Vapouround magazine Issue 05 | Page 74

F E AT U R E IT'S NOT A JOB, its a lifestyle By Joey Jux It’s 6am and I’m up checking my gear to make sure everything is charged and in order. Like many times before, I’m in another hotel room, and in another state. This particular event starts at 9am and ends at 8pm, so for the next 14 hours I have to be at 100%; and this doesn’t even include the after-hours shenanigans I usually find myself in when I’m attending events. Bottom line, it’s going to be a long day. This has been my life for the past 6 months; traveling non-stop, promoting the industry, my company, and emceeing cloud comps. How did I end up in this position, you ask? Well, let me tell you about my journey. I came into the vaping industry with a background in music and performing arts. I started rapping at an early age and hip hop quickly turned into my passion. I was able to sell out shows, collaborate with great artists, and work on projects that set records in my local area. During that time, my only vice was 74 ISSUE 05 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE cigarettes and it started to affect my life in a very negative way, especially when it came to performing. I had shortness of breath, frequently lost my voice, and had a constantly sore throat that put a damper on my whole performance; then I found vaping. I was able to better my health and my ability to excel at my craft, “I CAME INTO THE VAPING INDUSTRY WITH A BACKGROUND IN MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS. I STARTED RAPPING AT AN EARLY AGE AND HIP HOP QUICKLY TURNED INTO MY PASSION.” and as time went on, I started to develop an equal love for vaping. Putting down cigarettes was hard, really hard. At first I thought cutting cigarettes out of my life would be easy; wrong, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to quit. Once I found vaping, I found a healthier way to live. Initially I started to get more into the whole scene as a healthier alternative to tobacco, but it slowly turned into a lifestyle. I found myself at a different vape shop every other day, just hanging out and meeting new people. From there, I began developing friendships with people I never would have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. That’s when I discovered that vaping is not only a lifestyle, but a community, and more importantly, a family. I remember all that it took to even get to my first expo. I had a small amount of money at the time and I had saved up for a down payment on a business van. I talked to my dad and asked him for advice; he basically told me, ‘with no risk, there’s no reward’. After seriously contemplating whether to buy the van or go to Las Vegas for the expo, I finally decided to go to Vegas. I had my mind made up, and with that, I bought a plane ticket for myself and my better half, Cory, and we were off. While we were