A qualitative investigation of the identity, attitudes, and motivations of action sport retail business owners

An individual’s occupation is often a salient component to ones life. Numerous traditional career developmental theories have been employed in the hopes of understanding the motivations and attitudes individuals have toward particular types of careers. Research indicates that entrepreneurs are primarily motivated by monetary gain, desires to be their own boss, and career independence. The present study utilized qualitative interviews as a means to gain a greater understanding of action sports retail business owners experiences and how their identity as a surfer/skater/snowboarder influenced their career decisions and their motivations to own an action retail business. The data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research methodology (Hill, 2012). Results indicate that the business owners primarily identify as surfers/skaters/snowboarders, opposed to businessmen, and that they were primarily motivated to open their own action sport retail businesses due to their passion for the action sports and interest in remaining apart of the action sport lifestyle. These findings partly contrast previous research regarding the motivations of entrepreneurs’ primary motivation being monetary gain.