Stories of Strength: Meet Myles Kovacs, President and Co-Founder of TIS Wheels

Our tagline at Hercules Tires is "Ride on Our Strength" because our strength is rooted in 70+ years of industry experience, exceptional products, and our dedication to others — including independent tire dealers, customers, and esteemed partners like Myles Kovacs, President and Co-Founder of TIS Wheels.

Since embarking on his entrepreneurial journey in 1998, Myles has become a prominent figure in the automotive industry. In fact, Myles' exceptional leadership and visionary ideas have earned recognition from major publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, LA Times, and Newsweek.

As a proud partner of TIS Wheels today, our team at Hercules Tires is inspired by Myles' business acumen — and equally motivated by his strength. Read on for the latest addition to our Stories of Strength series and discover how Myles has overcome adversity and obstacles in his personal life to achieve unprecedented success.

Where did your journey begin, and where are you today?

I was born in East Los Angeles, in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, but I’ve moved around a bit. I currently reside in Sierra Madre, California, and have always liked the San Gabriel Valley area.

You're well-known for bringing popular brands and unique experiences to driving and auto enthusiasts. As a fellow aficionado, what’s your favorite driving activity?

My favorite driving activity is motocross riding. I try to ride up to three days a week. It’s my passion; my favorite hobby. I love it.

As a Herculean brand, we use variations of the word, "strong" often in messaging. While strength is often defined as "the quality or state of being physically strong," we understand that it holds diverse meanings for different people. How do you, personally, define strength?

I believe strength is the ability to overcome life’s challenges, and being strong enough to continue getting through what you're going through is the key to get through life’s ebbs and flows. Like my dad used to tell me when I was younger, “Save for a rainy day” – I didn't know what that meant until it started raining.

You were one of the Co-Founders of DUB, which is one of the most popular automotive lifestyle magazines, to date. You’re also the Co-Founder and President of TIS Wheels, a cutting-edge, off-road wheel brand that we also proudly partner with for co-branded, premium mud tires distributed through American Tire Distributors (ATD). As an entrepreneur and a visionary, what are three of your biggest strengths that have led to success in business?

Collaboration, relentlessness, and getting my mind right.

Collaboration is necessary to success in business because, if you can learn how to collaborate, you can go much further. The ability to collaborate with partners, construct deals, etc. – they’re win-wins.

Along my journey I’ve found that, unfortunately, many people in business don’t care about collaboration and just want to win; very cutthroat. But I chose not to be like that. I wanted to be the type of person who can wake up in the morning and look myself in the mirror and say that I am honest and fair in business… that I worked hard to make a difference in a lot of people's lives, not just mine.

Being relentless is another strength that I believe is required in business. Basically, not giving up, just keep on going no matter what. Try, try, and try again to achieve your goals.

Getting my mind right is another, for sure. Success in the face of adversity includes being in control of your mindset, and your mental and emotional well-being. Once you learn how to get your mind right, you can succeed in any situation.

My first memories of facing adversity started as early as 4 years old and, as early as age 7, dealing with thoughts of self-harm. It was hard to push through those nights [as a child] – I really didn't want to live anymore but I was just pushing through and believing that tomorrow is going to be a better day.

Many people believe that kids don't have anxiety but I’m a perfect example of a kid that had a massive amount of anxiety. Going through that at such a young age, wanting to end my life, it was just horrifying, and it really affected my mindset. [When I was a child] adults usually didn’t [mental health] very seriously, so as I got older, it was clear that I needed help, but I was too proud and too “hard” to accept it. I really struggled because of that.

I got tired of feeling terrible and hating myself and not feeling like I belonged. It got to a certain point where I realized, I need to do something because living like this is just not working. So I started “getting my mind right” when I was in my twenties. I had reached an age where I was able to put my pride aside and ask for help. Getting therapy and the right help from professionals changed my life.

Before you became a public figure, can you describe a time in your life when you’ve had to demonstrate a great deal of strength in the face of adversity, and how you got through it?

Living through tough times and over 20 years of having suicidal thoughts, feeling terrible, hating myself, and feeling like I didn’t belong, it got to a certain point where I was like, I need to do something like this is just not working.

Back then, I called my ego my “external confidence” because my internal confidence was so low – but I was projecting and, once I realized what was happening, I knew the first thing I had to work on was my ego.

After getting help, I learned that, when someone has experienced a lot of trauma or had a lot of bad things happen to them, their egos are going to be really big [as a result of the traumatic experiences].

Once I did, I realized it was okay to be more vulnerable. That required a lot of strength but also changed my life for the better, too.

Checking my ego also made me realize the importance of not taking things personally and not getting too emotional about every single thing because, growing up in the inner city, you think everybody's out to get you.

So, while it was hard to take away something that I once believed gave me strength, I realized that it was actually my ego that was hurting me. I had to figure out how to exist without it.

Your professional accomplishments have led to great deal of recognition, including a featured episode of the CNBC series, Blue Collar Millionaire, a profile by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Business & Burgers series, a widely-viewed TED talk (aptly titled “Converting Pain into Strength”) and being named the SEMA Person of the Year in 2020. It’s evident that your story has inspired many people! What is one piece of valuable advice that you share with others to stay strong during tough times?

 The advice that resonates with me the most today is the quote “We're all like porta potties… we're full of crap.” I tell people all the time that when we try to take on other people's crap, sometimes we forget to clean our own porta potty – and the crap overflows. It’s an analogy, but it means that we’ve got to take care of our crap, first, before overwhelming ourselves trying to take on everybody else’s crap.

Our tagline, “Ride on Our Strength”, aligns with your personal story of “Converting Pain into Strength” – but, with so many tire brands on the market today, what motivated your decision to partner with Hercules Tires for co-branded mud tires with TIS Wheels?

Between TIS Wheels’ relationship with American Tire Distributors (ATD) for manufacturing and distribution and the fact that ATD owns Hercules Tires, our partnership is both strategic and a natural fit.

We also knew that, with Hercules Tires, we could develop something really cool that people associate themselves with so much that they're going to want to run wheels and co-branded tires.

Most importantly, if we could design them uniquely and give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace from a production standpoint – whether they’re quieter or they last longer or they grip better or perform better – those are the things that we're looking for.

So the decision was not just based on one competitive advantage, but multiple.

We love to see and hear positive feedback from recreational drivers and off-roading enthusiasts raving about the TIS UT1 by Hercules and the TIS TT1 by Hercules. Drivers of both tires rave about the quality, aggressive look and handling, but what would you say are the strongest selling points of the TIS UT1 for UTV, ATV and SxS drivers? –

When we developed the TIS UT1 by Hercules, we were looking for something aggressive, something that had a little harder compound and more rigidity…things like that. Drivers enjoy the all-terrain traction, optimized tread design and rock-crawling performance – but the tire’s construction is a major selling point to me.

For me, one of the best testaments to the strength of the UT1 tire construction was seeing a UTV racer from Prescott Tire Pros ride on them in the Baja 1000. He got a flat tire during the race – which can be common in an extreme race environment – but he still drove the car an additional 500 miles on a flat tire to completion, and the tire did not come apart. That's unheard of, but that's why we constructed it that way.

And, for light truck and SUV drivers, what are the strongest selling points for the TIS TT1?

In addition to the tire’s mud terrain grip and self-cleaning capabilities, I think one of the strongest selling points of the TIS TT1 by Hercules is the styling; it looks aggressive yet it's not loud. We continue to make improvements to the tires, too, strengthening the compound with extended tire life and performance. It’s a really good tire that we’ve made even better today.

Who and/or what motivates your strength to succeed today?

Growing up I didn't have really great examples of people to follow; no mentors or role models to motivate me. So when I look around the world and see all of these kids that don't have the opportunities or help, what motivates my success today is the ability to make a difference in their lives; pushing them to the next level and motivating them to be the best version of themselves.

ABOUT MYLES KOVACS

Myles Kovacs, 50, is an accomplished entrepreneur renowned in the automotive industry. He has built a reputation for his exceptional leadership skills and visionary ideas that have revolutionized the industry. Myles started his journey in 1998, and since then, he has introduced several brands that have become synonymous with their respective genres.

Myles was the CEO of DUB Publishing Inc. for 20 years, where he has nurtured partnerships with top brands such as Microsoft, Ford, GM, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, and NASCAR. Myles also pioneered product licensing for DUB, which sold over 40 million licensed products globally, including die-cast Toy lines, vehicles with Chrysler, Dodge, and Ford, and Monster Energy DUB Edition Drinks. The DUB Show Tour car show and concert series saw over 4.4 million attendees over 150 shows.  DUB’s combined revenue reached over $440 Million.

Currently, Myles is the co-founder and President of TIS and Dropstars Wheels, which have become leading tire and wheel brands globally. He has decades of experience in wheel design and understands market trends, making him successful in his current role.

Myles has been recognized for his exceptional leadership by various publications, including NY Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Entrepreneur, and Newsweek. In 2020, he was named SEMA's Person Of The Year.

Myles is also passionate about giving back to his community and is actively involved in charitable organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, SEMA Cares, and the Tony Hawk Foundation. He was featured on Fox TV's philanthropic TV show "Secret Millionaire," where he donated money and time to inner-city charities.

Myles has overcome personal challenges, such as growing up in East L.A. and battling a degenerative eye disease that led to blindness and multiple corneal transplants. He shares his motivational story with others through public speaking and coaching, inspiring people to overcome obstacles in life and business.

Want to get further acquainted? Click here to follow his many adventures on Instagram, @MylesKovacs.