Ray Gremaux was fresh out of high school when he delivered a pizza to a plumber who asked him, “Do you know how to read a ruler? Are you interested in a plumbing job?” When Gremaux replied “Yes,” the man, who ran a large plumbing company in Queens, N.Y., offered him a job that lasted for 11 years. “I’m thankful I was given that opportunity at a young age,” he says.

In 1983, Gremaux left his steady Queens position and began working small jobs on his own in and around his hometown of East Islip, N.Y. He worked day and night and slowly grew his business. He took on one journeyman technician, and then another, and another, as the years went by. In 2007, Gremaux put up his house as collateral to borrow money to expand his now-growing business. He also asked his wife to leave her secure job at a local utility to help him run the financial side of his business.