Before I get into the reason for this blog post, I just want to say that "You've come a long way, baby" is one of my favorite names for a record album (Fatboy Slim's 1998 release). I don't know much about the man behind Fatboy Slim, Norman Cook, but he was probably reflecting on his career, and thought to himself, "You've come a long way, Norman." Hence the name for his release.
And hence, the name for my blog entry as well.
Today, I was going through some files that I keep track of on a regular basis (since I was paying bills). One has been tracking my bank account balances since my college years... more specifically, since the day I had started Reaction Snowboards, Incorporated.
Now, I've heard stories about celebrities, and how far they've come; Jewel lived in a car and was homeless, The Rock had $150 in his pocket and the clothes on his back, others like Charlize Theron were discovered while out doing their daily errands.
Granted, I've never had it THAT difficult. I come from a middle class family in a suburban neighborhood. However, the day I told my mom I was going to start a snowboard company, she told me she was totally against it. She wanted a stable career for me and for me to focus on school.
But I started it anyway, and in July of 2001, Reaction Snowboards became a Corporation in the State of Washington. At that time, I didn't have my own credit card. All I had was a basic checking / savings account at Bank of America, a Paypal account online, and an eBay account to go along with it. That was pretty much it.
It was pretty tough trying to get anything started. I think I had saved up $1500 by selling everything I own, except for what was necessary (a computer, camera, and snowboard gear). But I spent all that excess cash on getting products made.
If you look at my account balances from December 17, 2001, it states the following...
$336.14 - Paypal
$105.34 - Bank of America Checking
$8.45 - Bank of America Savings
That was smack in the middle of our first winter. Just over 3 months after September 11. It felt like 9/11 was on everybody's minds, and the economy as a whole was struggling. Business was tough and I never thought I would even break even. That day, I had less than $450 to my name.
And those who know me best know that money doesn't make life easier. I felt like I had only 3 sets of bills to pay; suppliers, manufacturers and eBay. Back then, it was a HUGE deal to buy a $200 - 2 megapixel digital camera. But I needed it to take pictures of products we planned on carrying. And then we needed a $600 JVC miniDV camcorder to record our riders in action. And forget LCDs, new game systems, and new cars... what I had was good enough and got the job done.
These days, I justify buying those things by telling myself, "I think I've worked hard enough to have the finer things." It's definitely frustrating though, when I take a step back and think to myself, "Man, HOW much did I pay for that? Do I really need that?" And realize that I have a ton of things I could do without. I mean, all I REALLY need as a real estate agent these days is a car, computer with internet connection and a printer / fax machine. Maybe some business cards too.
I guess this is just a lesson to anyone who happens to be reading this. I have a passion for a lot of things in life, but the passion I had for snowboarding at that time, just being outdoors, away from everything, with friends or without, being close to nature and natural beauty, has yet to be matched. But if I ever feel that passion again, you can bet I won't be sitting here at my computer. All I needed back then was enough money to continue snowboarding. Nothing else was really necessary.
