Chad Kerley couldn’t be happier these days. This 18-year-old BMXer from San Diego, California is well on the way to realizing his dream of earning a successful living by riding his bike.

With sponsorship from Nike already locked down, Kerley recently inked a deal with vitaminwater, joining their action sports team.

Check out Kerley’s “Welcome to the Team” edit, featuring BMX in a tuxedo and Kobe Bryant.

We caught up with Kerley to ask him about his future plans and what happened during the shoot:

What were your initial thoughts about doing your first vitaminwater spot?
I thought that it was going be fun and it sounded like a cool concept.

As the day progressed and things got worse and worse what was going through your head?
I just thought things were going to get better and that the dudes weren’t that professional and organized.

As you waited and waited, at what point did you say to yourself, “I’m over this welcome edit?”
When they had me sitting on the street I felt disrespected in a way and just wanted to go home and get out of the tuxedo.

When you walked into the trailer expecting to meet the hot girl you were supposed to take to prom and instead saw Kobe, how surprised were you?
I was really surprised. But in a way it all made sense and I didn’t feel in too much shock.

What does joining a team like vitaminwater mean to you and your riding?
It means a lot because of the fact that they care about action sports enough to have a BMX rider and I’m honored to be a part of it.

What can we expect to see from you in 2012?
You can expect to see the same thing I’ve been doing– having as much fun as possible, a few web edits, filming for the Markit Zero video, and riding contests.