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Original Post: https://www.evoq.bike/blog/andy-chasteen-interview

Want to start a team? Want to dive deeper into the cycling industry? Andy shares some thoughts on how to make these crucial relationships and get your foot in the door!  He was actually a solid nudge for me to go full time with EVOQ.BIKE, and start the media side of blogging, YouTubing, and the podcast.  I first met Andy Chasteen as we were warming up for the Crosswinds Classic in 2017.  “Who the hell are those guys?”, I asked as we rolled past DNA Racing from Oklahoma City.  I think Andy turned his head a little to the side to ensure I’d get an airborne tail-whip from his flowing locks, a la mullet.  The air of those guys rolling was legit. I’ve taught my inner self to not become intimidated before a race; that can happen too easily. But instead, recognize, and keep them in the back of my mind. That team is rolling.  I want to go off into some prose here about pre-race feelings, but I’d be typing for hours. Damn I miss road racing so much.  Anywho, we became teammates and I look up to Andy so much, not in just a bike sense, but in how he lives his life as an entrepreneur entrenched in cycling, climbing, and business branding / aesthetic.  He does it all: branding, strategy, photography, content, social, copywriting.  I was sitting at his house a year later in 2018 with one foot still in medical device sales, one foot in social media management, and another in EVOQ.BIKE. I hadn’t fully made the leap to the cycling industry.  I told him that I was considering doing EVOQ.BIKE full time, using social media, A BLOG, YouTube, and a podcast to share knowledge that I’ve accumulated over 130,000 miles of riding and a TON of races.  “You should totally do it. It seems like you and Patrick have a good thing going.”  That nudge helped. Others had been nudging. My husband was the #1 supporter from the get (I love that expression).  Anywho, here we are, 2 years in, over 100k blog readers, 50k YouTube views, and we’re just scratching the surface. I can’t wait to tell you about THE SHOW, but we need COVID to depart before that happens.  Let’s get into ANDY CHASTEEN!!  Some topics and quotes from the interview include:  You have to be okay with people's misunderstanding of what you're doing.   For my business, I never could make a good living, just shooting photos. I had to add to that; I had to add to the total package in order to become successful at what I wanted to do.   I don't have a degree in any of this. You know, it's all self taught.  You're in the industry, you seem to always have a great recommendation for: how do I reach out to this company and start a relationship?  I made really good money, but I hated what I did. I wore a suit every day to work.  I tell people I'm doing right now what I would do for free; I would do what I do right now for free because I love it like that much; I love it that much.  How do you build these relationships? How do you go out and meet these people? How do you show value? How do you make something to show them when you don’t have a big portfolio? How do you really get your foot in the door?  I think that if you really want to get a start in that, especially in photography, you have to work for free, you just have to do it. And you're gonna upset some people who are well established photographers out there, because they don't work for free. And they “value their work”, you know what I mean?  Where’s your excess in life?

Brendan@EVOQ.BIKE