Steve Paras with Buck Jones Charity Foundation

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: Welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world, and we offer words of wisdom for business success. I’m your host, Sharon Cline, and it is a very happy Friday that I get to be in the studio because I have one of my favorite people, Steve Paras, here. He is a jack of all the stories he tells, the jack of all trades helps everybody he meets. Truly, it is an honor to have you in the studio. Steve, you are here to talk about Buck Jones and all the good things that you’re doing with your charity ride that you have in November, and we’re getting started now in July.

Steve Paras: That’s right. We’re having Christmas in July at Hooters on July 1st. First bike night.

Sharon Cline: This Tuesday it’s in, it’s in Buford.

Steve Paras: At the Mall of Georgia.

Sharon Cline: Okay, so tell me the back story behind Buck Jones for the people who aren’t familiar.

Steve Paras: Okay. Buck Jones started the toy run with four bikes, and that was 1991. Buck Jones has 20 years military experience, and he was the chief of police in coming for 20 years. Passed away, I think, in 2000, 2010. So we’ve just carried it on. His wife is there. She’s really like the grand marshal at the Toy Run in November. And the toy run is the Sunday before Thanksgiving every year, and this is the 34th year.

Sharon Cline: We’ve talked about how much it’s grown over the years, but what was the last one?

Steve Paras: Like the last two years, we’ve had over 400 bikes, 52 jeeps and over 800 people.

Sharon Cline: That’s amazing. It is. And it started with four.

Steve Paras: Right. And so his wife, it brings her to tears when she’s talking about it. And how proud he would be right now if he could see how it’s what it’s turned into.

Sharon Cline: I love that she still comes to these events and kind of represents. Oh, and his three daughters. I bet Buck Jones had no idea back in what, 1990, 91, whatever it was that he had for bikes, that it would grow into this huge event that gives so many people an opportunity to give back to the community, to children who oftentimes they don’t have choices of their own. They don’t get to have access to a lot of things that other kids do. So there are counties that benefit from the the ride. Can you talk about them?

Steve Paras: Yeah. There’s five counties that we help. Uh, Forsyth, Dawson, white, Lumpkin and Hall, all of those, uh, all the toys go to the inner city kids from the other charities. So what we do is we we collected the over over 6500 toys each of the last two years, and we’ve got five charities that we are partners with.

Sharon Cline: So. Oh my God. I didn’t know it was that many toys. Plus plus cash, right?

Steve Paras: We have cash. We have gift cards. We set a record last year for gift cards. We we had $9,400 in gift cards last year. Oh my gosh. And the 5050 raffle broke records. Also, we had $2,900 in the 5050 raffle and the person that won gave the money back to the charity.

Sharon Cline: Oh my gosh.

Steve Paras: So it was great.

Sharon Cline: So tell me what you have done to help grow this event, because initially it was obviously very small. But as you’ve gotten involved, more and more has happened.

Steve Paras: Well, they’ve had some big rides in the past, but it dropped off quite a bit. It dropped down to under 200 bikes, and when I saw how it needed some help, it needed some organization. It needed different things that they haven’t been doing. And five years ago was when I took it over. We formed a 501 C3 nonprofit, and since then, the first year that I was with it, we only had 242 bikes. Oh, wow. And so now we’re up over 440 bikes.

Sharon Cline: So they needed some direction, their right to help, not only just with the 501 C3, but someone who knows how to really organize and fire people up. So let’s talk a little bit about your history and why you were just the perfect fit for this organization.

Steve Paras: Well, we’re where I actually met these people. We were doing bike nights at Wyoming Cafe in the collection, and we rarely ever had less than 100 bikes. And so they asked me, since you’re good at this, what do you think about coming on board with this? And I had no idea what it was or what it was all about. And when I found out it was taking care of the kids I grew up in foster homes, so it hit. It hit home. So the last two years, we’ve helped out over 2600 kids. And what the gift cards actually do when a kid comes into a foster system, they get three outfits and they get toiletries and those kinds of things. So where does the money come from? That’s what those gift cards go to. And then when the kid comes into the system when they go to school, they’re still not in the system in the school. So those gift cards pay for their lunches. So there’s a lot of different things those $10 gift cards go to.

Sharon Cline: So it doesn’t get lost in the mix like they say, you know, administrative costs and things like that.

Steve Paras: Yeah. The place is one of the charities that that we’re involved with. And if you were to go to the place, you’d just be amazed on how organized it is. They’ve got a it’s like the where all the food, food is. You think you’re in Costco and it’s so organized. They have bags and bags and bags lined up for different families in need.

Sharon Cline: The place is incoming. Correct?

Steve Paras: Correct. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: And so.

Steve Paras: What? Care for kids is another one. Same kids. Just a smaller right type of charity. Like the place.

Sharon Cline: What does it mean to you to be able to see so many different charities, people, bike riders, Jeep owners come together and really want to help the community?

Steve Paras: Yeah, the what people think of bikers and what bikers actually do for the community are two different things. 75% of the bikers every weekend are doing some kind of charity work, right? Either on a poker run for a charity or helping a family or someone in need, or someone went down on a bike and they’re helping out with bills, those kinds of things. People don’t realize when they see a motorcyclist drive by them what they’re doing on the weekends, or how they’re helping out, or how many organizations really, really do a ton of charity work.

Sharon Cline: I love that there’s this misconception about bikers being these hard, you know, not caring people when the the reality is, I’ve not met one person who wouldn’t help me if I called him right now to say I have trouble with my bike or find someone who will. I mean that to me. I feel like you are making such a good statement and an example of why bikers and people who have this misconception are are. Their hearts are ginormous, especially regarding children. I feel like let’s talk about that because that is a very like close thing to me as well. I grew up with, you know, some domestic violence as well. And when I think about what it’s like for a big biker to be out there kind of looking out for little children, it just kind of warms my heart.

Steve Paras: Well, it it warms everybody’s heart when you see little kids being taken care of, right? You know, you see a little kid with a smile on his face. You can’t smile. I mean, you can’t help but smile, right? You know, it just makes you happy when you see a kid giggling or having a good time or acting up. Having fun. Yeah. Right.

Sharon Cline: Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about your history before you got to Buck Jones. How did you get so good at having that creative brain of yours in marketing and being able to put together so many people and get them on the same page?

Steve Paras: Well, I’ve been riding since I was 12 years old, so that was 55 years ago. And, uh, I moved to Vegas in 1980 and 1987, the, uh, Las Vegas Harley opened up and I became a hog member in Vegas. Watch what they were doing. And the Las Vegas Harley. The first location, the parking lot was huge. It was like a mall parking lot. And in Vegas, there’s only 4 to 6 weeks that you can’t ride that where it’s really cold.

Sharon Cline: Oh, I was thinking hot for some reason.

Steve Paras: Oh, you can you can ride almost all year long. And, uh, so watching how they put together events. 1995 I put together my first event. And so I’ve been doing this since 95. And so you learn what to do and what not to do and how to get people to an event. And for me, and this is just personal. Uh, if I have less than 100 bikes at an event, I think it’s not a very successful event. And other people are going, man, this is great. This is a lot of fun. This is. And so I’m always in competition to myself. We had at Miller’s Ale House in Dawsonville, one of the bike nights. We had 250 bikes.

Sharon Cline: Oh my.

Steve Paras: Gosh.

Sharon Cline: That’s amazing.

Steve Paras: So that’s the that’s the number where I’d like to get passed.

Sharon Cline: Well, and at these bike nights let’s talk about what happens. So if I were a regular biker who hasn’t been to this event before, what can I expect?

Steve Paras: Well, we have 5050 raffles. We have giveaways this year. We’ve got a DJ plan, so there’s always something to do. And we’re going to be at at Hooters this year. So obviously there’s going to be a reason to come out.

Sharon Cline: Not just an opportunity to ride your bike to a cool place.

Steve Paras: Right. It’s it’s, uh, the scenery will be nice this year.

Sharon Cline: So that to me, it’s funny. It’s like I want to say, well, you know what? I appreciate that there are. Like, last year, Miller’s ale House was really so supportive in this whole goal and also provided the food at some of these events.

Steve Paras: Well, we have food vendors at the end of the ride that donate food and wowing Cafe Miller’s Ale House, the Krave, uh, Texas Roadhouse. And now this year, Hooters is going to join in and, uh, supply food as well.

Sharon Cline: You know, it seems like here we are. It’s super hot outside. It’s July almost, and we’re talking about an event that happens at Thanksgiving and it seems like it’s far away, but it really isn’t everyone because it’s almost July.

Steve Paras: Well, last weekend we did another charity ride and we went up to Blairsville into North Carolina, then to Tennessee, back to North Carolina, back to Blairsville. We were gone for nine hours in road 244 miles, and there was 35 bikes, which is a smaller ride, but it still raised money.

Sharon Cline: It’s amazing.

Steve Paras: Charity.

Sharon Cline: So I know it takes months and months and months to really build up not just the money, but like the momentum and the attention. So how do you market this kind of event? What is your strategy?

Steve Paras: I can’t tell you that secret.

Sharon Cline: Oh come on, I’ll cut it out. You can tell me after the show.

Steve Paras: So what I do is I go on to Facebook and, uh, hit all the motorcycle groups, and it’s really, it takes a lot of time and a lot of repetition. The same groups over and over. They say if someone sees something eight times, then they remember it. So you can imagine if I’m doing over a hundred pages eight times, you know, so it’s a it takes a lot of time to get them out there. But when you see them show up, it’s all worth it 100%.

Sharon Cline: So are you there when the children come in and look at some of the toys that they can choose?

Steve Paras: Oh, yeah. The place has, uh, where they give out the toys. It’s a school in a church, and every room is decorated differently. And they go by a point system, like one room will be, uh, for three years old to five year olds and then kindergarten and then, you know, different age groups. And so one room will be all Barbie dolls, and that’ll be like three points, and then one room will be bicycles, and that might be five points. And to see the parents come in and know that they can give the kids a great, you know, Christmas. It’s awesome.

Sharon Cline: Does it sort of put you in the space of what it would have been like if that were you? Because I always do that. I put myself in spaces like that and that’s why I cry over things. You know, I get so I get emotional about moments like that.

Steve Paras: Well, when I was growing up in the system, it was totally different.

Sharon Cline: Why?

Steve Paras: How? They didn’t really have regulations and and have people watching out for you. Now you really have people watching out for a kid that’s being abused or neglected or not fed. And what happens is the school is the one that recommends the families because they know what the kids are going through. Right. There’s a counselor at their school, and that kid might be talking to the counselor about what’s really happening at home. And that’s when you can really find out what’s what’s really going on at home.

Sharon Cline: Well, the fact that they know if someone needs lunches and things, that probably gives them a good indication. But how wonderful to know that you’re giving someone something that you would have wanted when you were young. You know, it’s full circle moment, right? These things do get emotional, though, right? So what would you love to see happen with Buck Jones? If you could craft the perfect event and the perfect amount of people, what would you want? The perfect amount of money. What would it be?

Steve Paras: The money. Um, I would love to see a thousand motorcycles where we could just make a ton of kids happy, but all year long we have to take care of them too. So the cash, the gift cards still have to come in. The toys are great, but we still need the cash and the gift cards to take care of the kids all year long. Right. And and to be there when the when the parents are picking up the toys. The smile on the parent’s faces is just incredible.

Sharon Cline: What? What is it like for you? Like what would you like your your legacy to be? Regarding Buck Jones, what would you like to be remembered for? Because that’s what you’re doing right now is you are building for the past five years at least. You know, a very significant legacy that affects a lot of people.

Steve Paras: We helped out a lot of kids. That’s it. You know, just just made a lot of kids happy and took care of, you know, some of these kids don’t have new shoes or new clothes. So when they get their three new outfits, it’s something new for them. You know, it’s something that they aren’t used to. Right. A brand new pair of tennis shoes or a brand new shirt that actually fits or no holes in it and that kind of thing. So.

Sharon Cline: So you’re always going to have these bike nights that are at at Hooters this year.

Steve Paras: All the way through November, the first Tuesday of every month through the new November.

Sharon Cline: So if I’ve never come to this ride that is in November, what could I expect Get to experience.

Steve Paras: You’ll have a lot of fun. Everybody there is there for a good time. You know nobody’s there to cause any trouble. We’re there to help out kids, and you’ll just see smiles on everyone’s faces, dropping off toys, even the wee, you know, 52 jeeps. The amount of toys that they put in those cars is incredible. Because, uh, Foco Jeepers is the group that comes out. There’s 3500 members in that club, so they collect tons of toys, right? And then we’ve got three, uh, trucks that load up the toys. Um, trailers.

Sharon Cline: Really? Yeah.

Steve Paras: Yeah. They’re 16 foot trailers that just get filled up and it’s great. And to see the different clubs that come out, you know, uh, the two that are sponsoring the bike nights are the Punishers and the Patriots and the Punishers. There’s 4000 members worldwide, you know, and so they’re always doing charity events and especially for kids and always being a part of. And the Patriots are always helping out in every way they can. They just had uh, for Narcan the, the.

Sharon Cline: The anti um overdose drug.

Steve Paras: Yeah. They did that uh, ride just a couple of months ago and it was great. It had 135 bikes and raised all kinds of money. And and that’s just another charity, you know, that in a different direction, right?

Sharon Cline: I love the riding with the purpose, because I have days where I just go ride just for fun, which is wonderful. But there’s a whole different energy when I’m doing my ride to go interview someone for History Highway. I have a different thought behind it, you know, and I think that’s it’s almost like I’ve got I’ve got a real reason to experience this road, but I’m also doing something that has is bigger than me.

Steve Paras: When you were talking about history, we talked about this, uh, last week and earlier this week, and we were talking about Griffin. Griffin, Georgia. Yeah. And even if you go out to Griffin, which is a small town, I lived out there for three years there. Still rides out there that go out to Newnan. Harley-davidson out 16. So if you want a ride or you want to be part of a charity, they’re everywhere. They’re everywhere you live. You can get involved.

Sharon Cline: And you don’t have to ride a Harley. You can ride any bike, first of all. But also, if you wanted to just follow in a car, you can do that. It doesn’t. You don’t have to be a writer.

Steve Paras: There’s a lot of ladies that are scared of bikes and they follow the rides. Just in case anything were to happen or carrying something that they can’t on a bike.

Sharon Cline: I love it when someone’s got a car and I can, like, can you hold this bag for me? Yeah. It’s nice. And I know that that happens on the, um, at Buck Jones ride as well.

Steve Paras: So I don’t know if everybody on here knows how much you ride and or how long you’ve ridden. Oh, let’s talk about you. You’re an expert here. You’re an experienced rider. You had a fat boy for eight years. Yes. You don’t. Or your fat boy went to a charity that we did what, last year or the year before?

Sharon Cline: It was last year. It was in October. November?

Steve Paras: How long have you been writing?

Sharon Cline: Oh, I have been writing for nine years. I learned how to ride at a Harley-Davidson that actually held Bender Harley, which they just closed. And now they’re kind of absorbed into Atlanta Harley Davidson. Uh, but I took that class twice, and the first time I took it, I had the Analysis Paralysis award because I was so worried about writing. And then a month later, I took it again and I got the most improved award, which I’m very proud of. And, uh, yeah, the.

Steve Paras: Trophy on your.

Sharon Cline: Shelf. Well, I have I have pictures of those certificates on my phone from like nine years ago, but I also took like the Advanced Rider course, which I really liked because I had my own bike and was able to kind of do those same kind of maneuvers that they give you a tinier bike to ride as you’re learning, and you can drop it a hundred times. They’ve kind of tricked it out so that you’re not going to hurt the bike or yourself, but being able to take my bike and actually know that I could handle it’s curves and little tiny U-turns and stop when I want. I felt like, okay, I’ve done my due diligence of making sure I I’m safe and everyone else out there is safe too. So, um, since then, it’s just been such a major part of my life. I’ve just loved it. And I’ve gotten to meet you, you know, through this, which I was wondering as we were getting ready to do this show. I don’t remember the first time I met you, but I’ve come to so many different events that you’ve been to.

Steve Paras: The Chuck and Z.

Sharon Cline: Oh, was it the Chuck and Z show? Is that how we met? I used to produce the Chuck and Z show, and they, um, have moved to Texas. But hopefully we’ll be coming back and we’ll start up again. Maybe. But I’ve. I loved everything they stood for because they weren’t just about bike riding. They were giving an opportunity for people like you to have a platform to do, to raise awareness for good things.

Steve Paras: If you remember, we had a live, uh, podcast.

Sharon Cline: Uh, at their show. Yeah, at their place.

Steve Paras: That’s right. No, we did it that way.

Sharon Cline: That’s right.

Steve Paras: Like Toy Run.

Sharon Cline: 3 or 3 years ago, I think. Oh my gosh, I.

Steve Paras: Forgot they were live.

Sharon Cline: That’s right. That was so fun because we got to have anybody that came by. We were like, what does it mean to you to be here? And got to shout out, hey, if you’ve never been, come on down, come to Cumming, Georgia. You know, and and experience something that’s very unique about writing, which is it’s not always about, you know, as fast as you can go, the big groups all on the highway. It’s actually it leads with Santa, at least.

Steve Paras: 2 or.

Sharon Cline: 3 or 2 or 3 leads with Santa out on to this nice little sort of police led ride, which you go maybe third gear or fourth at the most. But no, when as we’re writing, there are families that are on the side of the road and wave. And to us as you ride by.

Steve Paras: And Lisa scored a 29 mile ride, we start in the coming fairground. We end up in Veterans Memorial Park in Dawsonville. And that’s where all the food is. And everybody gets to eat for free.

Sharon Cline: Yeah. I mean, where’s the downside? I know, no, I mean, every year I just love knowing that it gets, you know, bigger and more children get to benefit. So there’s I can’t even think of what the downside is other than how much work you have to, you know, put into it. I think last year I was asking you, how are you feeling about tomorrow was the day I like, you know, I knew you were going to relax and you said, oh, I’m going to be down for about a week. It’s like, yeah, I bet, because at the end there’s just so much that happens, just the coordination.

Steve Paras: We’ve been really, really lucky the five years that I’ve been involved. We we haven’t had a big hiccup. You know, everything has been pretty smooth. There hasn’t been any problems that kind of everybody comes there to have a good time. So you never have to worry about that. Um, and we’ve just been lucky, you know, the police have been great about the escorting, you know. It’s from start to finish. You know, we run all the lights and you ride about 30 miles an hour. So it’s an easy, even for beginners, you know, just an easy ride. And then everybody gets to eat at the end.

Sharon Cline: And all the children get to benefit for Christmas.

Steve Paras: And all year long.

Sharon Cline: How do you get your sponsors to be involved?

Steve Paras: We’ve had a few and I the first couple of years I went out and started knocking on doors. And every year we we get a couple more. You know, one might fall off and then but they see what’s going on and they there’s a young man that I was in the automotive business for 24 years, and I there was a gentleman that I met that owns nine locations, and he wants a toy box in all nine locations, because I told him that we’re involved with a Dunkin Donut chain that has seven. Now they got 87 locations, and they said that we could put toy collection boxes and all the ones that make sense, right? We’re not going to put one in North Carolina. It doesn’t make sense. Right? So this year we’re probably going to have 40 something boxes collecting toys and Dunkin Donuts. Now it’s called Dunkin. Oh yeah. They corrected me. Did they Dunkin Donuts.

Sharon Cline: Did you call it Dunkin Donuts? And they said no, it’s called.

Steve Paras: Put it on the t shirts. Oh, so all the sponsors are on the back of the t shirts. Sheeran’s wearing this year’s.

Sharon Cline: T shirt, and so are you. We match. But what is it about you? You specifically that you think you are just such a good fit for things like this? Because my brain does not work like yours, I get overwhelmed very easily. Your brain. You’re creative.

Steve Paras: Well, I’m just a people person, you know? And, uh, when I talk to you, you’ll say something that’ll click, and I’ll just go to the right of that, or to the left of that and and spin it a little bit. And it gives me an idea and you know that because I talk to you all the time. But yeah, you’ll say something to me and I’ll go, what do you what do you think about that? And you. Oh, I didn’t think about that.

Sharon Cline: No, exactly. So one of the things that we talked about recently, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it, so it’s going to come up in the future for me. But Kennesaw State University is where I went to college. And they I worked at the radio station there. And. Right, this was 13 years ago. Right now they don’t have the radio station open because they’re low on funding. And when I was on campus and I saw that it was closed, it actually just hurt my heart because where the fact that I’m sitting in this radio station right now and interviewing you is 100% due to the the education and the experience I had at Kennesaw.

Steve Paras: So I have a challenge for you.

Sharon Cline: Oh, no.

Steve Paras: Find out what it would take to get that buck back up and going. And we can always do a charity ride. Oh for.

Speaker3: That.

Sharon Cline: See, I never thought about a charity ride for Kennesaw State University. Al radio.

Steve Paras: You don’t think those students would want to be a part of it?

Sharon Cline: Oh, yes.

Steve Paras: Oh, yeah. All those boosters, all the people that support, you know, all the sports teams, right?

Sharon Cline: They would love.

Speaker4: It. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: Listen, that radio station was so important to me. It created enough media for me to be able to prove that I could work at a news media station here in Atlanta. And I have not let go of voiceover work and anything audio because of that experience and the interviewing, the interviewing that I did of faculty and staff and people that were on campus bands. I mean, we just I felt like we were our own little mini celebrity area because people were always coming through and there was always something to talk about, and I just loved it.

Steve Paras: Really easy for you because you’re talented at this, to do a live show once a week and then once you get it up and running, if you wanted to do it more than that, it would be easy to do and do a fundraiser would be easy.

Sharon Cline: See, you say it’d be easy in my brain. Just like scrambles. I just don’t have that.

Steve Paras: You have to do is find out a dollar amount.

Sharon Cline: That they.

Steve Paras: Just didn’t read. You know, opening it up, and then we’ll take it from there.

Sharon Cline: Amazing. Okay, well, we’re putting it out there in the universe.

Steve Paras: No reason to have a ride.

Sharon Cline: That’s so true. Not just a Sunday to, like, let’s go over and find a barbecue place, you know? Not for that, but, like. Yeah, everybody for me. Everybody loves the experience of riding in that. When you have a collective group. You’re all feeling the same way about riding. Talking about your different bikes, talking about how long you’ve been riding, what your favorite this and that is it’s like all all the favorite things all in one spot and knowing you’re doing something good as a result at the end of it.

Steve Paras: It’s the best. So if there’s someone out there that would like to be a part of either of these, either the Doug Jones Charity Foundation or the Bike Knights, or the Toy Run, or the Startup of Kennesaw radio station. Contact Sharon.

Sharon Cline: Oh, and Steve and Steve Harris. Because really think about it like you are the face and people come to you for any problem. You are the voice. You are the marketing guy. I love that you have all of these gifts that you get to put towards something. Like I was saying, bigger than yourself.

Steve Paras: It’s a lot of fun. And and you get a lot of, um, joy seeing the kids. Right. And the parents, you know, because a lot of them just wouldn’t be able to to have a nice Christmas for the kids, you know? And it’s not just Christmas. It’s just toys for the kids and everybody. Every kid deserves a smile on their face during the season, right? No matter what, you celebrate. Right. So the toys go out to put those smiles on and the money and the gift cards, you know, kids getting new clothes or being able to eat at lunch, you know, all year long with over 2600 kids, we help out.

Sharon Cline: It feels like I take for granted that I can just hop on my bike and go do things, or even just go eat. You know, and I think it’s important to remember that there is such a difference between what your normal is and what somebody else’s is.

Steve Paras: That’s right. You take her take for granted what you do every day, right? And then when you see someone that’s not as fortunate as you. All of a sudden reality, there’s a reality check. You know, that people people have a tough out there.

Sharon Cline: And you’re affecting. Who knows how many children over the years? I mean, I’m sure you could add it up if you had to, but how? You have no idea where the help that you are providing, where that will lead someone and what it will do for their life.

Steve Paras: And also the camaraderie between the bikers. Right. When you’re out and you’re talking to people and people that don’t know each other, start talking. Then all of a sudden you don’t know, maybe a job might come up, or you’re helping out somebody or selling something for somebody, or someone has a bike and they’re looking for a bike.

Sharon Cline: So that and the lifelong friendships. Yes. I think that’s underestimated. I mean, I’ve had I have friends that I met nine years ago and are still friends. And like everyone’s personality is a little different or whatever. We’re not talking about like, no drama. I just mean these are people that want to do life with you.

Steve Paras: Well, here’s a perfect example. When I started the first bike night out here, I didn’t have someone to announce it. I was I was going to have to announce it and do everything else. And John and I, John D’Angelo, who was a professional, uh, MMA, UFC and boxing announcer, I just lucked into meeting him and he wanted to get on board, and he’s been with me ever since. We’d do everything we do, we do together. And he’s a you know him? He’s a great announcer. He’s been on your show. Yeah. Um, he was inducted to the MMA, the Georgia MMA Hall of Fame, because he and a team of people were the ones that came up with the times per round and rounds per event. So he and the team were inducted the Georgia MMA Hall of Fame. He won’t tell anybody. I’m the one that always tells everybody that because, you know, he’s he’s an insurance guy and he’d rather talk about insurance than, you know, patting himself on.

Speaker3: The back.

Steve Paras: With that ring every now.

Sharon Cline: And then. I’d wear it. I’d wear to the grocery store. That’s something to be very proud of because, um, you know, he being a humble person, he’s just talking about how he can help save you some money if you bundle things. But knowing that he really had a huge impact on what MMA and fighting is like here in Georgia, and making rules like that is amazing.

Steve Paras: Yeah, he being an insurance guy who owns, uh, insurance PGM and he’s got, I believe, 8 or 9 locations now. So he’s a busy guy, but he’s always at the event. He’s always announcing, he’s always.

Sharon Cline: He comes to all the bike nights.

Steve Paras: He’s all. And at Buck Jones.

Sharon Cline: And at Buck.

Steve Paras: Jones. Uh, everybody loves him ever. He’s just a big teddy bear.

Sharon Cline: He’s such a sweet person. And he was also an actor and, you know, model. And you never know. He’s just riding his bike saying, who won this raffle? Who has this number? Just a nice person.

Steve Paras: And he’s hilarious at it. You know, when someone when he’s drawing numbers and people aren’t coming up, he’ll just say something about what the person in front of him is wearing. The first person with a white t shirt comes up here, wins.

Sharon Cline: We got to give away these gift cards.

Steve Paras: Who’s got the funniest hat on? So.

Sharon Cline: So you’re talking about people that you met five years ago that are still involved too, and that affects their life. I mean, it’s exponential.

Steve Paras: Well, the Punishers and the Patriots that are sponsoring the Black Knights met at the very first, uh, bike night that I did over at, uh, uh, the collection at Wing Cafe.

Sharon Cline: Are they because I’m not as knowledgeable about biker, um, motorcycle club culture? Um, are they like, the the Bloods and the Crips? Are they fighting?

Speaker3: No.

Steve Paras: Oh, they’re the good guys.

Sharon Cline: The good guys.

Speaker3: Okay.

Steve Paras: The punishers are, uh, a law enforcement motorcycle club.

Sharon Cline: Okay.

Steve Paras: Good guys. And the. And the Patriots are business owners and upper management guys. So they’re they’re the good guys. They’ll never be any problems.

Sharon Cline: No, no. People would be stupid, right? To cause.

Speaker3: A problem.

Steve Paras: Not a yeah. It’s not.

Speaker3: Smart.

Sharon Cline: So if any other kind of motorcycle club would like to come, what would that be like for them?

Steve Paras: Absolutely. Come and see me. I’d be more than happy. Especially lady Riders. We would love to get lady clubs involved. Be part of.

Sharon Cline: I tried to do it a little bit and I got some resistance to even just me being a woman trying to get in. It was a little challenging for me.

Steve Paras: We open arms. We will take every lady rider that’s out there that wants to be a part of it. Come out July 1st. Hooters and Mall of Georgia. Come see me. I’ll be more than happy to introduce you to everybody. Sharon will be there, so there’ll be other lady riders there as well. We had one that was going to one of the Hooters bartenders just started. Uh, she just bought her little sports bike and just started riding, and she’s just still in the parking lot, learning that she was going to be here today, but got sick so she couldn’t make it.

Sharon Cline: But you know what? I love that she is as enthusiastic about it and is willing because, you know, there’s overriding some natural survival instincts and fear, you know, but if you practice enough, like going to a parking lot and just starting and stopping when you want. That’s the best way.

Steve Paras: First thing is if you can get it to not stall like she just told me, I finally got it. Where the bike’s not stalling. Yeah, that’s the first step, you know. And then the next step is is doing.

Sharon Cline: A little bit of speed. Yeah. And shifting gears a little bit. But listen, everybody starts somewhere. And I was the same exact.

Steve Paras: Way nine years.

Sharon Cline: Ago. Nine years ago I was like, why do I even think this is a good idea?

Steve Paras: Well, your first.

Sharon Cline: Bike, it was.

Steve Paras: You had a big bike for your first.

Sharon Cline: Bike. I did, and now I have a sporty Sportster 1200 custom, which is a great bike for me size wise. The the fat boy is a big bike for me. Um, if it started to at all tip, I had no chance of stopping it from tipping over.

Steve Paras: Did you have it lowered so. I did okay.

Sharon Cline: I did have it lowered, but that also impeded the leaning a little bit because it would scrape on the little floorboards and stuff. Um, but the, the Sportster that I have, the 96 Sportster, once I got on that and I was like, oh Lord, I know how to handle this thing. Yeah, it’s almost like a dirt bike. It’s smaller and, um, light enough for me to stop it from falling. So the 2015 one I have is got a bigger tank than the 2000. I’m sorry, than the 96. So I can go a little bit further.

Steve Paras: So you went from the fat boy to a 96?

Sharon Cline: Yeah. I went from the fat boy to the 96 Sportster. And then I just picked up a 2015 Sportster 1200 custom.

Steve Paras: So the latest bike was.

Sharon Cline: That’s the 96. Yeah.

Steve Paras: Do you still have that one?

Sharon Cline: I still have that one. It’s a great bike. It just always has something that’s got to be fixed on it. And I just thought, let me get something that’s a little more reliable because with History Highway, the video series I’m doing, I ride far and it’s by myself. I’m doing it all. So I don’t want to take a chance of breaking down on the highway or, you know, I don’t want to be vulnerable as a woman out there. So it’s great to have a really reliable bike. And I’m thankful to Ted at Killer Creek, Harley, who said it all up for me, and I was able to find the one Sportster they had and bring it home like the next day. It was great. So very easy process. And so yeah, she’s I call her Ayaka, which is Cherokee Indian word for she brings happiness. That’s her name. And so yeah, we’ve had great adventures, but knowing the right fit for your the way that you need a bike to be is very important. As a matter of fact, it’s being serviced a little bit right now because the, the brake pedal is a little bit too far forward for me. And they’re going to fix some of the handlebar length. But listen, bikes can be customized to you.

Steve Paras: So that’s what’s nice about owning a motorcycle unless they’re exactly how they came off the showroom floor. Everyone’s different.

Sharon Cline: Yeah. Why don’t you talk about your motorcycle history?

Steve Paras: Oh, I’ve had a million. I’ve got a.

Sharon Cline: You had a fat boy too, I remember.

Steve Paras: So I had a fat boy for 16 years. I. The only thing that wasn’t the only thing that was original was inside the engine. Every single part on that bike. It’s you. Can you. You never stop spinning because you want something new. Uh, the two bikes that I have now is a soft tail deluxe, and, uh, I have a trike, and both of them are close. Um, they’ve got a little more pep than normal bikes, so get up and go is good.

Sharon Cline: Cvts are so nice.

Steve Paras: The trike. I take on anything longer than two. Two hours each way. I’ll take the trike because it’s a little more comfortable. And then anything shorter than that, I’ll take the the soft tail.

Sharon Cline: So what’s the bike that you take when you’re on your, um, Buck Jones ride?

Steve Paras: The last three years has been the trike because my niece has always been a part of Buck Jones. She was the 50, 50 girls.

Sharon Cline: 5050 raffle girl.

Steve Paras: Yeah, she does all the, um, bike nights and that kind of thing. She just moved to Florida.

Sharon Cline: Oh.

Steve Paras: Did she? Yes, just last week. So she’s no longer helping out? Oh, yeah. So she’s down there. So we’ll see what happens this year. Which bike? I mean, I’m, like, getting a new bike.

Sharon Cline: Well, you may need a new raffle. 50, 50 raffle person.

Steve Paras: You got the girls.

Sharon Cline: You got the girls at Hooters. So smart. Look, that’s because it’s Steve and he’s smart. This is me. I’m like, I never thought of that, Steve. This is. I say that a thousand times a day when I talk to Steve about different things he’s doing.

Steve Paras: Well, you know, it sells, so.

Sharon Cline: Yeah.

Steve Paras: Thank you. You girls are going to get more sales than.

Sharon Cline: It’s just the way the world.

Steve Paras: The guys walking around going. You want a 5050 full ticket?

Sharon Cline: Thankfully, there are enough people on this planet to make it all work. Okay, so if someone wanted to get in touch with you and wanted to know more about the Buck Jones charity ride and any, any information about riding like that.

Steve Paras: We could go to our Facebook page. The Buck Jones Charity Foundation. They can leave messages, phone numbers, join. We probably have 800 people that are on that page.

Sharon Cline: That’s awesome.

Steve Paras: Yeah.

Sharon Cline: Well, maybe there’ll be a couple more from this show. I always think this lands where it’s supposed to.

Steve Paras: So we need as many people that ride to come out to the nights. Yeah. The first Tuesday of every month, all the way through. The first ones. July 1st from 6 to 10. And we really believe that the location of this one, not only does it have Hooters name, but the location is in the middle of everything. So I really believe it might rain on this Tuesday, but I really believe we’ll have over 150 bikes.

Sharon Cline: Oh, that’d be amazing. Yeah, and an opportunity to win some gift cards and just camaraderie. And it kind of builds all.

Steve Paras: Up gas gift cards. There’ll be food, gift cards. There’ll be. There’ll be all kinds of prizes and a lot of fun. And John will be up there making fun of people. And it’ll be a blast.

Sharon Cline: All for a good cause.

Steve Paras: And we’re even talking to Sharon about doing a live remote from there.

Sharon Cline: It would be so amazing. I’m looking around at equipment. I’m like, what would I bring? But who knows? You never know. People do it all the time. Technology and everything. I would love that, because getting people to talk about why they’re there is very important. It’s motivating for other people to hear. Like you’re being here today. So thank you.

Steve Paras: Thank you for having me.

Sharon Cline: Of course. Well, also, thank you all for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Cline and Steve Pearce with the Buck Jones charity run. I’m reminding you all that with knowledge and understanding we can have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.