In exactly one month, I will celebrate my company’s five-year anniversary. For much of the first year, and for most of the last year, I’ve been running solo, fixing literally every piece of equipment found on oil and gas drilling rigs under the company name Rig Angel LLC. While it hasn’t made me rich, it has afforded me a level of freedom that I am so incredibly thankful for. And yes, at times it has made a lot of money which is 100% vested into the daily lives of everyone I love.
What I am the most thankful for, however, has nothing to do with money. I have a very good name, and my company has a very good name… ones that are both synonymous with quality and genuine customer care. I am reminded often, when I hear people talking about myself or my company and they don’t know I’m in earshot. Or when someone I just met for the first time says, “Oh, you work for Rig Angel!” or “Oh, you’re Matty? Like, THE Matty?” …and then they’re shocked to know that I’m the owner of Rig Angel, when I’m dripping in oil-based mud and they’re signing my ticket. Sometimes my customer doesn’t know that Matty and Rig Angel are the same entity.
I was on a rig that was having a lot of trouble recently, and personnel from four other companies were involved in trying to get the rig fixed after an accident. I arrived on location, shook hands with the site manager, and said, “Oh boy, this looks like a doozie!” He responded with, “Yeah, I just got off a conference call with corporate… they’re finally sending Rig Angel out here!” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s me,” I said. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Hot damn, I can’t believe it. I’ve heard your name for years and never got to meet you! Go fix my rig!!” I did.
Other times, I’ve seen my company’s stickers on rigs we’ve never been on, or being worn by people we’ve never met. For four years, Maria and I worked every job together as a team… she also has a good name in the West Texas oilfield. Once, she and I drove onto a location for a new customer… this was back when we had a big team, but none of our people had been to this rig. The first guy we saw was this crusty old roughneck who looked like he’d been in the oilfield since he was seven. His hardhat would have been considered loud and offensive to normal people, covered with years of overlapping stickers displaying skulls and flames and tits. Right smack dab in the middle of his hardhat, front and center, he was rocking a Rig Angel Sticker.
Another time, inside the Driller’s Cabin of another rig, we waited patiently for an operational pause so we could begin work on the Driller’s cyber chair, which had an electrical issue. The Driller has a huge window in in front of him that expands to the ceiling, so he can look up into the derrick while drilling or during connections. With not a single sticker in the whole place, Maria nudged me and motioned to the top window, where a Rig Angel sticker was placed right in the center of his view (imagine putting a sticker in the center of your car’s windshield). We didn’t know the Driller on this rig, and I asked him, “What’s that sticker doing in the middle of your view?” He responded proudly—almost defensively—that’s my Rig Angel. It keeps us my rig protected.
