Katie Bigelow, a former Black Hawk pilot, launched Mettle Ops in the summer of 2013 — the same season she was diagnosed with melanoma while facing significant personal challenges.

By early fall, life had intensified in ways that required her to step away from the business for about a year.

But she started again.

Today, Mettle Ops builds reactive armor tiles for Army combat vehicles, manufactures U.S.-made drone motors, and employs 65 people across Michigan and Huntsville, Alabama.

Katie talks about:

the moment a million-dollar invoice made it feel real

why paying vendors on time accidentally saved her company during COVID

how checklists and after-action reviews became the backbone of a culture that refuses to cut corners on the people carrying their equipment into combat.

Thank you, Katie, for comi ...