Locksmith Ruth Beardsley knows how to take down a door four times her size. She can bust open a lock and put it back together again. She even can crack a safe.
Before Beardsley became known as the “lockmiss extraordinaire,” she was a stay-at-home mom with three kids. Beardsley came from a generation of women who taught their daughters to marry and have babies. For 13 years, that’s what she did.
“I was used to having my hair done, and my nails,” Beardsley said.
A contentious divorce 26 years ago steered Beardsley into locksmithing. She lost her house and had to file for bankruptcy after the breakup. She didn’t have a job and had little work experience.
“When I got divorced, I wasn’t marketable,” Beardsley said. “I was actually being laughed at.”
To support her kids, Beardsley turned to a non-traditional job. Her brother-in-law gave her a key-cutting machine. On weekends, she made keys out of the back of her car at the swap meet.
“It’s like chewing gum,” she said of keys.
People are apt to buy a spare set if it’s convenient, Beardsley said.
She also sold knickknacks,umbrellas and pencil sharpeners,pulling in about $400 per weekend.
Cutting keys kept Beardsley afloat, she said. The operation grew into a sizable company, Santa Ana’s All American Lock Corp.
Beardsley was one of five women honored at the Business Journal’s 12th annual Women in Business awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on May 25.
Big Customers
All American has moved beyond locks. It also installs doors and security systems. Clients include Circuit City Stores Inc., California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Yum Brands Inc.’s Pizza Hut and Verizon Wireless.
The company employs about 20 people with estimated yearly sales of about $2 million.
Beardsley has “been an inspiration to me on a mentor level,” said Angela Agosta, who works in the office at All American. “I’m kind of an anti-establishment person. I was raised to think that capitalism is bad. Ruth has shown me first hand how you can build a company that can function on a higher level.”
Agosta said she’s looking into taking business courses.
“She really planted a seed for me,” she said.
One of Beardsley’s strong points is diplomacy, Agosta said.
“That’s what I really admire about her,” she said.
Once in a while, Beardsley will talk with a man who demands to speak with the boss. Beardsley handles it well, she said.
“She can outsmart people,” Agosta said.
Locksmithing is dirty work, Beardsley said. It’s hard to dress well and carry a hammer, she said.
But Beardsley said she’s made sure to keep some girlishness.
“I was always recognized because I had pink screwdrivers,” she said.
Beardsley said she never expected to be in the locksmith business.
“I always thought why couldn’t it be human resources?” she said.
But Beardsley has a knack for it, she said.
Locksmiths first have to get a license, which requires an FBI background check and testing.
She has several licenses, including one that allows her company to do automatic doors. Bank of America Corp. is one of her automatic door accounts.
Beardsley said she went to a meeting sponsored by a lock company with about 20 other locksmiths. They were given a lock and asked to take it apart and put it back together.
“I was the only one able to do that,” she said. “I read directions well.”
And she had some practice early on.
“I spent many nights at the kitchen table hammering away at a lock,” she said.
Asked For Help
Beardsley’s humble enough to ask for help.
On a job at an apartment clubhouse, she was installing a door closer,a device that automatically locks a door after it shuts.
It was 11 p.m. and she couldn’t figure it out.
“I said, ‘Lord what am I going to do?'”
Just then, an old man got out of the hot tub and came by in his towel.
“He knew exactly what to do,” she said.
He was a retired locksmith.
Job Benefit
The benefit of the job has been being able to schedule jobs around her kids, Beardsley said.
Still, they became independent at a young age, she said.
“They did their own laundry, packed their own lunches,” Beardsley said.
All three of her children are in the business. At first she urged them to find other careers.
Then she broke her foot and one of her kids came to help and stayed. Then she broke her other foot,no kidding,and the other one came on board to help and stayed.
Daughter April Vicente works in accounting. Son Tino Vicente is in charge of the crew. Russell Vicente works in the office with Beardsley.
Workers at All American start at $17 an hour. Experienced technicians can make up to $40 an hour, Beardsley said.
Apprentices train with the techs for about a year.
“We’re always looking for new people to apprentice in the field,” Beardsley said.
No Women
All American doesn’t employ any female technicians because they don’t apply, she said.
“Women aren’t interested,” Beardsley said.
These days, Beardsley’s hung up her tool belt. She said she is the fire extinguisher and the decision maker.
Beardsley also got into real estate, buying several houses that she rents out.
“If I need money I take out equity lines on my houses,” she said.
All American started as a way to support Beardsley’s family. Now she said she sees it as succeeding her. One day her children will take over, she said.
