Meet Carmen Kustelega

 

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carmen Kustelega . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Carmen, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I found my purpose when I was working long shifts at outback steakhouse. While there i was paid very low ($12.50) per hour but still required to provide a consistent and constant flow of good food for the guests…. I became way too burnt out working the clock always making sure I had the hours to match my pay. I saved up $5k then quit and started my journey 9 years ago with electronics. So then I was hired by Steven Richardson who owned a computer company and had zero clues on what to do! I began to run his office for a few years till I decided he wasn’t going to help me get on my own and if I ever wanted to break free of the hourly employee title I must change drastically! With a brand new son and a daughter that was already 7 i decided to kick into high gear and start my own practice. We’ll fast forward to last year was the greatest year sales wise I was able to grow my business to $90k gross sales per year by myself ! So i find my purpose by praying to God and allowing him to provide for my family. Business isn’t always great but im making the best of it !

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

We fix computers , apple or windows , appliances , game consoles, gaming computers washers, dryers, and many other electronics devices ! I have a huge passion for computers and would like to open a computer history exhibit alongside my repair shop! Our brand is friendly and customer oriented.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

When I first started I knew I had to be ahead of the next person when it came to knowledge, time management, and my skill level (growth in each field ). Once you cap off an area as far as the grow and skills it takes to complete the task then evolve it to work faster and more efficiently for you! Time management is a huge part in the diagnostic and repair process….. so when you menu comes to the drawing board ( I used to be a chef for fine dining and casual restaurants so I look at things always in the kitchen sense). Time is everything in the culinary field one second too late and your eggs are burnt or 2 minutes too long and your cake is too dry. Also do mental test be able to remember numbers model etc,be very observant and take in 99 percent of the info at hand like it’s life or death! Electronic repair is similar to our emergency room the electronics may die at some point ! But mostly just to be able to pivot through the highs and lows of business.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

My dad David Scott McNair is my dad and he has done so much for me at my youngest age all the way up till today! He is a proud business owner himself and a master craftman who makes luxery yacht furniture! He taught me to be humble and be on time, be ready to learn, be teachable , and most of all to trust God has a plan for me.Thats the driving force for me today some weeks are well booked up. Some weeks are also full of choppy stuff , broken pipes , long hours and mistakes. My dad taught me to be tough (I’m still a softy sometimes) but how harsh the real world is and how fast you have to be to even be shown in the spotlight. He let me work for him when I was young , I worked for his buddy Louie who had a machine shop ! At just the age of 13 I was cleaning out large lathe machines grease trap and metal scrap bins for $5 per hour in the 90s. He taught me to be independent and to work hard for what I wanted 💯

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Image Credits

Images were taken by Firestarter Electronics LLC and are property of the company

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