Crossing the line
For those who don’t know, I am a pretty big advocate for running in the community. I am an assistant coach at a very successful high school here in Ocala, I am the founder of a web site that promotes local fitness events, I am the race director of this year’s Reindeer Run, I am one of the few people trying to rekindle the Ocala Runners Club, and I am someone who FREELY volunteers my time to help grow numerous events in the area. In addition to being vary involved in the local running scene, I have done various projects outside of Ocala in hope of making the sport better. Below is a list of things I’ve done in the past few years to help promote my sport.
- Multiple Time FHSAA State Track and Field Meet Announcer
- NCAA Championship Announcer (East Preliminary Rounds)
- 2x ASUN Conference Championship Track and Field Announcer
- Freelancer to multiple running web sites
- Past Store Manager for one of America’s top running stores
- USATF Level 1 Coach
- the list goes on……………………..
As much as it pains me to say it, I am NOT a supporter of Ocala’s newest running store.
A few months ago, the store manager asked me to come work at his store. After explaining to him that I had my own hopes of opening a store, and my employment with him would be a conflict of interest, he has made it his mission to destroy my reputation in the community. It is to the point that I get sick to my stomach when mentions his name or his business around me.
My side of things
Employment– Even if I didn’t wish to open my own store, I still would have had to turn down the offer. I am college educated and have experience managing a store that won multiple top 50 store awards while I was employed there. The offer I was given was $10 and hour with the opportunity to be assistant manager after 1-2 years of training. I know my worth. I currently have a web site that gets 1000’s of hits a week, I coach 45+ athletes, and I have relationships with many of the local businesses that are involved in the local running community. By accepting a $10 and hour position, my efforts in the community would only stand to make someone else rich.
4 on the 4th – It has been expressed to me that I am the reason that the new running store was not allowed to participate in the race. 1) I am not the race director, and do not have the capacity to make those decisions. I merely helped promote the race, as it is one that I have run multiple times and I wanted to help it grow, 2) I did promote the person who came down and sold shoes. At the time, THERE WAS NO RUNNING STORE IN OCALA, and the person who came down was a good friend of mine. He paid money to sponsor the race, and has sponsored multiple events that the race timing company has put on. 3) From my understanding, the new store could have participated in the race, but did not want to come to the table with sponsorship money. 4) The manager of the store had been promoting the watermelon run in Gainesville, and had posted that his store would be hosting its own 4th of July race in 2015. He was not interested in the 4 on the 4th until he found out that someone would be there selling shoes.
Making Money – In the last week I have had multiple people ask me about why my web site charges a processing fee for people who register for races. The running store’s manager has been trying to leverage the processing fee as a way of me taking advantage of the running community. 1) I created a web site that offers an alternative to some of the pricier registration web sites. The most popular site charges $1.25 more per registration than what I currently charge. 2) Maintaining multiple web sites is not cheap. I need nearly 1,000 registrants to merely break even with the site. 3) I am a local company that promotes local events. Any money that my company will eventually make, will be reinvested into the community.
Speaking of Local- This is more of a pet peeve than anything else. Just because there is a store here, doesn’t make it local. The managers and investors are from and live out of town. For a store to be local one would imagine that the majority of the payroll would be to local employees. He cries that people need to support their local store, but he is not a local supporter. I know a bunch of races that were given a list of demands for him to become a sponsor. The #1 being their store being the “exclusive” running store sponsor. In the races I have been involved in, $$$ were never things offered as sponsorship. Instead the package he offers consists of a lot of stuff other entities do for free. Including race bibs, and bags.
Harassment – I am consistently the victim of harassment by ambassadors of this store. I have been repeatedly put down by my action of leaving of the Jingle Bell Run from my web sites calendar. The thing that most of the harassers didn’t realize was that we were specifically told not to include their events. 1 Day we were asked to take their stuff off our calendar, the very next day I was personally singled out as not being a true supporter of the running community. The comments made caused an uproar that I had to spend hours defending.
The Newest Campaign – The newest round of attacks comes at the expense of my event calendar and registration system. As mentioned above, I have had multiple people tell me that the manager of the store is bad mouthing the fact that my site charges an event processing fee. Little does he realize, I am charged a fee per person. I not only have to pay a processing fee myself, I have to pay for the program that registers the runners, the programs that are used to create the graphics, and the hosting of the site. Why all the trouble? I see it as an investment in the community’s future. Someday the web site might make money. But today it freely promotes a great number of events. Although I can’t add a value, I can say that there are a lot of organizations that are getting free promotion off the back of $1,000’s of dollars in student loan debt. My degree, resume, and web site viewership has to ad some sort of value to my marketing efforts………..Right?
For non-believers – If you don’t believe the store is singling out me or my business, then check out their Facebook page. In the past few days I have seen more posts about the “EXCLUSIVE” event calendar then I have about the state of the art fit process, their weekly group run, or their sponsored Jingle Bell Event. In turn look at my page or my business page. I am promoting events. I have always promoted events.
Closing Thoughts
Scott,
If you are reading this please do me a favor; Stop trying to hurt me and my passion for the sport. Concentrate on making the community a better place for all of us. Train your employees on proper fitting techniques. Support local races regardless of exclusivity. Create new business for yourself. You are obviously passionate about the sport, inspire others to be the same way. Leave me out of it as I am not currently your competitor, and you only stand to be more successful with my success. More participants = More potential customers.
Darrin DeTorres
352-304-3217
Local Running Enthusiast
Small Business Owner
High School XC Coach
OcalaFit Fair
Last week after helping out at the Southern Women’s Show in Jacksonville, Florida I decided I wanted to organize a health and fitness fair. When looking at dates, the beginning of the year seemed like a no-brainier. With that the OcalaFit Fair was born.
The OcalaFit Fair is schedule to take place on January 4th at the Klein Conference Center inside the College of Central Florida. The goal is to invite vendors from the health and fitness industry out in order for them to help Ocala residents reach their goals of a fitter life in 2014.
In searching for sponsors we have already gotten commitments from Milestone Race Authority and Tiger Run 5k for Vietnam to come out in support of Ocala’s fitness community. Milestone Race Authority will be offering discounted rates to anyone who wants to sign up for the 2014 Running of the Donuts 5k.
Interested attendees who take the time to RSVP on Facebook will be put into a drawing to win either a Gymboss Interval Timer, a Road ID Gift Certificate or a DAM Outfitters T-Shirt. CLICK HERE TO RSVP!
If you are interested in sponsoring the OcalaFit Fair please e-mail me at darrin@ocalafit.com
While I am waiting
Please do me a favor and check out one of the many projects I have been working on during my unemployment.
What Gives?
This post is more out of frustration than anything else. I have been unemployed since July with no visible light at the end of the tunnel.
Where have I gone wrong?
I did as instructed in life, I got good grades in high school, I stayed out of trouble, I went to college, I got a degree, and I’ve met many different people in varying positions. I have participated in internships, I have worked for free, and I have even tried to create my own opportunities in life. I volunteer in the community, I help others when asked, and in everything I do I give my all.
Really though, something has to budge. I have applied to multiple jobs that I should be a shoe in for. Take for example the Entry Level Account Executive I applied for at an ad firm. The job listing advertised that it was a perfect position for new college graduates looking to gain experience in the industry. After the interview I was told I was unqualified for the position, as I had no experience in the CRM tools they use……….Something not taught in any college class.
How about the job selling shoes at Dicks Sporting Goods. I have a college degree, sales experience, and was a manager at a top 50 running specialty store. I really shouldn’t have to apply for a job like this, but I did. Did I get a call back? Hell no. How about an e-mail? Nope! Yet, they have employees on the floor called Running Specialists with PRs of 28 minutes in the 5k who can be quoted as saying that the Brooks Adrenaline is one of the worst selling shoes on the market……………Really?
How about the job as a sales rep for a vary well known compression company. I came highly recommended by the person who previously held the position, the one they begged to stay. Without even an interview, I was told I didn’t fit the mold they look for in an employee. The fact that I had experience in the market that they cater to was immaterial. Instead they wanted sharks. I was told that unless I had experience selling payment processing systems, employee uniforms, or fax and copy machines to businesses then I didn’t qualify to work for their company. Not sure how the ability to sell a fax machine relates to selling compression apparel to businesses in the sports industry.
I’m running short on places to apply. I have applied to places that don’t require a high school diploma, I have applied to places that do, I have applied to places that require experience that I possess and places that don’t require experience. I have applied to positions in the health industry, to positions in advertising and marketing, to positions in retail, and to positions in manufacturing. I have opened search to positions well out of the realm of my comfort zone. No bites, no nibbles, no nothing.
I keep being told to be patient, that my big break will come. I keep doing things for free hoping that eventually it will pay off in the long run. Unfortunately patience doesn’t pay rent, car payments, or health insurance. I’m tired of working for free, and not being able to do anything. I’m tired of calculating whether it’ll be this month, or the next, that my bank account will finally run dry. I’m tired of listening to everyone version of sunshine while I am standing here in the dark.
Sorry for all the bitching, but really I am ready for a break. I have done so much to set myself up for success that doesn’t seem to be coming.
Darrin DeTorres
Owner / Share Holder
www.distancepreps.com
www.ocalafit.com
www.stridescouts.com
www.kreativekos.com
Kreative K’os and OcalaFit
Well trying my hand at business again because apparently a college degree , sales, and managerial experience doesn’t afford someone so much as an interview in Ocala. The only option before me, outside of moving, is to make things happen on my own.
Recent;y I started a web site called www.ocalafit.com. The idea behind the web site is to have a central spot in Ocala where residents can go to find out information on local athletic events. Up until a few days ago I was barely averaging 50 page views per day , but seem to have cracked the code when I published a calendar of events via a JPEG on Facebook. Since posting the JPEG as well as posting pics from a local cross country meet, I have seen the numbers increase 10x.
In addition to creating the OcalaFit web site I partnered with my friend Luis to recreate our old business, Kreative K’os. Kreative K’os is a print and promotions company that specializes in web design, business print materials, and t-shirts. Although we are not highly successful as of yet, we seem to be getting in 1-2 decent orders a week.
Gutter Cap Web Site and SEO
I am trying to get the www.guttercapflorida.com higher in search engines by creating pages for distinct cities. I currently have only made a few but am hoping that google and others will start picking up on the key words.
Cities:
My New Venture
Earlier this month I decided to create a web site called OcalaFit.com. My hopes is to make a one stop shop for Ocala residents who are concerned with health and fitness. Currently I have a blog, a business directory, and an event calendar with many other features in the works. Make sure to check out OcalaFit.com for all of your Ocala Fitness or Health related needs.
My Winn Dixie Experience
Dear Winn Dixie,
I am disturbed by a recent experience I had in one of your Ocala locations. I was in the store to purchase some items for dinner which included a bottle of wine. Upon check out I was asked to furnish an ID. I was happy to do so and the cashier swiped it through the system. I was a little irked, however, that she did not do the same thing to the person ahead of me who was purchasing a carton of cigarettes. Although I believe the women was of age to purchase tobacco, I think this is a very dangerous practice.
Marion county currently has a rate of underage smokers that is higher than the state average (14.8 vs 10.1) Tobacco us is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and devastates families with its affects. We recently lost my grandfather due to causes related to years of tobacco use, and my grandmother is lost without him. I only tell you about my grandfather because I want you to see that products you sell directly impact your customers.
With all that has been said I am not asking for you to stop selling these products, it would be great but is very unrealistic. I am asking you to change you policy regarding tobacco sales and require an ID for every purchase. As one of the top grocers in our area I think a strict tobacco policy would help influence other retailers and possibly help prevent youth tobacco use.
Thank You,
Darrin DeTorres
ddetorres1@gmail.com
Gutter Cap Florida Web Site
Created this website in a little over 3 hours.
http://www.guttercapflorida.com/
It still needs a little bit of fine tuning but it is amazing some of the stuff that can be done these days!
Darrin DeTorres 