What should I say and where in the heck should I begin?  I guess the best place is way back at the beginning of a long journey where I find myself typing this message for all to read.  My story is not that exciting.  Over the years in the off-road business I would have people say to me, “you are lucky”, “you have it made”, and the one hate most, “everything you touch turns to luck”. I have a serious problem with luck.  I do not believe in luck. I believe if you work hard and make educated choices you can grab dreams.  I believe luck is really the end result of hard work and being prepared when opportunity presents itself.

My story started in 1973 on a rainy June afternoon.  My parents Danny and Sharon  took me home for the very first time at 509 Thunderbird Drive.  You may or may not of noticed the street number.  If not you should note the street number is a very important part of my rambling story.

I am going to leave out some details in this story in hopes to keep it short.  By the time I was in the 3rd grade I was out in the shop bangin with my dad on old cars we would restore together.  Growing up I was always the risk taker.  I would jump things on my bike and crash way harder than anyone else.  I wonder if I am the only person to jump the ditch at Selma Street park?  While in the 3rd grade my entire world would change on October 18, 1981.  I was practicing gate starts on my bicycle.  I blacked out while going down the driveway at mach 4.  I remember the door and window coming but there was noting I could do to prevent it.  I hit the door and my head and neck where launched into the plate glass.  I had life threatening injuries to my neck, throat, and mouth.  Glass went through my neck and into my mouth.  My neck had been severely cut and my tongue was almost cut off in two places.

DSC02284The next month and a half was spend in intensive care.  In the beginning the doctors told my parents to prepare for the worse as I would more then likely not pull through.  They said if I did I would have brain damage and surely loose my tongue because of the nerve damage.  Needless to say everything worked out fine.  I am still here kicking.  I regained feeling in my tongue sometime in high school.

The next big thing to happen at this address was my mother leaving and taking my little sister along to live in Florida.  I often felt to blame for my mom leaving because the accident put my family in bad financial strain.  Growing up I realized there is more to it than what I thought was the problem.  I love my mother and father very much.  It is just part of my story. It should be noted with my mother in Florida I had a lot of time to spend in the shop working and learning while my dad was at work.  Just think I may never of learned to fabricate metal parts if not for those years in the shop grinding it out.  Things happen for a reason in our lives.  Sometimes we have to take the lemons life hands us and plant lemon trees.

After a while my friend Doug and I started chopping bicycles up and welding them back together.  A sixth grader needs to have someone around when welding but I took it on.  We built downhill coaster bikes to race after school.  The need to build and modify moved on the low rider mini trucks in the late 80′s and early 90′s. I know I had a low rider mini, but we all go through crazy times in out lives.  I bought a Jeep in roughly 1994. I was in college and had ZERO dollars to buy parts for the Jeep. So on the weekend trips home from school and summers I spent a lot of time in the shop building parts for the Jeep. Back in Birmingham, AL at school people would ask, “Where did you buy that part?”  I always had a smile when I said I built it.  I smiled even more when people started handing me money to build parts for them.  In those days everything was hand built at 509 Thunderbird Drive.

Fast forward a few years and I started my dream company, Blue Torch FabWorks. Most of my family thought I was crazy when I left my day job as a pharmaceutical rep with dreams of building a dynasty in the offroad world.  Now many shops around the globe copy the products, but none will ever copy the history. I sold the business in September 2009 to move back to Dothan and focus on family.  Now I am making new history for my family and I.

History is the real reason I choose the name 509 Media.  509 Thunderbird is where I learned to work hard. It is where I leaned to weld and fabricate, it is the beginning that lead me here.  I will get back on later to add to my story so be sure to check back in.

The Red Bull Rock Her 2 we built right here in Dothan, AL.