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Here are things an undergrad degree in biology, postgrad degree in journalism and a postgrad-ish program in sports nutrition did not teach me: CAD skills, choosing materials, negotiating with suppliers and just being able to visualise how an idea pans out into an actual product.
And I can’t draw to save my life. Never could. I got kicked out of art class in 1st grade.
But I have ideas. And my saviour is Hari. His family runs a laser cutting, press brake and hydraulic metal shear unit. Those are fancy ways of saying they can cut, bend and fold metal into different shapes.
He can take an articulated idea, a crude sketch and turn it into a CAD drawing that can be processed into a working product. It’s magic.
Takeaway
There’s a point to this story. Our business model of designing bespoke gear, using expensive material and fabricating it into customised gym equipment is enabled by many moving parts. Scrap yards, small CNC workshops, lathes, milling, polishing and welding shops. Some of these facilities are in small outhouses less than 200 square feet large. And a few of them grow into huge buildings. I’ve seen it since 2015 and it’s a sight.
These places fly under the radar of what we think of as symbols of organised and/or qualified competence, economic might or the commanding heights. But they are chock-a-block full of talent. Criminally underpaid and underrated talent with skills that only the marketplace can instill.
And I am lucky that I get to operate in a time and place that allows me to tap into it.