Steve Smith - Customer Spotlight
May. 27 2020
Miscellaneous
We love that we get to be a part of rider’s motorcycling stories. This time we put the spotlight on Steve Smith.
- Word on the street is that you were a C-suite executive at a large corporation, but have recently turned your focus to art. What do you draw your inspiration from?
C-Suite … Wow! I never heard that before! Yes, I was the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Tenneco, Inc. prior to retirement. I grew up in a family of creative people – my mother was a professional artist and my father’s family was all architects. After I retired I went back to college at age 65 and earned a master’s degree in fine art from New York University. I was the oldest in the class and during that time lived in Venice, Italy and Greenwich Village, NYC. - You and your wife’s name are on the Donors wall at Houston’s prestigious Glassell School of Art, has art always been in the cards for you?
As I mentioned, I grew up with art all around me and never gave it a second thought until wondering what I was going to do in retirement. I appreciate art more now after having a business career first. You can imagine being in art school as a 65-year-old business guy with a group of young artists from around the world. All sides had interesting discussions! - Being a well-respected Houstonian, what is your favorite place to go in town?
I suppose our favorite place is the Museum of Fine Arts and the Glassell School of Art. I’m on the board of the Glassell School and we just finished construction of a new building. Now it’s one of the best art education complexes in the world. - You’ve purchased many Ducatis from us, but the most recent has been the new Streetfighter – can you let everyone in on what you’re having our service department do to customize it for you?
Well first of all, the reason I wanted a Streetfighter is that I like the horsepower and upright seating position. I was at Pikes Peak with Ducati last year when the SF prototype was introduced and raced. I had the pleasure of having dinner with Carlin Dunne from Ducati the night before he had his tragic accident on the bike while leading the race. I’m having V1 customize it for me with very nice accessories, including some aftermarket painting like the prototype SF that Carlin rode at Pikes Peak. - Jimmy, the shoeshine boy also told us that you’ve recently started doing trackdays, how did you start getting involved in that?
I guess trackdays on a motorcycle were a natural for me, and believe me I’m just a rookie! I grew up in Wisconsin next to Road America and have raced sports cars for over 30 years. I’ve raced cars at most of the tracks in the USA and many in Europe. So when I got into motorcycling after I retired I guess it was just natural to hit the track. I enjoy the atmosphere and comradeship.
Thank you very much for your business, Steve. We definitely look forward to being of service to you and your stable of Ducatis in the future.