A husband-and-wife team who operate their own unique company encouraged BYU-Hawaii School of Business students to believe in themselves during their March 13 entrepreneurship lecture.
Reed Mellor is the president & CEO of Mellor Engineering, Inc., and his wife, Lareen Mellor, is the CFO of the Lehi, Utah-based company that specializes in the destruction of chemical weapons under contract to the federal government.
"The United States is in the process of completely destroying all of the chemical weapons they have," he said, explaining that the approximately 100 employees in their company "are trying to figure out the best way to destroy" or kill agents such as anthrax and ricin.
Before discussing the business, however, the Mellors stressed the importance of believing in oneself. For example, he recalled before he entered BYU he was "lost and inactive. I thought I was going to be a professional bull rider. When I left BYU [with a civil engineering degree] I was married in the temple and I had all the tools necessary to succeed in life."
She added others who believed in her potential encouraged her to apply for an accounting position, which she got and the employer then sponsored her education at BYU. Lareen Mellor "soon found that I understood accounting far better than I ever could imagine." She also learned hands-on how to rebuild the employer's computerized accounting system.
"When I was wanting to start a business," said Reed Mellor, who is of Hispanic heritage, "I kept thinking, why not me." But first he worked for a number of years for the government where he learned about chemical weapons destruction, as well as for a private company where he learned how to do government contract work.
He said along the way the advice of a high school teacher "played a major factor in my life: 'If you're ever in a situation at work or school and they say, is there anybody in this room that can do [something], you raise your hand and say, I can.'" For example, when the State of Utah started to impose environmental protection laws, "this place I worked was in total turmoil. They needed somebody to oversee an environmental program, and I raised my hand and said, I can do that."
He added that a banker also gave him valuable advice that he follows in both business and family life: "Manage your liabilities and your assets will take care of themselves. We have no debt as a company, and I have no intention of taking any debt."
Mellor started his company as a one-man venture, and as it started to grow, he wondered, "How can I bid a $10 million job?" But he worked closely with others in a larger company and eventually won the contract; and then another for $21 million. "I just kept believing, why not me? Everybody has to start somewhere."
Mellor recalled bidding on another early contract where the government had a problem with a rotary kiln that had warped, allowing cold air to come through large gaps, and was in violation of high-heat requirements. "I thought of my high school teacher and said, I can fix that problem," he recalled, although it was only after a friend showed him a similar cement kiln that he really knew how he was going to accomplish the project.
"I had another friend who taught me how to treat employees," Mellor continued. "He said, 'Whatever you do for employees will come back ten-fold.' I have always tried to treat employees like I would like to be treated myself." Or as the successful Latter-day Saint entrepreneur, John Huntsman, described his key for success, "that follows the rules of the playground: 'Treat others like you want to be treated, and play fair.' I think that about covers everything."
Lareen Mellor confirmed that's how her husband works. "He's always got a great and positive attitude." After working for different companies for about 10 years, she joined Mellor Engineering. "It was an easy fit... We made this company grow together."
He stressed there is another "free gift that is available to all of us, and that is the principle of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a gift that needs to be asked for. It's not a gift that should be earned. Forgiveness is a gift that I give, and when I give it, I set myself free."
He said his business has also grown because he believes in being generous. "My dad taught me to give. He said, 'Son, if you want to be successful, increase your Fast Offerings, because that's sacrifice. My business has exploded living this principle." He added when Church humanitarian aid leaders encouraged him to help out in Ethiopia, from that point until one year into the future, my business doubled."
"There are lots of ways to give: You can give of your money, and that's the easiest way," Mellor said. "You can also give of your time, but the best is each of you can give of yourself."
"You already have the opportunity to change lives in those countries [you come from]. That is why you are at this university, and you are being prepared to change the world."
