Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Port Saint Lucie. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Garfield Bowen helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Port St Lucie, Florida.
Is your business serving the residents of Port Saint Lucie? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpPSL.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
EP# 227: Unlocking Peace of Mind: Josh Colter's Journey from Construction to Cutting-Edge Locksmithing with Onyx Lock
What makes Josh Colter with ONYX Lock a good neighbor?
Ever found yourself locked out of your car or home, watching the minutes tick by? Meet Josh Colter of Onyx Lock, the locksmith who's redefining the realms of security and convenience right in your neighborhood. Our latest chat uncovers the locksmith game from the ground up, offering insights into how Josh's team is a beacon of hope during those all-too-common key mishaps. Locks aren't just locks anymore, and thanks to Onyx Lock, your peace of mind might just be a phone call away.
Transcending a background in construction, Josh Colter's pivot to locksmithing is a tale of adaptation and skill. In our enlightening discussion, he debunks the Hollywood lock-picking myths and invites us into the sophisticated world of modern security systems. From tackling the trickiest of car locks to ensuring your new abode is intrusion-proof, Josh's expertise is a testament to the craft. If high-tech car keys and home security measures intrigue you, tune in and unlock the secrets to keeping your sanctuary safe – courtesy of your friendly neighborhood locksmith.
To learn more about ONYX Lock go to:
https://www.onyxlock.com/
ONYX Lock
772-919-5914
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a locksmith? Well, one may be closer than you think. I have the pleasure of introducing your neighbor, josh Coulter, with Onox Locks. Josh, how are you doing today? I'm doing well. How about yourself? I am well. Listen, josh, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your company.
Speaker 3:All right. So we're a local mobile locksmith. We handle commercial, residential as well as automotive. We make car keys, residential as well as automotive. We make car keys, change door locks. If you're just moving into your house, we can make sure that everything's safe and secure. You're the only one with a key.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, all around any locksmith needs we can help you out. I can see how that could be of service. You know, sometimes we have those busy days and you know we have that moment where we can't find our keys and it just destroys the entire day. It happens more than you think, so it's always good to have one handy on the speed dial. So, Josh, how did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:So getting into locksmithing, it was random, I was moving around a lot. I actually had a construction company before this. It was just like kind of a little startup.
Speaker 2:I was messing with.
Speaker 3:It didn't work out. I was building mailboxes, custom mailboxes for people, but anyways, that one didn't work out. I was moving around a lot and I moved to Maine for a little bit about a year and when I moved back I was looking for work and my cousin was actually working for a local locksmith down in West Palm actually and called him. He was looking for employees and hoping that somebody could start up with him, and so I joined with him and yeah, the rest is history.
Speaker 2:Started my own company a little bit afterwards what are some of the myths and misconceptions? You know, we watch these detective movies where they use a um a pen and they stick it in the hole. They twist it around a little bit, shake it up and they're in.
Speaker 3:Yeah, uh, it's still pretty much the same technology. It's been since the medieval times, which is pretty interesting.
Speaker 2:But it's. It's more fine tuned with modern machinery.
Speaker 3:It's not as easy as most people think, but at the same time it is still fairly simple if you know what you're doing. I mean, there are some houses that I'll get in, rack it with a pick and be in within a second, and then other times you sit in there for about five minutes. It's really just about how good you are at it, but a lot of the you can't stick a tennis ball up to a door. I'm sure everyone's seen that YouTube video, and then the one where you stick a tennis ball up, you press it in and opens the door.
Speaker 2:Those are all up, you press it in and it opens the door. Those are all, and I'm sure for those that the pin ain't working, you got to pull out the drill, huh, the hammer, whichever. And and then there's the cars, with all this, computer technologies and chips yeah, wow, yeah, um, it's very high.
Speaker 3:Secure. Uh, we've got our methods. We connect through the OBD program, through the ECU, and we can add keys. If you've lost all your keys, we can do all all keys lost procedures. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I know I had a BMW and I was traveling, okay, and I had the keys, but I didn't know where I put it. I couldn't leave, so I had to stay another night. I had to take a Uber to a BMW dealer. They had to order from the central office and have a key overnighted to me. Is it still that process or is it easier now? It?
Speaker 3:depends uh bmws and mercedes. A lot of the uh higher end vehicles are. They have a more complex security system um they also like exclusivity. They prefer you bring it to their dealership. So it's a little bit more in depth, so most people probably don't hold them on hand. We do sometimes, uh, bmw we have some issues with just because of their software. They want you to be subscribed to them, but for the most part we keep everything in hand. Every tool that we use for all of our services are in the van.
Speaker 3:And like I, said, it's a fully mobile business. So for the most part, you call us, we'll have the key on hand.
Speaker 2:So, josh, when you're not busy running your business, what does josh?
Speaker 3:like to do for fun.
Speaker 2:Uh, so I I like a multitude of things I like to mainly work around the house.
Speaker 3:I like to do renovations um so right now I I'm learning a couple things being a new house owner. I just had the refrigerator leak and there was no ceiling behind it, so it started leaking throughout the carpet. So I got to do a little bit of flooring, ripping up the carpet and figuring out some stuff there. So yeah, just I guess whatever I can put my hands on. I enjoy tinkering and messing around and carpentry as well Anything I can tinker with.
Speaker 2:So that's how you got into the doors. I know my older brother used to take all my father watches apart.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's the same thing TV remotes, game stations, TVs yeah.
Speaker 2:So let's change gears a little bit. Life often those are curve balls. Let's talk about one hardship, one life challenge, something that you can look back today and say you're better and stronger because of it. What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so actually, which is? Actually a perfect question for this business. So I started a business before this and you know I put my all into it. I mean I was investing 24-7, you know getting two hours of sleep trying to push into it. That was another locksmith business and that was just a huge issue with the partnership. I got in partners with family members and things kind of dissolved. Let's just put it that way.
Speaker 3:We went separate ways and there was a huge dramatic struggle. But I started this company afterwards just all on my own, and so we're kind of building back up from where we were.
Speaker 2:So it's kind of like a huge reset.
Speaker 3:I spent about two years on, the other company I got big contracts with Infinity Maser company I got big contracts with uh, infinity Maserati. I got a couple of contracts with subway and you know.
Speaker 2:So all those ended up being canceled when we had to dissolve the business due to uh disagreements.
Speaker 3:And so you know it's uh kind of in that uh underdog, you know, return of the uh champion mode right now, just building up this business trying to get these contracts back, trying to, you know, shake hands with old clients and and customers that I've met uh over the years and uh, so, yeah, that has been to date the biggest hardship I've ever dealt with. But you know you can only just keep pushing forward you know it's.
Speaker 3:It's the same thing, you know it wouldn't be interesting if there weren't some type of difficulty or some type of mountain to climb over. So you know, it is what it is, and we just move forward. That's about it Adapt and overcome.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, the only time we stop having problems is when we're no longer here. Yeah, exactly, you know. So it's a good thing, and I think we like a challenge. I think you're up for a good challenge, right.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir, you got to be.
Speaker 2:So hopefully we'll help get the word out for you so you can reconnect with some of these old businesses. So let's talk about Onyx Locks Now. I want you to tell our listeners one thing, one thing they should take away from this interview about Onyx Locks.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, we, we. I'm trying to be part of the community. You know we like to be able to help everybody out. We, you know, if you're ever in need of anything such as that, you know we were there to help you out. So I mean, if you're locked out, need of anything such as that, you know we, we're there to help you out. So I mean, if you're locked out, you lose a key, if you're just moving in, I mean there's plenty of multitude of reasons to reevaluate your security. You know, and we're we're one of the companies in the area and we'd love to help you out.
Speaker 2:You know I'm sure a lot of my listeners now are grabbing a pen and paper. You know, because we all experience lockdown. It's not a pretty, not a comfortable feeling, you know. Especially, you got the whole day planned out Exactly.
Speaker 3:It usually happens when you least expect it.
Speaker 2:They have one question that lips, and that's how? How can they reach Onyx Locks?
Speaker 3:All right, so you can call me on my cell phone. It's a um, it's a business phone, it's call or text. Feel free, whichever you prefer. The number is 772-919-5914. You could also reach us at our email if you prefer that method. That would be support dot or, excuse me, support at onyx lockcom. You know we have websites, social media links, facebook and, as we progress and sign everything you know everything's on the internet nowadays. So as we build out our online algorithm profile, we're going to be easier and more available for all different methods of communication. But the easiest and fastest method would be to call, and that would be the direct line, which again is 772-919-5914.
Speaker 2:Well, Josh, we really appreciate having you on the show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you, sir, you as well, and I appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Port St Lucie. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpportsaintluciecom. That's gnpportsaintluciecom, or call 772-362-3840.