At what point did you decide you could turn things around?
I admit that in the past I’ve done things that I am not proud of to make ends meet. Once I realized that was not the life for me I put all of my efforts into my brand promotions. Martin Vari called me on Skype one day to ask me how things were going and if I was still looking for a sponsor. He knew about my motivation as a rider and saw the marketing potential I had. He ended up introducing me to the RRD company as he used to be a rider for them. This is how my story turned around. I didn’t become a pro overnight though. I had to work hard over many months to convince and sell my idea to be a freerider for RRD, and through proving myself as a freerider and not as a contest rider. Contests are not the thing that I enjoy doing to be honest. I finally convinced RRD to give me a chance to prove myself. They gave me some gear but no money unless I got coverage in the magazines. So this was my opportunity. I had no salary so I couldn’t afford rent. I ended up asking a friend if I could stay in a shed on his property. The shed had no electricity, no running water, no windows, and was full of rats. It was a rat house to be honest. They would wake me up all night with the noises that they make. At this point I did not care about any of that though. I had my chance with a big company and would not give up until I succeeded. I got a big break from a video I was in called “Lagoon Dreams”. This video was my first aerial video I made with some friends here in Tahiti. This video gave me so much credit that RRD signed me up with a professional contract with a budget and more gear. I’ve had three years of contracts with RRD since they gave me my first big break.
