The EV Hustle

The EV Hustle:
A Love Letter to Teamwork, Terror & Turtle Mode

Teamwork isn’t about picking a side… it is empowering people to use their experience and intellect to solve problems together.

I’m on the NJ Turnpike, somewhere between Newark Airport and the MKJ office in Brooklyn, when my car casually announces I have 32 miles to go and a fully unhelpful battery situation. Impossible. This thing has been plugged in since Thursday. It’s now Monday. Fantastic. 
 
I call my person – one of the two saints who’ve rescued me from my own chaos more times than any adult should ever confess: shredded tires, rogue engine lights, questionable choices. He’s painfully calm:

“Yeah, you’re not making it to the office. Get off at the next exit – charging station.”
 
I exit, fully accepting my morning has become… something else. And what do I find? A charging station with every plug known to modern civilization except the one my car uses. Naturally. Smack forehead.

Back to the highway, radio off, AC off, spine locked, conserving power like I’m rationing oxygen on the moon. Bargaining with the universe.
 
Then the meter hits zero. Actual zero. 

The kind of zero that makes you question every life choice and mutter apologies into the ether—including for refusing to embrace rideshare like every reasonable human keeps suggesting.
 
The phone rings again. It’s the other MKJ person, the second half of my personal roadside-rescue duo, who basically laughs and says:

“Zero? Please. That means you’ve got like twenty-five miles. Go.”

And this is where the MKJ magic reveals itself:

One employee, deadly serious:
“Pull over. This is literally how horror movies start.”
 
The other, pure cheerleader energy:
“Keep going! You’re totally fine! Just get to my house, I’ve got a charger!”
 
Somewhere between those two wildly different energies… I made it.

Zero miles. Turtle mode. Sweaty palms. Far more drama than the situation deserved.

But also this: teamwork so strong it could power its own grid.
 
I coast into the driveway, plug in, and while my car slowly resurrects itself, I take calls, answer emails, review a contract, wander around like it’s a wellness retreat—and magically, the battery climbs to a triumphant 30 miles.
 
Unplanned? Absolutely.
Terrifying? A touch.
Iconic? Honestly… yes.
 
But here’s the heart of it: that last mile—the pivot one, the stressful one, the miracle one, you don’t survive it alone.
 
At MKJ, everyone has this kind of backup. From those two guys, from the whole team, and always, in all ways, from me.

To our customers and vendors, the ones we adore and hustle for: You’ve got our whole team behind you. No one faces the last mile solo… EVER.
 
And because it’s the holidays, let me say this out loud: I’m surrounded by people I’m related to and people I’m sure I’m related to, even though there’s no biological or genealogical evidence to support it.  The family we’ve built at MKJ is a fully chosen, fiercely loyal, wildly dependable tribe.
 
Work family, blood family, honorary family, these are the people who show up, who answer the call, who say “Pull Over!” or “Floor It!” with equal conviction. They have my back, every time, no matter the distance, no matter the hour.
 
And I will forever, without question, in every circumstance have theirs…. and yours.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:

ROCKSTAR OF THE MONTH: 

Let’s talk about Mirjon.

There are people in a company who make things run, and there are people who make things possible. Mirjon is, without hesitation, a creator of possibility.

If there’s a piece of hardware, a communications box, a refrigerated enclosure with twelve components and seventeen screws (spoken like the non-techy I proudly am), Mirjon has fabricated it. Fixed it. Explained it to others and absolutely made it make sense.

He’s kind, warm, and funny. For years, his English was limited, but even then, he was the person I’d go hunting for when something needed to be hung, built, or magically solved. And without the exact instructions he needed, he always managed to make it happen with that quiet, unstoppable, signature Mirjon energy.

And then somewhere along the way, he went from “the one I always ask for help” to “one of the busiest, most relied-upon humans in the entire shop.”

He decides which fabrications get built first and then somehow manages to do two (or eight) tasks at once. And with all that, he remains the most positive, generous, unflappable presence in the room.

Oh, and did I mention Bagel Friday? If you know, you know. 

The truth is: Mirjon is so talented, he can choose to do absolutely anything he dreams of, and work anywhere he wants.

I’m just profoundly grateful that he chooses MKJ. 

Because the MKJ fam would not be this fam without him.