Who or what is your inspiration in business?

With the birth of my 1st son, my goal has become leaving a better, cleaner planet for him. I took a step back and looked at my upcycling projects and said "you know, that is how I can make the world cleaner" So I started creating new products and finding more ways to recycle bicycles and upcycle their parts into useful items. We have developed quite a few products like Chain Ornaments, Tube-lastic Bands, Rim Wreaths, S'Pokeez, toilet paper holders, and the list will continue to grow.

How do you stay motivated?

I look at my family. Not just who we are now, but who we have been. I watched my parents struggle paycheck-to-paycheck, always making sure they took amazing care of us as kids. They have given me the ability to be in the position I am now, without them, I don't think The Up-Cycle would have ever become a reality. It started as a passion for bicycles, and grew into so much more. In conclusion? A debt of thanks to them is how I stay motivated. To show them their efforts were worth it.

What would you do with the $25,000?

There are 3 key things we would push to achieve with this funding. 1. Push our message out to more people so we can increase the volume of used bicycles coming into our location 2. Purchase up-to-date tools and replace worn out tools. 3. Put more time into developing and producing upcycled products to reach our goal of waste reduction. I believe in this, as my family knows, when I see something, I go for it all the way. This can and will work. I believe it will.