I met today’s guest, Mike Pelham, completely by chance — over breakfast at the hotel bar during PMTS in Cleveland.

He knew who I was from the podcast. But I didn’t know him. Kind of strange when that happens — but it’s really cool. After we talked for five minutes, I started thinking he could be a good interview.

Born with no intention of becoming a machinist, Greg Knight says he was drafted into “indentured servitude” at age 16 when his father started a Brown & Sharpe machine shop in their garage. Despite his initial distaste for manual labor, fate had other plans for the psychology, philosophy, religion, and sociology major.

How My 80-Year-Old Business Started

Yesterday, March 5, was my father Leonard’s birthday. He was born in 1917, the youngest of four–a younger brother had died at four years old.

From everything he told me, it was a malfunctioning household. His dad, Louis, who I never met, told him often that his wedding day was the worst day of his life.

Do you know what President Trump’s basket of tariffs is supposed to accomplish? Do you think they will work for the country? Will they be good for you? How about for me?

Well I have my doubts. So yesterday I tried to find out by talking to a few of Graff-Pinkert’s most successful customers, who happen to be some of the brightest folks in the machining world. The following is what I learned.