Hays10

First half as fast as I can, second half faster.

No offense to OP, but he is not near the top of the world rankings and so his knowledge on "professional" SpeedCubing is fairly limited.

There are a handful (1-5) people who make significant money off of SpeedCubing. By "significant", I mean a livable wage depending on what area of the world you live in ($40,000+ USD). This income is generated through a variety of ways including:

• Retail sponsors (ex. TheCubicle.com)
• Manufacturer sponsors (ex. Gan, YuXin, MoYu, QiYi)
• YouTube ad revenue
• Manufacturer commissions through brand licencing (ex. Hays 7, Valk line)
• Competition prize money

Competition prize money is actually very insignificant as an income source for top cubers as it is generally not that impressive at most of the big events. Manufacturer sponsorship/licencing deals are the most lucrative.

Of the SpeedCubers that are in this income bracket, I'm fairly certain that they all are either still in school or have full time jobs. By the technical definition of "professional" I would say then that there are 0 professional SpeedCubers, however to say that it's impossible to be professional is also definitely false.

Source: I'm semi-professional SpeedCuber Kevin Hays. Post history will confirm. 3x 6x6 world champion & 21 time world record holder. https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2009HAYS01

My best time for the 3x3 is 5.93 seconds. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWDgXd18RPM

And while my random pattern recognition and memory might be a bit better now because of cubing, I wouldn't say that the skills from cubing have been a great help in other aspects of my life.

You're right. I hate you.

Fast hands.