An interview with the Owner

Q.  Where are you from?  And, How and where did you grow up?

A.   "I was born and raised in an inner city neighborhood in Tampa, Florida.  I was raise in a single parent family by my mother, Pecola George, although we lived with my grandparents as well. The neighborhood that I grew up in was on Clifton and Fortieth Street near Big John's Barbecue."

 "I am a product of the School District of Hillsborough County.  I attended Robles Elementary School, Sligh Jr. High(Middle) School, Burns Jr. High(Middle) School and Tampa Bay Tech High School."

Q.  How were you introduced to the electrical trade?

A.  "Well, my introduction to the electrical trade actually started in high school.  As I mentioned, I attended Tampa Tech High school in Tampa, Florida.  Tampa Bay Tech provided me a hands on approach to learning the trade.  This technical high school  is designed to allow students, who perhaps will not attend college, to graduate from high school, and then to enter the workforce with a skill. My instructor at Tampa Bay Tech was Larry Kovalevich or 'Poppa K', as he affectionately called."

Q.  Who influenced your desire to become self-employed?

 "The answer to this one still makes me laugh!"

A.  "'Back in the early 1990's, when I first met my then in-laws, Mike and Van Stephens, I couldn't help but noticing that they did not appear to be going to work as others did.  Unable to bridle my curiosity, one day I finally  I ask them "When do you all go to work?".  I still remember Van saying to me with a smile "We are at work; we work for ourselves".  Self-employment was a foreign thought to me, so I ask "What do mean 'we work for ourselves'?".  And so they explained.  From then on, this idea of self-employment had a place in my heart.  I guess you can say I had the "self-employment bug" so to speak.  In fact, on every job that perform prior to my returning to the electrical field, I would say to myself "I can do this job myself!".  However, I am now glad that I was able to keep the "bug" contain until a future date.'"

   "As I mentioned, eventually I did return to the electrical field.  Interestingly, I viewed my return to the trade as the surrendering of my idea of self-employment; I just wanted a decent job so that I could provide a decent living for my family.  However, It was not until  I work for a while with Jim Eaton at East Lake Electric that the 'Self-employment bug' was ignited again.  I notice that, at the time, Jim worked for himself and, for the most part, by himself. And, I thought to myself, 'This is interesting; perhaps I can be self-employed as an electrician.'  And so I proceeded to ask Jim a lot of questions on this subject.  I remember concluding one of our discussions by saying to Jim, 'One day I am going to do what you're doing.'   Jim got a kick out of my desire to mimic what he was doing."

Q.   Can you briefly explain your steps to becoming an Electrical Contractor?

A. "Sure.  While working for Doyle Electric, I acquired my Journeyman Electricians License. A  Few years later, I acquired my Master Electrician License.  Larry Kovalevich's mentorship in this regard would extend well past my high school years, as he would eventually aid me in the acquisition of both  my Journeyman's and Master's License.  It was in 2001, with just a few thousand dollars saved up, that I decided to 'go for it' as the saying goes, that is for the long-awaited opportunity of self-employment. It has now been more than 13 yrs since All-In-One Electric opened its doors!"

Q.  Who, or what, inspired the name of your company, All-In-One Electric?

A.  "Remember what I earlier said that I told Jim Eaton years ago, that 'One day I am going to do what you are doing.'  Well, that is very well what I had intended to do, work for myself and by myself.   This was probably the greatest inspiration for company being named All-In-One Electric, meaning me, myself and I.  In actuality though, there were three of us at the start.  Besides myself, there was my daughter Rodjsyne and my son Rodney Jr..  Rodjsyne would help me estimate jobs and Rodney Jr. (RJ), would help me do them.  We were the original 'dream team' as the saying goes.  Those were truly fun times!" (See picture of the original dream team.  Artist work by then ten year old Rodjsyne.)

Q. How would you describe who All-In-One Electric is today?

A.   "Well, All-In-One Electric has certainly groan from the days of me, myself and I, or even that of  the original dream team.  While the original team still remains, there have been many more people and ideas added to that foundation.  I guess the meaning of All-In-One has had to evolved over the years.   Although me, myself and I still have meaning in the company, the name  All-In-One is primarily a reflection the electrical services we provide, namely construction, service and maintenance .   Today we strive as we always have to provide quality service in a neighborly way.  We want you to be glad that you choose to work with us!"

Q.  How many years now have you been involved with the Electrical trade?  And, do you still enjoy it?

A. "Counting from my Sophomore year in high school to the present, I have had some 22 yrs experience the electrical field.  And, yes, I still enjoy what I do.  I especially enjoy being able to help others, whether they be our customers or our very own employees."

 

Rodney's concluding comments:

 "Thanks for taking out the time to get to know me and my company better.  Maybe we can work together in the near future.  Have a nice day."