Meet Kyra Sacdalan and Justin W. Coffey of WESTx1000 in Tempe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyra Sacdalan and Justin W. Coffey.

Kyra and Justin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
WESTx1000 was conceived in a coin-op laundry room in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, what started as an excuse to ride dirt bikes in Baja has become a portal of sorts into our lives. We began this business composing photo-editorials for the Motorcycle community, at the same time maintaining social media pages for several clients.

Over the years, we have branched out. We produce content for the Lifestyle, Travel and Outdoor industries. And now have grown beyond the Social Media space into PR and Creative Marketing. Plus, this year, we’re launching a Moto-Travel series titled Perpetual Motion.

All of this has taken years of hustling. Late nights, lots of traveling, meeting new people and sending out proposals. We’ve been buried under piles of rejection letters before that one “yes” which propels us just a little further forward.

It’s slow-going. It’s not glamorous or easy. But the accomplishments, what we get to do on a day-to-day, and the fact that this is something we do together, are well worth the struggles.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Technically, we’ve lived in a van, off of our bikes or in the company of our loved-ones for four years now. Though adventures have been plentiful and our luck seemingly endless, this sort of journey through life comes with a lot of uncertainty. And, you need to be flexible with whatever comes or goes.

Not knowing if your clients will stick around or if invoices will be paid can be tough on managing your lifestyle. We’ve been in the middle of a work-trip, hundreds if not thousands of miles from family, and lost a large client. Or a story was rejected. Or a magazine is changing management, and they’re cutting the budget… So on. We’re sent scrambling to figure out how to finance our current ventures to completion, let alone get ourselves back “home” – wherever that might be at the moment.

Obstacles aside, I can’t complain. We live a life which we love and want. But ultimately, this early-on with a company such as ours, you have to sacrifice a lot to maintain the business – like possibly a home, material things, rest days and personal time, sometimes even forgoing special occasions with friends and family. It doesn’t seem like a lot in the grander scheme of things, but for now, it’s part of the cycle as we grow professionally. Even though the business overall is successful and cash flow is in the positive, it all goes right back into WESTx1000.

At the same time, a lot of good comes at us in much the same manner as the bad. Justin and I have been across the world and received ‘the’ email which decided the fate of a project for the better. Maybe a brand decided they wanted to fund our video series. Now, we shift or cancel every already planned a year to accommodate a bigger, more promising endeavor. It’s funny how much you can learn about triage owning a creative or experiential based company. (Or is that any sort of business?)

Please tell us about WESTx1000.
Whether we’re documenting the infamous Baja 1000 off-road race, crossing the country on a pair of Indian Scouts, investigating Japan’s eclectic motorcycle culture, or riding our dual-sports from Barstow to Vegas, the idea stays the same…

“You don’t listen to anybody who hasn’t done exactly what you want to do.” – Austin Vince

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We may have started earlier. But really to change anything we’ve done in the past would ultimately alter our present. And the present is pretty good. 🙂

Contact Info:

• Website: www.WESTx1000.com
• Instagram: @WESTx1000
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WESTx1000/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/westx1000
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1_ZiKvi7fLpCjZYNDJ-tng/featured

Image Credit:
David W. Coffey

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