My Chic Life

For those of you into skiing and snowboarding, I’m sure you have heard of the brand 686. I had the privilege of meeting it’s 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 – which 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 I do, as well as able to 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, t’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 suite types of jobs. No disrespect to them, but I felt that since I spent all of this $ 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 20’s are your golden years where you can make mistakes and get back up. Now, in my 30’s, 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 doesnt have to be $. 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!

Because 8 arms are better than 2

Cupcake Central in NoHo is my new favorite spot to pick up a sweet gift for someone special. You can literally call this place, tell them the theme of your party, and they will custom decorate one, 10, or 100 cupcakes just for you. With AMAZING customer service (I got stuck in traffic and they kept the store open 15 minutes past closing time just for me!) and a willingness to get creative, this little place on Lankershim is a real treat.

Cupcake Central is a Home Run!!

Give them a call and see what their designers can come up with for your next Fall fete or Halloween extravaganza! Cupcake Central hits the spot.

Cupcake Central 5227 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 818.48.SWEET

Metro

It was my first time. Scared and confused, I didn’t know what to expect. Everyone told me it was no big deal. All the cool kids were doing it. I pretended I was a pro, following along, playing the part, and then…it was time to swipe my card, my brand new Metro Card!

My decision to take the plunge and take this ride stemmed from the following factors:

1. Traffic to and from Downtown LA is WHACK.
2. Parking in Downtown LA is EXPENSIVE.
3. HELLOOOO???!!! GLOBAL WARNING???!!!
4. And lastly, our beautiful new office is directly across the street from a METRO STATION!

What can I say? It was easy, fun and a pretty good workout considering the parking lot crossing, stair climbing, and the holding on for dear life. Embarrassingly enough, I’m a little sore today. But will i do it again? Absolutely.

A New Office

Like most love affairs, ours burned hot for a mere instant and then quickly, very quickly, turned cold. At the beginning of 2008, the staff at Chic Events was filled with excitement. Our company was growing and evolving and we needed a new space that would meet our needs. Much like the search for love, we began in earnest… asking friends, looking online, only to be met with slim pickings. Most of the potential “suitors” we found, were overly optimistic about what they had to offer us. We’d read ads of vaulted ceilings, and exposed brick only to show up and find that “quaint, cute, and sweet” all meant miniscule and “upcoming neighborhood” meant that we might need to be jumped in to a gang in order to secure our safety.

So, after weeks of searching for Mr. Right, we settled for Mr. Right Now. We agreed to take this new space in “as-is” condition for an additional break on the rent and paid zero attention to things like outlets, plumbing, or central air and heat. In fact, given the mess we ended up cleaning up (including, but not limited to, a toilet that hadn’t been sanitized since the Reagan administration) I think it would have been better to have leased, say, a van…down by the river. But, as it was, I started decorating the space in my mind without so much as an instant’s thought to where we would park or who our neighbors were. The neighbor, in fact, was a family-owned business that would start random screaming matches in Armenian throughout the day and night, which were difficult to ignore through the paper-thin walls. We might have been ok with this, if only we could understand what the in the world they were so pissed off about!

Our new office space was large (too large, we soon realized) with amazingly high ceilings (that made heating in the winter and cooling in the summer virtually impossible) and the store-front that seemed so fantastic in the beginning soon became a nuisance as we were plagued with door to door salesman (yes they still exist), and people searching for the shoe store (it was next door). So, at the end of the year, like any self-aware woman, we had to accept that this relationship just wasn’t going to make it. We sent a note to the landlord telling him, no it’s not you, it’s me… but you know what? It was HIM! It was HIM and his crappy office space! It was HIM with his shady electric, and his rowdy tenants… and ok, I guess it was us a little because we should have been smarter about any relationship that we were locking ourselves in to for a year.

So this time around, we took our search very seriously. We made a list of must-haves and chanted them daily in a mantra… nice looking, good personality, dependable, someone we wouldn’t be embarrassed to introduce our parents to. And we found, what we think is a great match with tons of potential. Like any new relationship, we’re excited by the possibilities but given our track record we’re staying cautiously optimistic.