Transcript: James Harmon on Betting on Himself, Sales Pitches, and Building with Friends

Good morning and welcome back to Late Start Show. Today we are here with senior, Bay Village native, hockey player, and co-owner of a six-figure Aquashine window cleaning, Mr. James Harmon. How are you doing today, James?

I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on the podcast. It's great to have you on the show. Thanks for doing it.

Well, obviously, Charlie and I have been in your grade for four years now, but we haven't really heard, you know, kind of what your childhood was like. What does your house feel like when you're a little kid? What was little James like? Yeah, so, yeah, obviously, I grew up in Bay Village.

Life in Bay, you know, Bay's like a pretty tight-knit community, I'd say, so I was always hanging out with my Bay friends. I always lived in Bay, and, like, in elementary school, middle school, I played, you know, football, basketball. I played as many sports as I could. I played baseball.

Tried out a bunch of sports. And yeah, I mean, my experience at Bay was definitely, you know, tight-knit community, always with my Bay friends, playing a ton of sports. Now, we've had a lot of early, late-stage entrepreneurs on the podcast, but, you know, before there was ever a squeegee in your hand and you're kind of into this business, were you a kid to do lemonade stands as a kid? Were you into selling stuff early or is this something that's more recent?

Yeah, so I would say in middle school, 6th to 8th grade, I knew that I didn't want to get a normal job. So I always mowed my neighbor's lawns, and my idea was that I'd be able to mow people's lawns and easily do that. So yeah, I'd say early stage, I always kind of had that mindset of doing my own thing. So obviously Bay isn't exactly close to U.S., so how did it first come onto your radar, And then ultimately, what made you make that switch?

Yeah, so, I mean, I didn't decide to go to U.S. until the very end of 8th grade. So it was a last-minute decision. I think throughout 8th grade, like 7th and 8th grade, like, I started to really grow interest in sports. Which is not, like, one of the, it's not the main reason why I'm here today.

But, yeah, I was, like, really interested in hockey and, like, football. So I really wanted to go to, like, a private school that has good sports. And also just like, I don't know, I kind of like meeting new people. And so I visited Ed's.

I had a lot of like hockey friends who were going to Ed's. I did like an Iggy summer camp. I didn't really like Iggy. And then Ed's I really liked.

And then yeah, U.S. My parents recommended U.S. And so we went out to visit U.S. Didn't know a single person from U.S. at all.

And yeah, when I first visited, like I really liked it. Um, but I think my parents definitely, like, encouraged me to go to U.S. over Eds and Ignatius because out of the three schools, U.S. was the only one that really stood out in, like, academics. Like, they really, like, develop you as a high school student. And Eds was kind of more like, I would go to the play hockey and, like, what would happen if I lost interest in hockey and stuff like that?

So, yeah, it was really a last-minute decision. And, yeah, I, based, with my parents' advice and, like, whatever I thought, yeah, I decided to go to U.S. over Bay Village as well. Like, that was Probably my next best option. But yeah, I just, I loved Bay.

Still hang out with my Bay friends somewhat often. Obviously, a lot of them work for me and work with me and my business. So I'm still close with them. But yeah, U.S., really the combination of academics and athletics is what stood out to me.

Now, one of the things that I haven't really gotten to do because I was a lifer, but you two have gotten to experience is that first day or that shadow day that kids have. Do you Do you remember your shadow day? Do you remember some of the kids that were with you? And what do you just remember from pretty early on in your U.S. experience?

Because I know you played football, so you were there over the summer too. Yeah, when I shadowed U.S., I was with Patrick Corcoran and some other hockey guys, and they were pretty fun to be around. But yeah, my first actual experience was 6 a.m. football lift in the summer. And yeah, I remember the first ever guy in my grade from U.S. that I ever met was Mac Early.

And it was him, Doyle, and some of the football guys. And yeah, they were really nice kids, really welcoming. And after that first day, I was pretty excited. I met Trip, I met a bunch of other U.S. guys.

And yeah, that first day really, it wasn't tough for me. It wasn't too much of a hard process. I'm pretty good at meeting new people. So yeah, once I met them, they were really welcoming and it was a very good first day.

And I believe you only play football for freshman year, but obviously I had some pretty legendary coaches with Coach Burns and Coach Mabasa Sr. So what was that experience like for you? Yeah, I mean, freshman year football, I did play a little bit in sophomore, but then I stopped playing mid-sophomore year. But yeah, freshman year football was great.

It was a much different experience than I had at Bay. Um, but, like, the coaches, I love the coaches, um, freshman year, like, our squad that we had of, like, all freshmen, like, we had a good class. Um, Coach Burns, like, my mom knows him, so really good guy, and overall, like, it was a really fun experience, but, um, it was a lot different not, you know, playing with the kids I grew up with in Bay. Um, and it did make it not as fun for me.

And that's like why like when sophomore year came around and like a lot of the freshmen quit and I was kind of just like on my own. Like, you know, I wasn't with my Bay friends that I grew up with playing football. So it wasn't as fun once I got sophomore year, I would say. You know, U.S. hockey is a huge program, so let's kind of switch to that.

When did you first get on the skates as a child? Was it a family thing, a friend thing, or did you just see it one day and decide that that was your sport? Yeah, so I started hockey at a really young age. I would say, yeah, I started probably like four or five years old, and I had a couple neighbors that played hockey, so I'd say it was probably because they played hockey.

I got on the ice at a really young age I grew up playing travel hockey not super competitive but decently competitive hockey Now U hockey obviously is a very successful program as well What was it like coming into that program when the older guys kind of expected success and expected hard work out of those younger guys? Yeah, I mean, that hockey, you know, shifting from playing hockey in middle school, the U.S. was definitely a really big shift of, like, expectations and, like, work ethic. Yeah, like, everyone's bought into the program. Everyone's really, you know, committed to it.

And, yeah, like, when I first came in freshman year, like, I realized, because, like, at public school in Bay, like, I was one of the only hockey players, so I was always kind of, like, a standout athlete there. But coming to U.S., like, there's a lot of committed athletes. There's, like, a bunch of them. So definitely wasn't like a, you know, very important hockey player like my early years.

And yeah, so that was definitely something that was, you know, very different. And yeah, like everyone's like all the seniors and like juniors, they were all like really bought in. I started off, you know, playing JV, which was a really fun experience. But clearly, like everyone's playing hockey there because they want to play in that varsity team.

You know, I've been in the student section for a lot of those hockey games where the whole place is just shaking. I mean, I can think of the Shaker game where we just pack the barns. So what does it actually sound like and feel like from down the ice when the barn's packed and we're just going crazy for you guys? Yeah, I mean, it's crazy.

Like, I've never, you know, I've never experienced that crazy of an environment. I mean, yeah, like the Shaker games and all the games, like it's a lot of people say like you block it out. And I feel like when you're playing, you sometimes do. But like once you first step on that ice and like you see everyone like in warmups and stuff, I mean, it's it's crazy and it's fun.

I mean, it's awesome. Now you play hockey, you know, obviously do well at school and then you've got your business as well as some other things. So how do you balance that part of all the schoolwork and everything else? Yeah, so the main thing is like, and this is something that I think U.S. has kind of taught me to develop.

It's setting priorities. Like my business, like the three main priorities like I have are, you know, academics, like, you know, getting good grades. And then right there is my business. And this is besides like friends and family.

But like for my personal commitments, yeah, it's my business, it's academics. And then for me, it's like going to the gym and lifting weights. So I would say setting those priorities. For example, my window cleaning business, me and my friends spent all of last summer on it.

It was a priority. I prioritize it even over hockey. Sometimes that's a tough decision. Sometimes it's tough because I enjoy playing hockey, but when I really realize the potential of how much we can make and what this business can really turn into, you have to set boundaries for it.

You really do. And sometimes it's tough. But yeah, I made a lot of sacrifices to really prioritize my business. So yeah, my biggest piece of advice would just be like, don't try to do what other people are doing just because they're doing it and don't try to do everything.

Find two or three things that you really think are going to be valuable later on in life and prioritize those. You know, let's get to the part of your life that most people know about. Obviously, we've been glancing over it, but in the summer of 2024, what was going on in your life when you really decided that you wanted to start your own business? And then out of every high school business that a kid could start, why did you land on window cleaning?

Why that? And how has it been? Yeah, so yeah, summer of 2024, going into sophomore year, I was still pretty close with my bae friends, hanging out with them a lot in the summer, playing video games with them and stuff. And at that time, I mowed lawns for my neighbors, and it got to a point where I wanted to start a business and start making more money.

So I remember I went down my street a couple blocks down, and I knocked doors to offer to mow people's lawns, just like some high school kid doing it. And I got like a couple people. So my dad drove down my lawnmower in his SUV. And yeah, I did a couple lawns, made like 40 bucks or something.

And when I continued to do that, I realized I'm pretty good at talking to people. And I think when I got to that point, I realized that with lawnmowing, the margins and just like the equipment you need, like I need to get a truck, a trailer, they're just not really there. And I saw a lot of people on social media, you know, knocking doors and selling window cleaning, like a bunch of like, you know, kids that like didn't go to college, just like selling window cleaning, whether it was, you know, just advertising to become popular on Instagram or if they were actually doing it. I don't know.

I noticed it and I thought it was cool. So I got some basic window cleaning equipment from Home Depot and I did some of my like neighbor's houses and I got like some business shirts, like Aquashine business shirts. And then from there, I realized that I wanted to start going out and knocking doors. So I got two of my buddies and yeah, we went out.

It was me and my one buddy because the other one was on vacation or something. And yeah, the first day we went out in 2024, we knocked doors in Avon Lake. The first two hours, no one was saying yes. But I remember our first customer at 1 or 2 p.m., we sold them.

They wanted their windows cleaned and I think it was like 200 bucks or something. And yeah, we went and cleaned their windows. And then right when we finished their house, we knocked like five of their neighbors and we sold and we, you know, scheduled like four of them for the next day. So after that day, you know, my friend and I realized like if we just get really good at talking to people at the door, cold approaching people, we can scale this business.

We don't need to have, you know, these online ads and stuff. We can just we get really good at going door to door and talking to people. We can really scale this business into something much bigger. And what is your secret Not that you have to give it away fully but like we all had that guy who comes to the door and tries to sell us something He just awful at it and it kind of turns you off from whatever they trying to sell So what what your approach to that Yeah I mean it definitely there many ways you can look at it But the biggest thing is when you're knocking on doors, you don't want to make yourself look like you're a salesman.

You don't. Because once you go cold approach someone at a door and you're wearing a polo shirt and you have a clipboard, they're always trying to sell me something to get out of here. So the main thing is, you want to be You want to be friendly and you want to see what other people want. So when I go to the door, I don't have a company shirt on.

I just look like a high school kid popping by. And that's how I make myself look normal. I'm not saying like, hey, we're selling window cleaning. I say like, hey, we're just talking to your neighbor and we're scheduling a few of them to do their exterior window cleaning.

And when you approach them, when you break those salesman patterns, you can get really good and then people are going to actually listen. If you just go right into the sales pitch, their ears are off. They're not listening to get off my lawn. But if you approach them as a friendly high school kid, they're going to listen to you.

And then if you say the right things at the right time, most of them, you're going to be able to sell them. Every salesperson has that funny story. So what's that worst rejection that you've ever gotten, whether or not it's a slam door, a dog chasing you, just something that has happened while you're going door to door that just is crazy? It's really, you never know what's going to happen.

So there's going to be some really bad experiences knocking doors. And that's why it's hard. That's why it's hard. You have to be able to, it's a numbers game.

That's what it is. So whenever I'm having a bad day and I'm getting people slamming the door on me, it happens all the time. I just look at over the long span of my career, I've been able to consistently, if I add them all out, I'm able to consistently sell like one or two houses an hour. So even if I don't sell two houses in that hour, I look at it like I'm making two houses an hour either way.

Because if the long span, if you average it out, that's what happens. So that's the mindset you have to have when you're doing door-to-door sales. Now, obviously, you've learned some valuable skills, but also you're making money while you're at it. When was the first time that you looked at the revenue and you're like, wow, this is pretty cool and pretty big?

Yeah. I would say, I mean, it's tough because for me, it's like when you start making more money and you realize that you could be making more, it doesn't feel as satisfying. I'd say the first time was the start of the summer of 2025. Our first week, we made some good money.

And I was just really like, I just remember after our first week, we've done 40 jobs a week this summer of 2026. But 2025, our first week, we did, I think it was like 12 jobs. And we had all of the cash just laying on my kitchen counter, splitting it all up. And we were just like, wow, this is awesome.

So that was definitely like the first, like, I was really like happy. I'm like, this is crazy. And then, but yeah, and then I'd say 2026, though, when we really started like really picking it up. I mean, I really, you know, I wasn't as like happy because it wasn't that first time, but we did, we had a week, I think it was like, it may have been our first week.

The company did $10,000 in revenue in one week. I just couldn't even process it. I'm like, I don't know how we're doing this. I'd say that was definitely the moment of realization.

I can do this as a full-time job at some point or something like that. What's one thing about running a business that you thought would be easy that just has turned out to be much harder than you thought? It's management. I think when people think of business management, They think it's kind of just like a joke, like, you know, communicating and stuff, but managing employees is not easy.

Like, and you as an owner of a business, you're responsible for everything. Like, you have to take that responsibility. You can't put it on your employees. You know, in a home service business, you're going to have angry customers all the time who are calling you back.

And, you know, I've had times where, you know, we have 15 plus employees in the company. So I have to make sure everyone, like, you know, it's tough when you schedule 20 jobs in a week, like on our west side. And then east side also has like 10 to 20 jobs. And on Monday, you guys have like six jobs set up.

The first job, I'll just give you an example. One time we had like a day of six jobs. One of the jobs was like 20 minutes away from my house. One of my cleaners got to that job.

I was still sleeping in bed because I was exhausted from knocking doors. And I wake up to my phone ringing and my cleaner said, this person doesn't want it done anymore because they thought we were cleaning their interior windows as well. So I had to get up, get the interior equipment, go out right away. And we did their interior window cleaning for free because that's how important you have to value your customers.

You have to take them very seriously. And then later that day, we got through the six jobs and then I had two people calling back, Like, you need to touch up these windows for us. So, and, you know, I don't, when that happens, like, you can't say, you can't get mad at your workers. You can't, like, sometimes it's me, sometimes it's just me, the owner, going out at 6 p.m. with the equipment in my car and fixing it up myself because that, that's, you know, you have to realize that it's your responsibility as, as an owner of the business to, you know, take care of stuff like that.

Now, you had the idea for Aquashine before YEI, obviously, but then what has YEI kind of helped you grow it into? Yeah, I mean, I would say while some of the classes that we've taken weren't super interesting to me, I think the microeconomics class, I will say a lot of the ideas, and even in AMCAP this year, we've learned about what it means to be a good manager. I think it's something that I never really thought was important, but those ideas have really kind of connected with me, really realizing that running a company and doing it successfully, you need to know how to manage your employees. You need to know how to talk to them.

These employees they my friends so they want to work with me because I a good guy to work with I need need to be a good guy to them to work with So I never you know I got to make sure I paying them you know I paying them enough obviously But then it also like you know I can if they you know make a mistake or get a callback I can just beat them down and be like what are you doing Like I have to take that my fault because I didn teach them that stuff You know it the manager fault It the person that managing the jobs Because that's because they need to actually teach them what to do. And if they're making mistakes, it's because they have the lack of knowledge. And then I'd also say like, yeah, I mean, a lot of it's just communication. For example, I brought up that we started the business with three people.

Not like co-owners, but we kind of like shared profits. And then we have like employees. One of the owners is no longer with us. He's like a really close friend of mine.

So I don't see him as much, but I've grown up with him. And we had to buy him out of the business because going into the summer of 2026, me and Sully, we were on the same path. And he was kind of just slightly off that same path. So we had to have an open conversation.

And he still worked for us in 2026. He had a different role. But the main point of that is you've got to learn how to really solve issues and build bridges with people. Because if you can't find a way to get on the same boat as people, even when you're disagreeing, then you're not going to be able to move forward and scale business.

Now, let's get to this college question. What do you want to study in college? Has Akashan kind of changed what you want to do with your life? Has it confirmed something that you already were thinking of doing?

Where do you see yourself? Yeah, so I mean, the main thing that I'm interested with in college is, I wouldn't say it's just I'm interested in finance and business, and those kind of overlap a lot. What I've been looking for with colleges, though, is I want to find a school, preferably with an undergraduate business school, that has, they have that route to like, you know, your numbers, finance, like your investment banking, but they also have that kind of student body and that entrepreneurial like area as well. So a lot of The colleges I've looked at, great business programs, but all of those kids are just going there and going into high finance and stuff like that.

So what I'm looking for is a school that kind of has that mixture between both of them. One of those schools that is one of my top options is USC in California. Great business program in terms of majoring in finance, but also a lot of entrepreneurship in that area. So I'm kind of like the mix between those two concentrations.

Well, James, I mean, when we talk about how you want to be remembered at U.S., right? You have hockey, you have your business. When you think of kind of what guys will remember James Harmon as, what do you want them to remember you as? Yeah, I think the main thing that I prioritize in my life, I would say it's the business.

I don't know what I want to do with it yet in the future. I don't know if I'm going to keep running it forever or sell it or pass it down to see if someone else wants to continue it. But I do think the thing that I want to be remembered for is being someone who is willing to... There's a lot of really smart kids at our school, but not a lot of them are willing to go out and start their own thing.

You guys do a great job of going out, starting your podcast, starting Ucervically. I think that's, in my opinion, everyone has their own opinion, but in my opinion, I think that's the road to success. It's being willing. It doesn't matter how smart you are, but if you're willing to go out and start your own thing, And not listen to what other people think about it.

I think that's the most valuable thing in life. So I want to remember, be remembered for doing that with my window cleaning business. And then more about U.S., who, you know, you've had a lot of teachers, a lot of coaches, a lot of advisors. Who at U.S. has had the biggest impact on you?

Yeah, out of all my teachers at U.S., that's a tough one. I'd have to think about that. I mean, Coach Jarreau is definitely one of them. Um, I would say though, um, you can give us a couple if you want.

Yeah, I would say, I would say, uh, Mr. Atwell, he was my math teacher. He's my math teacher this year and he was my math teacher freshman year. And I just remember like transitioning from Bay to U.S. in academics.

It got way harder freshman year. And I just remember that math class was really hard, but Mr. Atwell did a great job of helping me like, you know, really develop some math skills freshman year that really, Jame Harmon on Betting on Himself, Sales Pitches, and Building with Firmus. Playing hockey and keeping up at U.S.

So when the alarm goes off before sunrise practice and a full day of jobs and nobody would blame you for staying in bed, what is your why? What gets you up and keeps you going day after day? Yeah, I mean, my honest why is, I don't know, I just have this drive to be really successful. I don't know, there's nothing like super specific, but I'd say the one thing would be like, my parents have done so much for me and given me this opportunity.

Jameis, it's been great having you on the show today. Thank you so much for taking the time to share insights and experiences with us. And to our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in and we'll hope you'll join us next Wednesday for another episode of Late Surt Show. Thanks, Jameis.

Thank you so much. you