Apr 06, 2015 8 Questions with: Garrett Kai
I first met Garrett Kai when he attended our ICL Long Beach: Work In Progress talk event back in 2013. It was nice to meet in person as I’d heard quite a bit about him from our many mutual friends, acquaintances, and business partners including Jeffstaple, John Pangilinan, Brandon Shigeta, Gabe & Matt at 0484 Creative, and many others who’d worked with Garret via his popular Ruck Out events. He was kind enough to stop by Imprint’s temporary office digs in Downtown Long Beach recently, allowing us the opportunity to catch up and learn a lot more about what he does. Garrett is an avid fan of motorcycling and does a lot to push media and content around the sport forward. You can follow Garrett on Instagram for more awesome.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on planning for our Ruck Out Long Beach event. The Ruck Out is a custom scooter event that was created in 2012 to celebrate the custom scooter scene. The Ruck Out consists of a custom scooter ride to a cool destination where we host a custom scooter bike show, give away raffle prizes, and gather with friends and family. The Ruck Out has grown from a single event to a series of three events that are held nationwide and a lot of fun for everyone.
How would you describe your job?
I would describe my job as a mix of managing three primary marketing segments. The three areas that I manage include sales support for our sales team, brand marketing for our ten powersports media brands, and creating custom programs for our clients. I really enjoy creating custom programs for our clients because we get to work on a lot of exciting projects for our clients like an agency does, but we are also an agency that happens to own an amazing group of 10 motorcycle media brands that help us distribute those custom programs for our clients.
What does your average work day look like?
I don’t know if I have an average work day. My day usually starts at about 8:30am. I get to the office and make a list of things I am working on for the day, answer emails, and then move on to my work day. My work day can be very different depending on the current project. On some days I’m stuck in meetings all day and on other days I can be riding motorcycles for magazine test, planning a custom video program, working on proposals, riding motorcycles with clients, or traveling for trade shows. I feel lucky that I get to work in a sport that I am passionate about and that I am able to work on a variety of types of projects. The best part is that everything that I work on has to do with motorcycles and for me that is awesome.
What’s the best thing about living and working in SoCal?
The best thing about living and working in SoCal is the diversity. I find that the mix of cultures, styles, businesses, art, and people provide me with an amazing view of what opportunities are available and that you can do some amazing things if you put your mind to it.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration almost anywhere including; Instagram, Twitter, magazines, fastcompany.com, my family, TV, online videos, and street art like I saw at Pow Wow Hawaii.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?
As a kid, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. I don’t know if I really wanted to grow up. I think I just wanted to ride freestyle BMX, ride motorcycles and play basketball all day.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk. It’s a good read about social media strategies and his ideas on how marketers should approach social media programs.
What’s your favorite post-work destination?
My favorite post-work destination is to go home to see my wife and my son. It’s always nice to go home, relax, and hear about how my wife and my son’s day went.
