I didn’t get into this trade the traditional way.

I spent ten years working factory and plant jobs. Decent money, but I watched older guys pour thirty-plus years into one place and never get the time back. I knew that couldn’t be me.

Then one day I was dumping trash at the lot and asked the attendant if I could take the appliances people were throwing away. He said yeah — just don’t tell nobody.

It was two dryers and two washers. I fixed a working set from the parts, sold it on Facebook for $300, and that was the beginning.

I was a bootleg repairman at first — grabbing appliances off the curb, watching YouTube videos, learning as I went. Eventually I hit a wall I couldn’t get past: refrigeration. Sealed systems. I couldn’t touch them. So I went to trade school — eighteen months, an associate program in air conditioning technology, working full-time overnight to pay for it.

That changed everything. I went from someone copying YouTube videos to a technician who actually understood how things work and why.

My first real appliance tech job paid $15 an hour. After making $25 at the plant, that was a hard pill. I used to pray I didn’t get sick because I couldn’t afford insurance. I struggled badly. But I stayed the course.

Today I make well over $100K a year — W-2, working for a company, take-home van, full benefits, commission pay. One of my coworkers cleared over $200K in 2025. I’m still in the field, still turning wrenches, still learning something new every week.

I wrote The $100K Wrench because nobody handed me a roadmap when I started. Everything I know about getting into this trade, getting paid right, and building a real career — I wrote it down so you don’t have to figure it out the hard way.

This guide is for the person who’s brand new and doesn’t know where to start. It’s for the working tech stuck at $45–60K who can’t figure out why the check won’t move. And it’s for anyone who wants to be better at this craft.

If that’s you — this is for you.