We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeff & Brittany Lehman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff & Brittany, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
We both are originally from Northern California and both of us grew up watching our parents do everything around the house. If there was anything that needed fixing or maintenance our parents did it. Both of us learned how to be self-sufficient and take on any challenge and to not be afraid of failure.

A story we like to share that gives a little insight into how we were brought up, is a time when we were working valet at a private party. One of the other valets working accidentally backed into a water pipe and created a fountain of a water. As everyone stood around trying to figure out what to do, Jeff and I went to work. We had the owner shut down the water main and within minutes we were scrummaging through a shed for parts, and had the pipe fixed and the party again had water. That’s how we both operate.

An experience that impacted Jeff was a project to build his first car. He started it when he was 15. It was a 1962 Baja Bug. He started with 2 VW beetles, one with a good body, the other a good chassis. He did all the body work, electrical, brakes, etc. and physically touched every nut and bolt on that car. Three years later, he finished it and used it to drive to school and work as well as a variety of off-road adventures. This project gave him the passion to pass on that experience through our current project which is a resto-mod of an early Chevy off-road truck.

Our background has driven our passion to pass the skills that we learned to our three beautiful children and to offer other kids that same opportunity. We have been incredibly blessed with the opportunity and support to start a nonprofit that gives kids the confidence and courage to get their hands dirty through skill building workshops.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We started our nonprofit in 2019 and opened our skill building workshops to all age groups. We taught everything from wood working to building transistor radios. At the end of 2020 a gentleman from our church approached us about donating a truck. Not an ordinary truck but a 5th generation (square body) Chevy 4×4 “pre-runner” purpose built to support dirt bikers preparing for the Baja 1000. In April 2021 we changed our focus to recruiting teenagers to restore the Chevy.

Changing our focus has opened up avenues that we’re really excited about. We are working on a partnership with the juvenile court system to help give those kids specific skills that can lead them into potential careers. We’re also partnering with other agencies that support youth to be a secondary source to their services.

We have and continue to face challenges. The biggest lessons that we have learned overall is that we have to be persistent, ask questions, and continue to push ourselves out of our comfort zone. We’re hoping that the world sees our story and gets inspired to either support us or serve their community in the same manner.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You can’t visit Flagstaff without doing a lot of outdoor activities. We would visit Walnut Canyon National Monument, Sunset Crater National Monument, and spend countless hour hiking and mountain biking around the San Francisco Peaks. Downtown doesn’t disappoint with delicious restaurants, and our first stop would be Pizzicletta for great pizza and beer. We stop at Olive the Best for some amazing oil and vinegar and then stop at Wicked AZ Coffee to keep us going.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Other than our parents, who are an integral part of our story, we would have to recognize Jay Leno and Mike Rowe as our inspiration.

We watched an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, where Jay Leno said, “The heart is happiest when the head and the hands are doing something together.” Not only did we agree, but it sparked something in us that paved the way to where we are now. Mike Rowe’s series on Facebook called “Returning the Favor” had an impact on us and encouraged us to develop our mission to teach young people creativity, resourcefulness, and provide an opportunity to discover their potential through technical and trade skill workshops. Mike Rowe is also a huge advocate for skilled labor though his foundation, Mike Rowe Works, and the research he has done and details of his effort also reassured us that we were on to something when we first developed our mission statement.

We’d like to thank all of our volunteers. We have several volunteers who have been with us since the beginning. Their knowledge and devotion has been a key to our success. Additionally, we wouldn’t be where we are without our generous donors which include: KC Hilites, Arizona Community Foundation, Method Race Wheels, Kartek Off-Road, BF Goodrich Tires, and many other partners.

Website: https://www.dirtyhandshappyheart.org

Instagram: dirtyhandshappyheartcorp

Facebook: Dirty Hands Happy Heart

Other: Email: dirtyhandshappyheartcorp@gmail.com

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