Placing second in the seasoned entrepreneur category of the Just Watch Me video contest for entrepreneurs with disabilities or medical conditions this year isn’t as good as winning the start-up category last year, but Don “Shorty” Glenn of Shorty’s Upcycling Studio in Thompson knows a lot about keeping things in perspective.
Forced to give up a 16-year career as an auto mechanic because of a skin condition known as dermagraphia, Glenn told those at a Feb. 16 gathering to recognize his placing second in this year’s video contest that even after he began his business of turning discarded objects into furniture, there were dark moments in his life.
“There was a lot of uncertainty in our lives and support financially was hard to get because nobody really knew what was going on,” said Glenn whose partner Andria and he have four children. “We went from having a full-time job to trying to figure out what to do next. I found myself sitting on the couch looking at my kids and wondering how I was going to provide for them. I got very depressed and got to the point where I was questioning my own worth and value as a person and a father.”
He got off the couch and started using materials at hand for home renovations because money was tight.
“I built a vanity out of some of my old fence and there was I think a Chevy taillight in it and a Pepsi can, some brake line and various other components,” he recalled. “My family came to visit and my brother said to me, ‘Why aren’t you selling this?’”
The tension caused by his medical condition and the regular stress of life inspired greater creativity.
“Me and Andria had a dispute one day and I went out to the garage and I had an old metal bunk bed frame and out of frustration I just started welding and I came up with a pot rack that hangs in the kitchen in our house,” Glenn said. “It just slowly blossomed from there and I found that it was therapeutic for me to be working with my hands.”
Still, even though he was planting the seeds of a successful business, Glenn’s skin condition was making it hard for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes.
“Various businesses in town, they’ve been very good in supporting us and as far as raw materials go I have pretty much unlimited access to raw materials but I would go around late at night because I didn’t want to interfere with their operation of their business,” Glenn said. “I remember one night in January I was out doing my collections and my skin had been really bad. It’s like when you’re out in the bush, for anybody that’s been in the bush, and it gets to the point the bugs were so bad and you felt like you were going to lose your mind and you wanted to break out into a full run to get away from it. At any given time, I would have half-a-dozen spots on my body that were itching and you’re trying to put that out of your mind and it’s mentally exhausting to try and block that out. I remember pulling onto the bridge in January and I remember at two in the morning and I remember thinking, ‘If I jumped in, the cold would take the itching away and my family’d never have to find the body.’”
But then he thought of the consequences.
“I thought to myself, ‘Is this the legacy I want to leave for my kids?’ because if I take the leap it makes it easier for them and I’m not going to be the one that gives them that card to take the leap,” Glenn said.
Instead, he went to Community Futures North Central Development and became Northern Manitoba’s first beneficiary of the Elevate program, which helps would-be entrepreneurs with disabilities and medical conditions establish businesses.
“This for me is more than just a business and the Elevate program is more than just what you see,” Glenn said. “The Elevate program is a lifeline for people to build their life when it seems like it’s completely out of control and you have nowhere to turn.”
Glenn was lauded for his achievement of coming second in this year’s video contest by representatives from Community Futures, the Thompson Chamber of Commerce, the city and MLA Kelly Bindle’s assistant Stacy Martin.
“This is the thing that Thompson needs is these new businesses, new start-ups,” said deputy mayor Colleen Smook.
“Shorty’s done an amazing job,” said Chamber of Commerce president Raj Thethy. “He’s the true spirit of an entrepreneur. He’s lifted himself up and he’s created something very unique.”
Community Futures North Central Development manager Tim Johnston said Glenn is the reason his staff come to work and urged consumers to support local businesses.
“There should be no greater motivation for the community to support people like Shorty, not just for his business but as a person because that’s what always shines through, who you are, and your family is incredibly fortunate and lucky to have you as we are in Thompson and Northern Manitoba.”
Glenn himself said his family’s goal for their business is to be more than just a flash in the pan.
“We’re trying to build something that’s worth passing on,” he said.
