culture that still to this day, is hard to believe. Despite changes in the marketplace, the culture we established drove us to adapt but as things progressed, it became harder each day as the consumer was changing at a pace that we couldn’t keep up with. What ran our show was the culture we developed. One Thursday, my co-worker (Mark) asked if I’d like to ride to a couple of bars to grab a drink. Within a few weeks, we had 10 to 20 people show up each Thursday to do a pub crawl. That pub crawl went on for over 20 years and through three owners. Years after I moved, I was in town visiting family and asked if I could borrow a bike & join the pub crawl. Mark joined me and apparently, word got out that the ‘Godfathers’ of the Pub Crawl were riding, and over 70 people showed up. 30 years later, I still talk to and visit those I met doing that pub crawl.

Retail – Sales, Mechanic, Consultant & Other Stuff – 1997-2005

I was in & finishing college all this time and due to various logistics, found myself working as a full-time mechanic for a big box store with a massive bicycle department. While we sold a lot of bikes, it was a sterile environment with very little culture outside of those who worked in our department. Still, the low-intimidation factor meant we had a large volume of foot traffic so I never saw a big-box as good or bad, but instead, just a different flavor for those with different tastes. As I was about to transition to what I thought might be a career I learned of a new shop being opened by someone who rode bikes but had zero experience in retail, much less, bicycle retail. While they… and I felt I was a bit arrogant with my opinion, I finally convinced them to change their plan and consider shaping their business around the community rather than an extension of their hobby. This was the first time I consulted someone on how to establish their business using the experience I gained over the years and to this day, they are still thriving and serving their community well. Since that experience, I was hooked and spent the next 20 years considering how I could do this for a living… and be accepted.

Throughout the 1990s & mid-2000s, I often had more than one job while going to school. During the latter part, I spent my weekends at the shop and weekdays working in a physical therapy clinic as it aligned with what I thought I wanted to do for the long term. Despite a now obvious change in plan, I learned a lot about a wide range of people & what drove them to persevere during difficult times. Much like in our industry, there was often a moment where one realized there wasn’t really a choice of ‘Fight or Flight’ because giving up wasn’t an option. This is the very reason I began putting more emphasis on the people who make each part of our industry tick more so than a business or a particular segment of our industry.  

Towards the end of this period, I led sales at one of the US’s largest Honda Power Sports dealers. I have ridden motorcycles only two years less than bicycles and was shocked, but not surprised how many people that rode motorcycles, also rode bicycles. A third of the people who worked there rode mountain bikes together and I learned how the culture & friendships there often aligned with our own. I also came to understand how our two industries are becoming more easily associated with each other along with the misconceptions we both have about the other.

Supply (Manufacturing) – 2007 – 2009

In 2005 I moved to Atlanta and soon after found myself on the manufacturing side of the Bicycle Industry. The world’s largest bicycle tire manufacturer hired me to be what was titled a sales & marketing representative, but in reality, I was the brand manager for a completely new line they wanted to launch. I was kind of thrown into the deep end of the pool with my hands tied behind my back, but it put me on the fast track to learn the ropes & network like crazy… which I absolutely loved! In a very short time period, I became more fluent in product development, marketing, advertising & media, massive sales numbers, and distribution, all on a global scale. We did some direct-to-consumer sales but mostly sold to distributors, OEM/bicycle companies, retailers, and sponsored several athletes & teams. I also learned how important it was to understand cultural differences when it comes to problem-solving & communication. I was taught by the person who hired me that challenges & mistakes went one way or the other depending on not just setting expectations, but my engagement with others. People feel more secure around those who make a point to keep in touch and I am proud to say that I still have great relationships with every person I worked or did business with. Similar to how many bike shops have a culture attached to them, that same symbiotic relationship exists on the supply side of things, but with a different twist. This same hiring manager said they hired me for the ability to get along with others in our industry and definitely not my experience. Anyone can learn, but not everyone can get along with others.

Retail (Post eCommerce Boom) – 2009 – 2011

Like many, I was part of a mass company layoff caused by The Great Recession between 2007 & 2009. Just prior to this, I had received my Tax I.D. for what was going to be my own Bike Shop which never materialized due to the state of the economy. As luck would have it, a good friend had just announced they purchased an existing bike shop in the area and needed some part-time help. They were going to relocate to a bigger space in the same parking lot so together, we designed a bike shop… and later a culture, from scratch. I never told anyone this, but it was like owning a new bike shop without all of the risks and I appreciated getting to experience that. Once again, I started a Thursday Night ‘Ramble’. Just a ride at ‘party pace’ where we figured it out as we went. After leaving to take another position, that ride continued to grow. Some years down the shop closed but thanks to some of the best people I know, the culture that began at that shop became a self-sustaining culture of its own and is still happening every Thursday night… plus several fun pub crawls and outlaw ‘races’ in the hidden urban environments.

I left the above position because I needed something full-time with benefits, I reached out to another shop owner I knew first through another friend & shop owner back in Houston. I was hoping they needed a mechanic or someone in sales as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do long-term. Despite my transparency, as I thought this might be temporary, the owner wanted me to manage a new (3rd) location they had just opened up. Their main store was a staple in the area, having been opened since the late 70s. They had a well-established customer base, but the new location was logistically different and lacked an identity. Basically, they wanted me to figure out the identity and establish a culture. Their business model was impressive as they had a great following & branding while also adapting a very systematic system of inventory, customer, and employee management that I had only experienced in a big-box store. It was strange but I found myself spending less time on the floor and more time establishing things like customer outreach, marketing, store flow, and metrics we could use to measure performance. Of course, I started a Thursday night ride and though that location closed, that group still rides together and I still ride with and often camp with most of those folks over 10 years later.

Supply (Distribution) – 2010 – 2014

A former buyer from one of my top customers during my stint at a bicycle tire manufacturer hunted me down because they were looking for an outside sales rep in my region. I told them I wasn’t interested, TWICE, but they insisted I at least give it a chance. Having two daughters under two years old, was a challenge and I knew how challenging it is to become an outside sales rep. Ironically, the more I heard about the position and talked to other long-time reps who I knew over the years, I learned that it would be the most rewarding & challenging experience of my entire career. The most direct path to knowledge in the Bicycle Industry is in the position of being an outside sales rep. On top of visiting countless retailers of all shapes & sizes, they have a direct line to suppliers and are often the key line of communication through which many decisions are made. It can also be a thankless job as many shops simply don’t have the time or bandwidth to dedicate the time reps often ask for, and too often, the continuous unknowns both sides of our industry face, become the greatest hurdle when trying to sell or buy a line of products. The insight a sales rep has is one of the most underrated and underutilized qualities both retailers & suppliers can greatly benefit from… even when a sale isn’t being made. While some may have believed that there is less of a need for outside sales today, we are finding out that the opposite is true as the communication & feedback they provide is as, if not more valuable, than sales numbers.

Media – (Print, Online, Tech, & Industry Related) – 2014 – Present

Probably the most fun aspect of my industry career was working on the media side of things. The first thing I noticed was, that instead of me chasing down people to sell something to, people were chasing me down. While most media outlets rely on advertising to generate revenue, it’s those media outlets many suppliers rely on to get information into the hands of consumers. If companies weren’t sending me things to test, they were flying me out to a press event which often included good food and great riding. While no one is getting rich doing this, the experiences were almost always a pleasure. That said, what I enjoyed most was being able to write anything I wanted using my own style & approach. Every piece I wrote was a reflection of my personality and one thing I’ve always done is leave room for interpretation. When reviewing a product, I always tried to express my perspective along with a plural set of reasonings. I wanted readers to read something and easily be able to associate it with a perspective of their own, taking mine with a grain of salt. Writing without arrogance isn’t as easy as one might think because the more experience someone has, the more they (think they) know… and often, writers feel their readers expect them to lean one way or another.

I have had countless experiences & conversations with hundreds of retailers & suppliers of all sizes & stages of their business life over the years and cherish every single one. I have also worked in other industries for a brief moment or two that placed me in similar roles but in a completely different professional environment. I have always been a strong observer of other industries’ operations, past & present… so much so, that it’s become a formal hobby of mine. In a nutshell, Industry Grease is everything I’ve learned come full circle, designed to be a launching pad for our industry to build off of.