If you think secret doors can only be found in the movies like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, think again.
Steven Humble is a mechanical engineer who has turned his childhood fascination of secret passageways into a profitable business. Now, he is a millionaire.
Under his own company he named Creative Home Engineering, Humble creates a wide variety of doors which lead to secret storage rooms or bunkers. These doors are creatively hidden in full-length mirrors, fireplaces, sliding doors, brick walls, bookcases, and the oddest one so far: fake telephone booth.
Source: Creative Home Engineering
He describes on CNBC’s “Blue Collar Millionaires” the secret doors he designs as “just like the ones in movies, but for real people.”
The secret doors business started in 2004 shortly after Humble quit on his job, which he got following his graduation. He got work as a medical device designer, but eventually quit due to two reasons: he was frustrated about his earning and he wanted to do more with his mechanical engineering skills.
Source: CNBC
“I had designed this product that made my boss a ton of money and I feel like I am just stuck in this cubicle,” he said. “I thought, ‘Surely I can do that. I have that skill set.’” Then he made secret doors by starting with his bedroom.
Source: CNBC
It took him a while before he got to do it for customers prospered, but perhaps his best business strategy is word of mouth. His innovative designs are now known among wealthy people who are preparing for the end of the world. They want to be safe, so secret doors are the way to go indeed.
Now, Creative Home Engineering, who calls itself as makers of secret doors and hidden passageways, has earned about $1.2 million in revenue from making 150 doors per year. Each secret passageway can cost from $2,500 to more than $100,000.
Meanwhile, Humble now lives in a million-dollar home near Phoenix, Arizona, and drives a Corvette.
When asked about what pushes him, Humble said, “Money really isn’t the driving force. I’m driven by making the best product that I can make.”
Source: CNBC
