A big wheel of big wheels
The gig: Myles Kovacs, 36, is president and publisher at Dub Publishing Inc., a $34-million company based in the City of Industry that produces Dub magazine and hosts a tour of Dub car shows and concerts. Dub magazine features celebrities and their customized cars -- usually on chrome wheels sized 20 inches and up, with fancy paint jobs and tricked out interiors.
Kovacs founded Dub 10 years ago with two partners, Haythem Haddad and Herman Flores, with a total of $20,000.
Personal: Kovacs lives in Arcadia with his wife, Cynthia, son, Andy, 12, and daughter, Michaela, 11.
Background: Kovacs is Japanese and Hungarian and grew up speaking both English and Spanish in East Los Angeles. By age 14 he was working on cars for friends in his neighborhood of Boyle Heights. He graduated from Schurr High School in Montebello.
First job: Delivery boy at Modern Auto in Whittier at 16. Kovacs worked his way into the shop’s garage, then to wheel sales and later became a manager. While working at the shop Kovacs helped customize cars for rap artists Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur, who were then signed to Death Row Records.
Music and magazines: At 20 Kovacs started working for his friend Chang Weisberg, then owner of Industry Insider magazine, which profiled hip-hop artists, clubs and concert venues. Kovacs later tapped his connections from Modern Auto and Industry Insider to get musicians and athletes into the pages of Dub.
Thank you, Alan Jackson: While watching a car auction on TV one night in 1999, Kovacs saw a Mercedes owned by country-music singer Alan Jackson sell for more than double its actual cost.
“The first thing I thought was ‘Who the hell is Alan Jackson?’ ” Kovacs said. “I never heard of him. But he was a celebrity and that bumped the price of the car up.”
The idea for Dub magazine was born.
“If it wasn’t for Alan Jackson, I would have never come up with Dub. I’ve never met him, but I always tell people I need to meet Alan Jackson and tell him thank you.”
The tough guy: In its first five years Dub grew into a multimillion-dollar business. But one thing was holding it back: Myles Kovacs.
“I still had that old neighborhood ‘tough guy’ mentality,” Kovacs said. “I had a lot of stress and anxiety and I never shared it with anyone because I didn’t want to seem soft.”
Five years ago, after a couple of anxiety attacks sent him to the hospital, he realized that he needed to change something in his life, he said.
Kovacs said he wrote letters to himself about how he felt about the stresses of running a growing company. About four years ago he started sharing the letters and his feelings with friends and family, he said.
“Growing up in East L.A., you think you have to be hard, you have to project a certain image,” Kovacs said. “I barely passed high school. Teachers thought I was stupid; I thought I was dumb and that I’d never be anything. So, I had to get rid of that chip on my shoulder, I had to get rid of that anger.”
Once Kovacs opened himself up, he realized sharing his feelings didn’t make him weak as a person or a leader. He then started trusting others more, giving his employees more responsibility, he said. The business then grew faster, Kovacs said.
Still, Dub Publishing remains a small business, with just 48 employees.
“People want to help, they want to succeed, you just have to help them and let them help you.”
From the streets to the boardroom: Kovacs’ new collaborative mind-set helped the company grow. He also began licensing the Dub name for after-market wheels for cars. He is a partner in two of the companies, TIS (Twenty Inches Strong) and Dropstars. Last year, Chrysler and Dodge produced a total of 8,000 “Dub Edition” models with 20-inch rims and an upgraded stereo system.
The company also has a partnership with Jada Toys, based in the City of Industry, which has resulted in a toy car line called Dub City.
And Pepsi put the Dub logo on soda bottles and gave away 70 cars last year customized by Kovacs and his team at Dub.
“If we hadn’t have shown off Shaq on his 26-inch rims, shows like ‘Pimp My Ride’ might not have been on MTV and the soccer mom in her Escalade might not have wanted 20-inch rims,” Kovacs said. “That’s why Dub is a successful brand. It makes what’s cool in the streets friendly for the boardroom, friendly for everyone.”
nathan.olivarezgiles
@latimes.com
