Hayden’s father put the question to Hayden at the age of 12 – ‘how are you going to fund your racing?’. Hayden’s response was to get 3 jobs. So he did. Doing the morning 5am paper run was followed by school or in the school holidays working for his father’s business. Then in the evenings he would work at the local Fish n’ Chip shop. After finishing school in 2004 Hayden then worked as a sales and parts person at a local Motorbike store.
While the money he earned helped to cover some of the bill to fuel his passion, it become clear to Hayden that it wasn’t enough. During the later years of competing in the Mini and starting in the Toyota, he came up with the idea of getting is local town (Geraldine) behind him. So a campaign ‘Shop Geraldine’ was born. At the age of 13 equipped with sponsorship proposals, Hayden went around each and every Geraldine business, eventfully getting 15 companies onboard at $100 each per year. This campaign continued for 3 years, and it is where he crafted his skills of working with and looking after sponsors. Sponsor activities included demonstrations and shows, car washes and local stores, flyers and brochure distribution and inviting guests to events – this at the age of 14.
As the years progressed, the financial input became more and more, and while Hayden has always putting every dollar into rallying, it became more and more apparent that more was needed. While Hayden’s father helped a lot in the early years of the rallying, as he started to consolidate his place in NZ rallying and building a greater profile, more long term partners became involved. Also winning the Rally NZ $50,000 Rising Star Scholarship in 2009 helped to then win the 2010 Pirelli Star Driver Scholarship.