The guy i used to work with doing mobile xrays always said we should start a medical transportation company bc its in such high demand
Sounds like it. I get health club membership with my insurance, but this looks like a bit more.
That’s so rad!
Not exactly the same, though I have pipe dreams of becoming a lineman. The climbing element sounds fun.
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I finished a Psych degree via a scholarship to CSU Chico. First person in my family to graduate college.
I had some thoughts of pursuing something in the counseling/social work/public admin space, though I didn’t have money for a masters programs and life often pretty non linear anyway. 
Following graduation, I split time between working at a drive through coffee shop (Dutch Bros) and being a yoyo pro. Dutch Bros was cool about giving me weeks off at a time in some cases -
I got to tour cross country in China with Auldey/Blazing Teens, perform in Dubai with John Higby, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Czech Relublic, etc etc.
It was a wild and wonderful time, though it wasn’t a long-term career prospect. I was a few years too early for the full time yoyo pro / influencer era, and the business model for being a yoyo pro was pretty different then. To be full time in yoyo, you either needed to run a full-fledged storefront or be a manufacturer.
As the yoyo gigs settled down, I started applying scattershot-like to various jobs.
At one point, Steve Brown and Brandon Jackson’s old job came up at Duncan yo-yos, all the way out in rural Amish country in Ohio. I asked my best friend if he thought I should apply.
He says, “I think you should’ve applied YESTERDAY!”
I land the job, uHaul it all the way out to Cleveland, and commute into Amish country everyday. Duncan/Flambeau was out in the sticks. I’d pass horse and buggies on the way to work with twenty inches of snow on either side of the road.
Duncan was a wild ride. My first task after getting hired was to direct this International Yoyo Champuojship they were holding, with only like six weeks left till the event. I worked like 70 hour weeks, flying by the absolute seat of my pants. Got to travel a fair bit, go backstage at Disney, hit major international contests, work in many different business realms. It was crazy at times, wonderful at time, and I learned a lot and grew up a lot.
After a couple years of working at Duncan, I started dating a girl I knew from college. Long distance, as she was all the way back in California.
Oh boy. I worked every angle to see her as much as possible. I booked a long layover coming back from overseeing Freehand production in Dongguan/Hong Kong and drove ten hours round trip to go see her. Took a roadtrip with her in Duncan’s graffitied minivan. Went with her to Disneyland after leading a contest at downtown Disney.
I knew this was it! After a few months of dating, I started looking for jobs back in California where she was living. Small area, not many jobs.
I didn’t find anything after TEN months of looking. Not high level, not mid level, not entry level. Nothing. Zip zero nada.
Eventually, I decide to risk everything and simply quit, move back across country, and see what happens. I was absolutely terrified. Giving up all sense of consistency, financial security, etc.
A few weeks before I’m set to move, I start to pull my car into my driveway that’s covered in snow. Get the front two tires onto the driveway, and the car dies, two back wheels still hanging into the street. Car is DEAD and there is not going back.
I’m freaked, spooked, absolutely canoodled.
I have no money and I’ve got to find a car. I start selling my yoyo collection. My yoyo buddy has me move in with him and I literally live on his couch to save some money. My stuff was EVERYWHERE in his tiny one bedroom apartment. If you didn’t already know, Jumario is the freaking man.
It’s the middle of December in the snow belt that is Cleveland.
You know what I’ve always wanted? A convertible.
You know what’s cheap in the middle of December in the snow belt? A beautiful silver 1999 Mazda Miata.
My last day at Duncan is approaching. I’m a big travel and adventure guy, but I couldn’t really afford to do much of it up to that point. Almost all my yoyo travel had been pure work.
So I decide to take a roadtrip cross country in my Miata, in early February, to move back to California.
The snow tires from my dead old car were a bit too big for the Miata, but I put them on anyway. Just squealed a bit when I took turns too sharp.
Since I don’t have much money, for my road trip, I decide to do a few hotels, and for the rest of the trip, go camping. Camping in the snow. In a 20 year old convertible with like 4 inches of ground clearance.
I tell my mom my plan. She texts back, “Are you F***ING stupid?!?!?!?!”
I mean… probably?
My best friend likes to say that the only difference between bravery and stupidity is the result. I CLING to that thought as I’m quitting my job and throwing everything to the air and starting afresh. But it’s worth it for love.
I leave for my big trip. Miata packed to the gills. I had to run to FedEx after my big send off and spend $250 shipping stuff to Cali because I dramatically overestimated what can fit in my tiny go kart of a vehicle.
First, I head from Ohio to the mountains of North Carolina.
Originally, my long-distance girlfriend was supposed to join for the last leg of the roadtrip.
Turns out she can’t, so I spend the first 3 days of my trip figuring out how to make two life size card board cutouts of her to take with me on my trip. The plan was to take photos with the cutouts during my trip.
Then, sometime month later, I’d turn all the photos from the trip into a video montage and use it to propose.
I finally finish my cutouts at 3:00am somewhere in the mountains out in the woods thirty minutes from Asheville. I’m exhausted, relieved, and SO excited to be done.
I bring the cutouts to my tiny car. My girlfriend is 5 foot 9 inches. So, the cutouts are truly, definitely, not gonna fit.
Gah! I’m so dumb. You can’t fit a 5’ 9” cardboard cutout in a Mazda Miata.
So I do some thinking and get to my fix. I perform some surgery on the cutouts, creating a hinge. It works!
It’s a tight squeeze. The cardboard cutouts go to the tip of my front dash/window and all the way over the top of my passenger sit. They sit four inches from my neck for my entire roadtrip back to California. Uncomfortable, maybe, but mission freaking accomplish, amirite?!
My next stop is rural Georgia, a town of 300 named Plains.
I’m on my way to see andmeet my hero, Jimmy Carter.
I try to take the cardboard cutout to meet the president himself.
This 5 foot tall police officer named Jan stopped me dead in my tracks and read me the riot act for the attempt. I’ve never been so embarrassed. My face stayed red for awhile!
The cardboard cutout didn’t get to meet the president, but I did!
From there, saw an old friend in a military base in Memphis, drove through the Ozarks and Eureka Springs, stopped in Oklahoma City, drove 13 hours to New Mexico.
Snow camped in Taos (should’ve learned to put the tent together first!), drove over a deer and ejected it out the back coming down a snowy mountain near Durango (should’ve died), saw Mesa Verde, then snow camped and hiked throughout the mountains in southern Utah.
Pit stopped in Vegas then landed back in Cali to be with the love of my life!
Lived on my best friend’s couch in Chico for two month while looking for a job. Pretended to live in my girlfriend’s town in order to help land interviews, and would had to wake up at 4:00 am to drive seven hours to make it to an interview a couple times. But it worked.
Landed a low level customer service job for iFixit.com. Took over managing the team a year later.
Settled in to my new city for a bit, then got engaged. Then I got married! Woooooooo!!!
Took over managing much of iFixit’s B2B operations shortly thereafter. Then took over managing part of their European HQ’s team. Helped lead an ERP transition, and a million other things in between. Eventually starting managing a team of around twenty. Realized i love managing, because i love people. Love helping them, love advocating for them, etc. all good things.
Then this summer, my wife and I had a baby boy! Little Jack Fash, he’s the absolute best.
Then, just a couple months ago, after almost eight years with iFixit, I was unfortunately a part of a pretty large layoff.
Wife and I have doubled down on figuring out what’s next, and worked on rolling with all of life’s punches, with a newborn in tow!
Life is nothing if not an adventure they say. And I think it’s true!
I’m unemployed now but set to start a new position in local government as an IT ERP admin/internal consultant who’s embedded with HR and Accounting/Finance.
I’m actually super stoked as it’s always been my dream to work in something civil service / public good related, and the teams I’ll be working with seem absolutely wonderful.
So, that’s how I afford yo-yos now. (It still feels weird to buy my own string and pads and bearings after being sponsored for so many years haha.)
I’m also excited to have a new role without such a broad scope, so I can have some more mental bandwidth to focus on some other pursuits that are important to me, such as my upcoming brand OKYOYO. (Gotta get back to my yoyo life!)
Phew! That was 10 times longer than I intended it to be, though if you’ve made it thus far, thanks for reading. I am between things and apparently feeling reflective. 
I’m no expert in the matter, though if anyone is ever looking for career advice or just someone to provide a sounding board for professional life, feel free to give me a holler!
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Lovely story thank you for sharing!
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Since August I’ve started teaching 6th/7th grade Biology. It’s really tiring and a lot of work, but the kids love me and my yoyos! Some kids even call me Mr. Yoyo. I plan on starting up a skill toy course, followed by a club next year! Gotta save Gen Z/A from too much screen time!
Since I’ve started yoyoing, this is my second job. Although my last job gave me a lot of remote/free time to throw, this new job feels a lot more…meaningful? 
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Awesome share, and can’t wait to see what yoyo stuff you have in store. You were Godspeed before Godspeed, the OG
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String Time not Screen Time!
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Somehow, I’m not very worried for Gen Z/A’s future kids, I can tell that the people around me are seeing the consequences of it–I’m quite sure they’ll put limits on their kids.
Fellow Chico native let’s goo!!! I know I’ve seen you at club before although I don’t know if we’ve formally met.
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That’s so cool. As a heavy equipment operator and someone who works full time in ag I love welding it’s always fascinated me. I’m not the greatest by any stretch of the imagination but I can run a good bead.
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I am finding the generational thing interesting.
My Generation was the “Magic” Generation. We were Brought up with the hard work ethic from our Boomer Parents, But were young enough to grow as technology grew. Best of both worlds if you will.
Now that we have kids, they are “Magic 2.0”. As has been stated, we have seen the flaws in the current “Entitled” generation and are correcting course.
It will be interesting to see how things play out. My Generation is starting to take over. But we will have the Snow Flake Generation right behind us. Then our kids…
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I’m a fellow middle school teacher and I’m glad that there are teachers out there teaching kids a non-screen-based hobby that will help give them a tangible way to see the power of persistence. My yoyo and kendama club is definitely a bright spot in the week for me.
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I could have sworn I posted in here, maybe we should start a new one for 2025?
I am an automotive mechanic, went to a trade school straight out of hs (like started 2 weeks after graduating lol) and finished that up in ‘08, and have been swinging wrenches and yelling at cars ever since.
It’s hard work, and honestly never really made a whole lot of money doing it, but it’s a valuable skill that I’m thankful to have. I have always been fascinated by all things complicated and mechanical, and cars are kind of the pinnacle.
I would not recommend this career to anyone, however, as it is both soul crushing and physically dangerous, ever changing and friggin’ EXPENSIVE.
Currently I work for my friends father who owns a small shop, and I have incredible benefits and decently reasonable work load. Makes putting up with the other man babies worth it.
My dream job would to be a Watchmaker professionally, I do it as a hobby currently.
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