Finding meaning in work and life while working in the bike industry

When we come at certain points in our lives we start questioning everything we have done and what we are doing? We start searching for meaning in our family, friends and most of all in what we do most of the day.

My guess is that our professional life, our work, is the single thing we spend most of our time awake on this world. I have given this a thought and didn't find any single thing I spend more of my time on than on my work. Even my own children do not get 45-50 hours of my full attention a week. But my work does and it has been so for the last 24 years now. Well then, my work better have meaning if I spend so much of my life on it.

Don't you think this is a very important topic a person should consider ? Should we take this into consideration when choosing our work ?

Here is my story how I got into it and how I found meaning while working in the bike industry.

My first contact with the bike company was when I was 27 years old, in 2006. I was working for Adidas which had a failing distributor in my country and with my wife being pregnant I had to find a new stable job fast. It was not the golden time in the economy here but I was passionate and hard working and got offers to work for a major bank, another sporting goods shop and a small very young bike component distributor company in our city. I refused sporting goods shop right away as it wouldn't change anything in my life and was also a risky company. But the bank was very tempting to me, the pay was great, the prestige was there and I would wear a suit and be fancy and respected. It was really a great ego trip for me. I didn't even think about the bike company at that moment, bank was the only thing on my mind. But then destiny took over and during our negotiations I have learned that in order to work for the bank I would have to move to another city for more than three months for training. This small thing changed everything, my wife was due to give birth to our first daughter during this time and I just couldn't afford to be away at that time. So we as a family had to refuse this offer and thankfully my ego went back to normal.

What got left for me was the small bike company which I even didn't consider seriously and I had no other choice by then. I still remember the day I went to their office for a talk. The office was right next to the small old warehouse and was dusty and smelled of the cheapest bike tires and plastic parts you can find. Anyone who dealt with cheap bikes knows that smell. The office was smaller than a parrot cage. Job was in sales and purchasing but it was required to unload containers and load the bikes on the trucks as well. Small company so even owners were doing that. So I fell from suit and tie businessman to unloading the containers and working overtime.

Well, my duty was to take care of my family so I accepted this job and worked my ass of there. My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and then another one and then another one while I was working there.

To keep the long story short this company went from a small bike factory in old house to a major player in the region. The cycling industry won't make you rich but it will always feed you well, the money was pretty good and I loved the people I worked with. Everyone, from my colleagues to my bike shop owner customers to the component suppliers were just humble good souls. I really enjoyed my work, even it was very difficult at some points and we had a lot of overtime during the bike season it was fulfilling. It was my second family.

Then 2017-2018 came and I felt tired. I got to a position of managing director and was questioning myself a lot if there is any sense in what I am doing. The company was becoming too big and I was handling way too much so that my quality of work would be up to my standards. This made me frustrated and I finally decided to leave.

Again I had to do my duty and find another job before I quit and again an offer from a famous software company, again suit and tie, conferences, free weekends, gym benefits and so on. Then again destiny came into play, one of the companies I used to work with for many years lost their sales guy who was a friend to me. An idea popped up in my mind right away, who cares about the suit and benefits I will travel and meet all the bike factories in the region and even more people and I will still be dealing with bicycles !!! The job is many times more difficult but it felt exciting, after some time work felt exciting again :)

So I reached out to them, Alfred Thun Gmbh, and we started talking how I could help them. Again long story short I started working with them and soon it will be 5 years of our partnership. We expanded our cooperation since the initial idea and I met amazing people since.

Now to the meaning part.

I got asked recently how do I manage to work for so long in the bike industry and how do I keep my passion so strong so it looks as I always work ? That question actually made me think about this topic and write this article.

First good thing is that bike industry is actually very stable, when the times are good people buy expensive bikes to exercise, when the times are bad they buy them to save money. In each situation bike industry is helping people and taking care of the people working in it.

Secondly, people working in the bike industry are one big family. Recently the growth has changed it a bit but still we are one big international family. Fairs like Eurobike are amazing when we all meet. I hardly manage to do any business and always loose my voice because of talking with the people from all over the world. And you know what, I realized, when you talk with people form Germany, Poland, Portugal, China, Turkey, Taiwan, India, Tunisia, Romania and so on ... in the core they are all same and all want same things. There are many superficial differences but in the core we are very much same.

Third, everything I do to help bike being produced helps someone, a person, a team , the planet ! Bicycles put smiles on peoples faces, kids can be independent and go out to play, old people can get out to meet their friends, bike makes people healthier, helps them do things in every day life, lower the pollution....you can add your own benefit but I am sure the list will not be exhausted so easily. Imagine if you work for a tobacco company which basically kills people. Or if you work for a social media company making the app even more addictive to children who are already suffering from anxiety because of you? Yes the money is good but how can you find meaning in that? How can you live with yourself knowing you are using peoples weakness for a profit?

Fourth, I just enjoy helping bike producers which are later making products that bring so much joy to people. The realization that I made someone's life easier with my knowledge is worth more than any money in this world.

Fifth, because of my work I started riding bikes way more than before. It helped me realize actually how good the bicycle is ! Today I ride with my friends whenever I can and it is a holiday for me each time.

Sixth and final for me is that the bike industry keeps you humble! There is a notion that this is changing a bit now with the investment, automotive and software companies coming in. I always say that they will adjust to the bike industry soon when they realize how it works. Bicycle keeps you humble ! Always!

Seventh, I know many legends of the bike industry and really look up to them. These are all people over 70 years old very vital, young minded and still working. Bike industry has treated them well and they are like this because of the bicycles. This is my life goal, to be like these people to be vital, strongminded and working when I am 70 years old :)

These are mine motivators and this is the meaning of my work in the bike industry. It drives me to do more and do it every day !

What is your meaning ? What drives you to work in the bike industry ?

Give me your motivation so we can all use it as ours and make the industry even more exciting and family like !