42 By Danny Miller While studying criminal justice at San Diego State (Go Aztecs), I joined the Marine Corps Reserves and entered the PLC Program. I was, for sure, going to be the new “Ice Man.” To all the Millennials that have no idea what I just said, you need to watch the movie Top Gun. Being a police officer was my sec- ond choice. This seemed to be a perfect fit, since I always, even to this day, run toward the scene rather than away. At that time, I thought anything would be better than working part time at the muf- fler shop and struggling financially while attending college. The new Ice Man Soon after college, an exhaust distri- bution company hired me as a sales rep- resentative for San Diego County. Shortly after starting as a sales represen- tative, I got this idea that I should talk to the Core Buyer that bought the convert- ers from the muffler shop where I used to work. So I called Legend Smelting and Recycling (LSR) and arranged a meeting with Mark Sasko. I figured he was buying old junk from the muffler shops and I was selling new junk to the muffler shops. I was hoping we could Ocean Beach Pier, Mission Beach Roller Coaster, big waves at Sun- set Cliffs, snowboarding weekends at Big Bear, and races up Glamis made California the best place to grow up. Oh wait…I forgot to tell you…that is where I grew up…La Mesa, Cali- fornia. The average tem- perature there is 72 degrees all year long. It is hard to believe that I left the life- style of big waves and fun in the sun. Yet, I would not have it any other way. Miller’s Cat House After this meeting, I had a great idea. I went home and told my older brother “we have plans this weekend!” He asked me what I meant. I explained to him that we were going to start a busi- ness buying catalytic con- verters. We were going to go out to all of the muffler shops in southern Califor- nia and I would introduce him as the converter expert. We would start buying converters on the weekend and sell them to LSR. So, that next Sat- urday, we took off early with what money we could scrounge together. I think we bought two converters that first day. The next Saturday, we bought six. This was the start of Miller’s Cat House. help each other out by referring accounts to one another. My new career was born After two years of growing the busi- ness from two converters and one truck, we had grown to two trucks separately purchasing converters every Saturday. Even though we were still only going out one day a week, we were now buy- ing 300 to 400 converters every week. Without me even knowing it, I was now a Core Buyer and my new career was born. Around the year 2000, Mark asked me if I would like to work for Legend Smelting and Recycling and open up their third location in the Los Angeles area. I agreed to take the job if I could keep the routes in San Diego I ran on Saturdays. For the next five years, my wife Alysha and I worked seven days a week. I worked at Legend during the week and bought converters on Saturdays. In our spare time, we got licensed in life/health insurance and securities. We started our own office and hired representatives. This, on top of everything else, kept us extremely busy. However, this all changed as Alysha found herself home- We started over I guess that explains how I became a Core Buyer. Now let me talk a little about cores. sick as she had left everything she knew behind to get married and move out to California. We sold Miller’s Cat House, gave up the financial services business and moved to Illinois to start over and be around her family. Shortly after moving, LSR approached me again about open- ing up, what I think at the time, was their sixth location. I agreed and have been there ever since. When I was approached to write an article on “Cores Mean More”, I thought it should encompass more than just cata- lytic converters, but catalytic converters are all I know. Don’t get me wrong, we at LSR know about other cores and we purchase a lot of them. However, gener- ally, we purchase the scrap alternators, scrap starters, scrap air compressors, etc. We have found that being an expert at one thing is better than dabbling a little in a lot of different ones. When I started in this industry, small parts were not a big deal. Salvage yards stocked some popular parts and placed them on the shelf. The rest were just scrapped. Of course, there was always hope that while the car was wait- ing to get scrapped someone would come over the squawk box wanting one of those parts. During this time I remem- ber a lot of little shops around town that Times Gone By Industry Spotlight - Danny Miller of LSR LEGEND SMELTING LEGEND SMELTING LEGEND SMELTING & RECYCLING & RECYCLING & RECYCLING Buyers of Catalytic Converters Buyers of Catalytic Converters in a Whole Unit or on Assay in a Whole Unit or on Assay Buyers of Catalytic Converters in a Whole Unit or on Assay Servicing the Recycling Industry since 1982 Danny & Alysha Miller “We have found that being an expert at one thing is better than dabbling a little in a lot of different ones.”