Wow is this where I stand this is
probably the most unprepared i’ve ever
been for something so forgive me my
thoughts will jump around all over the
place hopefully I can organize them in
eight minutes for you i’d like to thank
john silva he introduced me to Charlie
which brought me here today what a great
opportunity especially be standing on
stage here this is a beautiful beautiful
place and in one of the city’s that
inspired me and my wife in our journey
so to come back here and talk about it
what an amazing opportunity and my
daughter here today casey’s her 13th
birthday so the fact thank you the fact
that people from 13 years old to
everybody else in this audience likes to
come to these things is a testament to
people like to be inspired people want
information people want to see what’s
next they want to learn and that’s
basically our story we started a
business in probably one of the toughest
times in this economy so we were all
conditioned by the 90s that we were
moving to service industry I thought I
was going to get rich playing the stock
market in my 20s and that definitely
didn’t happen so in a bad economy my
wife and I started to business and I
think it was one of the greatest things
that ever happened to us because we
found opportunity in that and that
opportunity has gotten bigger and bigger
and bigger and I don’t necessarily want
to talk about you know who I am and what
I’ve done and you guys can google that
if you want I think that’s what we do
nowadays just type in the type of
mobsteel you can see some of the stuff
playing behind us these are some of our
products when we knew that the economy
is taking the downturn and all her
friends were losing their jobs we
figured if we’re going to be broke we’d
be broken happy so what made me happy
was cars I was shaped by the automotive
industry I was shaped by my family
we have entrepreneurs we have friends
and family that worked at proving
grounds assembly plants manufacturing
companies you name it I feel that the
big three has done amazing things here
and I stand behind them wholeheartedly
and it’s the people in them that has
created thank you it’s the people in
those plants in the offices and in this
industry that really have shaped the
soul country and the whole country
didn’t realize that until we started to
take a downturn so again there’s a lot
of opportunity here I don’t want to talk
about what went wrong it’s a cycle to
cycle life so mobsteel is a company
payment I started we build custom cars
and it’s a lot of Sun a great journey
we’ve got a brand now that’s recognized
around the world we started another
company called Detroit steel wheel
company we want to manufacture something
we wanted to manufacture here and we
want to manufacture with us content
turned out to be a much much more
difficult challenge than we anticipated
I thought the challenge was going to be
in designing a product engineering it
making it safe making it cost-effective
that wasn’t the case our journey led us
to a problem where some of the machinery
we need it didn’t exist in this country
anymore some of the people that we
needed to solicit information from were
retired or passed away these are people
that were part of huge companies kelsey
hayes other big companies out of detroit
so we had lost a generation of knowledge
we lost the machinery that made this
country in the city great and so we had
to start from the bottom our challenges
became how do we implement a process
back in the US here how do we start
manufacturing here again it wasn’t about
making the product so that took us three
years they even make our first wheel
than we did it was wildly successful so
now we’re on a journey of how do we do
it better faster higher quality cheaper
and I tell you all this because I’m not
the most brilliant person by any stretch
I’ve worked with people that are
better critical thinkers smarter workers
more intelligent but it’s almost like
the cycle of manufacturing when we
pushed it all overseas and stuff it
created a clean slate and that clean
slate was a lot of opportunity so if
you’re willing to work hard and I mean
work hard me and my guys work 16 18
hours a day and we’re doing that right
now we’re filming our second season of a
reality TV show based around us craziest
thing ever who would have thought we
started hitting stuff with a hammer and
building cars that we would be on TV who
would have thought I’d be standing here
but I think that’s a good message for
people because the formula now is simple
we heard these great stories back in the
50s our relatives and how they could
just you know one day pick up some tools
or have an idea and create a great
business and a legacy for their families
and and in create product and stuff well
that’s back that’s back I’m testament of
that my wife and I are testament of that
my guys are testament of that we’re not
the most brilliant people we put on
their shoes and we go out every day in
we’re going to kill it we work as hard
as we can we do it with a lot of
diligence we do business with virtue in
most of all we realized that my guys my
suppliers and the people around me are
assets that’s our true assets you can
take away all the machinery you can take
away some of these buildings but the
true assets are right here they’re in
this room and so that we just kind of
changed our way of thinking we did two
things we changed our measurables I
didn’t look at my bank account I don’t
look at my bank account say how well is
our business doing of course we have to
pay bills and make payroll but I wasn’t
measuring my success on how much money I
was making I was a measuring my success
on different things where was I last
year what have I done this year if I if
I rewind the clock 14 years and I look
at where I was at we had some hard times
but it was the people were meeting you
know one night we find ourselves at
dinner with out so Ford and some of the
top designers then we’re on stage with
them with cars in the North American
auto show we’re on TV
I’m on stage at TEDx Detroit I mean it’s
just one thing after another after
another and again it was all just done
through hard work and so we have now
this clean slate and we’re looking at
some issues we have now and it’s really
skilled trades this is the big big
subject now so Charlie told me that
there would be six hundred high school
students out here when I don’t know Otto
is going to say today but I guess in a
short period of time the message I’d
like to send is if a guy like me can
make this happen and I recognize now
that there’s this clean slate and we
need skilled trades we need to get
people back to work we’ve been
conditioned to you know think we’re
going to be successful in all these
other ways well the formulas simple now
learn to do something with your hands
your mind whatever but work hard if you
if you’re capable of getting up and
chasing a dream and working at it you
can be as successful as you want you
don’t have to be a scholar if you are
that’s amazing I am jealous but you just
it’s almost like you can make anything
happen and to me I know what’s coming I
know what’s next we have to create that
so when we get up in the morning we know
that we have to create that demand we
have to create these products the people
want them you can’t sit around and wait
for this to happen you can go to school
to be an electrician add ice utter
whatever go to work for somebody figure
out where you what you’re good at what
you like doing but if you develop any
type of skill trade now and you invest
in the automotive industry you can be as
successful as you want to be it’s just
the way it is it’s that simple I’m proof
of that my guys are proof of that so
just think about that we have a gap 55
years plus we’ve lost all of our skill
trades and we’ve got nobody so for the
younger generation look up what we’ve
done and if you pick pick up some tools
pick up a skilled trade you can
accomplish anything you want you know in
a business it being successful as you
want so thank you