Michael Wright has worked for some pretty famous faces in his 25 years
as a locksmith in Los Angeles, but his most memorable experience came when
he was called to fix the locks in John Wayne's house.
"I heard someone talking like John Wayne and I told him he did a really
bad John Wayne impression," says Wright. Turning around, he suddenly found
himself face to face with the Duke.
"I saw who I'd just spoken to and felt like sinking through the floor,"
says Wright, who felt better when the movie star started to laugh. "He had
a hearty laugh over it -- probably from the expression on my face."
For any locksmith, earning a customer's trust and taking that responsibility
seriously is an important part of the job. For Wright, who regularly dealt
with Hollywood's rich and famous, it meant he really had to perform.
"I had to be very professional, because these clients had expensive things
and they really valued their privacy," says Wright.
Unlike many locksmiths, Wright describes his choice of career as fate more
than anything. "I was caught in the crash of the aerospace industry in the
'60s," says Wright, who was suddenly forced to make a career change.
"I applied for a job at a security company as an alarm installer, my interest
was piqued and one thing followed another." Now, many locksmithing
jobs later, Wright is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Because there is no formal training path for locksmithing, Wright says
he finds it frustrating competing for business with people who think all you
need to be a locksmith are a set of lock picking tools.
"Competing for business against untrained and unprincipled locksmiths is
a definite frustration and challenge," says Wright.
When it comes to being principled, Wright says many locksmiths see only
dollar signs when they take on a job. While it's cost him money over
the years, if Wright feels uneasy about something a customer wants him to
do, he stands by his principles.
"Sometimes the customer wants me to do something I feel is less than acceptable
and I have to decide if the customer and their future business is more valuable
than my principles," says Wright. "To date, I can say that principle has always
won, much to my wallet's dismay!"
As with most self-employed locksmiths, Wright is responsible for the locksmithing
as well as the duties involved in running a business. By far, the most annoying
thing is collecting on his work, he says.
"The biggest stress in the job is collections. It seems you're always
waiting for money."
Wright describes himself as a people person and says he enjoys having the
chance to meet lots of people and work in different settings all the time.
"I love the variety," he says. "Every day is different."
Variety is something most locksmiths like about this kind of work, and
Kelly Baily is no exception.
Baily began locksmithing in Austin, Texas, when she started working for
a property management company. Now she runs the show.
"I was hired by my boss, JD, to do maintenance work. He was a locksmith
and showed me everything he knew. Now I run the locksmith and maintenance
part of the company," says Baily.
Like many locksmiths, Baily received all her training on the job. Because
her company specializes in residential locksmithing, that's what she
learned.
"We only do residential and commercial locksmithing, we don't do vehicles,
so I don't have any training in that field," says Baily. That suits her
fine, because it means more regular hours and it will help her work toward
her future goal.
"I want to be an in-house property manager and locksmith, so I won't
have to contract out for work," Baily explains.
While picking locks is really challenging, drilling doors for new locks
is a bit of a pain. Everyone seems to call all at once wanting you there now.
But Baily says she loves this line of work. She recommends it as an enjoyable
way to make a living.
"It's interesting and easy work, anyone can do it -- it doesn't
matter if you're male or female. You just have to be honest and have
patience," says Baily.
"The field can be as exciting as you make it," she adds.