Chic Job: Owner of 686

For those of you into skiing and snowboarding, I’m sure you have heard of the brand 686. I had the privilege of meeting its owner and founder, Mike West, when he came to speak in one of my classes. He is a successful entrepreneur and has shared a little about his job with us.

On the job

1. What is your job title/company and how long have you been there?

Founder/Owner/Creative Director for Westlife Distribution, LLC, which is the parent company for 686 Technical Apparel (snowboarding)

2. What does a “Typical” work day include?

There is no typical day – The only thing that’s typical is the long drive to work. I live in LA and our office is in Orange County, so I’m on the road for 2 hours – I do just about everything from calls, texting, emailing, eating, drinking, and all the things you’re not supposed to do. I have two main roles. One is general manager for all departments which are split into Operations and Finance, Marketing and PR, Sales and Distribution, and Creative/Design, which I’m directly in charge of. The other responsibility is to be the leader and visionary. I need to be able to direct the biz in a direction that will push our position and change how others think, buy and sell.

3. What’s your favorite part of your job?

Sounds simple enough, but it’s tough. I guess it’s the freedom to do things on your own terms (within reason). I’m proud that we’re able to be around for over 17 years in a biz that’s ruled by old ski companies. At the same time, we’re able to have a great group of people that share the same passion as well as support their families.

4. What is your least favorite part of your job?

Again, that’s tough, as I do things that I’m not necessarily as passionate about, but essentially it’s really important. Over all these years, I’ve learned about what I’m really good at and what I’m not so much. The financial aspect of running a biz is probably my least favorite, but super important. Fortunately, I have a great CFO that understands our goals of the biz (I met him at USC a long time ago!)

5. What do you wear to work?

We’re in the casual lifestlye biz, so we wear whatever – shorts, tee’s, chucks, denim, you name it, we rock it.

6. How many hours do you work a week?

Running your gig, there are no hours to clock in or clock out (at least for myself). However, I only go to the office 5 days a week, about 10-12 hours, then go home and work another 2 hours for our Asia calls. Saturday and Sunday, I work in the morning and at night, while taking time off to chill with my wife, friends, and fam.

Mike West

7. What characteristics do you have that make this job a good fit for you?

I’m always thinking about the “what if’s.” I like the process of how things are done. More so, I like the creative process and am inspired off others. If I can take part of that process and make it my own, even better.

8. What does the future hold for you career wise?

Going to USC and Pepperdine, it took a long time for me to realize it’s ok to do things your way. A lot of my friends went on to the corporate world and became lawyers, bankers, or other suit types of jobs. No disrespect to them, but I felt that since I spent all of this money on great schools, I should have followed the same path. I’m thankful I was able to start something and run with it in a time that allowed it. The 20s are your golden years where you can make mistakes and get back up. Now, in my 30s, it’s much more difficult as I have more baggage. Nonetheless, whatever the future holds, I hope I’ll be doing it in my own terms.

9. If you could do anything else for a living, what would it be?

One of the things I’ve realized is that MORE is NOT necessarily a good thing. Sometimes people get stick in the motions of bigger is better, more, more, more. There comes a point of diminishing returns as sometimes you get more at the expense of others. I’ve been fortunate to travel to many places across the globe – and you know what – there are shitty things going on that no one here knows about. It’s more than what you see on the Sunday news – GIVING is a great thing and it doesn’t have to be money. Time, caring for others in a way that you’d like would be great.

Mike also has a blog that you should all check out! Be sure to check out 686 for the upcoming snow season!