Meet Weston Hopkins | Founder of airRyd.com

We had the good fortune of connecting with Weston Hopkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Weston, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk taking is something that really everyone needs to engage in at some point or another to truly find their own limits. Many times just the idea itself of taking a risk, prevents an individual from realizing their true potential.

I have had a natural tendency to take risks from a young age, and seem to almost enjoy the challenge of going out and trying to create something new from scratch. There is something incredibly rewarding about building something out of thin air, and then getting to watch others enjoy & benefit from that thing or service you created.

But in terms of business, I think the key to success is simply trusting yourself when it comes to risk. You have to become so confident in what your doing, and what your vision is, that to you, the plan no longer seems like a risk at all, but a very calculated and well thought out plan of action to make something work no matter what. And if you have never started a business, that’s probably just one of those lines you hear, and you take it more as motivational speak then reality, but it really is a powerful thing if you sit back and actually ponder the concept.

Take something that you know you are skilled at or competent in. It could be a hobby or a skill, or anything really at all that you feel you have above average knowledge or ability at. This may not be the best example, but imagine for a moment that your an expert at doing back flips, and you’ve been doing back flips for years. To you, the thought of doing a back flip is nothing, it’s of no risk at all. You could do one blindfolded, or half asleep. But to others watching , who have never even attempted a back flip, they are likely thinking that a back flip sounds very risky or even dangerous. He could land wrong, he could break his neck, or injure his spinal cord, or rupture a disc, what about the medical liability , would insurance cover this?

When it comes to business, it’s really quite similar, if you are going to succeed. To you, the plan must be rock solid.. You must have supreme confidence in your ability to deliver on what you are trying to create. Sometimes that means you need to work somewhere, or take a class, or find a way to learn more about an industry or product if you are going to become an expert at it. From the outside in, to others, it will always appear to be risky, but to you it must feel like second nature. That is how you win in the face of business & financial risk.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
airRyd.com was born out of pure disdain for the current operators in the logistics and auto transportation industry. As a prior truck driver / car hauler, I had the opportunity to get real world hands on experience shipping cars physically across the USA. I hauled all types of cars, from rare exotics, to baseline Honda Civics, to old classics like Model A’s. I saw the inner workings of how the industry operated from A to Z.

The methods employed by the current lineup of popular auto transport brokers, like Montway, or Roadrunner, was quite awful to say the least. These companies routinely lied and made bogus promises to their customers about the overall process of how their auto shipment would go, and then it would end up being the driver or actual transporter operating the truck that would get to deal with an irate customer who falsely believes you are the problem.

So after watching this continual charade go on for 4 years, while hauling cars, I began planning how I could get back at these brokers, or make a dent at the very least in their business. Some of the typical tactics they tend to use routinely are bogus low quotes (in order to get a deposit from a client) , falsely promising a particular time or day for a pickup or delivery (this is well beyond a brokers control to ever even promise this) , bait and switch tactics (giving a guaranteed price, but then the customer finds out after their car has been picked up that the price is actually now $500 more, and if they want their car delivered they will have to pay the higher rate). These are just a few of the very routine tactics that continue going on in the industry every single day to unbeknownst consumers.

So after some basic online market research, it became clear that no one was really putting out any legitimate information about the auto shipping process or the industry itself.

So that’s where the Youtube Channel ” Auto Transport For Dummies ” was born. Basically I simply began posting very basic videos , just explaining the different mistakes people make when shipping their car across the United States, while at the same time building airRyd.com .

Not long after these videos began getting some traction , we began seeing sales volumes increase on airRyd.
Fast forward to just 19 months later, and airRyd is on track to cross the 1 million mark in annual gross sales for 2022.

The overall lessons I think anyone reading this can take, is honestly just to try things. You never know what is going to work, and many times I see people who have enormous potential, but they never take a swing. They are always waiting for the perfect timing or perfect shot, or perfect setup, etc etc. The reality is however, that moment is never going to come. There will never be a 100% perfect video clip, or perfect website, or perfect anything for that matter. You learn by trying. A failure at one attempt, is actually a success in another, as it has taught you something that didn’t work, which will guide you closer to what does work. Many failures tend to create an expert at something, as they know what works and what doesn’t. This is a concept many need to embrace. I did not know that random Youtube videos would lead to so much traction for a website in such a competitive space, but they did. You have to get out and try.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I recently had the pleasure of buying some land up near lake pleasant, and I really love the peacefulness and tranquility of the area. Also, Sedona and Flagstaff are great spots. Flagstaff is outstanding when it snows, as we get to do some snowboarding !!

We may also be opening a Kava and Kratom bar in Tempe soon, So watch out for Wulfenite Kava Bar to launch in the near future.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Would like to thank my good friend TJ , who was a critical supporter early on with my quest to create a new platform to move cars across the United States. He has always been there to help in many ways.

Website: https://airRyd.com

Instagram: wes_midwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weston-hopkins/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airrydautoshipping/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/airryd-chandler-3

Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/autotransportfordummies