Industry Profile: Moverati Sales & Marketing Manager Kyle Kennedy

Job Title: Sales and Marketing Manager
Employer: Moverati formerly Core Action
Years on snow: 15
Days on snow: Enough and more than living in Cali! Go NW!
Currently Riding: Capita Quiver Killer
Currently I am: Sippin’ coffee, emailing, and living the dream.

Shay: Tell us a little bit about yourself
Kyle: Lucky kid from NJ that grew up surfing, skating, and biking. Moved to Pennsylvania to get a degree and the world of snowboarding opened up from there. Worked at a shop to feed the addiction with free lift tickets and gear. Spent summers in Cali to get my foot in the door out west. Moved out there right after 7 years of goofing off.

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Photo:  Anthony Ghiglia – http://www.anthonyghiglia.com/

Shay: How has snowboarding changed your life?
Kyle: It has created some of the best friendships I will ever have. Working with friends on and off hill makes it more like something I do and not have to do.

Shay: How did you get your start in the industry, who or what opened up more opportunities for you?
Kyle: I started working retail at the best bike shop in the world back in 1993 called The Peddler in Red Bank NJ. Handled Sales, service, assisted in buying, and helped coach their Jr. Mt. Bike Team. Working at Peddler lead me to want to be involved in the action sports industry. Went to college in eastern Pennsylvania and worked at a little shop called Cycle Board. Cycle Board was my first introduction to selling snow and skate goods. It was insane! I knew that this was it. I worked my balls off! Networked my way out West for summer internships with Encinitas YMCA Skate Park and Gravity Skateboards. I was lucky enough to get a job the summer after graduation with High Cascade Snowboard Camp. Been out west since then.

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Photo:  Alex Pashley

Shay: How has your previous education or work experience helped you in your current job?
Kyle: Education? Working retail is it! Slanging gear in a shop is better experience than you can get to work in this industry. How can you design a product if you never sold it?  Every job I have had has taught me so much. Working at Academy Snowboards taught me the in’s and out of business. Investors, production, logistics, everything.. Everything to do and not do! That was definitely my education in the industry.

Shay: Tell us about your role at Moverati and a description of the work you do?
Kyle: Everything from skating with the kids in the parks to pitching new verticals for the business. It’s a several dozen hat’s type of gig and I love it for that. I am ADD like most of our industry, so I like to change hats.

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Photo:  Anthony Ghiglia – http://www.anthonyghiglia.com/

Shay: What’s an average day like at work for you?
Kyle: Lot’s of emails, researching, phone calls, sales-deck building, video-editing, fire fighting, and coffee drinking… That helps a lot.

Shay: What are some memorable experiences from working in the industry?
Kyle: Summers in Govy, shredding pow with legends of the sport, Baldface, Silverton, getting pulled over in a van full of “clients” for mooning and innocent lady, and being able to call it all work!

Shay: What do you think are the biggest challenges that the snowboard industry faces and what changes would you like to see for the future?
Kyle: Keeping it going. Not saturating the market. Support the retailers, the front line of this whole machine. Without them, it wouldn’t exist.. I see brands doing that now, but there was some slacking going on in some cases.

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Photo:  Nathaniel Pouch Gauthier

Shay: Education vs. Experience…which do you think is more important?
Kyle: Experience! School opened the door indirectly to the industry, but my experiences have brought me to where I am today. They can’t teach this stuff in school. You have to grind and grind! Fail a few times and keep on grinding.. School doesn’t teach you that.. They can teach you short cuts in AI, but they can’t tell you what design makes a snowboard graphic sell.

Shay: What advice would you give to people wanting to work in the industry?
Kyle: Pay your dues.. Work in a shop. Sell some shit! Support the industry from the other end and work your way up. Respect your elders. They can teach you a lot. You just have to listen. Work hard and never leave early. If you have the knowledge and work ethic, you can make it in this industry.

Find out more at:

http://blog.moverati.com

http://www.twitter.com/moverati

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moverati/141447379229818

http://www.youtube.com/user/moverati