James Campbell was looking for a life outside of an automotive profession in Detroit when he had the idea to open a business in the Seward area.
“I've been doing automotive my whole adult career and now that I've got kids, it took so much time away from them on the weekends and into the evenings,” he said. “I didn't like the idea of not being around.”
Campbell has ties to the area. His father, Duff, owned and operated Campbell Cleaning and Restoration. Both of his grandfathers worked in Seward and his great grandfather owned and operated Campbell's Seed House and served as the mayor of Seward.
He found an ambition to walk in his family's footsteps of a small business owner in Seward and began considering what needs exist in the area. That's when he decided to pursue home appliance repair.
“I started thinking about the needs of the area that I could fill to utilize my skills,” he said. “I have a lot of mechanical background. You start watching Facebook and seeing a lot of people around here trying to find appliance repair. It's underserved and a lot of (professionals) around here can't handle all the work there is themselves.”
He found the Dyer Appliance Academy in Texas and attended for two weeks to gain additional skills. In order to gain additional skills as he collects service calls, Campbell said he picks up broken appliances and fixes those as well.
“Like anything, there's no replacement for experience,” he said. “As good as I am in school, it doesn't matter if I can't apply that in the real world.”
On Sept. 1 made his first house call as the Appliance Medic.
Campbell said he plans to service all household appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, stoves and ovens.
He said he's slowly building a client base through social media and word of mouth and is confident business will pick up as his name becomes more familiar to those around the area. So far, however, he said he's already noticed an appreciation for an additional service available.
“People are saying that it's something that's really needed and they're thankful to have other options,” Campbell said. “That's all leading up to me working on stuff and that's set the bar high to live up to expectations and set that need. It's important to me to do the work and do it with customer satisfaction in mind.”
His early calls have allowed him to reacquaint himself with the area and continue the family name's association with high quality service and products. Campbell said he's looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces, meet new ones and become a noticeable part of Seward County.
“Not only can I use my strengths, but I can serve the community in a way they've been asking for,” he said. “That was a win-win that allowed me to get into the public and be more part of the community, which is what I wanted to do.”
