By the time I graduated high school in June of 1981, adulthood had already arrived. Responsibilities came quickly, and college was no longer the path in front of me. Like many people entering the workforce at that age, I learned my next lessons on the job rather than in a classroom.
My first job came from the newspaper classifieds: a bicycle mechanic position at Kiddie City. The store was union, and technically I was too young to qualify, so I folded my birth certificate just enough to hide the “1” in “12,” making it look like I was already eighteen. It was a small deception, but it got my foot in the door.
The work was part assembly, part warehouse labor bicycles, store displays, and forklifts. It didn’t pay much, but it was the first real step toward independence.
Not long after, a friend told me about an opening at a fabrication shop in Horsham called EMC Industries. They manufactured computer chassis frames for companies like IBM and Honeywell. When I applied, the foreman, Walt Novak, handed me a welding torch and told me to show him what I could do.
I had never used a production MIG welder before.
But I had used tools my entire life.
I watched what the other workers were doing, figured out the jig system, and welded a frame base together. When Walt came back, he pulled the piece from the jig, threw it on the floor, looked me in the eye and said:
“You’ve never done this before in your life.”
I told him the truth.
“No, I haven’t.”
He nodded and said, “You’re hired.”
At EMC I learned fabrication the hard way on the shop floor. What started as a company of around eighty employees eventually wound down as contracts ended, until only four of us remained: Walt, two finishers, and me. Walt took the time to teach me every job in the plant. More importantly, he taught me something that stayed with me far longer than welding techniques:
Work honestly.
Work with integrity.
During this same period I began working part-time at Cyan Electronics, a car audio and accessories shop owned by Jim and Ed Lawfer. At first I didn’t know anything about automotive electronics. But I did know how to organize systems.
When they asked me to retrieve a set of speakers from the storage garage behind the building, I found the place in chaos. Boxes everywhere. Parts mixed together. I spent several days cleaning and organizing the entire space. In the process I became familiar with every connector, component, and hardware kit the shop used.
That led to installation work stereos, CB radios, radar detectors, and speakers and eventually mentorship from Jim and Ed Lawfer, with Ed known throughout the 12-volt industry as “Super Tech.” Eddie had forgotten more about automotive electronics than most installers ever learned. Working alongside him gave me my first real exposure to professional car electronics installation.
By the mid-1980s I was fully immersed in the 12-volt world.
And that path would eventually lead me to the dealer installation networks that shaped the next chapter of my life.