Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carey Platto. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Carey, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I spent my career in many aspects of the outdoor and action sports industries. After a year in a national bicycle industry marketing role getting to know the retail landscape, I realized that traditional retail was floundering and there was a hole in the market. Direct to Consumer brands had grown in popularity, but there were very few places in the country that riders could touch and feel the bikes before deciding to purchase. The day after I was furloughed on May 2, 2020 while on a 65 mile ride around Mt. Diablo, I had the idea for the shop. My vision was to create a high margin, low overhead, maintenance and community driven direct to consumer bicycle showroom. When I floated this idea to my friends after the ride, my friend Dave Fraioli said he wanted to be a part of it. We had discussed ideas like this for years, and I was thrilled that he wanted to join me on the adventure.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

From a young age, I strived to connect the things I have to do with the things I love to do. This philosophy led me to a career connected to my passion for outdoor sport. I started as a summer camp counsellor teaching white water kayaking, and took the skills I developed there to the country’s leading kayaking and outdoor education programs during summers through college. After graduation I cold called Patagonia for a year, knowing that was the company for me. The day I got my first job as Assistant Manager in Patagonia’s San Francisco store was one of the best of my life; it validated my vision and set me on the path towards my future. After four year with the brand getting to know the inner workings of the industry, I went to business school to hone my professional skills. From there I moved into Athletic Footwear, where I spent the next fifteen years in roles of progressively increasing responsibility until I was in charge of global businesses for the worlds leading brands (New Balance, Puma, The North Face). After I was laid off from the North Face in 2018, I had become really into mountain biking. I targeted the cycling industry and landed a national marketing role with Bicycle Blue Book. I was furloughed after one year due to Covid, but the depth of my background and the experience I gained in the cycling industry gave me to confidence to launch my own venture.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The original idea for our shop was to be a direct to consumer showroom. The name of our shop is even based on that idea. We quickly learned though that maintenance revenue is not enough to support the low margins from DTC brands. So when we got the chance to land a more traditional anchor brand (Specialized), we jumped at the chance. All the work we’d put in to building community through group rides, camps, clinics and local sponsorships gave us a solid customer base, and once we brought in Specialized our business soared.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My co-founder Dave Fraioli and I have been friends for twelve years, ever since I moved to California from Boston. We took our kids on backpacking trips throughout Northern California every summer, skied and rode bikes together, and shared friends throughout the community. Professionally, our skills are very complimentary. Dave is career CFO and Operations Leader who built an educational software company that he successfully sold and exited. He is also a master bicycle mechanic who loves solving complex mechanical problems. Coupled with my industry experience, product, sales, marketing and coaching background we knew that together we had a chance to build and run a successful business together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.firstmilecycle.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstmilecycle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/First-Mile-Cycle-Works-100064803700289/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-mile-cycle-works
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/first-mile-cycle-works-lafayette

Image Credits
I took most of these photos :)