Kevin Hicks, Wilmington Market Manager for the Center for Private Business, sat down with Michael McWhorter, CEO of Mojotone, to discuss the blend between passion and profits, craftsmanship and strategy.

Kevin: First let’s give a little backstory. Since 2000, your company has been handcrafting amplifiers and musical sound equipment for musicians out of your factory in Burgaw. Now your gear is being used by top musicians such as Green Day and Jack White as well as being shipped all over the world.

Michael: “It’s been a whirlwind.”

Kevin: Passion for your craft doesn’t automatically convert to leadership experience. Were there hard lessons to learn in scaling to this point?

Michael: “Absolutely. Passion builds product. But systems build companies. One of the hardest lessons came when revenue began to outpace our infrastructure. We were growing quickly, but our inventory accuracy was weak and our fulfillment became chaotic. Customer service started to feel the strain. That responsibility rested with me. I had built a product-driven culture, but not a process-driven one. Another lesson was prioritizing culture over competency in hiring. I assumed good people would figure it out. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. Scaling required me to become much clearer about KPIs, accountability, and placing experienced operators in key roles. Leadership became less about doing everything myself and more about building systems that function effectively without me.”

Kevin: How do you divide workload and decision-making?

Michael: “I’ve learned to stay in my strengths: vision, product innovation, strategic partnerships, and capital allocation. I’m wired for long-term thinking and opportunity spotting. Operational leaders handle execution: warehouse operations, ecommerce management, purchasing, and daily sales structure. I stay close enough to understand the data but far enough to avoid micromanaging. The discipline is asking: “Am I the bottleneck here?” If the answer is yes, I either delegate or build a system that removes me.”

Kevin: Can you recall a time you could have used outside guidance?

Michael: “In 2018 we transitioned into a larger facility in Burgaw and significantly increased payroll overhead, I underestimated the pressure fixed costs put on cash flow. Revenue can look strong while liquidity quietly tightens. An outside advisory group such as a Forum Group would have helped me stress-test scenarios and model break-even points more aggressively. Entrepreneurs are optimistic by nature, and peer guidance helps balance that optimism with disciplined forecasting.”

Kevin: How do you hope to connect to other NC entrepreneurs?

Michael: “I’m interested in real conversations and not surface-level networking, but honest discussions about capital strategy, hiring, succession, and operational challenges. That’s what makes the Center for Private Business valuable. It creates space for candid, peer-to-peer dialogue. I want to learn from others’ experience and share mine especially if it helps someone avoid a mistake I’ve already made.”

Kevin: What would surprise people about running a manufacturing business in NC?

Michael: “Most people underestimate the depth of North Carolina’s manufacturing expertise. This is a state with a deep-rooted manufacturing heritage, one that doesn’t just assemble products, but engineers, innovates, and produces at a world-class level. The talent base here isn’t theoretical; it’s practical, experienced, and deeply rooted in generations of craftsmanship and industry. What truly surprises people, though, is the strength of the ecosystem. Manufacturers, bankers, universities, economic developers, and trade groups are not operating in silos, they actively collaborate. There’s a shared understanding that when one company grows, the region grows. It’s competitive, yes, but it’s relational. Access to decision-makers is real. Partnerships happen quickly. Support is tangible. North Carolina combines industrial capability with a culture of cooperation, and that’s a powerful advantage for anyone building a business here.”

The Center for Private Business just launched a Wilmington market! Join 250+ privately-owned businesses across North Carolina for world-class professional workshops, networking, Peer Groups and leadership training. Join us at our next Wilmington event at https://cpb.wfu.edu/programming/register or look into joining a Forum peer group at https://cpb.wfu.edu/programming/forum.