Starting early
Right out of high school I became one of the youngest claim handlers at Allstate Insurance, while going to school full time. Claims work teaches you fast that the story people tell and the facts on the ground are two different things. You learn to listen, ask the next question, and read the paperwork for what it doesn't say.
Selling to surgeons
From there I moved into medical and surgical sales and distribution: hip, knee and spine implants, plus human bone and tissue. Our company imported its own instruments and implants and handled FDA approval. That world runs on trust, precision and showing up prepared. A surgeon doesn't care how good your pitch is if the right tray isn't in the room at 6 a.m.
The lesson I kept: in any regulated, high-stakes business, process isn't paperwork. It's the product.
2010: soap
In 2010 I helped run Wonderbar Health and Beauty for a short time. We made good soaps, like petroleum and chamomile soaps. It was a small business, but it showed me what it takes to make a product and actually get it sold.
2014
In 2014 I rebuilt from the ground up. That's a story for another day.
That same year I co-founded Kensington Custom Builders, a custom homebuilder, with Mike Primovero. Building homes teaches you permits, subcontractors, schedules and what a customer really means when they say "small change." We recently closed the company, and I'm proud of what we learned. The biggest lesson: a business can be good work and still not be the right business. Knowing when to shut a door is a skill too.
Other businesses I've owned
I also used to own Kensington Contracting, a roofing and siding insurance restoration company. With my claims background that one made a lot of sense to me, because I already knew how the insurance side worked.
And when I needed money I worked side jobs too. I've done inflatable blow-ups, and I've scrapped out mobile homes for the metal. No job was beneath me.
2015: tires
In 2015 my in-laws ran a small tire transport business, and it was in trouble. The shredder they hauled to was closing. Big-box stores were squeezing its door-mat business, and when the shredder went, the transport company was going to go with it.
They needed a business mind, not a hauler. So I stepped in and brokered an asset purchase of that shredding company. That deal pulled me into tire recycling, and I never left.
2018: new shredders, no bank
In 2018, three short years after that asset purchase, the machines were dinosaurs that belonged in the Smithsonian, and we needed new ones or that business was gonna go under.
No bank was giving us a loan for millions of dollars that early in a business. So we brokered a deal with our equipment supplier for two brand new shredders with no money down. Their employee 401(k) money paid for our shredders, and we made payments back to them at a higher interest rate, so banks weren't involved at all.
We paid that off, then bought another machine with a bank loan. In 2026 we started our Hamilton, Ohio location, an existing site we re-equipped, and bought new shredders there with bank loans.
Today
Today I'm COO of Innovative Recycling and work on operations and finance with Willig Tire Recycling in Galion, Ohio. I'm an owner in tire transport and tire processing, including a second plant in Hamilton, Ohio, an existing site we re-equipped. I also still own two tire and auto shops.
This year I earned my private pilot's license, and now I fly myself between our plants.
We collect across four states, with combined capacity around 10 million tires a year, and recover about 22 tons of steel wire a day. That's not a brag. It's the scale where every small inefficiency gets loud, and that's where most of my lessons come from.
Family man
I'm married and a father of six. My family is the why behind all of this. Every early morning at the plant, every deal and every flight is about building something that takes care of them and gives my kids a front-row seat to what hard work looks like.
The best days aren't in the office. They're opening morning in the woods and Friday nights in the stands.
Where the cash goes
Real estate is where a lot of my money goes. I also love Bitcoin and hold some. The businesses make the cash, and real estate and Bitcoin are where I park it.
I own a lot of single-family homes and multifamily apartment buildings, and I've sold a number of commercial office buildings over the years. I still own a lot of real estate today.
I even started a company called youhold.io that was going to tokenize real estate on the blockchain. We shelved it because the numbers didn't work. Our rentals in northern Ohio were inexpensive, around $50,000 to $80,000, and the SEC reporting from the accountants was going to cost $10,000 to $20,000 every year. That's a lot of overhead on a cheap house, so we didn't do it.
These days I've also taught myself to sell options, puts and calls. I'm still learning, and I'm not giving anybody advice on it.
The deal on paper is never the deal on the floor.
My partners have owned all kinds of businesses, like metal recycling, waste and trash removal, portable toilets, car washes and oil changes, and I've advised and helped on all of them.
I also know what I don't know. Over the years I've built a bench of trusted people in legal, tax and accounting, lending, equipment, real estate and environmental compliance. When a question is outside what I can advise on knowledgeably, I'll bring in the right expert from my network.
One of those people is my good buddy Troy Naftzger, who owns men's health clinics, including Ohio Men's Health in Columbus, Ohio. When a question is about men's health or the clinic business, I bring Troy in.
If you're buying, building or fixing a hands-on business, I'd rather you learn these lessons on a call with me than the expensive way.