Phil and his wife, Vicki

As soon as we sat down, Phil filled me in on Littlestar’s history.  He purchased the company about 14 years ago.  Since he had never run a machine he had to find a way to learn.  There was only one way for Phil to learn.  As he explained, “I spent 30 hours on jobs that should have taken 10.”  The first year and a half he literally lived in the shop.  He worked 18 hours a day, 7 days a week.  His wife, Vicki, brought him changes of clothes and food.  The more Phil talked, the more I realized that the real story was Phil.

Phil easily admitted that he was not focused through his teen years and into his early twenties.  He earned a high school diploma with a grade point average of about D+.  He hitchhiked across the country and bounced around to odd jobs until his early twenties when he found himself working at a small, private airport pumping gas at $2.00/hour.  The best part of that job was that for every 70 hours of work, he received a free one hour of flight training.   

His real epiphany was realizing that even though he could fly the planes he fueled, he couldn’t afford the gas to fly one.  He decided at that moment he wanted more.  He went through the newspaper to find a job that he felt would provide more opportunity.  Engineers seemed to make the most money, so he hitchhiked to Normal, IL and applied for admittance at Illinois State University, and was shocked to be accepted (he believes they felt sorry for him).  He eventually earned an engineering degree.

Phil and his incredibly talented staff have built the Littlestar reputation as a solution company.  As Phil explained, many of his customers don’t understand what they are buying; so, “we teach them.”  One could easily describe their niche as an inch wide but a mile deep.  Phil takes pride in the fact that his company provides job security for the buyer of their products.  Littlestar gives them what they need when they need it.  The parts they tackle are exotic plastic materials, very complicated, of high quality. 

Phil said that he’s sick of hearing about China.  He is sky high on the U.S. entrepreneurial spirit.  From my perspective, Phil is a role model for the U.S. entrepreneur.  He’s fearless, clever, risk adverse, clear thinking and has a high level of confidence that he and his staff will find a way.  Click on the (movie link) to hear Phil state his personal philosophy.

Phil made some interesting points about our country, “We are a competitive country, typically anyone who learns how to be competitive in China, wants to move to the United States.  German workers want to work 30 hours a week, my guys get upset when they go below 60 hours.  We work hard in this country.” 

Phil believes that many people don’t stretch and strive because they’re afraid they’re going to lose what they gained.  He is emphatic, whether or not your effort is a success or failure, it is always a learning experience.  He believes people are too concerned about what they’re going to get and not focused on what they have.  As Phil said, “The poorest of this country have more than most of the people in the world.” 

Phil explained, he knows what it is to be “street poor.”  He and his three siblings were raised by a mother who suffered from epilepsy.  She couldn’t drive a car and had to work extremely hard to support her four children.  Phil’s mother could not and would not give up.  If she did, they would have starved.  Failure was not an option.  “So many people today are thinking about how they’re going to take care of themselves in the future.  We were so poor my mother had nothing, she raised the four of us and now we’re taking care of her.”  Phil purchased a home for his mother.  His brother, an airline pilot, makes it possible for their mother to fly anywhere she wants free.  As Phil said, “She can match airline miles with most jetsetters.”

Phil is a wonderful example of the “American Dream.”  Not only did he rise up from very humble beginnings, but he is willing to share what he has learned along his journey.  I came away from my time with Phil inspired and once again reminded, that even with all our problems, I must be forever grateful to live and work in the good old U.S.A.