Daily Inspiration: Meet J. David Rich

Today we’d like to introduce you to J. David Rich.  

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I guess I would consider my “start” to be when I was around 2014. I was cog in the corporate America machine working as a tech support rep taking all too repetitive calls. I quickly found myself thinking there had to be more than just working your life away in a cubicle, so I started re-exploring my old hobbies – one of which was filmmaking. Now I was no means Spielberg, but from a very young age, I absolutely LOVED film, and would even make fully scripted “movies” as a child. Really. This odd childhood passion of mine ultimately led to making skateboarding videos with my friends as a teenager (and me unsuccessfully trying to convince them to act out skits in between). However, those years had long since passed, and none of us were really skating anymore, so I assumed that doing anything with a camera was an opportunity in life that I thought I had missed. 

Now around this same time, the automotive sport of drifting was really coming onto the scene and was one of the fastest-growing forms of motorsport in the US. Growing up on stuff like Smokey and the Bandit or The Dukes of Hazzard, I had seen cars slide around corners and whatnot, but never anything like what competitive drifting was. So, I had to check it out in person, and I attended my first professional drift event at Road Atlanta. I was hooked from the jump and knew I had to get back to another drift day as soon as I could. Little did I know, that would be just two weeks later in Englishtown, NJ. A local boy by the name of Steve Angerman (aka “Angerbro”), was a driver at the E-Town track and had seen some Instagram posts of mine, and invited me to come to East Coast Bash, a non-competitive, grassroots drifting event which was arguably the largest on the east coast. Next thing I know, I had a GoPro in my hand and was filming once again. This return to a forgotten passion resulted in a headfirst dive into the deep end of the drift scene. At its peak, I found myself shooting at roughly 28 different events over the course of a year – making bash videos with my friends and MC’ing events for new series such as Turismo Drift or East10Drift ProAm. 

After a few years of traveling all over the southeast to cover events, I got my first real big break professionally. By this point, I had transitioned to a newly relocated Hankook Tire, where after a year of being in their warranty department, I got promoted to oversee their motorsports efforts in the US. This was HUGE! They had seen what I was doing with drifting in my free time and gave me a shot to do something I was deeply passionate about. We had some successes during this time, winning events and even a Formula Drift championship, however, the programs had ultimately been cut, and I found myself looking for a way to keep following my passions professionally. 

At this point, I can’t tell you how long I had applied for jobs at Monster. I mean countless times, and on every position, I might’ve been qualified. After all, I grew up during the started era of the X-Games, and having seen all the rad stuff Monster was with doing with all the sports I passionate about, I always thought it would be a dream place to work, with zero expectations of that ever actually happening. After years of applying, I got that long-awaited call for an interview and was hired on a few weeks later for the local marketing team in Nashville. At long last, I was in! Finally! I was so thrilled just to be a part of the Monster Energy family – a group of work hard, play hard individuals that literally live by the core value of GSD (Get Shit Done). My kinda people! 

I spent two and a half years in this role, going to some of the biggest events and repping a brand that very much aligns with my personality, while simultaneously developing my sales skills as a full-time assistant manager at Discount Tire on the side. Countless 70+ hour work weeks between both jobs, hustling and bustling, doing whatever I had to do keep chasing these crazy and unbelievable opportunities that kept popping up for me. It was like something finally clicked in my head that if you chase what makes you happy, the rest comes naturally. 

At the end of 2020, I accepted a long-awaited move to the sales team with Monster, but it came with a twist – a cross-country relocation to Colorado. I had always wanted to move out of Tennessee, if only just to see what the rest of the world had to offer, and this felt like the right way to do it. Flash forward to New Year’s Day, and I’m in a U-Haul on my way to my new life (talk about “new year, new me” right?)! For the next several months, I tried hard to soak up everything like a sponge, all while getting to blend my Monster knowledge with the sales expertise I picked up at Discount. It was a dream scenario for my first real sales role like that. 

Having swiftly worked my way to the top rankings, I was thriving in my new position, and loving every minute it of it. Folks that I worked with were quickly recommending that I start considering my next role and where I want to go. That was huge to me, not only to have this kind of validation from your professional peers but just knowing that opportunity can come knocking again at any given moment. 

While there were great things happening in Colorado, there was a ton of personal development as well. I had relocated out there fresh off a rough split, all while being a thousand miles away from everything I had ever known. If you want to get to know who you are, and what’s really important to you, leave your comfort zone and move away from home, because that shows you real fast. And that’s exactly what happened with me. I realized that I was missing things about home that I would’ve never dreamt of before I left, not to mention the extreme FOMO of not being at all the big motorsport events going on for the first time in Nashville. But I kept my head up and kept pressing to grow personally, and professionally. And then opportunity came knocking again. 

Someone had seen my work and ended up recommending me for another role, and wouldn’t ya know it, it was back home in Nashville. I can’t tell you how much sleep after that interview, but it was for not, as I ended up securing the spot and eagerly moving back to town last September. And it’s been a whirlwind being back. 

Since returning to Nashville, I am currently still in my Field Sales role with Monster Energy, and loving every minute of it. Being back in the southeast has also allow me to continued my hobbies even further, both in and out of the job. I currently also serve as an MC for East10Drift ProAm, as well as shooting the occasional drift video when I have time! In addition to those, I’ve also started exploring new hobbies, such as iRacing. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not by any means, no, but I’m not sure I would prefer it any other way. I tend to keep what challenges I have faced private, but I will say the largest struggle I’ve faced over time is that of my own self-doubt. If you think you’re not going to win, you’re not going to win. You absolutely have to subscribe to the idea that you can make anything happen in life that you want, you just have to confidence in yourself to do it. You’re gonna fail, and maybe even question if it’s worth it at times, but it’s those moments that will form you into exactly who you need to be to achieve it your goals, you just have to capitalize on it. I really wish I would’ve figured that out sooner. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I honestly think I’m probably known as “the Monster guy” most commonly haha. I’ve been rocking the brand since I was a teenager, and long before I worked for them, so quite a few know me from that! 

But as for the man under the hat, I think it’s my positive personality towards life and people that I’m known for. There’s a Cody Jinks song with the lyrics “so I’ll just walk the earth awhile, lend a hand and leave a smile”, and that’s a really great summary of how I try to live. I’m just thankful to be where I’m at in my life, and want to try to be good to my fellow humans – do right by people. And in a world as fractured as the one we live in today; I think that’s ultimately helped me stand out more than anything else. 

What do you think about luck?
I think that’s how you define the word “luck”. In my mind, it means opportunities. Opportunities don’t just come to you; you have to put yourself in a position where those opportunities arise. Essentially, you make your own luck. 

But you definitely have luck you can’t control, such as timing. So, there is a level of luck you have to have. But more importantly, you have to take advantage of those lucky moments as they come, and be ready for them. 

With that said, the feeling of luck is really important to me. I feel incredibly blessed for my lot in life, and it certainly gives me a huge appreciation of how lucky I am to be in this position. 

Contact Info:

• Email: jdrmediaco@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/JDavidRich
• Facebook: Facebook.com/JDavidRacing
• Youtube: Youtube.com/JDRmediaco

Image Credits
Jon Morgan Photography
@jdavidrich