Since his first business in the industry got off the ground in 1987, Bowling Green native Ken Wilson has started three sunglasses businesses and seen all three of those companies sell “for a lot of money,” he said. 

Now, at 60 years old, Wilson told the Daily News that he may be looking ahead to his next entrepreneurial venture through a different lens. 

“I don’t know that I’ll ever do sunglasses again. I think I want to move on to something else,” he said. “I want to do something with animals … . I love animals and I’ve always wanted to somehow give back to them.”

With aspirations of one day making a name for himself in the sport of motocross, Wilson, a Bowling Green High School class of 1983 graduate, left the city in 1986 and moved to California. While his motocross dream quickly stalled out, Wilson stumbled across his future on a walk with a friend in 1987.

“The guy’s name was Bill. Never forgot it,” he said. 

While strolling across San Diego’s Pacific Beach, Wilson, who had been broke, without a car and without a job since his move to California, came across Bill selling sunglasses on the beach. Without the money in the bank, Wilson wrote Bill a $75 check with hopes of selling those glasses to stores around the area.

Buying the sunglasses for $3.75 a pair, Wilson sold them at $144 a dozen and within an hour had turned that $75 check into $288. 

From then on, sunglasses became Wilson’s game. Getting his first company “barely off the ground” in 1987, Gatorz hit its stride in the late 1980s and is still “doing well today” without Wilson, who has not been involved in the company since 2000.

Wilson did lose controlling interest of Gatorz that year, however that setback did not detour him from the industry. He went on to start two more companies, Liquid and Fast Metal, continuing to sell sunglasses with both brands. As of now, Wilson is working as a consultant for his newest company, Fast Metal, which was sold in August of last year. 

“My journey has been to start businesses and sell them. That’s been my career. And I’ll probably start another one,” he said. 

After 36 years involved in the sunglasses game, Wilson is looking for a new challenge. While he said he still “loves sunglasses,” Wilson’s love for animals sits at the forefront of passions that may fuel his next venture. 

“I’ve done sunglasses my whole life, I’m 60 years old now … but I think I want to try crossing paths, doing something different,” he said. “It might be risky for me to jump into something else, because I definitely don’t know a lot about animals or pets or anything.” 

And while the transition may be a risky one, Wilson said that he has some “wild ideas for the animal business” and said that when his contract with his current company ends, Wilson will look to pursue his overwhelming passion for animals.

“If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, you possibly need to check yourself and see if you can find something else to do,” Wilson said. “Because man, if you’re not totally in love with it, it’s going to be a rough road.”