(upbeat music)
- Army Vet Colin Waayne
almost lost his life
while serving his third
tour of duty in Afghanistan.
But thanks to rehab he
rebuilt his shattered body
and forged a successful steel company.
(upbeat music)
While COVID-19 has left
some companies paralyzed
and closed countless doors,
one small American-based
company has continued
to provide work and financial
relief to its workers.
- I've got not only my 70-plus employees,
but their family that relies
on this to be successful.
- [Karl] Redline Steel was founded in 2016
by Army Veteran Colin Waayne.
It's quickly become one
of the most successful
steel manufacturers in the world.
But Redline almost didn't happen.
Eight years ago while
serving in Afghanistan,
Waayne nearly lost his life
when a 107-millimeter rocket
struck within feet of him,
causing multiple injuries.
- I sustained shrapnel that
went all the way through my leg.
I had permanent nerve damage
in my back L-1 through L-3.
It transitioned to a lumbar
block fusion surgery.
- [Karl] Waayne survived the attack,
but it was a long road to recovery.
- I did six months of physical therapy
when I got stateside for my leg.
And then had to have back surgery.
And I was also treated for
TBI traumatic brain injury
from the concussion of the blast.
- [Karl] During his rehabilitation,
Colin says he leaned on
his biggest support system.
The gym.
- This is the irony.
I got blown up in a gym on my base
that should have been a lot safer.
But the gym,
it transitioned and pivoted my entire
moment of life in general.
Where I use that as a mental escape.
- [Karl] When his service ended,
Waayne returned home.
Like most military veterans
he questioned his next move.
He found himself in an unlikely career,
fitness modeling.
- I shot with a local photographer
in a very very small town.
I uploaded and I started a fan page.
And within the first six months
we accumulated over a million followers.
From there where I landed
over 50-plus magazine covers
like Men's Fitness,
Muscle & Fitness,
Iron Man.
- [Karl] But Colin was
an entrepreneur at heart.
So he left modeling behind
to pursue another career.
- Redline Steel is a company
that I founded four years ago.
And since then we've actually
scaled to the largest
customized steel manufacturing
wall art in the nation.
We've shipped over 4 million products.
We just hit our 1 millionth
customer a few weeks ago.
- [Karl] But when the
Coronavirus hit America
everything changed and production stopped.
- My type of products,
they're commodity-based.
People aren't thinking about
oh I need this steel monogram
to go on my front door
during these times.
- [Karl] Colin was forced to
pivot his entire business plan.
- We created a collection
called the Give Back Collection.
And it's been incredible.
There is 19 products within
our Give Back Collection.
But it started with just one
and started to grow from there.
- [Karl] As a humanitarian,
he's donated over $3,000,000
to first responders
and medical professionals.
But he wanted to help his community too.
So he turned social media.
- I did a local post and I
said look if you're a server,
if you're impacted by this,
you're having challenges
with getting unemployment.
Maybe you're a business owner
and PPP program hasn't came through.
Let me be a value to you.
Come here even if it's for a few weeks.
I'll find a spot for you.
- [Karl] It worked. He
hired 36 new employees.
But Waayne didn't stop
there with his generosity.
For the month of April,
he paid the rent and mortgage bill
of every single employee in his company.
- I also let all of the employees
on salary and on hourly know that
you will still have a paycheck regardless.
And on top of that,
the guys that are accustomed
to getting substantial
amounts of overtime,
let's say 10 hours plus.
All of those will also be getting a raise
to offset that overtime overage.
- [Karl] Colin's philosophy is simple.
- This is going to pass
just like everything else.
I've been through so many
different pivots and pitfalls
that it's almost a chapter in itself
but what you have to do is,
I guess trust the
process and not be afraid
to continue to move forward.
(upbeat music)
