We recently connected with Michael Cumming and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

One of the best investments I’ve ever made was in myself was my carbon fiber road bike made by 3T an Italian bike brand. The back story behind this purchase was my dedicated approach to road bike riding and racing. I had found a new desire to really put effort towards getting a new bike frame to race with that wasn’t my tried and trusted 11 year old aluminum road bike. The frame was tired and its responsiveness had severely diminished. I’d spoken to my bike fitter and they’d reached back out to me at a time when I had to really think do I want to commit to this now or wait. I decided to proceed and look into the build of the bike. It was a tough decision as there were so many other bikes I was considering but I knew I needed something lightweight, responsive, and relatively comfortable. Fast forward nearly a year and I couldn’t be happier with the bike build and all the miles I’ve accumulated (Current mileage 5719) on the build including races, my 326 mile ride between Brooklyn and Long Island, and how fast we can move together. Lessons learned from this are if the intuition is saying it’s a good thing, listen to it. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Always invest in yourself first and figure out the logistics in time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a NYC Born and raised African American in the civil engineering field with a large love of mechanical vehicles including bicycles. I got into my field through playing around with tactile shapes and surfaces. I have always been a very hands on person. I was trying to decide between architecture and engineering of some sort and went to a program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to figure out which I preferred. Engineering came out on top for being math based and very hands on. I specifically went into the civil engineering field because I have always had a fascination with the way skyscrapers are built and the mechanics behind it captivated me. Diving deeper I focused on the construction management side of civil engineering which allows conversing with many different people to find solutions but also ensuring construction safety and progress. I am the liaison between the client and the contractor and I use approachable nature to facilitate a good relationship between the two. It’s a challenge at times but i love seeing the end result where the project is completed and the product I helped deliver is able to be effectively implemented and used. I am most proud of my ability to coordinate with different groups and bring people together and learn in the process. In my younger more introverted years I could’ve only hoped to do something as I am now.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson I learned that I had to unlearn was thinking I had to do it all myself. Over the course of my life, I’ve taken action to take care of what I needed to do. This led to burnout and not delegating what I could to take the burden off my shoulders

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience through consistency and relatable content that anyone can ask about. There are more in-depth concepts that’s I’ve touched on but there are others that are easier to digest. On top of this I post occasionally funny content that some people don’t get to see as frequently as friends. My advice to anyone is to always be authentic and don’t sell yourself short to make content.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caramel105spins/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcumming747?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app