Hi, Folks!

I want to thank you for stopping by this little section of my website, even though it has nothing to do with the business you might be coming here to conduct.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to pay homage to the man that really got me started in business, took me under his wing, and modeled me into the business owner I am, today. That man’s name was Eric Metcalf. I lost him on April 12th, 2019, but when I say I lost him, that’s about as big an understatement as can really be expressed. Many, many people lost Eric that day. He had family, some that I’ve had the opportunity to speak with in the wake of his passing, and so many friends, it would be impossible to count. There’s a reason for that. It isn’t just because he was the kind of person that lit up a room when he walked into it, but more so for the fact that Eric had a way of making you feel like you were the only other person in the world when he was talking to you. I’m sure he had some “best friends”, but the way I saw it, Eric was everybody’s best friend.

I first met him in Gardnerville, Nevada, where he lived, in 2000. I was walking up the “Main Street” going from business to business handing out fliers for my business, a detail shop I started in town called “Extreme Gleam”. Most people were what you would expect from a person who was annoyed at some guy who walked into his or her place of business to peddle his wares, but when I walked into Eric’s shop (an auto glass business he had there called “Auto Glass Only”), he took my fliers and spent what I recall to be at least an hour of his time talking to me about business, and giving me some pointers on how to make it grow in that particular town. One day, out of the blue, some months later, he calls me to tell me that the building that I had met him in was available for rental space, and that he recommended I get into it, as it was on the main street. Of all the people he could have called about that, he called me. After I’d moved into that building, he recommended that I put some signage up, and that he could do it for me. I’ll never forget that the cost for that sign was $600. At that moment, it was $600 I simply didn’t have. He had a conversation with me one night in the shop, in one of those moments where he wasn’t just being my friend, but being the business mentor I came to respect higher than any other, almost insisting that I put that signage up, expressing what it would do for me in that location. So, I scraped up the money as fast as I could, paid him, nearly killed myself putting the sign into the marquee (because I couldn’t afford to pay someone to put it in), and my detail shop COMPLETELY blew up almost immediately. Within days, I had more work than I could handle. I went from a one man show to hiring employees to do the work, and still could barely keep up the pace. At one time, I had cars out back for several days at a time because I simply couldn’t get to them fast enough. His advice is what made this all happen, and he never once asked me for a “thank you”, never spent a second patting himself on the back, and in fact, acted as if it was MY doing that made the business come in, and not of his own advice. That $600 might still be the best money I’ve ever spent, and were it not for his insistence, I might still have never spent it.

After a divorce, Eric took me in as a roommate, too. I started to struggle financially and personally, and Eric would spend hours, sometimes late into the night, talking to me, sharing analogies, and doing his best to keep me motivated, even though I often got into my own way. I moved back to my home town in 2003, and that was the last time I saw Eric physically, and for a long time, I lost contact with him completely. Then, around 2014, through Facebook, I was able to make contact with him again. Immediately, we were talking on the phone, sharing the stories of the previous decade, talking business, Harleys, and skiing. It was like the decade we had just spent out of contact was simply yesterday, and we were picking up where we left off. When I bought my Harley in 2016, I was on the phone with him about it before I talked to anyone else, because I wanted to share in that moment with him.

We stayed in contact over the years. Sometimes we’d talk on the phone about business ideas and proposals, sometimes we’d text about different things, share some books that we’ve been reading, or just share funny pictures and stories. I feel very fortunate that I got the chance to tell him, not too long ago, how much it meant to me to have him as part of my life. His passing was fairly sudden. I’d noticed I hadn’t heard from him in a while, but that wasn’t too uncommon for us. When I got the news that he was gone, I was shocked, of course, but also devastated.

I could go on writing here for hours, and I still wouldn’t be able to express just how much Eric meant to me, how much he made me at LEAST the businessman I am, today, and just how much his passing hurts, so I simply just won’t try to do that. Just know that Eric was a great, great man, and the world is a darker place without him in it. I only hope that I can carry the torch for him and be the same friend and mentor to others as he was to me.

Rest in Peace, my friend and mentor. I’ll carry you with me until I see you again.

Sincerely,
Michael Hawkins
Owner/Founder 
Mike’s Moving and Packing, LLC