Hello

I was born in 1996. At about 4 years old, I had a toy vacuum cleaner that “rattled”. My dad and I took it apart and removed some object that was caught in the impeller and was the source of the noise. Ever since then, I was hooked on fixing things. I was known early on in elementary school as the “vacuum repair guy”. I’d go out with my grandfather on trash pickup day and collect anything from vacuum cleaners to electronics and fix up what I could. In the summer, we’d have a garage sale and I’d sell the stuff I fixed. 

 

As a teenager, I took on more of an interest in computers and networking. As broken computers, laptops, and flat-screen TV’s became more available, I started working on more of those. That’s about the time I learned how to use a soldering iron and I would rebuild power supply boards on TV’s. I found a work-around to getting a PayPal account up and running, and I’d sell some of what I fixed on eBay. I sold the larger items on Craigslist and at our garage sales. 

 

When I turned 16, I got my first job at Shopko as a sales associate. I worked there a few hours per week stocking shelves and as a cashier. During that summer, I also worked 10-hour shifts 2 days per week at Trek Bicycle. I primarily did warehouse work there. I broke down boxes and put price tags on the large quantity merchandise (mainly bicycle innertubes). At the end of the season, I left Trek and continued at Shopko for the holiday season. The following year, I moved to the lawn & garden department at Shopko. After I turned 18, I worked at Hamlin Electronics, a reed switch factory located in Lake Mills, WI. I worked in the modification department where the switches were sorted by type, and modified to the client’s needs. I worked there for about a year, when the company announced they were going to be moving production overseas and closing the entire plant. I went through a several month period where I jumped jobs trying to figure out what I wanted to do for work.

 

In August 2015, I started at Domino’s Pizza as a driver and worked there for 7 years. During this time, I was still very active in side projects. Very similar to my early years, We’d go out on trash pickup day and look for things to fix and sell. We had a few floods in Watertown which led to us hauling trailer loads of scrap to the recycling center and cashing out on it. The majority of what we scrapped were appliances. Unfortunately, most of those were flood damaged, but the thought still crossed my mind that there could be significantly more profit involved if I could figure out how to fix appliances one day. 

 

In June 2022, we had a nasty storm come through our area. It struck around 5:30pm and took out power to the area. The rain continued to come down heavily, and lasted several hours. Since the power was out, the sump pumps began backing up. In an effort to try and get them running again, I went to the store looking to buy a generator. They were sold out, with another customer loading the last one into their cart when I arrived. I ended up going a different route and buying a power inverter, instead. I was hoping to run it off our camper battery which was sitting in the basement on a trickle charger. I got it all set up, but it was just barely able to run one of the pumps before drawing more power than the inverter could put out. During this time, I could hear the drains gurgling, and within minutes, those also began backing up into the basement. By about 11pm, the rain had stopped and we had over a foot of water in the basement. We lost just about everything in the basement except what was sitting on storage racks, including the appliances. We spent a few days hauling everything off and cleaning up the mess. We ended up finding a cheap washer & dryer on Facebook Marketplace that needed repair, and we decided to go that route. Having no experience in appliance repair, I was able to test components and accurately diagnose & repair both the washer and dryer with some help from the internet. 

 

By this point, I was about ready for a career change anyway. I started looking for jobs in appliance repair. Unfortunately there wasn’t much out there other than the usual “big brands” that always seem to be hiring. I decided not to go that route, since I don’t agree with some of their business practices (upselling parts/supplies to customers that they don’t need). Apparently, this is a common practice and employees get a commission from it.

 

Two months later (August 2022), I ended up working at a local appliance shop. I was referred to them by one of their technicians. I was hired as a field servicer, and ended up doing a little bit of everything. I started off doing installs of major appliances, including large, built-in appliances. When I’m not doing installs, I service all their used appliances, and fill in for any other positions as needed. I found myself doing very well troubleshooting the easy problems with appliances, but I still struggled with one very important part of appliance repair - reading schematics & wiring diagrams. These are basically the roadmap for the entire appliance. They map out every component inside, and provide the tech with information about how it gets its power supply and data signal. In March 2024, I enrolled in online courses at Master Samurai Tech, which answered a lot of my questions, and helped me change the way I troubleshoot appliances. I received certifications in Core Appliance Repair, Advanced Refrigerator Repair, Advanced Oven & Range Repair, Advanced Troubleshooting, Advanced Washer, Dryer, and Dishwasher Repair, and Modern Business Management.