Florida Man Leads Scooter Tours After Watching Macklemore Video

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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This is Side Hustle School, I am Chris Guillebeau. Welcome, I hope you enjoyed that special Halloween episode. Hope it wasn't too spooky for you. Well, in the lifespan of the show, especially for those who are listening in real time, we are now entering a new month, 1st of November, and I've got a bunch of great stories for you this month. Really excited about all this to come as we enter that holiday season.

And today's story's pretty good. It's a classic Side Hustle School one, all about a man who thinks unconventionally and starts a hustle leading scooter tours, like adult scooter tours, after watching the thrift shop video from Macklemore. He also relocates without telling his employer and finds paradise in a 13-mile stretch of the Florida Panhandle. How did he get the idea? How does he do it?

How did he pop those tags? Actually, he didn't pop any tags. That's just a thrift shop reference. But you'll hear everything else right after this quick shout out to our sponsor. [Music]

Jordan Crowler wears tank tops and a pair of board shorts to work most days.

But back in 2013, he was working a typical job as a marketing and art director for a major corporation in Dallas, Texas. Wanting to break free from his golden handcuffs, Jordan worked his way into a full-time remote position with the goal of eventually moving his wife and two young daughters to their dream destination. A little stretch of paradise in the Florida Panhandle called 30A, where the Truman Show with Jim Carrey was filmed. Not knowing a soul on 30A and having to support his family, Jordan decided to not tell his employer that he was moving. He knew that while it might not be entirely responsible of him to leave without a word to his boss, he was working remotely and the company he worked for was going through a big merger.

He thought they had enough on their plates with layoffs happening left and right. And to be frank, Jordan had already endured all sorts of corporate bullying and harassment from this company. So he wasn't that concerned with their feelings at the time. Of course, he still did his job well, but in the back of his mind, he knew the clock was gradually counting down until a more permanent change would be required. So being the resourceful person that he is, he looked around his newfound paradise for new opportunities.

One thing he noticed was that, like many beach towns, bikes, skateboards, and walking were the preferred methods of transportation, mainly because it was far easier than driving and parking, and the weather was almost always beautiful. So biking and pedestrian style travel was suitable year round. Not wanting to stick with the status quo, Jordan started looking into other unique methods and products that he could bring to this newfound adventurous pedestrian market. And not long after that, Jordan had what he calls his aha moment. You might be familiar with the music video for Macklemore's Thrift Shop, in which the artist, while embracing the values of frugality and bargain basement shopping, undertakes an anthropological exploration to a number of secondhand stores in search of formerly unwanted items.

In that magnum opus, Macklemore famously promised to take your grandpa's style, take your grandpa's style. No, for real, ask your grandpa because he might actually have some clothes he's no longer wearing that could have real value to someone else. The artist also promised to wear those flannel zebra jammies, the built-in onesie with the socks on them. And in addition to all of that, in parts of the video, the artist Macklemore is seen riding on an old school scooter. When Jordan saw that, he began to wax nostalgic about his early days spent meandering about on his old mongoose scooter.

Chasing that nostalgia, he started looking for something similar to the scooter of his youth. But after some quick research, he realized that scooters were just not as awesome as he remembered. That's the problem with nostalgia people. But then he stumbled on a company called KickBike and Jordan was blown away. He thought this is amazing.

It's like some incredible Scandinavian team of designers and engineers were reading my diary. Based in Helsinki, Finland, KickBikes essentially takes all the best aspects of scooters and bikes and combines them into a single recreational product. They've been referred to as the Porsche of the scooter industry, which might be a slight exaggeration, and have become a growing sensation throughout much of Europe for over 25 years. But despite their international success, Jordan had never seen one before in the U.S. He simply couldn't believe that this trend had not caught on yet, so he did some more research.

And what he found was that the owner of KickBike America actually lived right there in Florida. Naturally, Jordan did what any resourceful side hustler would do, he drove out to Orlando to meet him to see if they could come to some kind of arrangement that could lead to him using the KickBikes in some form on 30A. Jordan felt that the business had so much potential for growth, he offered to assist the owner in building up his brand presence here in the U.S. Since Jordan had years of experience in web design and marketing, he proposed a trade. He'd completely revamped the KickBike U.S. website

and managed the marketing campaign. And in return, the owner would give him some KickBikes and a commission on all online KickBike sales in the U.S. Before he knew it, Jordan was heading back to 30A, feeling victorious, with a U-Haul containing his first 25 KickBikes. That was indeed a victory, but the real work began when he came back. His vision was to turn this U-Haul truck full of KickBikes into the next big thing in the next big destination in the form of KickBike tours.

The 30A road ran along an absolutely amazing coastline, dotted with a dozen vibrant Little Beach communities that each boasted their own unique vibe and flavor. And Jordan thought that KickBikes would provide the perfect vehicle for a fit and fun tour that would allow people to see another side of this incredible place he now called home. Following the exposure that the 30A received when the Truman Show came out, this 13-mile stretch of road had previously been a well-kept secret, but was now quickly becoming a tourist destination. But despite the growing trend of tourism, no one was really offering any kind of tours in the area. By that point, Jordan had spent two full years exploring every inch of 30A, the rare coastal dune lakes, the state forests and parks, all of the accessible trails, and not to mention every business and street in each town.

He had made himself the absolute authority of the space and decided to use his knowledge to create customized tours. Getting a Florida business license and liability insurance were surprisingly easy and inexpensive, but finding retail space in the area was much more of a challenge, since everything that was available was insanely expensive. Not one to be dissuaded easily, Jordan started out by operating off the back of his truck in parking lots and leaving some of his KickBikes parked in high-foot traffic areas with flyers detailing his tours and how to get in touch with him to schedule. In the beginning, Jordan strategically tailored his tours based on the fitness level of those who signed up, and he priced the tours accordingly in the $20 to $30 range, depending on length. Unlike biking, KickBiking is more fitness-intensive, so he tried to fill out the expectations and wishes of his customers in order to ensure that it was a positive experience for everyone.

While this wasn't an overnight success for Jordan, these days his KickBike side hustle is well past the kickoff point. He focused on building relationships with local businesses, and a year and a half into the project, Jordan convinced a couple of local shops in high-foot traffic areas to let him use their shops as official starting points in exchange for providing design and marketing for their business. He ended up leaving that corporation in Dallas for new work in web development and marketing, and his KickBike tours and online sales commissions are consistently bringing in around $1,700 to $2,700 a month, depending on the season. Jordan's KickBike tours are now one of the hottest things to do on 30A, but there's been a lot of trial and error, just like with so many side hustles. Some tours sell better than others, and while he still tries out new tours, like a KickBike and Stand Up paddle boarding tour, or a KickBike and bar hopping tour, he consistently offers two basic options on a daily basis, the Take It Easy Tour for $21, and the Great Trip, spelled G-R-A-Y-T, for $32.

Both of them come with an awesome experience of the 30A, but the Great Trip is a bit more extensive with a guided tour down the beach. Jordan says that starting and running his KickBike tours has been a fun ride, and he's thinking about what comes next. Maybe he'll roll his way into new markets, where the adult scooter trend hasn't yet kicked its way down the road. [Music]

Did you know there was such a thing as adult scooters? Gotta be honest, I'm not sure I really realized there was a huge market for that, but I suppose it makes sense, especially in areas like these beach towns, where people don't drive a lot, but they need to get around still.

I just took a quick look on eBay, which is funny, 'cause I haven't been to the eBay website in like, I don't know, years and years and years, but I figured I might be able to see some KickBikes for sale there, and of course there are. It's a whole bunch of them. So if you wanna be the first one in your town to have an adult scooter, maybe commute to work on it, appreciate all the nice commentary you receive as you ride along, maybe go and check it out. And if you're ever in the Florida Panhandle on the 30A, seeing the sights, well, now you know an easy way to get around. Hope you enjoyed this story.

As always, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes, including links to all that fun stuff, are at sidehustleschool.com/305. By the way, if you've got a comment or question for the show, give me a call. The Hustle Hotline is 8449 Hustle, or 8449487853. We'd love to hear what you're working on, and if there's something we can share with other listeners.

Thank you for listening. I'll be back again tomorrow. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School. [Music]