It all started with my family. Growing up I was influenced by my Mom, who was super creative and my Dad who took over my grandfather’s airplane propeller company out of college and has run it ever since. He worked for himself, made his own hours, his own decisions and his own money. He didn’t have anyone telling him when to work or what to do, and that’s what I wanted.
From an early age my goal was to never work for anyone but myself. I started buying and selling baseball cards, Beanie Babies, VHS movies, concert t-shirts, concert tickets, etc. I didn�t care what the product was as long as I could make money. During my years at Babson College in Wellesley, MA I became obsessed with trading stocks, but after missing too many classes my sophomore year my parents made me stop. To compensate for the end of my stock trading days, my Dad had his employees polish up fixed-pitch airplane propellers, which I sold on eBay. I didn’t know the first thing about airplane propellers, but knew selling these propellers each month I would have enough money to continue the Boston lifestyle I was used to when I traded stocks.
My junior year I was focused on creating a company I could run when I graduated. After selling a used Dave Matthews Band concert shirt on eBay for $120.00 I began seeking out thrift stores, Goodwills, Salvation Armys and Savers to find more. In the process I found some really interesting used clothing and instantly began a lucrative business buying and selling used clothing on eBay. I could walk into Goodwill, spend $50.00 and walk out with a $1000.00 worth of clothes after selling them on eBay. I had a knack for it and there was zero competition. Most people back then were embarrassed to even go into these stores, let alone know what items would sell online.
In 2002 I graduated from Babson College and the job market was horrid. While others in my class looked for analyst / investment manager positions, I opened an office and pursued my used clothing business for a few more years in Boston. The company was featured on Fox News and in all the papers, but soon I wanted more. I wanted my own product line.
In 2004 I moved back to Connecticut to learn about the family business. One night my family and I attended an auction and out came a pair of chrome and black midcentury modernism Wassily chairs. Something happened inside me and my world was flipped upside down. The mirror finish of the chrome, the simplicity and complexity of the design, I found modernism, I saw my new inspiration. The very next day my Dad showed me his massive warehouse filled with 60+ years of unairworthy scrap airplane parts. I saw a new world filled with possibilities. I surrounded myself with books, magazines and the designs of Eames, Aarnio, Saarinen, Miller, Knoll, Breuer, Warhol, and Starck. Without any knowledge of what these parts were intended for, I began putting pieces together, welding, sanding, grinding, blasting, and polishing and haven’t stopped since.
-RT
