Meet Armando Martinez | Co-Owner of Simply Savage Solutions & retired firefighter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Armando Martinez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Armando, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After being a hunter/archer for so long and realizing the void that existed when we developed a simple solution I knew we had to get into business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my working career at an early age in our families restaurant business. I developed a great understanding of work ethic and responsibility before I could shave. I was blessed to have two parents who worked hard and did anything they had to do to give us the nice life that we had. When I knew the restaurant industry was not going to be my future I began working construction doing heating & cooling as well as framing residential homes. After a little over a year of that I realized that I needed something different and began pursuing a career in the fire service. Fast forward a year and I am in the fire academy starting what would be a career of excitement, advancement, and achievement. Over my 20 year career I was able to promote through the ranks and eventually retire from my dream spot as the Captain of the Fire Investigations Division for Albuquerque Fire Department. Our department is pound for pound one of the hardest working and busiest departments in the country. Last year we ran over 108,000 calls for service with just 22 fire stations and 700 firefighters.

The fire service helped us with the development of the Bow Hitch without us even knowing it. We developed a product that has no moving parts and can be used in extremely high pressure situations. The Bow Hitch allows you to keep your focus on the task at hand and not on operating a complicated tool. We do not have an engineering background but we were able to make it happen with our “git er done” attitude and a little country ingenuity . We identified a problem and we fixed it. We use our gut feelings to help us make decisions and continue to do so today. We have been fortunate to not hit any real obstacles to this point and keep the mindset that the customer will tell us what the product needs to be. It has not been an easy road entering into uncharted territory with the sales/outdoor industry however I feel that we are holding our own.

I don’t know that we learned any new lessons along the way but rather fell back on some old ones to help guide us on our journey. We rely on values more than anything and believe if we do the right thing for our customers how can we go wrong? To us a customer is not someone who just spends money with us but rather someone who spends their valuable time following and listening to us (podcast, social, YouTube).
People can always make more money but but their time is finite and we are so very grateful for those who choose to spent it with us. We love to make our customers the heroes of our stories and share their successes with our audience.

I would love the world to know that we are just a couple of firemen, husbands, fathers that took a chance on something that we believed in. We believe in ourselves and in helping other with any success we may achieve along the way. As we like to say “high tides raise all ships”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The land of enchantment is amazing and diverse but the one thing you can count on anywhere you go is the food. The first thing I would do is take you to Abuelitas New Mexican Kitchen in Albuquerques south valley and split two plates between the two of us. The first thing we would order would be a Tacopilla with shredded beef and red chili. The second plate we would order is a chicharone and bean burrito with red & green chili topped with extra cheese. After that I would bring you to my house to relax and take a little nap before some of my favorite people came over to celebrate your visit. You would be introduced to my best and most genuine friends James Garcia and Sammy Villanueva. They would treat you like family from the second you shake their hands at introduction to the moment they give you a big bear hug as they depart for the evening. I believe it is people who make the land special and depending on who you are will depend on where we go, either way it is about the journey and not the destination.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We have an absolute army of supporters and and we call them the Bow Hitch Fam. These supporters start with friends, family, and small business owners that gave our product a chance. Ultimately there would be no Bow Hitch today had it not been for the support and encouragement from our spouses. When your other half believes in you how could you not believe in yourself?

Website: thebowhitch.com

Instagram: @thebowhitch

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/armando-martinez

Facebook: thebowhitch

Youtube: The Bow Hitch