My Locksmithing Journey

6/28/25 Nathan Gaulin

Many may ask why I became a locksmith, that's a rather simple answer; please refer to my essay about doorknobs. However the series of events that lead me to such an appreciation is rather circumstantial.

At trade school I studied engineering hoping to move onto a 4 year college. Went on to attend the University of Massachusetts Lowell in their chemical engineering program. For a variety of reasons this didn’t pan out.

After dropping out in my second year, another 4 flew by in the blink of an eye, mostly delivery and small failed business ventures. This was when I realized I needed to do something, and quick. I began to panic. In a desperate weary grasp longing for freedom I grabbed my car keys and left home for what felt like the 100th time.

I wound up working with some concrete floor matchers. I had worked with some handy men before at various construction and maintenance companies however these men were simply cut from a different cloth.

Now living in my car being consistently covered in mud and concrete wasn’t ideal. I wound up in several all keys lost situations stranded deep in the forest. This is when my mind was made up about it.

The little things we take for granted.

That's what I wanted to do, cause when you need them you really need them.

I then went to the Peterson School in Worcester MA and became certified by Master Locksmith Tony Piskator, and supplemented that with an automotive locksmithing certification from the American Center for Locksmith Training in Ogden UT by Ed.D Glenn Letteer.

Since then the journey has been beyond humbling, that split second you see when the key man pulls up & opens the door is such a small fraction of the job. 

A drop in the bucket really compared to the ocean of knowledge and expertise it takes to be a locksmith.