Origin · · 3 min read
Twenty-Two-Hour Shifts: What the Oil Field Taught Me About Reliability
I learned business in the oil field long before I owned one. Long shifts, failing machines and crews who depended on each other taught me what reliability really costs.
People ask where I learned to run companies. They expect me to name a mentor, a book or a business school. The honest answer is the oil field. I got there at seventeen after finishing high school early, and I spent roughly four years as a mechanic. Shifts of eighteen, twenty-two, even thirty hours were normal. It was the hardest classroom I've ever been in, and it's still the one I draw on most.
Machines don't care how you feel
In the oil field, equipment either works or it doesn't. Your motivation, your mood and your excuses are irrelevant. That reality burned a principle into me: results are the only thing that count, and results come from preparation. Today, when a client lands in Scottsdale and the car isn't staged, nobody cares why. The only acceptable answer is that it was ready.
Maintenance is cheaper than failure
Every mechanic learns that a scheduled repair is a fraction of the cost of a breakdown. That lesson is the backbone of how I run Royal Rentals and how I teach operators. Maintenance on a schedule, not on a breakdown. Inspections between every rental. A car in the shop earns nothing, and a car that fails with a client inside costs you your reputation. My years as a mechanic turned into a competitive advantage the moment I owned a fleet, because I knew what a vehicle should cost to keep healthy.
Crews win, individuals burn out
Out there, nobody survives alone. Crews depend on each other through long shifts, harsh conditions and real danger. You learn quickly who you can count on and how much value one reliable person creates for everyone around them. I hire and partner with that in mind. Character matters more than enthusiasm. I learned that lesson again the hard way during Covid, when I grew too fast and trusted people who didn't deserve it.
Side businesses on the side of the road
While I worked in the oil field, I was also running side businesses: a modeling agency, a photography company, a clothing store, event planning and a car rental company. I was a jack of all trades and a master of none. The oil field taught me focus by contrast. When you're exhausted, you learn which work actually matters. Eventually I narrowed five businesses to the one I could scale, and that became Royal Rentals.
The shift that changed everything
After one twenty-two-hour shift, it clicked: I was investing all of my time and energy into making someone else's dream come true. I told myself, “I am my best investment.” I got in the company truck, drove eight hours home and committed to building my own thing. No safety net, no credit and limited cash. Just the habits the oil field had given me.
“I am my best investment.”
What those years still give me
- Reliability as a brand: clients and lifestyle managers trust what shows up on time, every time.
- Respect for the unglamorous: checklists, schedules and documentation are where businesses are won.
- Stamina with purpose: long hours are only worth it when they build something you own.
- Calm under pressure: when something breaks, fix it first and explain it later.
From wrenches to white glove
It's a long way from wrenching on equipment to coordinating luxury experiences for some of the most demanding clients in the world, building credit through Credit Cure and pursuing land and new construction. But the line is straight. Both worlds demand reliability. Both punish shortcuts. And in both, the people trusted with the most important jobs are the ones who quietly get it right every time.
If you're reading this from your own version of the oil field, take the lesson that changed my life: stop waiting for permission and invest in yourself first. Then join us in Asset Academy and build it the right way.