I made my hobby my job 7 years ago, i now manage a bike shop.
I’m always flat broke. customers are a constant pain in the arse. I’m sorry to say its usually middle age know it all MTBers who take up all your time, ask all your advice then ignore it and F*** off to chain reaction. The best ones are the proper cyclists, who ride every day out of necessity. Its these customers that make it worthwhile.
The hours are long, the wages are crap, Hardly get time to ride.
But i play with bikes all day and gritting my teeth for an hour a day while some over payed specialized fan boy lectures me on compression damping is a small price to pay for not being an office drone.
I like my job (i think).