We're speaking with Gage Bagwell, CEO and Automation Engineer at Innovated Manufacturing this week. Gage shares his inspiring journey of turning a simple idea into a thriving business aimed at helping those with limited mobility. Gage shares how his team developed an innovative arm-assisted rifle mount to support a quadriplegic boy earning his shooting badge at Boy Scouts, highlighting the company's commitment to giving back to the community. As Gage discusses the evolution of Innovated Manufacturing, he reveals how their focus has pivoted towards robotics and automation to sustain the business while still maintaining their core mission of helping others.
Listen as we explore the importance of collaboration, community support, and the values that drive this young entrepreneur and his team.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Introducing Gage Bagwell
(05:27) Transitioning to Robotics: Innovations and Challenges
(11:14) The Challenge of Delegation
(14:44) The Values of the Organization
(23:11) The Journey of Entrepreneurship
(25:49) Navigating the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
RESOURCES
Gage Bagwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gage-bagwell-72102128a/
CONTACT
Martin Mechtenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-mechtenberg-515a648/
Susan Ford: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-howard-ford-8446441/
Hi, everyone, I'm Susan Ford.
Susan Ford:I'm here with another episode of Rooted in Reaching.
Susan Ford:And today we have the privilege of talking to Gage Bagwell from Innovated Manufacturing, hot off of a 19 hour drive from Acadia national park while still doing your day job.
Susan Ford:So we'll talk all about that.
Susan Ford:But how are you today?
Gage Bagwell:Not too bad, only a little bit tired.
Gage Bagwell:Actually, I'm feeling pretty good.
Susan Ford:Pretty good.
Susan Ford:Pretty energized.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Susan Ford:Okay, so the million dollar question.
Susan Ford:What did you listen to in the car while you were driving?
Gage Bagwell:Nothing.
Gage Bagwell:I like to enjoy my scenery.
Susan Ford:Really?
Gage Bagwell:Plus my girlfriend was sleeping for a little bit.
Susan Ford:Okay.
Susan Ford:Okay, fair enough.
Susan Ford:I wonder what we can read into that.
Susan Ford:If you enjoy the scenery, you're envisioning the next big thing.
Susan Ford:Maybe.
Gage Bagwell:Probably.
Susan Ford:So tell us a little bit about your company.
Susan Ford:Let's get started with that.
Gage Bagwell:So innovative manufacturing, what it is today is not what it started as.
Gage Bagwell:As I feel most people that start companies can vouch for.
Gage Bagwell:We started off with the goal to help boy Scouts.
Gage Bagwell:While I'm not a boy scout myself, one of the other owners of the company is he still partakes almost every weekend in some sort of Boy Scout event.
Gage Bagwell:And we learned of a kid, his name's Jack, he was quadriplegic.
Gage Bagwell:So I had very limited mobility and he needed to get his shooting badge.
Gage Bagwell:And there was really no good way of doing it when you have a limited mobility.
Gage Bagwell:So at this point, we're just outta high school.
Gage Bagwell:Well, they were.
Gage Bagwell:I already graduated.
Gage Bagwell:And we're like, we can help them.
Gage Bagwell:And we're like, oh, it's in three months, it'll be fine.
Gage Bagwell:So then like the weekend before, we're like, oh, crap, we're supposed to help.
Gage Bagwell:What are we gonna do?
Gage Bagwell:So we stood up all night, all weekend, and we built now what we call an arm assisted rifle mount.
Gage Bagwell:What it does is it holds a 22 gun and it gives the ability for someone to control it with a joystick and a button.
Gage Bagwell:So think of arcade controls.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:We try and make it as intuitive as possible.
Gage Bagwell:That way anyone can do it.
Gage Bagwell:Um, and so just like kind of flight, you pull back, it goes up, goes down, and auto unfocused.
Gage Bagwell:So that way he couldn't cheat.
Gage Bagwell:So there was no like backlash from anyone else or say anything?
Gage Bagwell:Um, the very.
Susan Ford:That was very Boy Scout code of honor.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:I was trying to make it as fair as possible.
Gage Bagwell:Innovated me in general, anything I do in life, I try to help as much as possible.
Gage Bagwell:I believe giving back is if everyone just did a Little something every day.
Gage Bagwell:It'd be much happier place in the world.
Gage Bagwell:So their goal was to help, but also make it fair.
Gage Bagwell:I didn't want to make it where he had an unfair advantage, given whatever the circumstances may be.
Gage Bagwell:So we made it, went there, made tweaks, and he was able to get his badge.
Gage Bagwell:So it was super cool.
Susan Ford:What year was that?
Gage Bagwell: I believe it was: Gage Bagwell:We have NRA magazine that we're on the front cover.
Gage Bagwell:I think I could share with you guys.
Susan Ford:We'd love that.
Susan Ford:We can certainly post that and share that with everybody.
Gage Bagwell:And then we made a second version.
Gage Bagwell:It's a lot more reformed and looks nicer and has all the other things that would be.
Gage Bagwell:When it comes to a product, the goal is not so much to sell these, but to give them out as needed.
Gage Bagwell:The goal is to have what now?
Gage Bagwell:The business is to make enough money where we can help and do little community service projects like that, where you can help Boy Scouts or give back to the community any way we can.
Susan Ford:That's incredible.
Susan Ford:So, okay, so starting with an idea to help someone, and you guys used your collective skills to make that happen.
Susan Ford:Now talk about how the business is performing today.
Susan Ford:And I imagine it's pivoted a little, is what I'm hearing you say.
Gage Bagwell:Definitely.
Gage Bagwell:So, like I said, we start out building a business because we're like, well, we have to do this the right way.
Gage Bagwell:We're dealing with something that is a firearm.
Gage Bagwell:So we want to make sure we do it right.
Gage Bagwell:That way we're safe as well.
Gage Bagwell:We want to help, but we also kind of have to cover ourselves.
Gage Bagwell:So we did everything to set up the business in that category.
Gage Bagwell:We all have robotics experience.
Gage Bagwell:We did travel competitive robotics in high school.
Gage Bagwell:So that's kind of what gave us our introduction to this field.
Gage Bagwell:And then I'm a robotics automation engineer for a different company I work at.
Gage Bagwell:Still work there.
Gage Bagwell:It's my 5am to 2:30pm job.
Susan Ford:Okay.
Gage Bagwell:So I work early hours.
Gage Bagwell:I get out usually early, but sometimes I stay late.
Gage Bagwell:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:And it's a job shop, so you don't ever have time to go to the next thing.
Gage Bagwell:And as anyone has ever programmed a robot or anything, the last thing you really want to worry about is the next job or what you have to do.
Gage Bagwell:You just want to do what you have.
Gage Bagwell:But it was me and one other person, and now it's only me that does all the robotics there.
Gage Bagwell:I had a lot of problems with getting tooling for robots.
Gage Bagwell:Tooling is the way that A robot operates in its surrounding area.
Gage Bagwell:So just like we have hands, a robot needs something to manipulate its space around it.
Gage Bagwell:And tooling is super expensive, in my opinion, too expensive.
Gage Bagwell:It takes a really long time when you get order custom tooling.
Gage Bagwell:And when I had a week to design program set up, run the job so I can get out on time to the customer, I didn't have the three or four weeks it normally would take to get custom tooling.
Gage Bagwell:So for about a year, year and a half, I designed tooling that was modular.
Gage Bagwell:It could be made on the fly changes whenever you needed.
Gage Bagwell:Super light.
Gage Bagwell:So you can use it for smaller robots, or if the smaller robots aren't running, you can use it on the bigger robots because it's just as strong as it is light.
Gage Bagwell:And that kind of pivoted the company to a point where we were worried about sustaining the company by giving out and helping.
Gage Bagwell:So that's when I kind of made the decision, let's go towards robotics.
Gage Bagwell:Let's help out in that regard.
Gage Bagwell:We're helping big companies and small companies to like save money and then we still get to help give back.
Susan Ford:That is very cool.
Susan Ford:Okay, so for both my benefit and our listeners who may not be engineers or may not be deeply scholarly in the land of robotics, can you give me a couple of examples?
Susan Ford:This is just so everybody can understand how the modular system works.
Susan Ford:What are some examples of what's a customization?
Susan Ford:So modular is always interesting, right?
Susan Ford:There's a lot you can do with that.
Susan Ford:But give me an example of a customization that in your old when you the example you gave, it would have taken four or five weeks.
Susan Ford:Talk to me about that.
Gage Bagwell:So normally when you're using an outside company that's not inside the business you're working at, you're working for someone that is housed somewhere else.
Gage Bagwell:You have to email them, send pictures, get ideas.
Gage Bagwell:They have to draw something up, send it back, approval back and forth.
Gage Bagwell:That's what takes a long time.
Gage Bagwell:Okay, then they have to make it.
Gage Bagwell:Yeah, they send it over by normal means.
Gage Bagwell:I would say up until really there's a few other companies kind of in the added manufacturing space for tooling, but not as many as I think there should be.
Gage Bagwell:A lot of it's machined, so it's attractive process.
Gage Bagwell:So you take start out with a big block of something and you take away until you get your end result versus additive is the opposite.
Gage Bagwell:If there's a minor flaw or tweak or miss space dimension, you have to redo it all or hopefully Be able to modify it so that it works.
Gage Bagwell:And that adds a lot of time versus, let's say, with 3D printing, additive manufacturing.
Gage Bagwell:If you mess up, you could print another one.
Gage Bagwell:And the amount of time it takes to print another one is a fraction of the time of going back and forth.
Susan Ford:Yes, got it.
Susan Ford:And so you're.
Susan Ford:So talk about some of the customers that you have now as you've been developing this and continuing to refine your offering.
Gage Bagwell:So when we first started, I never.
Gage Bagwell:Obviously, I feel like with most things to start off, I never wanted to sell it.
Gage Bagwell:I just made it to make my life easier.
Gage Bagwell:I just wanted to get to the next job and next goal and everything else.
Gage Bagwell:And then customers walking through work and everything else were like, well, where do you get this?
Gage Bagwell:And it's just one thing after another.
Gage Bagwell:And distribution companies would come in and try to sell me their stuff.
Gage Bagwell:Like, where did you get this?
Gage Bagwell:And so after about a year and a half of that, I was like, maybe I can sell it.
Gage Bagwell:And so I looked at it.
Gage Bagwell:We work a lot with sheet metal fabrication, glass companies.
Gage Bagwell:A lot of any companies that would benefit from using suction cups.
Gage Bagwell:Okay, pick in place.
Gage Bagwell:So, like, if you need to package things and put them in boxes, that does well, too.
Gage Bagwell:With our tooling, we were doing a lot of business with Lippert.
Gage Bagwell:While it's not actual tooling, we helped them with their production process for prototypes or anything else.
Gage Bagwell:So it's not so much on the side of our tooling, but we're using the additive manufacturing and leveraging it so we can help another company out.
Gage Bagwell:So it's kind of going back to where we're just trying to help out as much as possible.
Gage Bagwell:I feel like we all need to be a little bit more friendly.
Gage Bagwell:I mean, if we're all competitive, that's fine, but if we're all helping each other, it will help you.
Gage Bagwell:Boundaries.
Susan Ford:Rising tide lifts all boats.
Susan Ford:Feels like that's part of your mentality.
Susan Ford:I go, yes, that's very good.
Susan Ford:Okay, so in that space, then.
Susan Ford:And that's a competitive space.
Susan Ford:It's certainly a competitive space.
Susan Ford:Tell me a little bit more about your company, then, in terms of how big it is and how you're thinking about bringing people on board.
Susan Ford:I know.
Susan Ford:I think you said you have a new head of marketing who's just come on board.
Susan Ford:Like, how do you decide who and when and what do you look for in the people you bring on board?
Gage Bagwell:So, being completely honest, it's taken me probably six years to learn that delegation is okay.
Gage Bagwell:As a kid, I always wanted to be first.
Gage Bagwell:Didn't matter what it was, it was first in line.
Gage Bagwell:And then eventually the last in line was actually the first.
Gage Bagwell:So I'd be last in line no matter what it'd be.
Gage Bagwell:I wanted to be first, not so much because I always wanted to be the best.
Susan Ford:Just because you're a competitive guy and that's how it was showing up when you were a little guy.
Gage Bagwell:Now and then, the two other owners of her company, Cameron Musha and Danny Sterner.
Gage Bagwell:Crack.
Gage Bagwell:We all competed in robotics.
Gage Bagwell:Super competitive.
Gage Bagwell:Um, and then we ended up becoming friends.
Gage Bagwell:And it started out with both, just three of us.
Gage Bagwell:And then eventually got to a point where I was working full time.
Gage Bagwell:They have school full time.
Gage Bagwell:We still work and do school full time on top of running a company.
Gage Bagwell:And then I was like, I kind of want to relax.
Gage Bagwell:I work 50 plus hours a week where I work.
Gage Bagwell:I probably do that more and more in the business.
Gage Bagwell:I have a relationship, I have a family.
Gage Bagwell:I try to spend time with as much as I can.
Gage Bagwell:I have friends, I'm 21.
Gage Bagwell:I try to act my age.
Gage Bagwell:I try to still be a kid.
Gage Bagwell:And so that's when we brought on our first person.
Gage Bagwell:His name's Jackson.
Gage Bagwell:He helped us with operations.
Gage Bagwell:So anything that needed to be done, printer wise operation, fixing, cleaning, kind of just a all in one type of guy.
Gage Bagwell:Which is usually what your first person is.
Susan Ford:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:Just throw him at anything you don't want, just give it to him.
Gage Bagwell:And then we brought in another person to help with the setting profiles for 3D printing.
Gage Bagwell:Usually it's the hardest process when it comes to additive manufacturing.
Gage Bagwell:Plastics are very finicky.
Gage Bagwell:So once you get your settings down, it's usually good until the temperature changes and then you have to do it again.
Gage Bagwell:And then it gets a little wonky.
Gage Bagwell:That's my technical term.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:And then we brought another person for operations.
Gage Bagwell:So now we're at three people.
Gage Bagwell:Yeah.
Susan Ford:Outside of the three owners.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:Founders.
Gage Bagwell:And then I was kind of looking at everything.
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, I'm not really good at marketing.
Gage Bagwell:I was like, I can learn.
Gage Bagwell:I've done anything else I needed to do, I'll just learn it.
Gage Bagwell:And I looked at everything and was like, I think I could bring someone on and make it easier.
Gage Bagwell:There's a point, especially going from the mindset of being competitive to a point of running a business where you have to make the decision, yes, I may be able to do it.
Gage Bagwell:Yes, I may be to do it well enough.
Gage Bagwell:But there's always going to be someone out there better than me.
Gage Bagwell:And why not pay the person that can do it better than me now?
Gage Bagwell:And that way it just pushes us that approach further.
Susan Ford:That's great.
Susan Ford:I think that's a hard lesson to learn.
Susan Ford:I think it's a really hard lesson to learn.
Gage Bagwell:It's taken a long time.
Susan Ford:I think you should give yourself more credit because you're learning it and you're enacting it right now.
Susan Ford:But I think that's what's so exciting.
Susan Ford:Right?
Susan Ford:You figure it out and then all of a sudden like it's even better than you thought it was going to be.
Gage Bagwell:Yes, I would say.
Susan Ford:Excuse me.
Gage Bagwell:When we started the company, I funded most of it.
Gage Bagwell:I was this point.
Gage Bagwell:I'm a year and a half roughly older than the other SHAIL owners.
Gage Bagwell:So I been.
Gage Bagwell:I've been working for a while at this point and while I save, I saved a lot of it and almost all of it went into the business which my parents don't really like.
Gage Bagwell:But that's okay.
Gage Bagwell:It'll come back.
Gage Bagwell:I realize that I'm one person and given that I'm already working a full time job on top of doing everything and trying to do everything I have in life, I prioritize family.
Gage Bagwell:I never want to be in a situation where I prioritize work over family.
Gage Bagwell:Family is very important to me.
Gage Bagwell:So I just want to prioritize.
Gage Bagwell:And I started realizing that I was giving less time to my family.
Gage Bagwell:And yes, I'm only 21.
Gage Bagwell:You have plenty of your time to do family.
Gage Bagwell:And I've heard all the excuses, but I am a person of habit and I know once they start it's not going to end.
Gage Bagwell:And so I wanted to fix it right away.
Gage Bagwell:And that's kind of what pushed me to.
Gage Bagwell:While we weren't ready for it financially, starting a robotics company takes a lot of money, a lot of time.
Gage Bagwell:It was something that kind of had to be done that way.
Gage Bagwell:Peace of mind on my side as well as the other two owners was where it needed to be so that we can push the company to where it needs to be so we can help other people.
Susan Ford:That's wonderful.
Susan Ford:I commend you on that.
Susan Ford:Like high degree of self awareness and being able to see these things.
Susan Ford:And I also appreciate kind of as a person of habit.
Susan Ford:Right.
Susan Ford:Like let's build good habits from the beginning rather than try to adjust and for the corrections of the bad habits.
Gage Bagwell:Yeah, I tried.
Gage Bagwell:I program robots.
Gage Bagwell:That's my J or my day job.
Gage Bagwell:So I sometimes think of myself as a robot.
Gage Bagwell:I have my tasks on every day.
Gage Bagwell:I try to do it as efficiently as possible.
Gage Bagwell:But sometimes I forget I'm human.
Gage Bagwell:I make mistakes and it's okay.
Gage Bagwell:I'm usually a little hard on myself, but I think I'm hard enough where it forces me to learn past where I'm comfortable so that I can be a better person.
Susan Ford:So I love that.
Susan Ford:And where my mind immediately goes is you guys are all growing this company together.
Susan Ford:I think that companies ultimately have the DNA, as it were.
Susan Ford:You might have a different robotics term, but the DNA of the founders and what that means.
Susan Ford:And so as you continue to grow and you think about like, have you guys talked about the values of the organization?
Susan Ford:Have you talked about what you want to see, like how you make decisions in terms of that side of things.
Gage Bagwell:So big business decisions.
Gage Bagwell:We all three of us have to agree.
Gage Bagwell:We're all pretty much the same person at this point.
Gage Bagwell:Being friends for along, for better or.
Susan Ford:Worse, but keep going.
Gage Bagwell:We decided all three of us have to unanimously agree to something.
Gage Bagwell:If one of us doesn't agree, then the other two have to convince by logic, not by opinion as to why their side may be the best or not.
Gage Bagwell:But what our biggest standard is that.
Susan Ford:A spoken truth that's written.
Susan Ford:Okay, got it.
Gage Bagwell:It was spoken.
Gage Bagwell:And then we decided to write it down just in case someone decided like maybe not okay.
Gage Bagwell:Because again, we're all human.
Gage Bagwell:Sometimes we have moments of flaw.
Gage Bagwell:Yeah.
Gage Bagwell:And then we all agreed unanimously and anyone that's in the company that's helped or part of it at this point, agree that we're a company to help our tooling and everything we make.
Gage Bagwell:Product wise.
Gage Bagwell:What we are as a company is to help.
Gage Bagwell:We don't only do tooling.
Gage Bagwell:We also offer services to companies that we don't market, which would probably make us money, help with finances.
Gage Bagwell:But brand is also important.
Gage Bagwell:So we're also worried about that.
Gage Bagwell:So it's the balance act of all the million different things when it comes to running a business, but helping and making sure that we stay true to why we started it.
Susan Ford:Okay, so that's, that's, that's the value.
Susan Ford:That's the invisible line that you want to carry throughout the ongoing trajectory of the business.
Susan Ford:Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Susan Ford:So congratulations.
Susan Ford:I understand you were a recent winner of ecosystem.
Susan Ford:I talk about the ecosystem, the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Susan Ford:You just won a big award at the rally the region earlier this year.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Susan Ford:Can you tell us about that?
Gage Bagwell:Very unexpected.
Gage Bagwell:So we got invited out by Neff Automation to The expo, the 4.0 expo in Elkhart a while back.
Gage Bagwell:First time we've put the tooling public.
Gage Bagwell:We never marketed it beforehand, we never actually put it out there.
Gage Bagwell:But we had a lot made at this point.
Gage Bagwell:So we're like, why not?
Susan Ford:But was a perfectionist within you saying, oh my gosh, it's too early, this isn't good enough, not ready.
Gage Bagwell:Yeah, I've learned to kind of more lately than that subside it.
Gage Bagwell:As I said earlier, I always wanted to be first.
Gage Bagwell:And I think with that, anyone that's competitive is perfectionists or being a perfectionist.
Susan Ford:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:So I wanted everything to be perfect.
Gage Bagwell:We spent probably in a reasonable amount of money on branded boxes, foam inserts, to make sure that everything was set nicely in the box.
Gage Bagwell:That when they open it, it has a sense of while we don't sell something that's the most expensive, we also don't sell something that you know the great experience is going to buy.
Gage Bagwell:We want it to be something that they're happy with buying.
Susan Ford:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:Warranties.
Gage Bagwell:Anything that I always complain about buying tooling or products in general, I want to make sure was perfect for ours.
Gage Bagwell:Fast forward.
Gage Bagwell:It was not perfect.
Gage Bagwell:We had to take what we can get and go with it.
Gage Bagwell:At the Expo event, we thought we're overdoing it and doing it with our booth and ended up being great.
Gage Bagwell:I mean, we had a line for both days.
Gage Bagwell:Talk to us about everything.
Gage Bagwell:We brought four 3D printers just to kind of show the process.
Gage Bagwell:We were 3D printing, I call them kind of like dog bones to show the strings.
Gage Bagwell:So they're half inch thick by 3,4 of an inch.
Gage Bagwell:And we told people if they broke it, they can get a discount on the tooling.
Gage Bagwell:We don't give discounts on toolings.
Gage Bagwell:I don't believe in giving discounts.
Gage Bagwell:We already sell it at a point that is more than affordable afforded gives.
Gage Bagwell:Like I said, we're trying to help.
Gage Bagwell:So we're not.
Gage Bagwell:While we still have to make money as a company, our goal is to help.
Gage Bagwell:So that's where our price standpoint is.
Gage Bagwell:But we believe in the material that we have so much that we're offered to do that there was a way to do it and we eventually let it out.
Gage Bagwell:Our material is carbon fiber infused plastic.
Gage Bagwell:It's PET CF is the technical term.
Gage Bagwell:As for the chemical makeup, that's a little bit far beyond what I understand with a lot of things, but I know it's really strong and I've had tooling on robots for the last two and A half years and I abuse it.
Gage Bagwell:I definitely do not play kindly with what I make.
Gage Bagwell:I'm going to try and stress test it and it's been done just fine.
Gage Bagwell:I made 3D printed dies, so I've been able to bend metal out of the material.
Susan Ford:Wow.
Gage Bagwell:But anyway, I.
Gage Bagwell:We made dog bones to let people try and break, and no one could break it.
Susan Ford:What's the trick?
Gage Bagwell:So carbon fiber, naturally, as a material, is very brittle.
Gage Bagwell:It does not do well with super high impacts, and so everyone was trying to overpower it.
Susan Ford:Got it.
Susan Ford:But if I stomped on it.
Gage Bagwell:Stomping on it.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:But it took quite a few stumps.
Susan Ford:Okay.
Gage Bagwell:We're hitting against tables and doing different things, and we had a guy come up that looked like he could be in a strongman competition and he couldn't break it.
Gage Bagwell:And I was like, oh, this is great.
Gage Bagwell:And then one of the people that work for the company was like, what if you just do this?
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, I let it out.
Gage Bagwell:But at the end of the day, it was the second day, so it was just the high schoolers.
Gage Bagwell:So it was fun to see everyone happy.
Gage Bagwell:I think we gave out probably 230, 240 of them.
Gage Bagwell:In hindsight, it had probably been smart to have our logo on it.
Susan Ford:Well, next time.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:But.
Susan Ford:So, okay, so.
Susan Ford:So it was at that event.
Susan Ford:How did you get.
Susan Ford:Talk.
Susan Ford:Talk about the recent award you just won.
Gage Bagwell:So, like I said, we had a line.
Gage Bagwell:A lot of talking.
Gage Bagwell:Lost my voice.
Gage Bagwell:I think we all did, actually.
Gage Bagwell:And then someone from the.
Gage Bagwell:I can't remember his name.
Gage Bagwell:Off topic.
Gage Bagwell:I always forget his name.
Gage Bagwell:I'm not good with names.
Gage Bagwell:That's okay.
Susan Ford:You're good with other things and you're learning what you're great at.
Susan Ford:So other people should be good with the names.
Gage Bagwell:That is the goal.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:During one of the breaks where everyone was able to eat lunch, we finally got a break from everything.
Gage Bagwell:So I went and got pizza at one of the vending trucks.
Gage Bagwell:And I was just going around at the other booths and introducing myself to everyone else.
Gage Bagwell:I believe networking is important just so that I can offer out a help in hand.
Gage Bagwell:That's how we met Lippert and any other companies that we worked with, work with in the area.
Gage Bagwell:Was me just kind of saying hi and offering.
Gage Bagwell:They kind of asked what we do.
Gage Bagwell:Like, you may not need tooling, but if you ever need prototyping or anything, I'm happy we could help.
Susan Ford:Yeah.
Gage Bagwell:And I started talking to him.
Gage Bagwell:I believe he is.
Gage Bagwell:He's from Notre Dame.
Gage Bagwell:He Was talking to us and he asked about the business, how it started and just explained it.
Gage Bagwell:Small little conversation.
Gage Bagwell:He was like, you guys could win an award.
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, no, we can't.
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, there's no way we're going to win an award.
Gage Bagwell:I was like, this is our first event we've ever gone to.
Gage Bagwell:And he was like, you guys, I've already had the lines and everything else and we had the news on us.
Gage Bagwell:So there was a little news thing there and they wanted us to be part of it.
Gage Bagwell:And I'm like, oh, that's kind of cool.
Gage Bagwell:But I never really thought about the significance of this is our first event.
Gage Bagwell:We headed lines, everything went well, anything that we went there, goal wise, we met and he kind of was just like putting it in front of my face, spelling it out in other terms.
Gage Bagwell:And I was like, yeah, we could.
Susan Ford:Win, go for that.
Gage Bagwell:And so he kind of sent me all their information and I filled it all out and then I forgot about it.
Susan Ford:And then you get a call that.
Gage Bagwell:Says, I got an email from Maria and she's like, you're the finalist.
Gage Bagwell:Can we do a phone call?
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, oh, that's cool.
Gage Bagwell:We're finalists.
Gage Bagwell:Again, never really thought much about it.
Gage Bagwell:She was telling me about different things, her profession, what she does, and just kind of had a small conversation about the company and how I started in my profession to the company and where the company's at now.
Gage Bagwell:And she's like, that's amazing.
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, oh, thanks.
Gage Bagwell:I was like, that's the best compliment I think I've got about the company.
Gage Bagwell:I was like, we don't get many compliments, so I'm glad we're on the right track.
Gage Bagwell:And again, never really thought much past it.
Gage Bagwell:And then a couple days later we heard that we won.
Gage Bagwell:I'm like, oh, that's cool.
Gage Bagwell:It didn't really hit.
Susan Ford:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:Until I had to say thank you.
Gage Bagwell:And I forgot to say thank you during the speech.
Gage Bagwell:No.
Gage Bagwell:But I'm very appreciative.
Gage Bagwell:It's nice seeing other people show that we're on the right path.
Gage Bagwell:We all are.
Gage Bagwell:All young.
Gage Bagwell:Me being the oldest in the company at 21 is not very old for when it comes to starting a company, let alone a technology company, let alone robotics.
Susan Ford:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:It's something that isn't really done.
Gage Bagwell:I don't know of really any other instances I could take inspiration from.
Gage Bagwell:So hearing compliments, it kind of lets me know that we're on the right track.
Susan Ford:You're on the right path.
Susan Ford:Well, that's interesting.
Susan Ford:And I know Maria, who you spoke.
Susan Ford:Spoke with and she is not going to give out praises that are not warranted.
Susan Ford:So you should.
Gage Bagwell:That's what I was told.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Susan Ford:So it's great.
Susan Ford:But talk a little bit about what is happening in our region and I acknowledge that this is not.
Susan Ford:You haven't started a business in another region.
Susan Ford:Right.
Susan Ford:So you don't have a basis of comparison.
Susan Ford:But have you felt supported?
Susan Ford:What are some of the resources you're doing A lot of figuring out on your own.
Susan Ford:But just kind of talk about your experience being an entrepreneur in our region.
Gage Bagwell:I want to thank Notre Dame for wanting you guys, all your guys.
Gage Bagwell:Kind words has been a lot in a very.
Gage Bagwell:I don't want to say dark in that sense, but in a sense of creating a business seems very lonely.
Gage Bagwell:There's not much help out there, especially free.
Gage Bagwell:There's all these like obviously courses and all the different things you can do and none of that's bad.
Gage Bagwell:But when you're already putting all the money in the business, funds are usually pretty far between.
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:So the words of encouragement, Neff Automation.
Gage Bagwell:Helping us out and inviting us out to things, telling us things that we should do.
Gage Bagwell:Not forcing us, but telling us we need to go to an expo that we don't want to.
Susan Ford:Gently encouraging.
Susan Ford:Volunteering you.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Susan Ford:Very familiar that I use that tactic.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:Very sternly.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:It's been much help.
Gage Bagwell:And I think it helps that we're as friendly as we are, we're not as secretive.
Gage Bagwell:Like materials we use, our processes are a little bit more closely guarded.
Gage Bagwell:But that's only because I personally have almost 9 years of 3D printing experience.
Gage Bagwell:I have almost 10 years of CAD experience, 8 years of programming.
Gage Bagwell:I've been doing it all throughout school.
Gage Bagwell:And there's things I've learned that kind of help our process to become faster.
Gage Bagwell:But the only reason why that's not so much share is because it allows us to pass our savings into our customer.
Gage Bagwell:And being a business, you have to stay somewhat competitive.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:So like I said, we have to find a fine balance between helping and staying.
Gage Bagwell:What's the word?
Susan Ford:Finding the right way to stay true.
Susan Ford:What I hear, you can correct me, but what I hear is the desire to stay true to your core and the principles that are very much who you guys are and to grow a business because to serve a greater good there are like you will need to grow a along the way.
Susan Ford:And it's finding the way for your core mission and purpose to kind of grow with you appropriately to serve the greatest good.
Susan Ford:And there's probably a rub in that.
Susan Ford:Is that accurate?
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:Okay.
Gage Bagwell:There's definitely a few blurry lines that you kind of have to navigate, but for the most part, I feel as if you have your set goals in mind.
Gage Bagwell:The entire process, no matter what you do, whether it's designing, tooling for a customer or helping out a company, or just communicating, networking with other people, even down to, like I said, communication.
Gage Bagwell:I have that in my mind the entire time I go into the conversation wanting to help.
Gage Bagwell:Sometimes helping too much is so.
Gage Bagwell:Is also not negative.
Susan Ford:But it's an opportunity.
Susan Ford:It will become an opportunity because there's only so much time.
Susan Ford:And as you said, you're trying to.
Gage Bagwell:Navigate, trying to learn the delegation.
Susan Ford:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:So we've definitely felt that over the last three or four months.
Susan Ford:One thing I just want to comment on because I think a lot about our entrepreneurial ecosystem and I think about the established entrepreneurs, the new entrepreneurs, the startups, like how it all fits together.
Susan Ford:But I think you model a great example of just you are willing to be out there.
Susan Ford:You want to be collaborative, no doubt.
Susan Ford:You want to be competitive, you want to do your best.
Susan Ford:I get that.
Susan Ford:But I think that my experience is that that is well rewarded in our particular community.
Susan Ford:It fits with some of the Midwestern values.
Susan Ford:There is a big opportunity to get connected to the right customers or the right mentors pretty quickly.
Susan Ford:If you just put yourself out there a little.
Susan Ford:And it seems to me that you're a great case study of maybe a little against your will.
Susan Ford:You were put out there.
Susan Ford:And as a function of that, a lot of good things have happened.
Susan Ford:Is that.
Susan Ford:Is that fair to say?
Gage Bagwell:Yes.
Gage Bagwell:And some of our biggest contracts that we have with tooling or automation in general has come from someone that we just helped prototype something given out a good word for us.
Gage Bagwell:Yep.
Gage Bagwell:Not something I'd ever expect.
Gage Bagwell:Like I said, I was just kind of doing it to help out.
Gage Bagwell:Plus, I like the process of building, so I find it fascinating.
Gage Bagwell:So I do it more on that side of.
Gage Bagwell:I like learning about the different sides of the different industries.
Gage Bagwell:Like I said, we do a lot of stuff with sheet metal, glass pick in place.
Gage Bagwell:But having the opportunity to broaden that range to hopefully maybe get into other sectors to kind of help out other.
Susan Ford:People, I love that it kind of segues to what I was thinking about asking next.
Susan Ford:So we're rooted and reaching.
Susan Ford:So when we talk to you in three years, you've done some more reaching.
Susan Ford:Where will you have reached what's, what's the plan?
Gage Bagwell:To be honest, already a lot further than we thought we were going to be.
Susan Ford:Okay, that's great.
Gage Bagwell:I expected, you know, the standard five years that you, you know, when you look up online.
Susan Ford:Yeah.
Gage Bagwell:Standard Google search.
Gage Bagwell:I would hope that we're at a point where we're self fulfilling.
Gage Bagwell:It funds itself.
Gage Bagwell:We can pay people and what it needs to be to have a decent life in today's economy.
Gage Bagwell:We can help out, we could donate.
Gage Bagwell:We can help the community, not only ours, but any others in the area or not in the area.
Gage Bagwell:You know, hopefully go to a point where we've sparked enough interest where we can get other companies to do it.
Gage Bagwell:Because while I think it'd be great to be the only company, it would help a lot if what comes out of this is we force other people that are a lot smarter, have a lot more money, a lot more manpower to do something to help.
Gage Bagwell:What I would say is a group of people, people that are in the robotics or automation sector, which is kind of what the world's going to.
Gage Bagwell:I would say it's a mission success.
Gage Bagwell:While it would be sad to see something you work on not so much diminish, but kind of slowly fade away, the rewarding factor of seeing something that you started being excelled farther beyond than what you could do by yourself I think is far more rewarding than anything else.
Susan Ford:I love that I think in pictures sometimes and the visual that I have, it's like I think about the ecosystem we have and that brings a ton of opportunity to each individual and what does each individual bring to the ecosystem.
Susan Ford:And I think you represent a really nice model for what other people can learn and how they connect and what their role in the ecosystem as well.
Susan Ford:So I go back to here's, you know, I have an 8 year old who's going to draw a picture and it is the rising tide that lifts all boats.
Susan Ford:So it's great to have you be part of that.
Gage Bagwell:It is a pleasure to be part of it.
Gage Bagwell:It's been so nice to be meeting everyone.
Gage Bagwell:Everyone's so friendly.
Gage Bagwell:I haven't met a single person that's been off putting.
Susan Ford:Good.
Susan Ford:Well, let's knock on wood and hope that that continues.
Susan Ford:Thank you so much for joining us today.
Susan Ford:It's great to hear your story.
Susan Ford:I hope more people can check it out.
Susan Ford:Can.
Susan Ford:Do you want to tell everybody the website if they want to learn more about your products?
Gage Bagwell:Our website is inn manufacturing.com.
Susan Ford:Okay.
Susan Ford:So that is great.
Susan Ford:And headquarters are.
Gage Bagwell:We're, we're based out of Crown Point.
Susan Ford:You're based out of Crown Point, but.
Gage Bagwell:We'Re currently looking at warehouses in Valpo to slowly be kind of surround somewhere where logistics wise shipping would make more sense than Crown Point.
Susan Ford:Very good.
Susan Ford:Well, welcome.
Susan Ford:Thank you.
Susan Ford:Congratulations.
Susan Ford:All the good stuff.
Gage Bagwell:Thank you so much.
Susan Ford:And thank you, listeners.
Susan Ford:Another episode of Rooted and Reaching.
Susan Ford:We'll talk to you next time.