Ryan Clements Talks Pro Skater & Their Money

by The Editors on February 21, 2013

Ryan ClementsFor years most people have known Ryan Clements (right) as the guy on the mic for Skate Park of Tampa events and live webcasts, or as a partner in the Skate Park of Tampa business, but there is more. For the past few years, Clements has been acting as a business manager for several high profile professional skateboarders like P-Rod and Torey Pudwill.

Since leaving the Skate Park of Tampa at the end of 2012, Clements and Heath Brinkley have started a company called Excel to (among other things) help pro skateboarders keep track of their money. Transworld Business’s Mike Lewis talked to Clements and Brinkley about what they do and the problems young pros have. Here’s a slice of what Clements passes along:

For the younger guys it’s that they don’t realize how all the money they’re getting isn’t theirs. They still have to pay Uncle Sam and they don’t necessarily realize that or how it works. Explaining the difference between being an employee and a contractor is important. For the older, more established guys it’s more about making them aware of how much money they’re blowing on eating, drinking, and other purchases that leave them absolutely nothing to show. I have one client that didn’t file tax returns for eight years. I don’t know what he was thinking, but it eventually caught up to him via a levy on his checks from his sponsors. That’s when he called me. We cleaned that mess up with the assistance of a tax attorney.

We all could use someone who is smarter than we are to mind our money. Luckily, skateboarders have Ryan. Click the link for the rest of the post.

[Link: Transworld Business]

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