If you had told me 15 years ago that I’d one day be running a precision manufacturing company with nearly 100 employees—inspecting parts for defense, aerospace, and high-stakes commercial applications—I probably would’ve laughed and gone back to tinkering with my beat-up laptop in the garage. Back then, I was just a small-town kid with no degree, no funding, and no clue what I didn’t know. What I did have was grit—and an unshakable belief that I could figure it out.

That journey—from scraping by with a bootstrapped online startup to leading a company like North Valley Precision—has taught me more than any classroom ever could. Not just about business, but about what really fuels long-term success. And spoiler: it’s not about having the latest tech or getting lucky with timing. It’s about discipline, perseverance, and learning how to get up and keep going when everything seems to be falling apart. Especially in industries like defense and manufacturing, where the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Starting With Nothing but Belief

When I dropped out of college to launch 7 Innovations, I had no roadmap. I just had a big idea, a ridiculous work ethic, and the kind of blind optimism you only get in your early 20s. I worked crazy hours, made every mistake in the book, and learned everything the hard way. But eventually, through trial, error, and sheer stubbornness, things started to click. We figured out how to market, how to build real systems, and how to scale. We ended up generating close to $50 million in online revenue—and I hit my first million by age 25.

But honestly? The money was never the real win for me. What mattered more was learning how to build something from scratch. How to turn ideas into execution. How to keep going when it feels like nothing’s working. Those lessons became the foundation for every venture I touched afterward—whether it was in biotech, or what I’m doing now at North Valley Precision.

The Shift to Real-World Impact

Over time, I found myself being drawn to industries where the outcomes mattered in a tangible, real-world way. Biotech was one of those fields. Precision manufacturing was another. There’s something incredibly grounding about knowing the things you help create actually impact lives—whether that’s a breakthrough treatment or a critical component on a military aircraft.

That’s one of the things I love most about running North Valley Precision. We’re not just making parts—we’re supporting missions. The pieces we inspect and ship end up in systems with zero margin for error. There’s real accountability in that. Real purpose. And for me, that’s a powerful motivator.

Getting Into Government Contracts

Landing our first government contract was a huge moment for us—but it didn’t happen overnight. It took years of preparation. We spent that time building out robust quality systems, documenting every process, training our people, and cultivating a culture where “good enough” just isn’t good enough.

There’s a lot of red tape in the government world. A lot of waiting. A lot of rules and audits and unexpected changes. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the same grit it takes to launch a garage startup is the exact same grit you need to succeed in government contracting. You’ve got to be ready for setbacks. You have to communicate clearly, deliver on your promises, and always look for ways to improve.

That kind of mindset doesn’t appear overnight—it’s built through years of just showing up and doing the hard stuff.

Growth Isn’t Glamorous

There’s a myth that growth is this exciting, fast-paced ride. In reality, it’s a lot messier than that. Growth is hiring your first employees and realizing you now have to be a manager. It’s watching your systems break as your headcount doubles. It’s learning how to let go of control, trust other people, and scale without losing the soul of what you built.

I’ve come to see those moments—the stress, the growing pains—as signals. They’re not signs that you’re failing. They’re signs that it’s time to level up. Whether it’s upgrading your equipment, reworking your org chart, or developing new leaders internally, growth always asks more of you. And that’s a good thing.

The Common Thread: Grit

When I look back across all the chapters of my journey—ecommerce, biotech, precision machining—one thing connects them all: grit. That drive to keep moving, even when the path isn’t clear. That ability to outlast the problem when most people would throw in the towel.

And now, at North Valley Precision, I see that same grit in our team. We’ve built a group of people who take pride in doing things the right way—even when it’s harder. We don’t just hire based on resumes. We hire based on heart. Because you can teach someone how to run a CMM or inspect a part, but you can’t teach them to care. And caring is what sets apart good work from great work.

From the Garage to the Big Leagues

Success isn’t magic. It’s not about having a perfect plan, or landing funding at the right time. It’s about doing the work—over and over again. Showing up. Pushing through. Getting a little better every day. I’ve seen firsthand what that kind of mindset can build. It took me from a laptop in a garage to a facility shipping mission-critical components to the government.

So if you’re an entrepreneur just starting out, or a small operation wondering whether you can ever break into the big leagues like defense contracting—know this: you absolutely can. But you have to be in it for the long haul. You have to be willing to do the unsexy work, the hard work, the consistent work. If you do, you’ll look back one day and realize: you built something that matters. And that’s worth every second.