If it hasn’t been made evident by now, we love people here at AAT! We love hearing about their stories and passions for our community, but we also love hearing about what our fellow locals do and why they do it! For example, we have some wonderful neighbors who own/manager some fantastic local businesses and serve our town tremendously by doing so! This fact is why AAT has partnered up with our good friends at B3 Glass, to bring you all “Small Business Fridays!” Each week, we’ll feature a different, local small business and talk with its owner and hear about their journey, their business in general, as well as their heart for their customers and our city!
This week, we’re joined by Mr. John Mclane! No, not John McClane, the 80’s action hero. John Mclane, the up and coming, heavy duty, shelving guru of the Elko area! John comes from a family who has called the Elko area home for the last fifty years. John grew up in this community, gained skills and experience in the fields of contracting and construction, and on April 18th of this year (2019), John started his structural organization business, Epic Shelving.
Yes, similar to Die Hard’s John McClane jumping off Nakatomi plaza with nothing but a fire hose strapped to his waist, our John Mclane took the leap from working his steady full-time job into the world of business ownership. His passion for organization and helping people achieve it within their homes/workspaces is what’s motivating John lead Epic Shelving towards finding success as a new and unique business in this town.
John, you’re looking to establish a new business here in the Elko area. Do you think it’s possible to successfully build something, from the ground up, in this community?
“Some people say you can’t really start anything in Elko; I don’t believe that. It’s all about finding the ability to succeed where you are. I think we have fertile ground for starting something in Elko because of the size of the community and how people share things with one another. In larger cities, it can be tough to find people because they may work in the city but live outside of it. If you get some people behind you, they’ll go to bat for you; the people are like family here.”
John, your passion for your work is obviously what’s fueling your endeavor. What do you love most about being in the shelving business?
“I love helping people; I love seeing people’s eyes light up when they see what they can do with their space. I get excited about being able to give people something that’s going to help make their lives a little easier.
“I once worked with a gal who had taken her side mirror off her vehicle because she hit the side of her garage while trying to avoid some of her stuff. I asked her why she didn’t call me; she didn’t because she thought I was too expensive. When I finally went over to put her shelves in, she told me she was able to have me shelve her entire garage for the same price as having her mirror put back on! They were never using that space before, and it was causing them damage; I was able to give them a part of their house back!”
As your business is a newer one, is there anything you would like those who may be hearing of you for the first time to know about your work with Epic Shelving?
“I just want a chance to give people an estimate because I’m going to give them back a portion of their house that was taken over by all their stuff! I want to help people conquer their garage! If my customers are the Karate Kid, then I’ll be Mr. Miyagi when it comes to helping give them their garage back.”
You can stay caught up on everything going on around here at AAT by checking out our “Stay Connected” page! Make sure you never miss a feature!
See you around, Elko!
Article Credits:
Written by: Anthony Crosby
Edited by: Nadara Merrill