New kid on the block!

It is safe to say that I am the new kid on the block, however I have been apart of this Whānau for sometime now, in-fact almost seven years. Sorry, let me introduce myself, Hi! I am Alex, a regular guy who is here to have fun and live life to the fullest and gain great experiences! However, let's go back to the beginning and start from there.

I am a Rotorua boy, born and bred. I went through all of my schooling being based in Kawaha Point, Kawaha Point Primary, Kaitao Intermediate, and then Western Heights High School. All throughout my childhood I did a few different sports but mainly settled on two, Mountain Biking and Hockey (Field). I stopped playing Hockey at high school cause I lost interest in it, as well as being pretty unfit...cough cough...but still carried on with mountain biking when I could. I had the good old classic Cannondale F7, a great hardtail that suited me for what I wanted to ride, it was a great bike for riding Diamondback (now called The Dipper), and Genesis (now the Challenge Block). Unfortunately I lost interest in mountain biking too and then got too busy with study and finishing school, also getting involved in another sport, Cricket. 

Once I finished at school, I went off to university to study Graphic Design. This was a very interesting time for me, I learnt a lot of lesson's about adulting and also had a lot of fun, meeting so many cool and interesting people along the way. Once I finished university, I came back to Rotorua to find a job, funnily enough, there is not a great deal of Graphic Design jobs in Rotorua, for me, I either had to much experience for what people were after, or not enough. I came to a hard point where I wasn't able to get a job, not even a supermarket, and then it came to town, CRANKWORX!

Crankworx was a great time, in 2016 I volunteered and met some awesome people! Tak and Tu Mutu, along with the operational team who make the event run. Most of my volunteer role at Crankworx has been driving, whether it be the downhill shuttles or driving the Slopestyle athletes from the bottom of the course to the top. Crankworx was great for me, it got me out of a funk cause I wasn't able to get a job, but most importantly, for me, had created some relationships that were amazing and in a way being in the right place at the right time! Eventually I landed a job at Mountain Bike Rotorua thanks to both Tak and Tu, and I have been there ever since. Throughout my time at Mountain Bike Rotorua, I have gone through the ranks and gained many feathers in my cap. If you look at my current roles, I have the following: Team Leader in Bike Rentals for Mountain Bike Rotorua, Duty Manager on the Mountain Bike Rotorua Shuttles, Trip Leader for Private Charters, Guide for MDA Experiences, and finally I am part of the Ops Crew at Crankworx Rotorua. Part of my role as a Team Leader is now looking after this, Wheelies. I am looking after the back end of the website, making sure that the site is running smooth and that products are good to go, I also look after the Social Media side of Wheelies and also some of the Social Media for Mountain Bike Rotorua.

I look forward to carrying on what I currently do, whether that includes more growth or not but am very stoked to be part of this amazing Whānau and proud to help send out as many good vibes as we can.

Photo Credit: Rachel Hadfield @rach.hadfield | @rachel.hadfield | @swiftandclick

Photo Caption: This is me on a project not to long ago. I was there to take photos and get some Behind the Scenes shots of the project getting filmed.