Stuart Kuntzelman

I have been in the wheelchair business for over 30 years. My wife, Jen, and I started S&J Services and Repairs in 2014. I have the honor of sharing two stepsons and 3 granddaughters with my wife. We also have 5 dogs. The tremendous joy I receive from helping people with their mobility needs far exceeds what I could have ever imagined.

I started working at my parent’s dry cleaners with my siblings when I was 10. My stepfather was a tremendous influence in my life, he taught me many valuable lessons thru the love of what he did for each of his clients. In high school, I began a passion for cooking. I worked at Reuland’s Food Service in Aurora for about 3 years which, again, showed me the hard work and dedication required to make a small company be successful. I then worked at large hotels in restaurants and catering for a couple of years.

After high school, I went to culinary arts school at Elgin Community College for (3) years. I began working with high school kids in a church youth group, my passion for working with kids sent me to school for 2 years at Moody Bible Institute for Youth Ministry. While I went to Moody, I worked at Riverwoods Christian Center, a summer camp for underprivileged youth. I enjoyed being able to cook good meals for them instead of the usual gruel you would find at camps. I have always worked full time while going to school to keep myself from ending up in debt, but the grind of full-time school and work was rough.

I had a couple of friends thru church that worked at a Durable Medical Equipment store in Wheaton, IL. They asked if I would be interested in doing deliveries for them for the summer. I didn’t really have much interest in it, but it was something different, so I decided to try it. When I first started, I would often think to myself HOW IN THE WORLD would I ever be able to amass all the knowledge, insight and skills that I saw others in the industry possessed. I am someone that does not know it all, but if I don’t know it, I will figure it out. So slowly, over 20 years in the industry, I worked myself up thru the ranks, learned all of the aspects of the business.

I have always worked for smaller, family-owned companies, so I learned the importance of customer service. Listening to your clients and staying small enough to not lose sight of WHY you are doing what you are doing. The equipment that we sell and repair is someone’s LIFE, they need it to get around, get out of bed, go to work or school and spend time with others. We get calls on a daily basis from clients that are fed up with the national companies, they are often frustrated because of lack of customer service, inability to get their equipment serviced in a timely fashion and that no one will listen to them.

Starting your own business is a daunting task, full of surprises, trials, uncertainty, LONG hours and many hours on the road. The friendships I have built over the past 30 years and our ability to help people gain independence and be the best version of themselves are what make it all worthwhile. For the first 8 years, my wife and I did everything on our own, we then decided to slowly add employees. I am truly blessed to have the employees that we do. It is imperative that our employees are an extension of ourselves, that they treat each of our customers as we have treated them over the years. We are all truly blessed to be a part of each of our clients’ lives.

Future goals: To be able to train each of our employees to take over the business when Jen and I are gone, so that it can continue to be an independent company that cares for the individual. Nothing would make me happier than to see our company passed down to them, and then onto their children and future employees.