September 18, 2014 - Turning a passion into a second career
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Jacob Hutson, owner of Anthem Motorcycle Repair, launched a successful mobile repair business after a 10-year naval career and technical education at MMI. |
Some people are fortunate in life to get to do what they love for a living. The extremely fortunate get to do it more than once. Jacob Hutson is one of those people.
Hutson spent 10 years in the United States Navy until his promising military career was cut short by an injury. Although forced to retire, the young petty officer second class, an aviation ordnanceman, was motivated to build a new career out of another passion in his life – motorcycles.
“I was one of those kids who was always taking things apart and then putting them back together, sometimes even successfully fixing them in the process,” Hutson said. “After I was discharged from the Navy, I fixed a carburetor for my neighbor and he paid me. I realized that I could turn this passion into a career.”
This love of bikes led him to Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix, Ariz., where he used the discipline and patience he learned in the military to absorb as much information and develop technical skills diagnosing and repairing various makes of motorcycles.
“MMI is a military-friendly school. In fact, we recently were the first technical school invited to offer classes on-base at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas,” Bryan Fishkind, campus president of MMI, said. “We have many retired military students and military admissions representatives who specialize in helping veterans transfer their passion into a career.”
After graduating, Hutson translated his education and love of motorcycles into a burgeoning mobile repair business in Phoenix for motorcycles and other small engines. In fact, he recently went back to MMI to add two more certifications to his portfolio. Business is booming for Hutson, who is expanding and hiring additional technicians for his business, Anthem Motorcycle Repair.
“Building this business has been a labor of love, and I couldn’t have done it without the education from MMI combined with the discipline and patience I gained while serving our country,” Hutson said.
And when he’s not busy working, Hutson can be found restoring a 1962 Honda Benly Baby Dream CA95.
