Harold Wilkes, founder of Mechanical Extremes, was perplexed.  In his previous work, his employer consistently put him in charge of jobs that demanded something extra–how to solve HVAC problems that others couldn’t handle. For quite a while, he felt he should be on his own, but starting your own business can be scary.  He was well aware of the failure rates of start-ups. He and Stacey, his wife, had recently built a new home and had two little ones to consider.

The conflict tore him both ways—the reliability of a regular paycheck vs the dream of his own company.

His boss had been pushing him to drop side jobs that brought in a few extra dollars in his off time. Harold had already designed a logo for the dream company he wanted to start—Mechanical Extremes.  But he was lost in a world of competing concerns—his family, his future, his livelihood.  He had prayed on it. Then like the design of a logo that came to him on a lunch break, the decision was almost hand delivered. His boss gave him an ultimatum to drop the side hustles.  Harold’s response? “I quit.”

He came home to Stacey that afternoon and broke the news. She said, “you did what?”  Stacey thought they weren’t ready for this.  She listed the problems—the new house, lack of resources, supporting a young family.  And on top of it, the country was in the midst of the Great Recession.  Do you recall that Harold had prayed?  Stacey admitted “God had other plans for us and we marched.”  She also knew her husband well.  She never had doubts about his ability and motivation.

The business did grow, but what would make Mechanical Extremes one of kind?  It turned out being different is a good thing.  That story coming up.