Paul,
3 years ago, a website was created as an escape from the monotonous single-minded paths of modification so many fellow "enthusiasts" were expecting us to follow. StanceWorks, at it's heart, has been a community, a family, of people with similar interests, and has acted as an outlet for everyone's own expression of car modification.
While you may feel disheartened and "left behind" at the introduction of higher-end goods such as driving gloves, it's all part of a natural evolution to separate ourselves from our "competition". Everything we do, whether it is building cars, or crafting gloves for the enthusiast, is done with the absolute best of our abilities. StanceWorks has always taken pride in everything it produces, digitally and physically. While we could sell $10 shirts produced on Hanes blanks with single-color prints, that simply wouldn't in StanceWorks's heart.
The idea of "selling out" is something we've fought since the day this began. As I told Ben and Andrew at the start of our adventure, "the moment this becomes about money and not about the community, I quit." Maybe your frustrations are misguided, as I can assure you that the StanceWorks we've grown in to today has had nothing short of every one of you in our mind and hearts.
Take a look at the sponsors of StanceWorks: While the list may appear long, take note of the number of people that are here pushing product in your face. That number is very few. Each company listed down the side of this website is one we've formed an in-depth relationship with, one that we know can cater to our community with quality and enthusiasm.
I couldn't count the dollars we've decided to give up as a team in the name of continuing what we consider the best community we're capable of. Every day, a new email arrives in my inbox by companies wanting in on the action; begging for the opportunity to put products in your face. And while we could easily succumb to the idea of lining our pockets with green paper and letting our community fend for itself, it's simply something we'd never do.
I think many fail to realize that StanceWorks has become a full-time job for us. Simply keeping this place ticking is a massive undertaking; and while from the outside it may just seem like "a website", to keep the gears turning has required us to re prioritize the way we live.
Many may assume we're living a particularly lavish lifestyle, but the truth is we're on budgets just as anyone else is. We're not rolling in cash from StanceWorks. In fact, far from it. We're scraping by just like any college student with a part time job. Everything we do comes from a passion to contribute to a scene and community we love. I can say without a doubt that you, Paul, have made more money in the last month than I have in the past year. Yet I (and Andrew and Ben) wake up every day with a smile and excitement to put in our effort to spread a message and mindset we truly believe in.
StanceWorks is not just another blog or another forum. This is who we are, it is what we do. And while you may see a Lamborghini on $10,000 wheels on our homepage, perhaps take the chance to read our motives behind such a feature.
I beg you to read anything else we've posted. Allow me to help point the big features in order of most recent:
I can continue going, but I'm hoping you see the point. Everything we do, every minute we spend here on the website, is something we feel worth sharing.
If you think our partnerships with one high-end company is enough to discredit our hard work, I beg that you take a look at the entire picture. While we may support HRE, an expensive wheel company that produces some of the highest-quality goods in the industry, we also support Rotiform, a company that offers quality cast alternatives for $200/wheel. Or for those who want to purchase from the used market, we offer Apartment 9 wheels. And there's even our own used wheel classifieds section, one of the best in the scene. We seek to cater to the entire community, whether it be a 16-year-old on a serious budget income or a 30-year-old with cash to spend.
We're here to celebrate quality and good names in the industry, and I don't know how much more transparent we can make that.
At the end of the day, we're in this for you guys. Not ourselves, but the community we have grown to love. Every day is a 12-hour work day just to make this operation work. It's not self-sustaining, it's not glamorous, and it's certainly not easy. But its something we take pride in, and it's something we have great passion towards.
Tomorrow will be another day, where at 8am, we will enter the StanceWorks office, and we will work diligently to keep doing the best we can at everything we do, where we will support the companies that make a positive difference in the industry, and where we will do everything we can to see that quality and enthusiasm are never forgotten in this community. And then at 10pm we'll close our doors, and we'll do it all over again.
3 years ago, a website was created as an escape from the monotonous single-minded paths of modification so many fellow "enthusiasts" were expecting us to follow. StanceWorks, at it's heart, has been a community, a family, of people with similar interests, and has acted as an outlet for everyone's own expression of car modification.
While you may feel disheartened and "left behind" at the introduction of higher-end goods such as driving gloves, it's all part of a natural evolution to separate ourselves from our "competition". Everything we do, whether it is building cars, or crafting gloves for the enthusiast, is done with the absolute best of our abilities. StanceWorks has always taken pride in everything it produces, digitally and physically. While we could sell $10 shirts produced on Hanes blanks with single-color prints, that simply wouldn't in StanceWorks's heart.
The idea of "selling out" is something we've fought since the day this began. As I told Ben and Andrew at the start of our adventure, "the moment this becomes about money and not about the community, I quit." Maybe your frustrations are misguided, as I can assure you that the StanceWorks we've grown in to today has had nothing short of every one of you in our mind and hearts.
Take a look at the sponsors of StanceWorks: While the list may appear long, take note of the number of people that are here pushing product in your face. That number is very few. Each company listed down the side of this website is one we've formed an in-depth relationship with, one that we know can cater to our community with quality and enthusiasm.
I couldn't count the dollars we've decided to give up as a team in the name of continuing what we consider the best community we're capable of. Every day, a new email arrives in my inbox by companies wanting in on the action; begging for the opportunity to put products in your face. And while we could easily succumb to the idea of lining our pockets with green paper and letting our community fend for itself, it's simply something we'd never do.
I think many fail to realize that StanceWorks has become a full-time job for us. Simply keeping this place ticking is a massive undertaking; and while from the outside it may just seem like "a website", to keep the gears turning has required us to re prioritize the way we live.
Many may assume we're living a particularly lavish lifestyle, but the truth is we're on budgets just as anyone else is. We're not rolling in cash from StanceWorks. In fact, far from it. We're scraping by just like any college student with a part time job. Everything we do comes from a passion to contribute to a scene and community we love. I can say without a doubt that you, Paul, have made more money in the last month than I have in the past year. Yet I (and Andrew and Ben) wake up every day with a smile and excitement to put in our effort to spread a message and mindset we truly believe in.
StanceWorks is not just another blog or another forum. This is who we are, it is what we do. And while you may see a Lamborghini on $10,000 wheels on our homepage, perhaps take the chance to read our motives behind such a feature.
I beg you to read anything else we've posted. Allow me to help point the big features in order of most recent:
- We've announces a show that, while upscale in nature, invites anyone with any budget to come and participate. There's no reason for us to throw a car show in a parking lot; we put enthusiasm in to what we do, and we've decided there's no reason car shows have to be about "swag". Why not have a car show at a beautiful location with a mature manor?
- We've welcomed on a new photographer with an artistic vision and the mindset of an enthusiast- not just someone who wants his photos featured on a blog.
- We featured Nic Foster's car, one built by a man and his wife in their own garage, and explained the friendship and relationships that car spawned.
- We've shown what we're up to, including me building a car from scratch with the smallest budget imaginable.
- We featured a VIP Infiniti built by young man, just 18 years old, who didn't cut corners.
I can continue going, but I'm hoping you see the point. Everything we do, every minute we spend here on the website, is something we feel worth sharing.
If you think our partnerships with one high-end company is enough to discredit our hard work, I beg that you take a look at the entire picture. While we may support HRE, an expensive wheel company that produces some of the highest-quality goods in the industry, we also support Rotiform, a company that offers quality cast alternatives for $200/wheel. Or for those who want to purchase from the used market, we offer Apartment 9 wheels. And there's even our own used wheel classifieds section, one of the best in the scene. We seek to cater to the entire community, whether it be a 16-year-old on a serious budget income or a 30-year-old with cash to spend.
We're here to celebrate quality and good names in the industry, and I don't know how much more transparent we can make that.
At the end of the day, we're in this for you guys. Not ourselves, but the community we have grown to love. Every day is a 12-hour work day just to make this operation work. It's not self-sustaining, it's not glamorous, and it's certainly not easy. But its something we take pride in, and it's something we have great passion towards.
Tomorrow will be another day, where at 8am, we will enter the StanceWorks office, and we will work diligently to keep doing the best we can at everything we do, where we will support the companies that make a positive difference in the industry, and where we will do everything we can to see that quality and enthusiasm are never forgotten in this community. And then at 10pm we'll close our doors, and we'll do it all over again.
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