AJ Hartman's guest appearances

AJ Hartman

DO IT FOR A LIVING

Lance Stander

Ben Strader

Paul Yaw

Tony Palo

Chris Delgado

Shane Tecklenburg

Jim McIlvaine

Mike Lewin

Jay Payson

Chris Jewell

John Veloso

Steven Aghakhani

Dave Donnals

Reid Lunde

Jud Massingill

OwlTail

Back in 2017, AJ was humming along and making composite parts for race cars and street enthusiasts. He was approached by a customer who was wanting to help AJ scale the business, so he sold off 49% of the business. They changed the name to RHR Composites, hired 2 people, contracted some aerodynamic parts to be designed, and moved to a larger facility. Along the way, their vision for the future didn’t align so AJ had to buy out his partner to take back 100% of the company. Even though it was a huge struggle, AJ looks at the events as a learning experience and tries to keep a positive outlook on the situation. He shrunk the company back to just himself, changed the name back to AJ Hartman Aero, and the business is humming along nicely. He has focused on reducing waste and improving efficiency within his shop. Even though he has moved out of the 6,000 sqft shop and back into the 2-car garage behind his house, he has been able to get more product out and make more money. This goes to show how important it is to focus on efficiency versus trying to make more money. AJ set his mind on improving the business and getting the most use out of his time. This has translated to higher profits with fewer resources.

Back in 2017, AJ was humming along and making composite parts for race cars and street enthusiasts. He was approached by a customer who was wanting to help AJ scale the business, so he sold off 49% of the business. They changed the name to RHR Composites, hired 2 people, contracted some aerodynamic parts to be designed, and moved to a larger facility. Along the way, their vision for the future didn’t align so AJ had to buy out his partner to take back 100% of the company. Even though it was a huge struggle, AJ looks at the events as a learning experience and tries to keep a positive outlook on the situation. He shrunk the company back to just himself, changed the name back to AJ Hartman Aero, and the business is humming along nicely. He has focused on reducing waste and improving efficiency within his shop. Even though he has moved out of the 6,000 sqft shop and back into the 2-car garage behind his house, he has been able to get more product out and make more money. This goes to show how important it is to focus on efficiency versus trying to make more money. AJ set his mind on improving the business and getting the most use out of his time. This has translated to higher profits with fewer resources.

158: AJ Hartman returns for an update on AJ Hartman Aero

AJ didn’t really come from an automotive enthusiast family. But when his older brother purchased a white Fox Body Mustang, AJ immediately fell in love. During high school, he began working at a collision business and began working on cars. He worked there for 6 years and picked up body work pretty quickly. After that, he got an associate’s degree in automotive technology and got a total of 8 ASE certifications. He began working at Pep Boys but quickly moved back to a collision shop. AJ purchased a house and began doing side jobs out of his garage. These side jobs kept getting bigger and bigger until he finally made the leap to make a real business out of it! His first composite part was a headlight duct for his Mustang. One thing led to another and AJ ended up purchasing another composites business which really got the ball rolling on AJ Hartman Aero. He leveraged his experience repairing cars to begin making composite parts. His current shop is 5200 square feet with several rooms dedicated to each process of making composite parts.

AJ didn’t really come from an automotive enthusiast family. But when his older brother purchased a white Fox Body Mustang, AJ immediately fell in love. During high school, he began working at a collision business and began working on cars. He worked there for 6 years and picked up body work pretty quickly. After that, he got an associate’s degree in automotive technology and got a total of 8 ASE certifications. He began working at Pep Boys but quickly moved back to a collision shop. AJ purchased a house and began doing side jobs out of his garage. These side jobs kept getting bigger and bigger until he finally made the leap to make a real business out of it! His first composite part was a headlight duct for his Mustang. One thing led to another and AJ ended up purchasing another composites business which really got the ball rolling on AJ Hartman Aero. He leveraged his experience repairing cars to begin making composite parts. His current shop is 5200 square feet with several rooms dedicated to each process of making composite parts.

070: AJ Hartman details how he transitioned from working at a body shop to manufacturing composite aero parts