MIKEY TAYLOR
“I realized from skateboarding that the traditional path just isn’t for everyone. This world looks totally different once you understand that and pay atten- tion to the unconventional way of doing things. You realize, why wasn’t I told this?”
Mikey Taylor
Skateboarder turned Entrepreneur
As someone from an action sports background, there is a certain amount of pigeon-holing that goes on. The clothes we wear, the way we speak, the things we talk about. Every now and then there are pioneers that forge their own path and break away from the path. It could be when a couple of people started wearing skinny jeans whilst everyone else was still on baggy pants, or in Mikey’s case, the person who steps out of the norm and tries to educate others on the relationship we have with money.
The construct around money that many of us create is that it’s always been a taboo and dirty secret. So with this book deadline looming and me desperately second guessing myself about how to approach the chapter on money, I reached out to Mikey Taylor; long time skateboarder for DC, GoPro and now president of a private equity firm, Commune Capital. I wanted to get his take on this chapter, as I could see his input being invaluable. It turns out, this piece with Mikey could fit anywhere within this book as there are so many interesting takes on the world in this interview.
Jonathan: Hey Mikey, so I just wanted to start at the beginning. Like, at what point did you shift out of pro skateboarding, and then get into more of the business with your own brands, Saint Archer Brewing and Commune Capital?
Mikey: I started the transition into business owner around 2011 while I was still skateboarding. At that time, I was trying to figure out life after skateboarding and saw entrepreneurship as my path. I had this idea in my head that because I chose skateboarding as my career and didn’t go to college, that my only option to be successful was starting my own companies.
At what point was it that you started talking about money and investing? It’s an area I enjoy but have always been super nervous to talk about, how was it for you?
Okay, so this hopefully will encourage you. I started learning about money when I was about 20 years old from my mentor Randy. So that’s 14 years of learning about and using investments to better myself once my career ended. The problem was... I was doing it behind closed doors. I was scared to tell anybody what I was doing because in skateboarding you don’t talk about money. You don’t talk about success, you don’t talk about moving up, you just skateboard. So I would just keep in in the dark. Almost like a second life ha. Then we ended up selling Saint Archer and the sale was so public that I remember feeling terrified. Like, oh my gosh, I can’t hide this anymore, I better be comfortable because there’s no hiding it now.
What was the reaction of people when you started talking about it?
You know what, most people were actually negative about it. There are two components to it, like, I chose to be a skateboarder, which I’m not saying in the negative way. I loved every second of it, but I definitely felt this kind of, ‘Dude, you’re a skater. You’re not supposed to be talking about that stuff, we don’t do that.’
Secondly, because I was so quiet about what I was doing financially, I think a lot of people thought, ‘why does he even feel like he’s able to talk about this, what does he know about money.’ I think it was a little shocking for them at first ha. The blessing was; there was a small amount of people that were receptive and encouraging, which helped me push forward. Now that group is getting larger and larger.
Why do you think that so many people are scared about talking about money themselves?
Yeah, I think there’s a couple of things. I think at the core of it, we’re scared of talking about money because it might make us seem like all we care about is money. The challenge is we have a bad representation of people that are successful. They’re just throwing money around, they worship money, they obsess over it, they buy crazy cars, they’re partying, their marriages are broken, no relationship with their kids. It’s such an unhealthy example. So that’s why I think a lot of us steer away from it, which is like politics. We have such a bad taste in our mouths because the example we see is kind of shitty. So that’s at the core of it. We just don’t have enough people being good examples of what a responsible relationship with money should look like.
Tell me more about the mentor you mentioned earlier?
When I started skateboarding my dad was really concerned about that being my career and asked me to go meet this guy Randy, who managed my parents finances. He was the one who really mentored me and built a strong foundation to build on.
Is Randy part of Commune Capital?
Yes he is. Randy has been there since the beginning. He helped me formulate a plan when I was young to achieve financial freedom. He was a huge part of the creation of Saint Archer as well. When we had the idea to start Saint Archer, we didn’t even know where to start. He was the one who basically educated us and helped us get everything in order so that we could go out and do it. Years later when I had the idea to start Commune, I needed guidance on how a real estate fund worked. I brought my business plan to him and asked for his help to create the team I needed to build out the vision. That’s when he brought up the idea about partnering together. It’s kind of been the perfect culmination of our journey together.
You started a real estate fund with Commune Capital. Were you into real estate beforehand?
Actually, my first investment in real estate was with Randy. Randy’s family had been in real estate for about 30 years and in 1998, they allowed investors to partner in deals with them. Years later, I became an investor in a fund they were managing in the storage unit space. Our original plan for me to be financial independent was by using real estate investment by building up my investments to have enough cash flow to live off, so when my sponsor left I would be ok. As I started getting older, I started to enjoy business. That’s what took me down a different path. Then years later, I ended up bringing both worlds together. A business whose business is investing.
I was watching one video where you were talking about designing the life you want now instead of when you’re 65. I found that super inspirational and I was just wondering if you could elaborate on that a little bit.
It’s such an important one. We’re taught to work and work and work, and then at 65, we retire and then we live our life. There’s two challenges that I saw with it: One, I don’t want to wait until I’m 65 to enjoy life, and I don’t think you should ever not work, which is another message that’s given to us around the desire to retire. We get purpose from doing something.
So, as we retire and your career goes away, we’re stuck with having to work through an identity crisis.
I realized from skateboarding that the traditional path just isn’t for everyone. This world will start looking totally different once you understand and pay attention to the way money moves. It’s actually shocking once you learn. First thought that goes through your head is, why wasn’t I taught this? You realize that there is a way for us to create the life we want to live, and it looks completely different than what society tells us to do. We can go on and on about this one, ha.
So the way I imagine this, is you need to start at the end, with this the way I want to live, and where, and then build backwards to fulfil that goal, right?
That’s such a good point. Yes, so usually, we start with A and work at moving towards B, then maybe how do I get to C.
It’s a simple analogy that we’re taught to take little steps forward and we only focus on the next goal in sight. The challenge is, life doesn’t go in a straight line. It’s actually all over the place. So it’s best to focus on Z or where you eventually want to get to and strive towards it. For the letter analogy. What your path will actually look like is A C F I E I N P T Z. Does that make sense?
Seeing that end state is crucial. You have to see the end goal and then work through the steps to get there. What you just said is another component. I don’t want to shit all over the education system, but it teaches us that we need to work to make money, right. You get this job so you can make money. That kills us! How we should be looking at our jobs is that I’m going to do this job so that I learn this skill, so that I can take this skill and take myself to the next place, working to create knowledge to put in action. If you don’t look at it that way, you get trapped and then you’re never even able to get to that dream life.
As someone who has been at the top of their game in skateboarding, then exiting a beer company, how does ego come into play when learning these new skills?
Yeah so ego has been an interesting thing to work through and it’s also not been specific to money. It’s been across business, money, learning, and skateboarding. That’s just something I’ve constantly been trying to work at. The best example was when my mentor told me to sell my house before the crash in 2008. I didn’t listen to him because I was so concerned of what my friends would think. I didn’t want them to think that ‘Mikey Taylor was struggling so he had to sell his home.’ If I wasn’t worried about my ego, I would have made a lot of money. Instead I had to hold onto that home for the next 15 years, just so I could break even on it. That damn ego, ha. What I’ve ultimately learned over the last decade is when you have an ego, you don’t ask the questions that we should ask to better ourselves. You want to be seen as someone who knows everything. This limits our ability to learn and improve.
So, based on everything we have spoken about what key things would you teach kids about money?
Maybe the most relevant is I’ll tell you how I’m teaching my kids. The very first thing is that you have to go out and do something to create money. There has to be a contribution that you give to the world, or society, or your parents, or your friends, or your neighbors, who then, in turn, pay you. You have to go out and earn. It’s not given to you.
The second thing, we’re creating a replica IRA where they are putting money into their piggy bank and we are matching their piggy bank as long as they keep it in for a certain amount of time. So we’re trying to create this idea of delayed gratification, where they are saving money and they’re not spending it. They’re keeping it in there so that it can multiply.
And then the third thing that I’m teaching them, is that whether you make money, or you lose money, you have to look for the lesson that was to be learned in either scenario.
What would you tell your teenage self about life in general?
Not to go around comparing yourself to others would have been a big one for me.
What I would have told myself was that, until you know your identity, your purpose and your destiny, you’ll never be living the life that you were meant to live. The reason I say that when I was young is because I looked around at the people around me to see what they were doing and tried to fit into that template, instead of looking at myself and going, why am I here? What is the purpose for me to be here? What is my path? Don’t worry about what other people are doing, just focus on why you’re put on this planet.
Final one, which book you would recommend to anyone interested in all the things we’ve been talking about?
The book that started all of this for me was Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I think that’s a really good one to start because it will tweak the way you look at the world. Then you’ll head down a path of wanting to learn more. Then The Richest Man in Babylon, Think and Grow Rich, and Intelligent Investor will just add to the fire. These books will put you on an amazing trajectory.
Thanks so much for your insight.
Thank you.