Guest Blogger: The Beginnings… Perspectives my First Hire - My Dad!
Part 1 of Many
This is a guest blog written by my first full-time W2 hire—the first person we had to put on payroll and insurance. Also known as my Dad, Doug.
Edits by Ben Pearson and AI.
Enalas and Eisco (North & South America) started at 850 St. Paul Street, right on the corner of St. Paul and Conkey. It was a neighborhood full of character and grit. The building was over 100 years old, and it showed. The roof leaked, the floors buckled—so much so they created their own dirt. The building had a shared dock, shared bathrooms, and a shared infamous "dungeon bathroom"
The business began in a state of scarcity. Ben had left corporate America, and I had left Kodak. Failure was not an option—we didn’t have a fallback plan, we had to immediately go cash flow positive. In the early days (2012), it was just us, a plating company, and a die maker. Over the next six years, we watched businesses come and go—and by "going," I mean failing. One thing became clear: the businesses that succeeded in that building were the ones willing to work long, hard hours and sweat the details. That’s one of the reasons Hard Work remains a pillar of Enalas today.
Looking back, I’m amazed at the risks we took. But I’m also really glad we did.
Frugal Innovation
Some of my strongest memories from those early years shaped the company culture we see today.
We became masters of frugal innovation. With no budget for major repairs, we engineered 35 leak diverters to keep inventory safe. Every piece of furniture came from defunct businesses around the building. We recycled incoming boxes and used them to ship out orders. To maximize space, we built custom racking to tuck inventory into every nook and cranny of the century-old building.
Mike Wink even resurrected an ancient tow motor—"Old Blue"—to keep things moving. And because we couldn’t afford carrier pickups, we loaded our trucks every day and personally dropped off shipments at UPS.
Then came the first real “oh boy, what did I get myself into” moment—our first container delivery. Ben was on the road selling, and I was on my own. First, I had to set up all the 12-foot racking—two big rows—just to receive the shipment. The container held 48 pallets that needed to be unloaded, slotted, put away, counted, and entered into the system.
Ben was nervous. He called me a lot to check in. It was a grind. And neither Ben’s mom nor his wife was thrilled about me working long hours in that neighborhood—especially after we found bullet holes in the building, had a car bomb in the parking lot one night, and had the Rochester Police Department using our security system footage regularly.
That experience reinforced another Enalas pillar: Loyalty. We built the business first, then hired. And we worked hard to avoid layoffs, RIFs, and short-term thinking. Ben tells me now that he’s glad we did it, but if he had known then what he knows now, he might not have taken such a risk. It was scary—fiscally and physically—but not emotionally. We had each other’s backs.
Interlude from Ben:
One of my favorite things in the beginning was the daily coffee run with Dad on Lake Ave and dropping off UPS packages at night. In the business, I was the boss. But in Dad’s truck, he was Dad.
Back to Dad:
Why am I sharing all of this? Because I want people to understand what it takes to build a business—and why our pillars matter. Every person at Enalas plays a critical role in its success.
Leaving Enalas was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It wasn’t just a job to me; I was personally invested in it. But when I left, I knew the company was in good hands, surrounded by great people.
First In, First Out.
- Dad/Doug / Bompa / BG / Guss
Some future blogs I am thinking about:
Kodak vs Freedom to be given the autonomy and trust to solve problems on my own.
788 Old Dutch Road & The Retirement Barn with Uncle Mark Wink
An unorthodox family business, son starts business, father goes and works for son
Fisher, Colorado, Surprises
