Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Suhling.
Rob, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started learning about the trades in early high school and soon learned that I loved to work with my hands. I gravitated more so to woodworking because my Dad was a jack of all trades. He built my family’s house and would work on the house during my childhood. After high school, I got a job as an apprentice at a custom stair company. Then I did work as a cabinet maker for a commercial cabinet company. Then I got into the exhibit/tradeshow business as a carpenter.
Starting out as the new guy at each company I worked for I was always told I was too slow, that I needed to work faster. What I didn’t realize is that the people telling me these things had 20 years of experience building things the one way, they were proficient at it, and I did not want to wait 20 years just so I could tell the next guy he was too slow. I questioned the techniques they taught me and questioned the techniques I learned myself even more. I could not stop obsessing over the question “Is there a better way of doing this?” I would think about it at work and at home. When I was put in management positions I was constantly modifying and improving the ways my workers used their machines and tools. What put that passion inside me is in part because I did not want the new guy to be at odds with everyone else, and I could not accept that there was only one way to do something and that’s it.
Once I got into exhibit/trade shows I realized my hobbies could be completely intertwined with my profession and I started gravitating towards metal fabrication because that’s what I was doing at home for my own projects. After 30 years spent working as a craftsman, I realized that maybe my best suit would be to start my own company. That company grew into a metal fabrication shop doing custom jobs for 10 years and now we are evolving into manufacturing our own product line. More or less the product line is what we have developed to use in our shop over those 10 years.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road. I am a perfectionist, and that fact inherently puts speed bumps in front of me because when you are trying to evolve something it won’t be perfect, no prototype is perfect is ever perfect the first time. So me being a perfectionist is my biggest Achilles Heel, and has limited my progression. However, I have faith that I am supposed to be this way because I never rested on something most people would say is good enough, I keep trying, but it’s a struggle to maintain the mental capacity to move forward while not being perfect when you are trying to move forward quickly and efficiently and compete in business.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Custom Fabricating Solutions story. Tell us more about the business.
We are problem solvers, we are known for taking people’s challenges and helping them work through them, and find a way to the solution. We don’t believe a challenge has to remain constant for a craftsman or a business. We believe there is a solution, whether that is a technique, a tool, or a machine. We then design, engineer, and build the solution from start to finish. We are in business in providing efficiency, reliability, and ease to all the craftsman and tradesman in the world.
What separates us is our ability to stay grounded. We don’t put ourselves above our competition because we know everything can be improved. An invention or improvement is always right around the corner and if we lose focus on that fact we know we will get left behind. There is no best way, but there always is a better way.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck. The word luck should be changed to the question “how do you put yourself in an opportunity so you can execute?” but being there is not enough, it requires to be fully ready both physically and mentally. So, we are not trying to be lucky. We simply give our best every day and expect the unexpected.
Contact Info:
- Address: 12891 West Clearview Ave
- Website: www.customfabricatingsolutions.com
- Phone: 8476237029
- Email: customfabricatingsolutions@gmail.com
- Instagram: @customfabricatingsolutions
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