This 39-year-old quit his lineman job during the pandemic and built a $50 million company in his backyard
Josh Smith left his stable job as a lineman during the pandemic to pursue his dream of creating a knife company. After years of honing his craft, he launched Montana Knife Company, which has since generated $50 million in revenue. Smith's journey reflects a blend of passion, expertise, and a keen understanding of market demand for American-made products.
- ▪Josh Smith quit his job as a journeyman lineman to start Montana Knife Company during the pandemic.
- ▪The company generated $50 million in revenue within four years of its launch.
- ▪Smith had been honing his knife-making skills since he was 11 years old and became the youngest master bladesmith at 19.
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On December 30, 2020, Josh Smith did something most people would consider reckless. He walked away from his job as a journeyman lineman for the power company — a union position, with union pay, in the middle of a pandemic — and bet everything on a knife company he’d been dreaming about for two decades.Recommended Video He was 39 years old. He had a garage, some equipment, and a business name he’d registered 20 years earlier and never used. Four years later, Montana Knife Company did $50 million in revenue. A childhood obsession, a lifelong credential The story doesn’t start in 2020, though. It starts in 1992, when an 11-year-old Josh Smith got a knife for Christmas and his Little League baseball coach invited him into his shop to make one.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Fortune.
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