Still Building America—Adam Deuling’s ‘go for it’ attitude pays off

Adam Deuling in his small sheet metal fabrication shop, Deuling Design LLC, in Muskegon, Michigan.

Adam Deuling reached out to me after being tagged in a Facebook post about my “Still Building America” column. He was excited to share about his small sheet metal fab shop in Muskegon, Michigan.

From taking every metal and wood shop class available in high school, to learning CAD in college, to becoming a plumbing apprentice, to working in drafting and moving up to an engineering position, Adam has developed a “go for it” attitude that led him to start his business.

Josh Welton: Could you explain what kind of work do you do? What got you started?

Adam Deuling: I own a small sheet metal fabrication business, Deuling Design LLC, that I started in October 2015 at the age 24. I fell in love with sheet metal fabrication through my day job as a product engineer and started buying the tools to be able to do it on my own.

JW: Awesome, man! Tell us a little more about how you started the business.

AD: I started a post on an off-road forum called Pirate4x4 asking for recommendations on how to do certain things. Next thing I know, I spent about $130 on a cheap bead roller, grabbed a few pieces of metal out of the scrap bin at work (that I got permission to use!) and went home and began playing with it. Shortly after, I was making simple signs for people, and then with the help of Jamey Jordan (Instagram @jameyjordan) I took my skills to the next level and was making intricate signs.

I finally got to the point where I was making enough money that I decided it was time to work faster. I spent a lot of time building my fab bench I nicknamed ‘The Fab Station’ and placed an order for a CNC plasma table so that I could cut out parts faster and more accurately.

After that, it’s been a mix of massive learning curves, teaching myself TIG welding, and asking as many questions to all the amazing fabricators out there that would give me some time out of their day.

JW: Who were your career influences, and who has impacted your life?

AD: My dad always was my inspiration to get into engineering from a young age, and he instilled that “do it right” attitude in me. I also worked as a plumbing apprentice for Brett Lascko of Lascko Services here in Muskegon from 16 to 22. He and my dad have been great friends since they were young. Brett allowed me to work on some projects in his home shop years ago, and as this all progressed, he gave me the opportunity to run an actual business out of his shop. Without Brett giving me that chance, there is absolutely no way I would have pursued any of this.

JW: What type of background and training do you have?

AD: High school shop class is where it started. I remember not being able to take a shop class freshman year because the classes were full, and it bummed me out. So, every year after that I filled every spot I could with shop classes. My senior year I had nine shop classes between metal and wood shop and was basically a student teacher for most of them. I had plans to go to college to be a shop teacher, but as schools closed shop classes, I realized that was not going to be a good financial choice.

So, I went to the local community college and got an Associates in CAD while working at Lascko, landed my job with my current employer, and worked my way up from drafting to the engineering department over a few years.

Other than CAD work I would say all of my hands-on experience is a mix of self-taught and asking questions. A lot of mistakes, a lot of frustrated nights, but it’s all been an awesome learning experience.

I just recently went part-time at my day job to focus more time and energy into my business.

JW: What is your favorite part of your job?

AD: I love the different things I get to do. Every job is new, everything’s different. Somebody might bring a $5 flange in that you need to duplicate, or somebody might drop off a $100,000 vehicle for me to work on. Keeps it fun, I suppose! I really enjoy problem solving. I think it is one of my favorite attributes—looking at a situation and figuring out how I want to tackle it.

Oh, and I get to jam out to great tunes in the shop and dance around like a fool with my dog, Kevin. That’s really my favorite part!

JW: Ha! When I come home I dance with our dog, Lucy! What is the most challenging part of your job?

AD: Not having someone to help me with things I’m not familiar with is often quite challenging.

JW: What's your future career goal?

AD: I plan to slowly work my way out of my current engineering job, if all goes as planned. I’ve enjoyed my job, and it’s been an amazing opportunity, but at the end of the day, it’s not where my passion is. I’d love to see my fiancé and I running the business as a team. I don’t know that I care to have a massive company, but something that feeds us, provides a good life, and provides products and services that people can really enjoy. I’m super passionate about USA-made and putting pride into my work; I really hope that shows in my products.

JW: What advice would you give your peers if they are interested in following your path or just need a little encouragement?

AD: That’s a hard one. I have learned so much I could probably give advice for hours. Ha!

• Go for It. Quit talking about it and drop the $5k on that tool or that bulk shirt order that you think maybe you could sell. I don’t want to listen to you talk about it for a month and then let the idea fade away. Spend that money, even if you lose it. Learn what you did wrong, save up and go for it again, but with some positive changes.
• Don’t Work All the Time. Take a break, take your girl out to dinner, etc.
• Drop Dead Weight. You will lose people, and you need to prepare for that. Either it be through jealousy of some success, or even the simple fact that you don’t care about going to parties or going out on a Saturday, because chances are you have projects to complete and don’t have time for stuff like that anymore.

Be sure to check out Adam’s work on Facebook and Instagram.

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