Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Casanas.
Hi Paul, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My professional background is actually in Nursing. I worked as a nurse in the Mental Health field for over a decade before I found my place in the automotive industry. I’ve been fascinated by race cars ever since I was a kid and always wanted to be part of the automotive industry, and especially in racing. I’d spend endless nights playing racing video games like Gran Turismo, imagining what it would be like to be experiencing it in real life. Throughout high school, I read all of the tuner magazines, scoured all the internet car forums, and watched as many racing videos as I could find. After high school, I was faced with the decision of what I wanted to do for a living, and I chose to do nursing. I went to school during the day, but every night I would be out at car meets, speaking and connecting with so many people that shared the same passion as I did for cars. We eventually started our own online forum/blog and used the site to gain media credentials to shoot trackside photo/video at events like Formula Drift. I graduated from nursing school in 2010 and started working in Mental Health. I enjoyed my time helping people recover through the difficult moments in their life, but I wasn’t exactly happy with what I was doing.
In 2013, I bought a Mazda Miata with intentions of taking it to the track, but I worked most weekends and didn’t have as much time to enjoy cars. My good friend, Anthony, would invite me out to track days and Autocrosses, but I wasn’t able to make the time. By 2019 I began to feel burnt out working as a nurse and then the pandemic hit. I worked through 2020, and by February of 2021, my spirit was crushed. I was exhausted, and constantly anxious of going to work. I left nursing in March of 2021 with no plan or even an idea of what I was going to do.
This led to my friend Anthony encouraging me to go drive with him at Autocross events with an organization called Corner Exit, and after a few events, I needed tires. Anthony referred me to True Performance Motorsport since they sponsored the Corner Exit events. That’s when I first met Mike Trieu. He helped me find a tire that fit my needs for autocross, and his tech, Danny, installed them with care. I saw Mike again while driving at a Corner Exit event and he mentioned he was looking for some help at the shop since Danny was leaving to go to school. My girlfriend, Sarah, quickly said, “Paul! He can help at the shop.” Not long after, I was working with Mike and Danny at TPM. Danny taught me how to mount and balance tires. Mike taught me about tire compounds and mentored me with sales and marketing. It’s been two years, and I am now the Operations Coordinator at True Performance Motorsport. I handle anything from sales and social media posts in our office to mounting, balancing, and shipping tires on our shop side. I get to drive every weekend an event is held, and I’m around cars and other racers every day. Although there was no guarantee that I’d ever get the opportunity to work in the automotive industry, I knew there was more for me. I brought myself back to that little kid playing Gran Turismo and I wondered why it took me over a decade to drive in real life, but all I needed to do was believe in myself.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Transitioning from a career in nursing to a career in the automotive industry has been an adventure. I’ve heard patients tell me that they feel like they’ve lived a thousand different lives. I thought that’s something people say, but it turns out I’m one of those people. I have lived different lives. There have been struggles getting to where I am today, but none as intense as the obstacle of having to tell my parents. My family is a family of nurses, so I followed the same route. I was questioned of what my life would become if I left nursing, where I would end up, and the best of all, how I would eat. I removed the idea of money from my mind and believed that saying, “If you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” As a nurse, I felt like I was working every single day. Working at TPM, I feel like I’m playing every single day. It has been a challenge to have my parents support my decision to leave nursing. However, if they see that I’m happy, the most I can ask for is their support to believe in me the same way they believed in me when I was a nurse.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
True Performance Motorsport (TPM) is an online automotive retailer. We specialize in performance parts and tires. We are a distributor of XComp, Nexen, Maxxis, and Yokohama racing tires. We also provide a selection of lightweight racing wheels from Titan 7 and Weds Wheels, as well as suspension components from Swift Springs and SPL Parts.
As an online retailer, we pride ourselves on our selection of brands and customer service. I enjoy speaking with our customers, whether it be on the phone or through social media and email, to help them find the right parts and tires for their cars. We ship tires and performance parts all over The United States as well as internationally.
In our Orange County, CA shop, we provide tire mounting and balancing services for our local customers, from race tires to street tires for their tow rig, trailers, and daily drivers. We take special care when mounting and balancing our customers’ wheels and treat them as our own, as we’ve had personal experience of wheels getting scratched and gouged while being mounted by a careless installer. We set ourselves apart from other tire shops by providing a comfortable and friendly shop environment where you can watch your wheels and tires being mounted, and I enjoy having conversations with our customers while mounting their tires. After the install we take the time to take photos and videos of our customers’ cars to feature their pride and joy with our social media audience.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
I first became interested in podcasts, one specifically called “How I Built This” with Guy Raz. From there, I read books like “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss and “The Daily Stoic” by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. An app that helped me start my mornings is called The Pattern. I used these different resources to gain new perspectives and ideas for what I wanted to do in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.trueperformancemotorsport.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tpmparts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TPMparts
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tpmparts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tpmparts
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/true-performance-motorsport-santa-ana-2
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/hatchieeeee
Image Credits
Sarah Dela Cruz
Mike Nobriga
Toby Jho
