Battle To Business - A Success Story - Part II
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Editor's Note: This story was originally posted in The Salvation Army's "Caring" magazine which can be found HERE.
Veteran, homeless entrepreneurs start small businesses with the help of The Salvation Army and Pepperdine University.
Story By Dawn Wright, Photos by Dawn Wright and Courtesy of Mike Slaughter
Washing From The Inside Out
Like Crowley, Mike Slaughter—a 55-year-old veteran who served 11 years in the U.S. Marines—is well on the road to self-sufficiency as a resident of The Salvation Army’s Haven homeless shelter and Entrepreneur-in-Training in the Pepperdine Palmer Center Micro-Enterprise Program.
Not many entrepreneurs can say their small business has grown 1,000 percent since moving into a homeless shelter, but that’s exactly what Slaughter’s ledger shows. What started out as a $600 investment for a buffer, cleaning supplies and an extension cord, has turned into a thriving mobile car wash business boasting 40 accounts and—in a city where you are what you drive—unlimited potential for “cleaning up” in the car washing market. His business is a high-end operation, only dealing with well-maintained vehicles with accounts in Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu, including a freshly inked contract with Latitude 33, a high-end condo in Marina del Rey.
But just one year ago, from behind prison bars serving 12 months for drug possession, Slaughter’s future seemed bleak. “I knew how hard it would be to get a job; especially guys with felony criminal records like me,” Slaughter said. “But that felony criminal background propelled me forward in my business.”
The humble beginnings of washing his friends’ cars for spending cash soon expanded into buffing out the fenders of BMWs and Mercedes in some of the most affluent communities in L.A. His prices start out at $25 for sedans and $35 for SUVs, with rates exceeding $100 for more intense detailing jobs. His business washes cars “from the inside out”—a concept that hits closer to home since coming to The Salvation Army.
“I’ve had to humble myself, and learn how to take direction,” Slaughter said.
At The Salvation Army Haven, funded by government grants and generous individual and corporate donors, the program is designed especially for veterans and the myriad struggles they face. It helps veterans tackle obstacles to self-sufficiency—whether that’s through substance abuse treatment, emergency short-term housing, mental illness, or needs particular to senior citizens or women.
“I have a strong network here; they’re totally supportive,” Slaughter said. “They took me in and they help me all the way.”
One-on-one sessions with his mentor and group therapy have not only helped him professionally, but personally too. “I’ve discovered what’s easy to do—to not fight,” he said. “Ego…imposing your will on others…tends to separate you from others.”
This humility and willingness to do the hard work led to Slaughter’s admittance to the Pepperdine program. When he first entered, he already had the basic business model for his mobile car wash mapped out. But his Pepperdine mentors have been instrumental in tweaking it, like suggesting a name change for the business from “This is It” to a more marketable “Platinum Shine Mobile Auto Wash & Detail.”
He was also encouraged to leverage his van as a marketing tool. Now, with his new business name and phone number clearly printed on the side, his van doubles as a mobile billboard and has already brought in business. Pepperdine mentors also gave him the tools to manage staff, including how to properly file taxes. He now has one employee—a remarkable feat considering the high unemployment rates and broader economic conditions facing California business owners and out-of-work Angelinos alike who do not share Slaughter’s troubled past.
But it’s not all smooth sailing. Just six months into his residency at The Salvation Army, Slaughter discovered he had prostate cancer. It was treatable, but he’d undergo radiation Monday through Friday for seven weeks. He was only halfway through his program at The Salvation Army, and had just submitted his application to Pepperdine. He had every excuse to quit, or at least, delay his plans. But instead, it pushed him to work harder.
Slaughter makes it clear his success is because of perseverance and dedication, the kind of commitment that requires a 55-year-old homeless man to wash dozens of cars in triple-digit heat, after spending the morning undergoing radiation treatment.
“You do what you’ve got to do,” Slaughter said.
He is eager to help others, especially veterans with criminal pasts like himself, to see their potential and even start companies of their own.
As his business rises and he soon faces graduation from The Salvation Army, Slaughter thinks about the future. He wants to invest in other small business owners’ dreams and already has his sights on a friend’s business, a local L.A.-based baker behind Crumb Cups, a desserts bakery that’s currently perfecting its marketing and packaging in hopes of distributing through retail powerhouse Costco.
When reflecting on his criminal and homeless past, he can’t quite bring himself to say, “no regrets” but even so, he remains remarkably positive.
“I regret my nonproductive years, but choose to stay on the gratitude side,” he said. “I am grateful for what I have now.”
Paying It Forward
Between the support Paul Crowley and Mike Slaughter receive at The Salvation Army’s Haven shelter for veterans, and all of the open doors Pepperdine’s Palmer Center Micro-Enterprise Program provides, their futures could be summed up in the motto of the 82nd Airborne…“All the Way!”
But they’re not the only ones with bright futures. Their new lease on life is contagious and both men are determined to infuse their peers with the confidence and tools to follow their own passions. It may look like a tailored, pinstriped suit to help a veteran nail that next job interview or a bucket of soapy water and a sponge for a veteran starting his own business. Either way, Crowley and Slaughter will be there to say, “If I can do this, you can do this. I believe in you.”
Click HERE to read Part I of this story.