Tracey St. John and Kim Jacobs love to ride quads at the desert and wanted a product they could ride in and still feel and look like women. Research was gathered, products designed, and Huchi Gear emerged. Read Tracey exclusive words about their desert riding story!
A desert riding story
A few girls at the desert at a campfire talked about starting a business—of course, a few cocktails were involved. That is where we started! At this point, there were very few clothing companies with riding gear that catered to quad riding, desert-loving women. The name was picked that evening by one of our friends who wanted the name ‘dirty!’ We had our first meeting and everyone declined business involvement except Kim and me (Tracey). We cleaned up the name and changed it to Huchi. I did research on the name and found out that in Japanese it means ‘Goddess of Fire.’ Let me tell you our road was rocky. Many fights! Honestly, we could write a thousand page book on that! We went to Los Angeles with our spouses to find material to make our pants. We spent a lot of money to come up with the product we have now, which is pretty darn good.
At first, we had our friends sell our clothing at their shop and during desert season at their booth. He got us in Dirt Wheels magazine for our first article. After a while we had so much inventory that it was too hard for our friends to carry everything and the few stores we distributed to only carried a small amount of our inventory.
So by the third year in business, we decided to try it on our own. We had so much fun—sold at the desert (won a toy hauler), Thunderboats, Oktoberfest, Off-road shows, and so much more! We met an heiress, boat racers, rode in the fastest cars in the desert while we threw out clothes for promotion, sold to bigwigs in the police force, military, you name it! We were profiled in several videos and pictures. We signed autographs, and even posed in pictures with some of our best customers. We met so many people and that was the best part. Even men loved buying our clothes for their girlfriends/wives. We learned to size a woman up by the spouse or significant others body description. We do not know how it happened, but our product has been sold online all over the United States.
There are lots of people who have asked us how to start a business! In fact, right before writing this article, I had a friend’s son ask how to legitimately to sell online. One reason that most people do not become rich selling clothing is because there are just so many clothing companies in operation, causing difficult competition.
Here is our best piece of advice—networking and customer service are critical for a successful business. A word of caution, think twice before starting a business with family or friends. It is tough!
Santa Claus is a legendary figure in folklore who, in Western cultures, is described as bringing gifts on Christmas Eve.
He is a fat, jolly man wearing a red coat and trousers with white cuffs and collar who delivers presents to all of the good boys and girls in the world, and coal to the naughty children.
Is Santa Claus real? well, of course not, but the figure is more than a legend. It is connected to the story of Saint Nicholas.
The History of Santa Claus
Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic and Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist people in need. Still young, Nicholas was made Bishop of Myra. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who persecuted Christians, Nicholas was exiled and imprisoned and died december 6, AD 343.
Many stories have been told of Saint Nicholas about his generosity to those in need, especially children. This is why he is known as protector of children. To have more info about him, you can search the net. There are so many websites with interesting stories about him.
Going back to Santa Claus, surfing the Internet you’ll find also many websites selling magical greetings, gifts and Santas letters.
There is much time before Christmas, but I discovered this website just now and it is very well done. It delivers a personalized letter from Santa and also deluxe packages.
The deluxe package is a kid’s dream come true, the letter is packed with a whole box of custom Christmas goodies. You receive a huge, shiny, bright red box “directly from the North Pole” with a glossy autographed photo of Santa Claus, genuine reindeer food, an authentic collectors piece of Santa’s suit and a CD with a personal greeting From Santa Claus.
The bright red box will be addressed with a shiny gold foil shipping label, a North Pole postage stamp and a return address label from Santa’s workshop. About the workshop, the website has a “workshop area” where you can download a free countdown to Christmas module for your MySpace page, Blogger or website. It is not static, there is moving snow in the background and it is a nice addition to every website when Christmas will be near.
Primal Wear is a cycling apparel company out of Denver, Colorado and has been in business for over 16 years. They have the most technical fabrics with original jersey designs. Besides being in over 1500 Independent bike shops across the United States, they are in some of the bigger retailers such as REI and Performance. I’ve been in contact with Jessica Edwards that sent me one of their Star Wars jerseys.
Star Wars loves Cycling
The Star Wars jerseys are made of 100% ProSenor, a technical fabric which wicks moisture from the body so you remain comfortable on your ride. This is a popular design that they picked up in order to connect with the large Star Wars following. They currently do not attend Star Wars events in relation to this jersey, although it is something they have considered.
Being a mountain bike enthusiast, I decided to take my lightweight aluminium beauty and go for a ride. Nothing really serious, just 5 miles, to feel this new jersey and test the fabric. This has been my worst performance and probably one of my most valuable experiences. The weather was cooperative, with a sunny and clear sky. I cruised at a comfortable speed. The roads were in fair condition, no hills, scenic routes and not much traffic. A great course! The only problem was the temperature, really hot.
The jersey worked very well! The fabric is as they said, breathes with you and controls moisture and temperature to keep you performing at your best. Probably I would have had many more problems with the temperature, with another fabric. So I’m very satisfied and happy of this product.
I understood the importance of using the right wear. You can’t just have a tshirt and common shorts. A helmet is essential, as gloves, and elbow guards. A good pair of shoes is also recommended. And of course technical fabric clothing.
The reward of this experience has been a great spaghetti plate with pomodoro and parmigiano. A very simple plate, but I consider it the best of the Italian cuisine. Maybe it is the best food also for sports?
Few tips for cycling beginners: eat healthy food (mediterranean food) or you’ll never cover long distances; find the perfect bike for you, you don’t need to spend 20,000 dollars but you need a bike with three chain rings, which gives you the most range of gears; wear a bike jersey, typically made of synthetic materials that help wick away moisture from your body, and including a rear pocket to carry extra supplies while you ride; buy yourself some proper cycling shorts; set realistic goals and start slow; relax and enjoy the scenic routes.
