Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Majazz Muwwakkil. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Majazz, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
How I got here is a very interesting story because it’s not a long story short type of thing, so get ready for a story. I was a student at Morehouse College from 2012-2016 and throughout that time I was a member of the Navy Reserve within the Morehouse NROTC program in which I would commission as an officer upon graduation. 6 months prior to me graduating I received notice that I had lost my scholarship and would not be commissioning due to an injury in my lower back. Once I received this news I was devastated because everything that I had been training for I had lost almost over night. Going to an HBCU like Morehouse instilled an idea of what success looked like to me and I had ran with that dream since I graduated. Suit to work everyday, ID badge clip, corner office, etc and that is what I was chasing ever since I graduated. I did a small stint of time in Maryland working at Enterprise before I returned back to Atlanta to again try and figure out life. In 2018 I made the decision to attend NASCAR Technical Institute to pursue my passion in Automotives. I have always enjoyed working on cars and being around them however my end goal was not to work on cars full time, my end goal was to use my automotive knowledge and blend that with my professional education I received from Morehouse and work in corporate America in the Automotive industry, again the dream that I was chasing, it wasn’t automotives it was the idea of what success looked like professionally. To me, as an Automotive company you were getting the best of both worlds with hiring me as an employee, because not only do I possess the professional education from Morehouse, I also possess the technical background from NASCAR Technical Institute. So I can talk about the business side of it, but also go to the car and show you the technical side. Once I graduated from NASCAR Tech in 2018, I immediately began working at Mercedes Benz of Buckhead as an Automotive Technician. In the beginning, I loved what I did. Being around so many different cars, learning the ins and outs of them all really started to fuel my passion even more. However as the months passed, what once began as a fun hobby, turned into a hassle. My enjoyment for automotives began by being able to take my time and become one with the car, and working in a dealership environment made that difficult because it was about production and turn around time and again my end goal was not to be in the shop forever. Once I spoke with upper management I was able to maneuver from inside of the shop to now being the internal service advisor which was a step in the ultimate direction I planned on going in. Two weeks after I moved to my new position, COVID swept America. During that time, Mercedes employees were considered “Essential Workers” so my experience during that time was very different from a lot of others, however this is the part of the story where we get to what I’m doing now. During COVID, especially being an essential worker brought out a different internal fire inside of me. I had to take matters into my own hands and figure out what was best for me. I have always been good at using my hands. Throughout my life I’ve always been the go to handy person to build, mount, and just overall fix things so I was trying to figure out how I could use what I already possessed to figure out life for myself. I set an alarm on my phone to go off at 6:00pm everyday, and I labeled the alarm “Zero Dark Thirty.” I got the idea from the song “Nobody” by Rick Ross. In the intro there’s a monologue that says “These people are mere mortals. I’m tryna push you to supreme being. You don’t wanna embrace your destiny, you wanna get by. You don’t wanna go into the dark, where it’s lonely. You can’t handle the the pain, Of not knowing when the stuff is gonna stop.” So everyday I got off of work at 5:00, got home by 5:15, took 45 minutes to decompress and what I call “download the day” and at 6:00pm I went into the dark. The dark is a place where I had to figure out what was next. The dark was a place where All Hands Assemble Services was born out of. September 5th 2020 All Hands was born, and May 14th 2021 was when I became a full time entrepreneur and I have not looked back since. Even until this very day, Monday – Friday at 6pm, my Zero Dark Thirty alarm goes off, just as a reminder of how I got here, and keeps me motivated to continue on.
Majazz, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Majazz Muwwakkil and I am the owner and daily operator of All Hands Assemble Services. I got into the industry by taking my natural talents and abilities and mastering them. I made everyday tasks for the average homeowner my niche and my clients grew because of my efficiency, attention to detail, honesty, and good work. My company is an overall home improvement company that takes care of all of your in home needs. From TV Mounting, and furniture assembly to full remodels and everything in between. I am a one stop shop that can get it all done. What I think sets me apart from others is my integrity. I’m not after the money, I’m after the relationships. If there is a better way to execute your vision I will offer my professional suggestions, and I also know when a project isn’t for me. I’m not in the business of mediocre results, you will love the end result because I love what I do. I am most proud of the fact that I was literally able to take an idea that was in my mind and worked every single day to become a brand that is known and supported by not just friends and family, but people who I’ve never met before. To hear people recite my motto, know my brand name, and speak so highly of my work means the world to me because I know the long hours it took to get here. I know how many times I’ve failed my way to reach this point, and I know with the right team and people around me how far we can take this.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Word of mouth and social media. When you do good work, people talk. However when you do bad work, people also talk about that as well. I pride myself on being on the good work side of that. So many times I get calls saying “I was referred to you by” or “I saw the way you did this at this persons home” and I love hearing that. Because it literally is allowing my work to speak for itself. When I enter any ones home, I am there for 2 reasons: 1. complete the task efficiently and correctly the first time. 2. Foster a good relationship in efforts to come back the next time they need something done. Because just as much as it’s about doing good work, its also about being a good person. Once people feel comfortable it takes the pressure off of them to find good people to do tasks around their homes. I got an email a few months ago from a client and she sang nothing but high praises for me and my work, and ended the email by saying that I was added to her communities address book as a reliable, efficient, and trustworthy contractor. That made me smile because my impression on one person has now given me access to their network and it just keeps growing and growing.
The second is social media. With the age of the internet and social media specifically, it allows my work to reach a large number of people with just the click of a button. I can appreciate that because just as word of mouth I get calls that say “I saw your IG page and I want something just like this,” and with each repost, comment, and tag, it allows my following and my overall clientele to grow, which is why I will always be thankful for those that support me in any and every way.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In the beginning everyday was a struggle. When I first quit my 9-5 to become a full time entrepreneur, I was excited and ready to take on the world, but soon after I was met with the reality of figuring this out everyday. It’s something that you can’t really teach, you just have to experience it. When you no longer have the safety net of “I know I’m going to get paid on Friday” at your disposal it changes the way you move and look at life. Your values and ideas on what is important and what isn’t will shift. I always tell people wanting to become full time entrepreneurs , you will get tested and if you want it bad enough you will win. There have been moments where I didn’t think that I could do this anymore. I had more money going out than I had coming in and in those moments you have to figure it out if this is what you want to do. Sacrifice has been a reoccurring theme in the later part of my life. What are you willing to give up today to enjoy the life you want to live tomorrow. There will be times where maybe you need to take a break and reapply for full time positions, and I want you all to know, that is OK. You did not fail as a business owner, nor should you feel defeated. Take some time, recalibrate and revisit it if it is something you are truly passionate about. I just know for me this is what I want and intend on doing so as much as failing is an option, in my mind it isn’t. I will figure it out, and thus far I have.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.allhandsassembly.com
- Instagram: @_allhands
- Twitter: @AllHandsAS
Image Credits
Elijah Rachell