I met today’s guest, Mike Pelham, completely by chance — over breakfast at the hotel bar during PMTS in Cleveland.

He knew who I was from the podcast. But I didn’t know him. Kind of strange when that happens — but it’s really cool. After we talked for five minutes, I started thinking he could be a good interview.

Mike owns a fourth-generation family business, International Chemical Company, selling chemicals to machine shops — a true commodity product. But when he talks about manufacturing, family, and customer relationships, none of it feels boring.

In our conversation, we talked about selling with heart, the beauty of generational businesses in manufacturing, and finding purpose every day.

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Link to Graff-Pinkert’s Acquisitions and Sales promotion!

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Interview Highlights

Mike Pelham gave me perspective on how you sell something as unsexy as industrial chemicals. He’s not just out there winging it — he uses instrumentation and metrics to prove that his products work. Torque testing, competitive benchmarking — he brings lab results into conversations most people would try to sell on “trust me.” He explained to me how that kind of honesty and data-driven mindset builds confidence, especially in an industry where buyers are naturally skeptical.

We also touched on the reality of selling in a shrinking, increasingly commoditized industry. Many of his competitors are private equity-backed. But Mike is in it for the long haul. He knows his customers personally and takes it seriously when something doesn’t go right. “I take that home with me,” he said.

There’s a great story in the episode about his teenage son rebuilding an engine on his own, watching YouTube videos to learn how the parts go together. It was clear that Mike is not just proud as a dad, but as someone who sees the future of American manufacturing in moments like that.

He also shared a recent milestone — getting approved by the U.S. Navy to supply lubricants for submarines and destroyers. He told me that only two other companies in the world have met the Navy’s specs.

Mike spent much of the interview expressing how excited he was about presenting at PMTS. He loves getting to meet people from his manufacturing tribe in person. It reinforces his mindfulness that what we do in our industry matters.

He talked about interacting with students at the show — kids who had no idea a machinist could make $85,000 a year. He said that unlike past shows where the booth hid the swag on student day, this show he was generous with it to attract students to the booth. He jumped at the chance to talk to them — both to share his wisdom and understand their perspective.

As he said at the end of our conversation: he told me, “If you give, you begin to live.”
As someone who is into personal development, I hear that kind of thing often — and I believe in it. But I still need to keep hearing it and saying it myself to remember to do it.

Question: What do your loved ones think you do all day?