High School Dropout to 3x Award Winner | Charles Shepherd

Charles Shepherd left high school as a sophomore, drifted through Las Vegas and Florida, fought addiction, and spent 15 years in automotive before a friend's paycheck pulled him into appliance repair. Then he got fired. That night he decided to sell everything and bet on himself. Three years later, Alpha Appliance Repair holds an A+ with the BBB, has won Best of the Desert Community Choice Awards in both the East and West Valley three years running — and the last time, it beat the company that let him go. In this episode of Above & Beyond, host Jän Simon and Charles dig into: Why he left school — and the one thing he regrets about it The phone call in a parking lot that changed his life Why the best technicians learn hands-on, not from books How Alpha looks at up to three appliances for one service fee, under $100 The blue-collar myth: "Everyone thinks the guy in blue collar is coming to try to screw you" Why he dropped a customer who wouldn't work with his assistant Leading a team you don't see every day His plan to grow Alpha into HVAC TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – "It was just time to bet on myself" 01:00 – Meet Charles Shepherd 02:00 – Growing up in Glendale 03:00 – Leaving high school sophomore year 05:00 – Las Vegas, Florida and the hard years 11:00 – Becoming a dad 12:00 – 15 years in automotive → appliance repair 13:00 – Why you learn this trade hands-on 16:00 – Fired: the moment everything clicked 21:00 – Starting Alpha Appliance Repair 23:00 – Managing a virtual assistant overseas 26:00 – Advice to himself: patience 28:00 – Bootstrapping a business 29:00 – A heart attack, and meeting Nikki 33:00 – Why "Alpha"? 34:00 – The HVAC vision 35:00 – Leadership and empathy 38:00 – The customer he let go 40:00 – A+ BBB and beating the old boss 41:00 – Fair pricing: 3 appliances, one fee 44:00 – The appliance he hates working on 46:00 – Smart appliances and diagnostics 49:00 – Growing to 10 techs and adding HVAC 52:00 – The biggest myth about blue-collar work 54:00 – What an $89 service call really covers 56:00 – The lesson he'd want back 58:00 – What he hopes his kids say 1:00:00 – Closing CONNECT WITH CHARLES Alpha Appliance Repair: https://alphaappliancerepairllc.com Call: (602) 892-1630 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN Website: https://abovebeyondpodcast.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5C8W5Wr... YouTube:    / @abovebeyondpodcast   Instagram: @abovebeyondpodcast Recorded at the Foundation Insurance Services podcast studio in Gilbert, AZ. #AboveAndBeyondPodcast #ApplianceRepair #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneur #BetOnYourself #BlueCollar #EastValley #MesaAZ #GilbertAZ #ArizonaBusiness #SecondChances #Leadership