Frank Winters grew up in California in a family of mechanical tradesmen. His grandfather, father, uncle and five cousins are all HVAC sheet metal workers. When he moved to Michigan from California 15 years ago to be near his son, Wesley Winters, he went to work for a plumbing contractor in Plymouth, Mich., for $8 an hour.
After a few years, Winters started working for a different plumbing company. However, he had always wanted to work for himself, so in 2008 he cashed in a $10,000 401(k) and made a go for it. He opened Birmingham Plumbing, Heating and Cooling in September of that year. At first, when there was no work, he parked the truck, passed out business cards, and went door to door.