James Harmon on Betting on Himself, Sales Pitches, and Building with Friends

In Episode 6 of Season Three of The Late Start Show, we sit down with James Harmon, a senior from Bay Village, a member of the US hockey program, and co-owner of Aqua Shine, the six-figure window cleaning company he started with his friends. James takes us back to Bay, a tight-knit community where he played every sport he could. By middle school he was mowing neighbors’ lawns because he knew he didn’t want a normal job. He explains how a last-minute decision at the end of eighth grade brought him to US over St. Ed’s and Ignatius, and why his first taste of the school was a 6:00 a.m. football lift. He also talks about going from standout at a public school to starting on JV in a program where everyone is bought in. He describes stepping onto the ice in front of a packed barn and why he put his business ahead of hockey last summer.

James walks us through the summer of 2024, when his dad drove his lawnmower down the street in the family SUV and a $40 lawn job showed him he was good at talking to people. After seeing window cleaners on social media, he bought basic equipment at Home Depot and headed to Avon Lake. There, two hours of rejection ended with a $200 job and four more houses booked next door. He shares his approach at the door (“I just look like a high school kid popping by”) and why, on days full of slammed doors, he trusts the numbers game of selling one or two houses an hour. He remembers splitting the first week’s cash on his kitchen counter and a $10,000 week in 2026. He also covers what it takes to manage 15-plus employees who are also his friends, from doing an interior job for free to buying out a co-founder. To close, he looks ahead to studying finance and business in college, credits Mr. Atwell for his start in math, and describes his “why”: making the most of the opportunity his parents have given him.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.