How are you doing today?
I am having a bit of a rubbish day today, been feeling under the weather for a few days and went to see the Doctor and its looking like I have Swine Flu, or symptoms indicating to that affect. Looks like I’m going to be stuck indoors resting up for the next few days before my graduation on Wednesday.
What do you do at Federal for those who do not know?
I basically do all the product stuff, designing, dealing with suppliers etc and other random day to day things.
I’d imagine a lot of weight and pressure is off your shoulders now that you have graduated with your Masters degree in Engineering? How many years have you been in school?
Yeah it is a massive relief, it’s kind of strange to no longer be in education though. My Degree was 5 years but in total I’ve been in education for 18 years so it will be weird doing something else from now on.
It seems like going to college is more of an added bonus when working in the BMX industry at this point. Do you feel like college is something everyone should at least give a shot?
I wouldn’t say everyone should go to college/university, as for some people it might not be the best thing for them, it’d be naive of me to say that everyone benefits from the education system in the same way. I think if you want to go then you should, especially if you have an interest in something. I will say that you get out what you put in though and its definitely more rewarding if you put everything into it as you feel like you’re investing in yourself.
Will you still be working for Federal? Do you have any plans for career changes anytime soon? I’d imagine you could make a lot of money doing something outside of BMX?
I will still be working for Federal yes, for the foreseeable future. I’m looking forward to giving it 100% of my attention now that I’m not torn between University and work, we’re really going to push it hard and have some exciting things planned already.
In terms of the long term I will at some point move into a different career path/industry, I love BMX but it can only give so much in return in terms of financial and personal reward as it is a relatively small industry. I’d like for someone else to have the same opportunities I have had and keep the Federal brand moving forward. I know it might be a controversial thing to say that there is not enough money within the industry currently to keep me in BMX given my qualifications but I’ve invested a lot both financially and mentally into gaining them and would like to use them to their full potential. Realistically you have work until you’re 65 in the UK and I’m not sure how current I’d be designing frames at 65 haha! There’s plenty of salty people out there who’ll disagree and call me a sell out for not doing it all for the love but at the end of the day its my decision and I stand by it.
When it comes to designing something for Federal, what are the steps you usually take to go from idea to prototype?
Well we’re currently working on some new signature frames for a few of the riders and in the case of these it usually involves me sitting down with them and talking through what they’d like their frame to be like, in terms of geometry and features etc. From this I can take their ideas and work it into a frame that is sound in terms of its engineering. We’ll go back and forth until everyone’s happy and then we’ll order some samples, these will then be rider tested and any changes deemed necessary will be made before production.
Anything new over at Federal that you can tell us about? New products, team changes, trips, anything like that?
We have a joint trip coming up in Canada with Macneil as part of the Ten Pack Re-Session tour and then a few more trips in the works for later on in the year. All the new product has just dropped worldwide to a pretty good reaction and is selling fast, so if you want anything make sure you hit up your LBS quick!
Now that you don’t have classes, papers, tests, or anything like that to worry about. What is your daily routine going to be like?
It’s probably going to be a lot less fraught and I’m looking forward to concentrating on Federal. I think I’ll most likely just work in the mornings, ride in the afternoon, do more work after that and then have the evenings for chilling.
What is something about yourself that most people really don’t know?
I went to an all boys boarding school.
What does the rest of 2009 have in stock for you? Anything you are really looking forward to?
I’ll be working on Federal, buying a car and travelling about a bit, riding my bike, seeing old friends, hopefully going overseas where possible and generally enjoying chilling before I start looking to move onto the next chapter in my life.
Any plans for tonight?
I’m going to drink Lemsip, watch movies and chill with the missus.
