Making a big impact in the tire scene, Maxxis National Director of Sales, Brad Williams talks about his hobby job at Maxxis in Motorsports. Automotive and Light Truck Tires is what he really does, but thank goodness he had time in his schedule to attend a rock crawl. It changed the path of history for many drivers and event series, including WE Rock.
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3:42 – second generation tire guy
10:18 – planning for my future
12:20 – I’ll hang around as long as they’ll let me
14:15 – they’ll let you know how bad you did after
18:26 – What are you doing next weekend?
25:35 – So, he picked two drivers – one a cheerleader, one a winner
28:49 – learned how tough the tires had to be
31:01 – I didn’t have an official job in motorsports, it’s just a hobby
34:28 – we need a 17” tire and a softer compound – don’t embarrass yourself, Brad
37:12 – cleaning out the cage to outfit the team
44:31 – this is our identity
54:35 – Pistol Pete was going to get us attention
1:05:28 – Jesse is still with us and doing great things
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:20.510] – Big Rich Klein
On today’s conversations with Big Rich, we have Brad Williams. Anybody that’s ever run Maxxis will know who Brad Williams is. Brad has been an integral part of the Off-Road community with sponsorship Maxxis sponsoring many drivers and many organizations. And today we’re going to talk to Brad about his beginnings, where he got started, how he got involved with Maxxis and how the Maxxis programs have evolved over the years and some of the drivers that he’s worked with.
[00:01:55.620]
And we’ll just get into all that kind of a history. So, Brad, I want to say thank you so much for being on board with us and spending the time today to to talk with with us and let the listeners know a little bit more about you and also about the Maxxis program.
[00:02:12.600] – Brad Williams
Thank you. Appreciate the nice introduction.
[00:02:15.840] – Big Rich Klein
Oh, no worries. So let’s just jump in deep with both feet. And it’s the question that I always ask everyone and everyone always skips kind of and I bring them back in. But let’s talk about your early years, your influential years. You know, where did you grow up and where did you go to, you know, say, high school and that kind of stuff.
[00:02:39.210]
So let’s start early.
[00:02:41.370] – Brad Williams
Yeah. I mean, as far as influences may be a little different than some of the, you know, your previous guests, especially ones that were, you know, involved in the motor sport side of our industry. I didn’t really have, you know, as a as a younger guy have really a lot of experience in motor sports.
[00:03:04.720]
I was more interested in basketball, football, baseball, you know, did those kind of things, things as a kid. I grew up in southern part of Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana. If you have ever seen the, you know, the Swamp People documentary, kind of, you know, where they’re hunting alligators in the bayous.
[00:03:27.750]
I grew up, you know, right around that area. Had a much thicker accent back then. I’ve lived in Georgia for 20 years and lost a little bit of it, went to high school there, also went to college there, Louisiana, Lafayette.
[00:03:42.660]
And during that time, I my I’m second generation, I guess, tire industry. So from when I was a little guy, I probably got four or five years old.
[00:03:56.640]
My dad was started working in the tire industry and that was kind of I guess I guess in a nutshell, my my my background.
[00:04:10.140] – Big Rich Klein
So when you say he started in the tire industry or was in the tire industry, was that as like a tire shop or did he work for a distributor? What was his background?
[00:04:22.170] – Brad Williams
He did really all of the above. Worked for a, you know, a tier one manufacturer as a sales rep, ran some retail chain for a while, and then when I was a year, I graduated. He kind of went out and took the leap and borrowed some money and opened up his own tire shop.
[00:04:44.940]
Didn’t have much money back then. And after he opened it up, probably had even less money for a few years. But if anybody’s ever open a business, probably does have some experience with that. And then yet so I kind of grew up early years, you know, my first year of college mounting tires at his at his shop and got got tired of going, you know, I’d go, you know, work a little while and then, you know, between classes and then head over to college and, you know, take a few classes there and got got tired of, you know, going to college and trying to meet girls with dirt and oil.
[00:05:24.030]
And my fingernails finally convinced them to put me on the sales counter and, you know, did that through most of college and, you know, several years after until until I moved and started working at Maxxis. READ MORE
