We had the good fortune of connecting with Tim Hankins and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tim, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Well, I was 13 at the time I made my mind up about starting a BMX company. If I recall correctly, the only thing on my mind at that time was owning a rad BMX brand and manufacturing my own BMX Bikes and Parts. There wasn’t much thought outside of that haha.
Flash forward to now and actually pursuing those childhood dreams, my main goal is to use my business to give back to the BMX community in all the ways that got me stoked on BMX as a kid (videos, events, mail ordered bikes and parts, etc.!)
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My company, Capital BMX Brand, was founded in 2016 amongst myself and my good friends back home in St. Louis, MO.
What started as a group of local dudes riding BMX every day and filming videos for our YouTube channel, has slowly been changing into what we are today!
This past year, I spent all of 2021 alone in a bus, traveling the country and hosting BMX Jams in every major city I’ve rolled through. This has provided me great opportunities to not only give back to BMX everywhere I go, but also generate revenue through the mobile BMX shop in the back of the bus at these events.
Nothing has been easy by any means, as I barely broke even in 2021, but I’m just happy to be getting around and promoting our brand to BMX communities all across the country!
If there’s one thing that will certainly set Capital BMX aside from any other BMX Company, it’s that we have physically brought our brand to all these scenes and personally introduced ourselves and what we’re about.
The lessons I’ve learned this past year are countless, and I’m still learning how to overcome certain challenges with owning my own business. I just try my best to keep these wheels turning by any means possible!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Assuming that we’re talking about Colorado;
I would take them to Colorado Springs for sure! That place is absolutely gorgeous, but with a city vibe that myself and many of my friends enjoy.
My first time visiting there was crazy to me. I drove in around midnight, slept in a random parking lot, and woke up literally surrounded by mountains! I thought I was in a dream, and I had never seen anything quite like that until then.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Amongst all of my family and friends that have supported the dream thus far, I would like to dedicate a special shout out to Steve Crandall from FBM Bikes / Drop-In Coffee.
I’ve never been super close with him or anything, but growing up watching what he was doing for BMX and seeing all the hardships he encountered along the way made something click in my brain, I suppose.
My life was never super hard but it’s definitely never been very easy either. Watching Steve pursue a career/business in BMX the hard way felt very relatable to my life & gave me inspiration to never give up hope no matter how hard things get.
FBM’s “I love my bicycle” documentary was the nail in the coffin for my plans to own and operate my own BMX Company one day. I haven’t looked back since.
Website: www.capitalbmxbrand.com
Instagram: @capitalbmxbrand / @timspreownedbmx
Facebook: Capital BMX Brand / Tim’s Pre-Owned BMX
Youtube: Capital Crew BMX Videos
Image Credits
Steve Stahl – Back of the bus shots with me in it Dylan Ashlock – Photo of me riding Myself – Mobile Shop Photo