500: Tamara Thornton—The Mother of Mach

What happens when your son drops out of MIT at 19, starts a defense company in his twenties, and sets out to reinvent the way America builds weapons? If you're Tamara Thornton, you get a job. In this episode, Mike sits down with the Head of Marketing and Communications at Mach Industries , Tamara Thornton, who also happens to be the mother of the founder and CEO, Ethan Thornton. Ethan's decision to leave MIT and pursue his vision for Mach has led to a company now valued at $1.8 billion. But the story gets more interesting when you hear it from his mother—and learn what Ethan was like long before he became a CEO. It's a revealing and often surprising conversation about family, ambition, risk, failure, manufacturing, and the remarkable journey from a kid who liked to blow stuff up to the leader of one of America's fastest-growing defense companies. At the center of it all is a fascinating question: What happens when the son you raised becomes your boss? Shout out to our great sponsors PureTalk.com/ROWE —Switch your phone service today and enjoy your first three months of talk, text, and data for just $15 a month regardless of which plan you choose. BuildFreedom.us —The best place to find a six-figure, AI-proof job . Build your future. Rebuild America.