Typically our focus is on the athletes, but being that The Bloom is dedicated to women in BMX, in a series I’m calling WBTS (I know, very creative), I felt it was also important to cover women behind the scenes too. In this series, I’ll be focusing on women who contribute to BMX, because you don’t have to just ride, you can also be involved with BMX by working in it, volunteering, taking photos and more, and I know there are a lot of people that help keep BMX moving in more ways than one, and so this series is dedicated to them. Today, we’re learning about Melissa Buckley, and how she became the Marketing, Media and doer of all things for S&M Bikes and Fit Bike Co.
In a recent podcast episode of Unclicked, Chris Moeller gave us some history on your career and how you two started working together. But for those who didn’t see it yet, I’d love to know your version of how your career started and how it went from working in the snowboard/surfing industry to now BMX. @Michael.Attewell wants to know how long you’ve been with them and how you started too.
I graduated from Colorado State with a journalism degree and moved to California to intern at Snowboarder Magazine in 2002. Through that gig, I found myself working part-time at their sister publication SG (surf, skate, snow girl) Magazine and then eventually getting a full-time job at Boost Mobile as an Online Marketing Coordinator when they were still heavily involved in action sports. One of my main responsibilities at Boost was project managing the Live Webcast minisite for the pro surf event Boost sponsored, and through relationships, I made doing that, I actually ended up moving to Australia to work for the Association of Surfing Professionals. I started as the Women’s Media Manager (a position they created for me) but eventually took on both the men’s and the women’s tours. I met Chris on a motorcycle trip in Mexico a couple of years into my job at the ASP and we hit it off. Because I traveled nine months of the year for work, Chris would come to some events with me, and I would pop in to see him in California for a few weeks at a time in between tour stops. Fit and S&M had zero social media presence when I met Chris in 2007, so I basically set up those accounts for them, and leveraged the relationship I had with YouTube via the surf tour, to set up a revenue-generating partnership for Fit and S&M. In 2010, after realizing that being on the road all the time was losing its luster, I pitched Chris the idea of writing a 25 years of S&M book and started freelancing for X Games, Surfline, and Rip Curl. Not long after, the event which we referred to as the time the “Fit hit the Fan” happened and Robbie Morales left to start Cult, so I stepped in to help and have been overseeing the marketing and team stuff ever since.
What is your role with Fit and S&M, and what’s an average day look like?
My role is pretty random – which is to be expected when you work at a relatively small company that does so many different things. An average day includes checking in with the marketing team to see what everybody’s got going on and what we have on deck as well as brainstorm new ideas. I talk to team riders to see what they’ve been up to, plan projects, or discuss signature product ideas/launches. I’ll see what’s coming back in stock and work with the team to find a way to share that info. For a good portion of the year, I’ll be choosing the colorways and working with a graphic designer on the following year’s complete bikes and then, on a product by product basis, will collaborate with our team on naming the product, conceptualizing the marketing, and choosing finishes, stickers, designing packaging, etc.
In the Unclicked interview, Chris had mentioned there were several cases where your ideas were overlooked, @Jewdass wants to know how you dealt with difficult dudes that don’t want to listen to a woman in BMX? He also added that Moeller smells, can you confirm that?
It goes two ways. Sometimes I digress and let whoever is adamant that they know better than I do, do it their way… and then sit back and shake my head when the outcome is exactly what I said it would be when we are striving to do better. Sometimes I insist that I know what I’m doing and that they can either get on board or hop off at the next station… and plenty do. But mostly, after a decade and a half of trying to convince guys in the BMX industry that my perspective and experience is valuable, I’ve learned that the general “life-success rate” of the ones who recognize and embrace my contributions tends to be much, much higher than the ones who don’t. There would be validation in that if it weren’t kind of depressing.
It’s possible Moeller smelled at one time. Now he lives in a house full of girls and washes his clothes in “Fresh Linen” scented laundry detergent.
@Dirty_danimal wants to know if there will be a new S&M race frame coming soon?
The Steel Panther is still in high demand, so not at the moment… though we definitely take the public’s opinion into heavy consideration. If anyone has requests, hit us up on social or email us.
@EmpireBMX asked if you could ask Chris to release an updated HAF frame and dedicate it to them?
Yes, yes I can. Shipping will be very expensive.
@Projtectspoke wants to know what has been the most rewarding and challenging experience while working in the BMX industry?
I would say seeing the S&M book “Behind the Shield” in print. It literally took years to publish that book but I love seeing all of the brand’s history antics and ethos in one place and it’s a great framework for the S&M documentary we are working on.
@Irodetoday wants to know ruts or blue groove?
Groovy baby.
@Royee_bmx asked who was the rider you were most excited to get on Fit and S&M?
Hmmmmmm. Recently, probably Cory Nastazio. And it’s funny because he’s been on both teams since I’ve been around. It’s exciting to work with people who love what they do and Cory is inspiring because he is still soooo good and his energy is infectious. We haven’t done a whole lot with him yet, but we have a Fit frame, bar, and complete bike in the works.
Because we often sponsor ams and bring them up, you see potential in people and get excited about them along the way more so than when you first put them on – Max Miller is one of those for me, and the Halahans are incredible.
@_tyler.shaw wants to know if you’ve ever ridden BMX or do you like to keep work and free time separate for different things?
I don’t ride BMX – my go-to hobby is snowboarding. I started my action sports career as an intern at Snowboarder Magazine, so it’s not by design that I keep my work and free time separate, I just don’t happen to ride. My twin girls are starting to, and I love watching little ladies like Keir Sirlin sending it, it just wasn’t something I was introduced to as a kid.
Tell us about Buckwild Productions
Buckwild Productions is a production company I started when I delved into Concert Promotion. We put on outdoor, music festivals for a few years before we had kids. They were a ton of fun, but a TON of work… nothing like erecting a tent in a Colorado snowstorm in the middle of January and having tour busses get stuck, etc. As our kids get older, I think there is a chance we could dabble in this again someday. For now though, I actually use the business entity for my current side passion – interior design. I have been renovating and re-designing homes the last few years and thus, Buckwild Productions has morphed into the trade account I use to operate as a design professional – a.k.a. buy things at a discount!
@Katieault wants to know what are you most proud of in your family and kids’ life?
The thing I’m most proud of is that Chris and I work so well together both professionally and personally and that we are able to find a good work/life balance. We make it a point to include our daughters in conversations about the business and feel really good about them growing up seeing their Mom and Dad work hard for the things we have and the experiences we’re able to provide them.
What are some things we can look forward to with S&M and Fit in the future?
We are currently working on a couple of really cool content series’ that we plan to produce on a more professional/regular level – one of them is called “9 Acres” and features the whole Halahan clan. We are also chipping away/collecting footage for a S&M Bikes documentary. On the Fit side of things, we are developing more aftermarket parts for younger riders while continuing to support and work on bigger projects with our established pros – we have a lot of cool trips/edits in the works right now and I’m especially excited about our SF-it (again) project featuring Matt Nordstrom, Ethan Corriere, and Justin Spriet – who are going back to San Fran to film a follow-up to an edit they made six years ago – and taking Max Miller. New-ish Fit riders Nick Bonnell and Kurt Perkins have some great stuff percolating as well.
